CN112384872B

CN112384872B - Mobile platform, running control method and system thereof and control equipment

Info

Publication number: CN112384872B
Application number: CN201980031520.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 应佳行; 商志猛; 周长兴
Original assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Zhuoyu Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-30
Filing date: 2019-08-30
Publication date: 2024-02-27
Anticipated expiration: 2039-08-30
Also published as: CN112384872A; WO2021035682A1

Abstract

The first control quantity is calculated, then the first control quantity is fused with the second control quantity of the second control system, and the redundant backup of the first control quantity is realized through the second control quantity of the second control system, so that the accuracy and the reliability of the running control of the movable platform are improved.

Description

Mobile platform, running control method and system thereof and control equipment

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of automatic control technologies, and in particular, to a mobile platform, and a driving control method and system thereof, and a control device.

Background

When the movable platform is controlled to run, the reliability and the accuracy are generally difficult to be simultaneously considered, and if a controller with higher reliability is adopted, the higher control accuracy cannot be obtained due to insufficient calculation force; if a controller with higher accuracy is used, the reliability of control cannot be ensured.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on the above, the present specification provides a movable platform, and a driving control method, a driving control system and a driving control device thereof.

According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present specification, there is provided a travel control method of a movable platform, the method including:

Acquiring a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform;

calculating a first control amount according to the running error, and receiving a second control amount sent by at least one second control system; the first control quantity and the second control quantity are used for controlling an executing mechanism of the movable platform;

and generating control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity, and outputting the control information to the executing mechanism.

Optionally, the step of generating control information according to the first control amount and the second control amount includes:

detecting validity of the second control amount;

if the second control quantity is effective, calculating a weighted average of the first control quantity and the second control quantity;

and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

if the second control quantity is invalid, generating control information according to the first control quantity; and/or

Detecting whether the second control amount is updated, if so, executing the step of detecting the validity of the second control amount; and/or

And detecting whether the second control quantity is updated or not, and if not, generating control information according to the first control quantity.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present specification, there is provided a travel control method of a movable platform, the method comprising:

planning a running path of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform, and sending the planned path to a first control system so that the first control system calculates a first control quantity according to a running error between the current running path of the movable platform and the planned path;

acquiring a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform, and calculating a second control quantity according to the running error;

and sending the second control quantity to a first control system so that the first control system generates control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity and outputs the control information to an executing mechanism of the movable platform.

According to a third aspect of the embodiments of the present specification, there is provided a control device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the following method when executing the program:

Optionally, the step of generating the control information by the processor according to the first control amount and the second control amount includes:

detecting validity of the second control amount;

and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

Optionally, the processor when executing the program further implements the following method:

According to a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present specification, there is provided a control apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer executable program which when executed by the processor performs the method of:

Planning a running path of the movable platform, and sending the planned path to a first control system so that the first control system calculates a first control quantity according to a running error between the current running path of the movable platform and the planned path;

According to a fifth aspect of embodiments of the present specification, there is provided a movable platform having mounted thereon a control apparatus for:

Optionally, the step of generating the control information by the control device according to the first control amount and the second control amount includes:

detecting validity of the second control amount;

and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

Optionally, the control device is further configured to:

Optionally, the movable platform further comprises:

and the executing mechanism is used for receiving the control information and controlling the running parameters of the movable platform according to the control information.

Optionally, the control information includes at least one of: rudder angle, steering angle of steering gear, control quantity of accelerator and control quantity of brake;

The actuator comprises at least one of the following: rudder blade, steering gear, throttle and brake.

Optionally, a second control system is further installed on the movable platform, and the second control system is used for:

According to a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present specification, there is provided a travel control system for a movable platform, comprising:

a first control system; and

at least one second control system communicatively coupled to the first control system;

the second control system is used for planning a running path of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform, acquiring a running error between the current running path of the movable platform and the planned path, calculating a second control amount according to the running error, and sending the planned path and the second control amount to the first control system;

The first control system is used for calculating a first control quantity according to a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform, generating control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity, and outputting the control information to an executing mechanism of the movable platform.

Optionally, the first control system includes:

the system comprises a first error resolving unit, a first control unit, an instruction fusion unit and an instruction output unit;

the first error resolving unit, the first control unit, the instruction fusion unit and the instruction output unit are connected in sequence, and the instruction output unit is connected with an executing mechanism of the movable platform in a communication way;

the first error resolving unit acquires a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform and sends the running error to the first control unit;

the first control unit calculates a first control amount according to the running error and sends the first control amount to the instruction fusion unit;

the instruction fusion unit receives a second control quantity sent by at least one second control system, generates control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity, and sends the control information to the instruction output unit;

The instruction output unit outputs the control information to an executing mechanism of the movable platform.

Optionally, the second control system includes:

the system comprises a path planning unit, a second error resolving unit and a second control unit;

the path planning unit, the second error resolving unit and the second control unit are connected in sequence, the path planning unit is also connected with the first error resolving unit of the first control system, and the second control unit is also connected with the instruction fusion unit of the first control system;

the path planning unit plans the running path of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform and sends the planned path to the second error resolving unit and the first error resolving unit of the first control system;

the second error resolving unit acquires a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform and sends the running error to the second control unit;

the second control unit calculates a second control amount according to the running error and sends the second control amount to the instruction fusion unit of the first control system.

Optionally, the step of generating the control information by the instruction fusion unit according to the first control amount and the second control amount includes:

Detecting validity of the second control amount;

and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

Optionally, the step of generating the control information by the instruction fusion unit according to the first control amount and the second control amount further includes:

Optionally, the reliability of the first control system is higher than that of the second control system, and the accuracy of the second control system is higher than that of the first control system.

Optionally, the first vehicle control system is an ECU; and/or

The second control system is a PC or an industrial personal computer.

Optionally, the first control unit is a PID controller; and/or the second control unit is an MPC controller.

By applying the scheme of the embodiment of the specification, the first control quantity is calculated first, then the first control quantity is fused with the second control quantity of the second control system, and the redundant backup of the first control quantity is realized through the second control quantity of the second control system, so that the accuracy and the reliability of the running control of the movable platform are improved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a driving control method of a movable platform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a program flow diagram of a fusion output of a first control amount and a second control amount according to an embodiment of the present specification.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a driving control method of a movable platform according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of a control device according to an embodiment of the present specification.

FIG. 5 is a timing diagram of interactions of a first control system and a second control system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a travel control system for a movable platform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a driving control system of a movable platform in a practical application scenario of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of instruction fusion output in a practical application scenario of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a driving track of a movable platform in a practical application scenario of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a driving control process of a movable platform in a practical application scenario of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, the same numbers in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary examples do not represent all implementations consistent with the present specification. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the present description as detailed in the accompanying claims.

The terminology used in the description presented herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the description. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used in this specification to describe various information, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, the first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, the second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope of the present description. The word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at … …" or "at … …" or "responsive to a determination", depending on the context.

As shown in fig. 1, a flow chart of a driving control method of a movable platform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The method may comprise:

step S101: acquiring a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform;

step S102: calculating a first control amount according to the running error, and receiving a second control amount sent by at least one second control system; the first control quantity and the second control quantity are used for controlling an executing mechanism of the movable platform;

step S103: and generating control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity, and outputting the control information to the executing mechanism.

In this embodiment, the movable platform may be a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a movable robot, or the like. In the running process of the movable platform, the second control system can conduct planning prediction on the running path of the movable platform to obtain a target path point sequence of the running of the movable platform, and the target path point sequence is used as a planning path of the movable platform. The method comprises the steps of obtaining a target path point sequence of a movable platform, obtaining a current actual running path point sequence of the movable platform, and calculating running errors between a current running path of the movable platform and a planned path according to the two sequences, wherein the running errors comprise a transverse error and a longitudinal error of the current running of the movable platform, wherein the transverse direction is a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the movable platform, and the longitudinal direction is a direction parallel to the running direction of the movable platform.

The first control quantity may then be calculated based on the lateral error and the longitudinal error to control an actuator of the movable platform. The executing mechanism is a mechanical structure capable of completing specified executing actions according to control instructions given by the control system so as to achieve a control target. Taking the example of the movable platform being a vehicle, the actuators may include, but are not limited to, at least one of a throttle, a brake, and a steering gear on the vehicle; taking the example that the movable platform is a watercraft, the actuator may include, but is not limited to, rudder blades on the watercraft. Accordingly, the first control amount may include, but is not limited to, at least one of a control amount of an accelerator, a control amount of a brake, a steering angle of a steering gear, and a rudder angle. At least one first control quantity may be calculated to control at least one actuator on the movable platform.

The second control system may calculate the second control amount based on the lateral error and the longitudinal error. The second control amount may be the same control amount as the first control amount, for example, both the first control amount and the second control amount may include a control amount for the accelerator, a control amount for the brake, and a steering angle of the steering gear. The second control system may not be able to calculate all the second control amounts in time, or there may be a part of the actuators of the movable platform that do not need to be controlled by both the first control amounts and the second control amounts, or the second control amounts may be control amounts that are partially the same as the first control amounts for other reasons, for example, the first control amounts include control amounts for the throttle, control amounts for the brake, and rudder angles, and the second control amounts include control amounts for the brake, and the rudder angles of the steering gear. The second control amount may be acquired, and the first control amount and the second control amount may be fused to control the traveling process of the movable platform.

After the first control amount and the second control amount are obtained, the first control amount and the second control amount may be fused to generate control information in a certain instruction format. The instruction format of the control information may be generated according to the employed communication protocol. It should be noted that the second control amounts may be received from a plurality of second control systems, respectively, for example, there may be 3 of the second control systems, and 3 of the second control systems may generate the second control amounts C1, C2, and C3, respectively, and thus the final control amounts may be generated based on C1, C2, C3, and the first control amounts.

The generated control information can be output to the executing mechanism so that the executing mechanism executes corresponding actions, and therefore the running parameters of the movable platform are controlled. For example, when the control information includes control information for the throttle, the control information for the throttle may be output to the throttle to refuel the throttle, thereby increasing the traveling speed of the movable platform.

The embodiment calculates the first control quantity, fuses the first control quantity with the second control quantity of the second control system, realizes redundant backup of the first control quantity through the second control quantity of the second control system, and improves the accuracy and reliability of running control of the movable platform.

In the above embodiment, the second control system may be a control system with higher accuracy, for example, a PC (Personal Computer ) system or an industrial personal computer system. The first control amount may be obtained by using a first control system with high reliability, for example, the first control system may be a control system provided on the movable platform itself, and when the movable platform is a vehicle, the first control system may be an ECU (Electronic Control Unit ) system. The first control system may calculate the first control amount by using an algorithm with higher reliability and lower requirement on system calculation force, and the second control system may calculate the second control amount by using an algorithm with higher accuracy. The first control system and the second control system can operate independently of each other, and the respective control amounts are calculated respectively. If multiple second control systems are employed, the type of each second control system, and the algorithms employed on each second control system may be the same, or may be partially the same or completely different.

Because at least two sets of different systems which independently run are designed to realize mutual redundancy backup, when a control system with higher accuracy cannot calculate instructions or is disconnected or blocked due to various reasons, the control system with higher reliability can be relied on to control the movable platform, so that the requirements of high-performance control system for high-accuracy control and safety and redundancy can be met.

In one embodiment, the step of generating control information from the first control amount and the second control amount comprises: detecting validity of the second control amount; if the second control quantity is effective, calculating a weighted average of the first control quantity and the second control quantity; and generating control information according to the weighted average value. In this embodiment, a weighted average manner is used to fuse the two control amounts to generate control information.

In the present embodiment, the validity of the second control amount may be detected. When the number of the second control amounts is plural, the validity of each second control amount may be detected separately, and when the weighted averages of the first control amount and the second control amount are calculated subsequently, only the respective second control amounts that are valid are weighted-averaged with the first control amount.

The validity detection may include detecting whether the value of the second control amount is valid, and if the value of the second control amount is within a preset numerical range, determining that the second control amount is valid; otherwise, it is determined that the second control amount is invalid. The numerical range may be preset according to physical characteristics of the movable platform actuator, for example, a steering angle of the vehicle steering wheel is between-360 ° and +360°. The validity detection may further include detecting whether the second control amount matches the first control amount. For example, the first control amount is a control amount for an accelerator, and the second control amount is a control amount for a brake; or the first control amount controls the steering angle of the steering gear to be a positive steering angle and the second control amount controls the steering angle of the steering gear to be a negative steering angle, that is, the second control amount contradicts the first control amount and does not match, in which case it can be determined that the second control amount is invalid. Validity detection may also include other detection items, which are not listed here.

If the second control amount is valid, the first control amount and the second control amount may be weighted-averaged to obtain a weighted average of the first control amount and the second control amount. The weight used for the weighted average may be set in advance, for example, the weights of the first control amount and the second control amount are set to the same value (e.g., 0.5); or a larger weight is set for the first control quantity and a smaller weight is set for the second control quantity; or a smaller weight is set for the first control amount and a larger weight is set for the second control amount.

Alternatively, the weights may be calculated first by a certain calculation method, and then weighted average may be performed based on the calculated weights. For example, the weight employed by the weighted average may be dynamically set according to the difference between the first control amount and the second control amount. For example, since the first control amount is acquired by the first control system with higher reliability, when the difference between the first control amount and the second control amount is within the preset range, this indicates that the reliability of the second control amount is higher at this time, and since the second control amount is acquired by the second control system with higher accuracy, the accuracy of the second control amount is generally higher than that of the first control amount, and the second control amount can be preferentially used to control the actuator at this time. Therefore, in this case, the weight of the second control amount may be set to a value larger than the first control amount. When the difference between the first control amount and the second control amount exceeds the preset range, it indicates that the second control system may fail for various reasons, and the reliability of the second control amount may be low, where the first control amount may be preferentially used to control the actuator. Therefore, in this case, the weight of the second control amount may be set to a value smaller than the first control amount.

In one embodiment, if the second control amount is invalid, control information is generated according to the first control amount. If the second control amount is invalid, control information is generated only according to the first control amount to control the actuator of the movable platform, so that control reliability reduction caused by the invalid second control amount is avoided.

In one embodiment, before detecting the validity of the second control amount, it may also be detected whether the second control amount is updated, and if the second control amount is updated, the validity of the updated second control amount is detected; if the second control amount is not updated, control information is generated based on only the first control amount. In this embodiment, the second control system continuously calculates the second control amount during the running process of the movable platform, and if the value of the second control amount at the current time is not calculated, the value of the second control amount at the previous time is transmitted. The value of the second control amount may be refreshed at intervals of a preset time interval, and if it is detected that the value of the second control amount is updated, the validity thereof is again detected. If the second control amount is not updated, the actuator of the movable platform is controlled only according to the first control amount, so that the reduction of control reliability caused by the fact that the second control amount at the current moment is not calculated is avoided.

A program flow diagram of one embodiment for fusing output of a first control amount and a second control amount is shown in fig. 2. In step S201, it is detected whether the second control amount is updated, and if not, step S203 is executed to generate control information only according to the first control amount; if updated, step S202 is performed to detect whether the second control amount is within the effective range. If the second control amount is within the effective range, step S204 is performed to generate control information based on the weighted average of the first control amount and the second control amount; if the second control amount is not within the effective range, step S203 is performed to generate control information based on only the first control amount.

As shown in fig. 3, a flow chart of a method for controlling running of a movable platform according to another embodiment of the present disclosure may include:

step S301: planning a running path of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform, and sending the planned path to a first control system so that the first control system calculates a first control quantity according to a running error between the current running path of the movable platform and the planned path;

step S302: acquiring a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform, and calculating a second control quantity according to the running error;

Step S303: and sending the second control quantity to a first control system so that the first control system generates control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity and outputs the control information to an executing mechanism of the movable platform.

In the running process of the movable platform, the running path of the movable platform can be planned and predicted to obtain a target path point sequence of the running of the movable platform, and the target path point sequence is used as a planned path of the movable platform and is sent to the first control system. The first control system may acquire a target path point sequence of the movable platform, and acquire a current actual travel path point sequence of the movable platform, and then calculate a travel error between a current travel path of the movable platform and a planned path according to the two sequences, including a lateral error and a longitudinal error of the current travel of the movable platform.

The first control system may then calculate a first control amount based on the lateral error and the longitudinal error to control an actuator of the movable platform. Taking the example of the movable platform being a vehicle, the actuators may include, but are not limited to, at least one of a throttle, a brake, and a steering gear on the vehicle; taking the example that the movable platform is a watercraft, the actuator may include, but is not limited to, rudder blades on the watercraft. Accordingly, the first control amount may include, but is not limited to, at least one of a control amount of an accelerator, a control amount of a brake, a steering angle of a steering gear, and a rudder angle. The first control system may calculate at least one first control quantity for controlling at least one actuator on the movable platform.

Further, the second control amount may be calculated based on the lateral error and the longitudinal error. The second control amount may be the same control amount as the first control amount, for example, both the first control amount and the second control amount may include a control amount for the accelerator, a control amount for the brake, and a steering angle of the steering gear. The second control amount may be the same as the first control amount, for example, the first control amount includes a control amount for the throttle, a control amount for the brake, and a rotation angle of the steering engine, or the second control amount includes a control amount for the brake and a rotation angle of the steering engine, because all the second control amounts may not be timely calculated, or there is a part of the actuators of the movable platform that need not be controlled by both the first control amount and the second control amount, or for other reasons. The first control system may acquire the second control amount, and fuse the first control amount and the second control amount to control the driving process of the movable platform.

After the first control system obtains the first control amount and the second control amount, the first control system can fuse the two control amounts to generate control information with a certain instruction format. The instruction format of the control information may be generated according to the employed communication protocol. The generated control information can be output to the executing mechanism so that the executing mechanism executes corresponding actions, and therefore the running parameters of the movable platform are controlled. For example, when the control information includes control information for the throttle, the control information for the throttle may be output to the throttle to refuel the throttle, thereby increasing the traveling speed of the movable platform.

The embodiment calculates the second control quantity first, and then sends the second control quantity to the first control system, so that the first control system can control the running process of the movable platform together by fusing the second control quantity and the first control quantity generated by the system, redundant backup of the first control quantity is realized through the second control quantity, and meanwhile, the accuracy and reliability of running control of the movable platform are improved.

In this embodiment, other embodiments of the first control system are the same as the embodiments of the driving control method of the movable platform, and will not be described herein.

The embodiments of the present specification also provide a control apparatus by which embodiments of the methods of the present specification may be implemented.

In one embodiment, the control device may include a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, which when executed, performs the method of: acquiring a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform;

In one embodiment, the step of the processor generating control information from the first control amount and the second control amount comprises: detecting validity of the second control amount; if the second control quantity is effective, calculating a weighted average of the first control quantity and the second control quantity; and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

In one embodiment, the processor when executing the program further implements the following method: and if the second control quantity is invalid, generating control information according to the first control quantity.

In one embodiment, the processor when executing the program further implements the following method: and detecting whether the second control quantity is updated, and if so, executing the step of detecting the validity of the second control quantity.

In one embodiment, the processor when executing the program further implements the following method: and detecting whether the second control quantity is updated or not, and if not, generating control information according to the first control quantity.

Other embodiments of the method executed by the processor are the same as the embodiments of the method implemented by the first control system in the foregoing embodiments of the driving control method of the movable platform, and will not be described herein.

The control device in the above embodiment calculates the first control amount, and then merges the first control amount with the second control amount of the second control system, and redundancy backup of the first control amount is achieved through the second control amount of the second control system, so that accuracy and reliability of driving control of the movable platform are improved.

In one embodiment, the control device may include a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, which when executed, performs the method of:

Other embodiments of the method executed by the processor are the same as the embodiments of the method implemented by the second control system in the foregoing embodiments of the driving control method of the movable platform, and will not be described herein.

The control device in the above embodiment calculates the second control amount first, and then sends the second control amount to the first control system, so that the first control system can control the running process of the movable platform together by fusing the second control amount and the first control amount generated by the system, and redundant backup of the first control amount is realized through the second control amount, so that the accuracy and reliability of running control of the movable platform are improved.

The control device of the embodiment of the present specification may be, for example, a server or a terminal device. The method embodiment can be realized by software, hardware or a combination of the hardware and the software. Taking software implementation as an example, the device in a logic sense is formed by reading corresponding computer program instructions in the nonvolatile memory into the memory through a processor of the file processing where the device is located. In terms of hardware, as shown in fig. 4, in addition to the processor 401, the memory 402, the network interface 403, and the nonvolatile memory 404 shown in fig. 4, the control device for implementing the method of the present disclosure in the embodiment may generally include other hardware according to the actual function of the control device, which is not described herein.

The embodiment of the specification also provides a movable platform, on which a control device is mounted, the control device being used for:

acquiring a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform; calculating a first control amount according to the running error, and receiving a second control amount sent by at least one second control system; the first control quantity and the second control quantity are used for controlling an executing mechanism of the movable platform; and generating control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity, and outputting the control information to the executing mechanism.

In this embodiment, the movable platform may be a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a movable robot. The method of the present embodiment may be implemented by a first control system on the mobile platform, which may be a control system on the mobile platform, for example, when the mobile platform is a vehicle, the first control system may be an on-board control system. The second control system can be a control system externally connected with the movable platform or can be integrated on the movable platform.

In the running process of the movable platform, the second control system can conduct planning prediction on the running path of the movable platform, a target path point sequence of the running of the movable platform is obtained, and the target path point sequence is used as a planning path of the movable platform to be sent to the first control system. The first control system can acquire a current actual running path point sequence of the movable platform, and then calculates running errors between the current running path of the movable platform and the planned path according to the two sequences, wherein the running errors comprise a transverse error and a longitudinal error of the current running of the movable platform, the transverse direction is a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the movable platform, and the longitudinal direction is a direction parallel to the running direction of the movable platform. In the practical application process, the planned path can also be acquired by the first control system on the movable platform or other systems with path planning functions on the movable platform.

The first control system may then calculate a first control amount based on the lateral error and the longitudinal error to control an actuator of the movable platform. The executing mechanism is a mechanical structure capable of completing specified executing actions according to control instructions given by the control system so as to achieve a control target. Taking the example of the movable platform being a vehicle, the actuators may include, but are not limited to, at least one of a throttle, a brake, and a steering gear on the vehicle; taking the example that the movable platform is a watercraft, the actuator may include, but is not limited to, rudder blades on the watercraft. Accordingly, the first control amount may include, but is not limited to, at least one of a control amount for a throttle, a control amount for a brake, a steering angle of the steering gear, and a rudder angle. The first control system may calculate at least one first control quantity for controlling at least one actuator on the movable platform.

In addition, the second control system may calculate a second control amount based on the lateral error and the longitudinal error, and send the second control amount to the first control system. The second control amount may be the same control amount as the first control amount, for example, both the first control amount and the second control amount may include a control amount for the accelerator, a control amount for the brake, and a steering angle of the steering gear. The second control system may not be able to calculate all the second control amounts in time, or there may be a part of the actuators of the movable platform that do not need to be controlled by both the first control amounts and the second control amounts, or the second control amounts may be control amounts that are partially the same as the first control amounts for other reasons, for example, the first control amounts include control amounts for the throttle, control amounts for the brake, and rudder angles, and the second control amounts include control amounts for the brake, and the rudder angles of the steering gear. The first control system may acquire the second control amount, and fuse the first control amount and the second control amount to control the driving process of the movable platform.

After the first control amount and the second control amount are obtained, the first control system may fuse the two control amounts to generate control information in a certain instruction format. The instruction format of the control information may be generated according to a communication protocol employed by the first control system.

It should be noted that the first control system may receive the second control amounts from the plurality of second control systems, respectively, for example, there may be 3 second control systems, and the 3 second control systems may send respective second control amounts C1, C2, and C3 to the first control system, respectively, and the first control system may receive C1, C2, and C3, respectively, and generate the control information based on the first control amounts and C1, C2, and C3.

In the above embodiment, the first control system may be a control system with higher reliability, and the second control system may be a control system with higher accuracy. For example, the first control system may be an ECU (Electronic Control Unit ) system, and the second control system may be an in-vehicle PC (Personal Computer ) system or an industrial personal computer system. The first control system and the second control system may be the same system adopting different algorithms, the first control system may adopt an algorithm with higher reliability and lower requirement on system computing power to calculate the first control amount, and the second control system may adopt an algorithm with higher accuracy to calculate the second control amount.

Since the second control system is often a complex, computationally intensive control system, the reliability of the second control system may be low relative to the first control system. For example, the parts of the movable platform are loosened due to jolt in the running process, and the second control system may fail due to over-high or over-low temperature of components and parts caused by severe environment, abnormal external power supply, software and hardware faults of the second control system, system blocking or disconnection and the like. The first control system is simple in structure and stable in performance, and failure probability is lower than that of the second control system, so that the first control system with higher reliability and the second control system with higher accuracy are used for redundancy backup, and when the high-performance control system cannot calculate control quantity, disconnection or blocking due to various reasons, the high-performance control system can control the actuating mechanism of the movable platform to meet the requirements of high accuracy control, safety and redundancy.

In some cases, the first control amount and the second control amount may also be partially the same, or completely different. For example, the first control amount includes a control amount for the accelerator and a control amount for the brake, and the second control amount includes a control amount for the accelerator and a steering angle of the steering gear. For another example, the first control amount includes a control amount for an accelerator and a control amount for a brake, and the second control amount is a steering angle of the steering gear. For the control quantity with higher accuracy requirement, a second control system with higher accuracy can be adopted to obtain the control quantity, and for the control quantity with lower accuracy requirement but higher reliability requirement, a first control system with higher reliability can be adopted to obtain the control quantity.

In one embodiment, the step of the control device generating control information from the first control amount and the second control amount includes: detecting validity of the second control amount; if the second control quantity is effective, calculating a weighted average of the first control quantity and the second control quantity; and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

In one embodiment, the control device is further configured to: and if the second control quantity is invalid, generating control information according to the first control quantity. In one embodiment, the control device is further configured to: and detecting whether the second control quantity is updated, and if so, executing the step of detecting the validity of the second control quantity. In one embodiment, the control device is further configured to: and detecting whether the second control quantity is updated or not, and if not, generating control information according to the first control quantity.

In one embodiment, the movable platform further comprises: and the executing mechanism is used for receiving the control information and controlling the running parameters of the movable platform according to the control information.

In one embodiment, a second control system is further mounted on the movable platform, the second control system being configured to: planning a running path of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform, and sending the planned path to a first control system so that the first control system calculates a first control quantity according to a running error between the current running path of the movable platform and the planned path; acquiring a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform, and calculating a second control quantity according to the running error; and sending the second control quantity to a first control system so that the first control system generates control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity and outputs the control information to an executing mechanism of the movable platform.

A timing diagram of the interaction between the first control system and the second control system of one embodiment is shown in fig. 5. As shown in the figure, in step S501, the second control system first acquires a planned path; in step S502, the second control system transmits the planned path to the first control system; in step S503, the first control system calculates a running error from the planned path and the actual running path; in step S504, the second control system calculates a running error from the planned path and the actual running path; in step S505, the first control system calculates a first control amount according to the running error; in step S506, the second control system calculates a second control amount according to the running error; in step S507, the second control system transmits the second control amount to the first control system; in step S508, the first control system generates control information according to the first control amount and the second control amount and outputs the control information to the actuator of the movable platform.

In the above embodiment, the second control system may be a control system with higher accuracy, for example, a PC system or an industrial personal computer system. The first control amount may be obtained by using a first control system with high reliability, for example, the first control system may be a control system provided on the movable platform, and when the movable platform is a vehicle, the first control system may be an ECU system. The first control system may calculate the first control amount by using an algorithm with higher reliability and lower requirement on system calculation force, and the second control system may calculate the second control amount by using an algorithm with higher accuracy. The first control system and the second control system can operate independently of each other, and the respective control amounts are calculated respectively. If multiple second control systems are employed, the type of each second control system, and the algorithms employed on each second control system may be the same, or may be partially the same or completely different.

Because at least two sets of different systems which independently run are designed on the movable platform to realize mutual redundancy backup, when the high-performance control system cannot calculate instructions or break or lock due to various reasons, the movable platform can be controlled by the control system with higher reliability, so that the high-performance control system can be controlled with high precision, and the requirements of safety and redundancy can be met by the control system with higher reliability.

As shown in fig. 6, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a travel control system for a movable platform, which may include:

a first control system 601; and

at least one second control system 602 communicatively coupled to the first control system;

the second control system 602 is configured to plan a travel path of the movable platform during a travel process of the movable platform, obtain a travel error between a current travel path of the movable platform and the planned path, calculate a second control amount according to the travel error, and send the planned path and the second control amount to the first control system 601;

the first control system 601 is configured to calculate a first control amount according to a driving error between a current driving path and a planned path of the movable platform, generate control information according to the first control amount and the second control amount, and output the control information to an actuator of the movable platform.

In one embodiment, the first control system 601 includes:

a first error resolving unit 601a, a first control unit 601b, an instruction fusion unit 601c, and an instruction output unit 601d;

the first error resolving unit 601a, the first control unit 601b, the instruction fusion unit 601c and the instruction output unit 601d are sequentially connected, and the instruction output unit is in communication connection with an executing mechanism of the movable platform;

the first error resolving unit 601a obtains a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform, and sends the running error to the first control unit 601b;

the first control unit 601b calculates a first control amount according to the running error, and sends the first control amount to the instruction fusion unit 601c;

the instruction fusion unit 601c receives a second control amount sent by at least one second control system, generates control information according to the first control amount and the second control amount, and sends the control information to the instruction output unit 601d;

the instruction output unit 601d outputs the control information to an actuator of the movable platform.

In one embodiment, the second control system 602 includes:

A path planning unit 602a, a second error resolving unit 602b and a second control unit 602c;

the path planning unit 602a, the second error resolving unit 602b and the second control unit 602c are sequentially connected, the path planning unit 602a is further connected with the first error resolving unit 601a of the first control system 601, and the second control unit 602c is further connected with the instruction fusion unit 601c of the first control system 601;

the path planning unit 602a plans a driving path of the movable platform in the driving process of the movable platform, and sends the planned path to the second error resolving unit 602b and the first error resolving unit 601a of the first control system 601;

the second error resolving unit 602b obtains a running error between a current running path of the movable platform and a planned path, and sends the running error to the second control unit 602c;

the second control unit 602c calculates a second control amount according to the running error, and sends the second control amount to the instruction fusion unit 601c of the first control system 601.

In one embodiment, the step of generating the control information by the instruction fusion unit 601c according to the first control amount and the second control amount includes: detecting validity of the second control amount; if the second control quantity is effective, calculating a weighted average of the first control quantity and the second control quantity; and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

In one embodiment, the step of generating the control information by the instruction fusion unit 601c according to the first control amount and the second control amount further includes: and if the second control quantity is invalid, generating control information according to the first control quantity. In one embodiment, the step of generating the control information by the instruction fusion unit 601c according to the first control amount and the second control amount further includes: and detecting whether the second control quantity is updated, and if so, executing the step of detecting the validity of the second control quantity. In one embodiment, the step of generating the control information by the instruction fusion unit 601c according to the first control amount and the second control amount further includes: and detecting whether the second control quantity is updated or not, and if not, generating control information according to the first control quantity.

In one embodiment, the reliability of the first control system is higher than that of the second control system, which is more accurate than the first control system. According to the embodiment, the control system with higher reliability is adopted as the first control system, the control system with higher accuracy is adopted as the second control system, mutual redundancy backup is realized through at least two sets of different systems which independently operate, and when the second control system with higher accuracy cannot calculate instructions or is disconnected or blocked due to various reasons, the movable platform can be controlled by the first control system with higher reliability, so that the high-performance control system can be controlled with high accuracy, and the requirements of safety and redundancy can be met through the control system with higher reliability.

In one embodiment, the first vehicle control system is an ECU. In another embodiment, the second control system is a PC or an industrial personal computer. In one embodiment, the first control unit is a PID (Proportion Integral Differential, proportional-integral-derivative) controller. In another embodiment, the second control unit is an MPC (Model predictive control ) controller.

As shown in fig. 7, the present invention is a driving control system for a movable platform in a practical application scenario. In this embodiment, the mobile platform is a vehicle, and the second control system may be a processor or a processing chip with a relatively high processing capability, for example, a vehicle PC; the first control system is a processor ECU with stronger real-time performance, the second control unit is a controller with higher accuracy, such as an MPC (Model Predictive Control ) controller, the first control unit is a controller with higher reliability, such as a PID (Proportion-Integral-Differential) controller, and the executable mechanism is an accelerator and a brake on the chassis of the vehicle.

The PID controller cannot achieve accurate control when the lateral overload of the movable platform is large. MPC controllers can only be designed and operated on intelligent control systems that are sufficiently computationally powerful. Meanwhile, because of the online solution optimization problem, the optimal solution cannot be obtained or the result diverges. By adopting the scheme of the embodiment of the specification, the PID controller and the MPC controller are subjected to redundancy backup, on one hand, the control accuracy is ensured through the MPC controller with higher accuracy, and on the other hand, the control reliability is ensured through the PID controller when the MPC controller fails, so that the embodiment of the specification can simultaneously consider the reliability and the accuracy. As shown in fig. 8, a flow chart of the command fusion module in the travel control system shown in fig. 7 is shown.

In fig. 7, the running control system of the mobile platform includes an ECU 702 and a PC 701, a Planning (Planning) module 702a in the PC plans a running path of the mobile platform during running of the mobile platform, and sends the planned path to a track (track) module 702b in the PC and a track module 701a in the ECU 701; the track module 702b in the PC 702 acquires a running error between the current running path of the movable platform and the planned path, and sends the running error to the MPC controller 702c; a track module 701a in the ECU 701 acquires a running error between a current running path of the movable platform and a planned path, and sends the running error to a PID controller 701b; the MPC controller 702c calculates a second control amount according to the running error, and sends the second control amount to the instruction fusion unit 701c of the ECU 701; the PID controller 701b calculates a first control amount according to the running error, and sends the first control amount to the instruction fusion unit 701c of the ECU 701; the instruction fusion unit 701c fuses the first control amount and the second control amount, and outputs a control instruction to the instruction output unit 701d; the output unit 701d outputs control information to the accelerator and the brake to control the control amount of the accelerator and the control amount of the brake.

In fig. 8, the instruction fusion unit 701c detects whether the PC instruction (the PC instruction carries the second control amount) is updated, and if not, directly adopts the instruction calculated by the ECU (the instruction calculated by the ECU carries the first control amount) to control the throttle and the brake; if updated, it is checked whether the PC instructions are within a valid range. If the throttle is not in the effective range, the throttle and the brake are controlled by directly adopting instructions calculated by the ECU; and if the control quantity is within the effective range, carrying out weighted average on the PC instruction and the MCU instruction to obtain the final control quantity.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a driving track of a movable platform in a practical application scenario in the present disclosure. The running control system on the movable platform can plan the running track of the movable platform to obtain a target path point sequence of the running of the movable platform, each point on the target path point sequence is shown as each point on a solid line in the figure, and the solid line formed by connecting the points in the figure forms a planning path of the movable platform. In the running process of the movable platform, the actual running track and the planned path may have deviation, and the deviation is running error, and the actual running path is shown as a dotted line in the figure. The running control system continuously controls the actuating mechanism of the movable platform in the running process of the movable platform so as to enable the actual running track of the movable platform to be corrected to the planned path.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a driving control process of the movable platform in a practical application scenario in the present disclosure. Perception ofThe module (e.g., a lidar or binocular vision image positioning system, etc.) may sense environmental information during travel of the movable platform, e.g., lane information within a travel area, information of other movable platforms within the travel area, etc., and send the sensed environmental information to the planning module. A sensor module (e.g., VINS/RTK/GPS) on the mobile platform may obtain the travel state information of the mobile platform and send it to the planning module. The planning module plans the driving path of the movable platform according to the environment information and the driving state information, for example, when the environment information indicates that the movable platform is about to enter a curve, the planning module plans a curve driving path. The planned target running path is sent to a track module, and the track module calculates the running error between the current running path of the movable platform and the target running path. The track module outputs the running errors to the MPC controller and the PID controller respectively; in addition, a sensor module (for example, VINS/RTK/GPS) on the movable platform can also detect the running state of the movable platform and output control parameters, the weights of the MPC controller and the PID controller can be dynamically calculated according to the errors output by the control parameters and the track module, and the final control quantity is output to an MU module (executing mechanism) after the control quantities output by the MPC controller and the PID controller are weighted and averaged according to the weights, so that the running process of the movable platform is controlled. Assuming that the control amount calculated by the MPC controller is T _MPC The control amount calculated by the PID controller is T _PID The weights of the MPC controller and the PID controller at the current moment are k respectively ₁ And k ₂ The final output control quantity T at the current moment _OUT The method comprises the following steps:

T _OUT ＝k ₁ *T _MPC +k ₂ *T _PID ；

wherein k is ₁ +k ₂ ＝1。

In one embodiment of the present invention, in one embodiment,

in the formula e ₁ E is the running error at the current moment _max Is the maximum driving error.

In addition, during the driving control process, the planning module may refresh the planned path at a lower refresh frequency (for example, refresh once for 5 seconds) during the driving of the movable platform, and the MPC controller and the PID controller may refresh the control amount of the movable platform at a higher refresh frequency (for example, refresh once for 1 second).

The various technical features in the above embodiments may be arbitrarily combined as long as there is no conflict or contradiction between the combinations of the features, but are not described in detail, so that the arbitrary combination of the various technical features in the above embodiments also falls within the scope of the disclosure of the present specification.

Embodiments of the present description may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) having program code embodied therein. Computer-usable storage media include both permanent and non-permanent, removable and non-removable media, and information storage may be implemented by any method or technology. The information may be computer readable instructions, data structures, modules of a program, or other data. Examples of storage media for a computer include, but are not limited to: phase change memory (PRAM), static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), other types of Random Access Memory (RAM), read Only Memory (ROM), electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), digital Versatile Disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium, may be used to store information that may be accessed by the computing device.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following the general principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be effected without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure is not intended to limit the disclosure, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, improvements and alternatives falling within the spirit and principles of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method of controlling travel of a movable platform, the method comprising:

generating control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity, and outputting the control information to the executing mechanism;

the first control amount is acquired by a first control system, the reliability of the first control system is higher than that of the second control system, and the accuracy of the second control system is higher than that of the first control system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating control information from the first control amount and the second control amount comprises:

detecting validity of the second control amount;

and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the movable platform is a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a movable robot.

5. A method of controlling travel of a movable platform, the method comprising:

the second control quantity is sent to a first control system, so that the first control system generates control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity, and the control information is output to an executing mechanism of the movable platform;

The reliability of the first control system is higher than that of the second control system, and the accuracy of the second control system is higher than that of the first control system.

6. A control device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the following method when executing the program:

7. The control device according to claim 6, wherein the processor generates control information based on the first control amount and the second control amount, comprising:

Detecting validity of the second control amount;

and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

8. The control device of claim 7, wherein the processor when executing the program further implements the method of:

9. The control device of claim 6, wherein the movable platform is a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a movable robot.

10. A control device comprising a processor and a memory, said memory storing a computer executable program, characterized in that the program when executed by the processor implements the method of:

11. A mobile platform, wherein a control device is mounted on the mobile platform, the control device being configured to:

12. The movable platform of claim 11, wherein the step of the control device generating control information from the first control amount and the second control amount comprises:

detecting validity of the second control amount;

and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

13. The mobile platform of claim 12, wherein the control device is further configured to:

14. The mobile platform of claim 11, further comprising:

15. The mobile platform of claim 14, wherein the control information comprises at least one of: rudder angle, steering angle of steering gear, control quantity of accelerator and control quantity of brake;

16. The mobile platform of claim 11, further having a second control system mounted thereon, the second control system configured to:

17. The mobile platform of claim 11, wherein the mobile platform is a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a mobile robot.

18. A travel control system for a mobile platform, comprising:

a first control system; and

the first control system is used for calculating a first control quantity according to a running error between a current running path and a planned path of the movable platform, generating control information according to the first control quantity and the second control quantity, and outputting the control information to an executing mechanism of the movable platform;

19. The travel control system of a mobile platform according to claim 18, wherein the first control system comprises:

20. The travel control system of a mobile platform according to claim 19, wherein the second control system comprises:

21. The travel control system of a movable platform according to claim 20, wherein the step of the instruction fusion unit generating control information according to the first control amount and the second control amount includes:

Detecting validity of the second control amount;

and generating control information according to the weighted average value.

22. The travel control system of a movable platform according to claim 21, wherein the step of the instruction fusion unit generating control information according to the first control amount and the second control amount further comprises:

23. The mobile platform travel control system of claim 18, wherein the first control system is an ECU; and/or

The second control system is a PC or an industrial personal computer.

24. The mobile platform travel control system of claim 23, wherein the first control system is a PID controller; and/or the second control system is an MPC controller.

25. The travel control system of a mobile platform of claim 18, wherein the mobile platform is a vehicle, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or a mobile robot.