WO2023055152A1

WO2023055152A1 - Method and device for tracking user using infrared light

Info

Publication number: WO2023055152A1
Application number: PCT/KR2022/014706
Authority: WO
Inventors: 이일섭
Original assignee: 이일섭
Priority date: 2021-10-01
Filing date: 2022-09-29
Publication date: 2023-04-06
Also published as: KR102433859B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method wherein one infrared light-emitting sensor and one infrared light-receiving sensor are synchronized using a preset pattern, and the direction in which a user carrying the infrared light-emitting sensor is moving from the current position is easily tracked on the basis of the position where an infrared point of a command signal is present on a pixel of the infrared light-receiving sensor.

Description

Method and device for following user using infrared rays

This application claims priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0131240 filed on October 1, 2021 and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0032687 filed on March 16, 2022, All contents disclosed in the specification and drawings of the application are incorporated into this application.

The present invention relates to a technology for following a user based on infrared signal detection, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for predicting a movement path of an infrared transmitter based on a quadrant in which an infrared sensing point is located in a pixel of an infrared camera. will be.

Due to the recent rapid development of information and communication technology, network infrastructure is widely distributed, and as high-tech digital equipment is common in everyday life, an era of ubiquitous based on this is coming. Among them, research related to object recognition and location tracking is one of the technologies necessary to continuously and effectively provide information communication services.

There are various systems using infrared rays, ultrasonic waves, RFID, image processing, signal strength (RSSI), and the like as location recognition systems. Although many success cases have been announced for outdoor location tracking services, mainly using GPS, the reality is that the indoor location tracking method has fewer success cases than published papers.

The most widely used methods for indoor location tracking include a method using signal strength (RSSI) of a wireless communication module such as Zigbee, a method using multiple ultrasonic sensor modules, a method using RFID, and a tracking method through image processing. etc.

However, in the case of tracking using the signal strength of the wireless communication module, there is a problem that the signal strength is not constant even in a fixed environment. have a problem In addition, in the RFID tagging system, since the reader cannot properly identify the tag when multiple tags exist, an efficient anti-collision algorithm must be ensured to prevent collision. It has a disadvantage in that it requires a high-performance processor because it involves a large number of calculation processes.

Due to these problems, it is not properly applied to commercialized products despite numerous studies being conducted.

Patent Document 1 (Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0740008) discloses a charging station having one infrared transmitter installed inside a transmission guide to transmit infrared rays of a single code in order to limit the irradiated angle within a certain range, and a plurality of infrared transmitters. A charging station location recognition system including a mobile robot having two infrared receivers is proposed. According to Patent Document 1, when the infrared receiver installed on the front of the mobile robot detects an infrared beam of a predetermined single code, it moves the mobile robot to the charging station while tracking the detection area that gradually narrows in the direction of the charging station. can

On the other hand, Non-Patent Document 1 (Soon-Tae Kwon, Sang-Hong Park, Kap Moon, "User-Following Mobile Robot Using Infrared Rays", Journal of the Korean Embedded Engineering Society Vol. 7, No. 1, Thesis 2012-07-04, February 2012) is We propose a method for a robot to follow a user using an infrared sensor. That is, according to Non-Patent Document 1, a user using infrared rays composed of a command transmitter for sending out a command signal through an infrared light emitting sensor and a mobile robot for recognizing the sent command signal and tracing the path of the signal to move to the command transmitter. We propose a following mobile robot. In particular, the mobile robot of Non-Patent Document 1 designs a BPF (Band Pass Filter) in the receiving part to block disturbances such as external infrared rays and lighting, and determines whether or not a signal is input from a plurality of infrared light receiving sensors attached to the periphery of the robot. It drives by tracing the transmission path to the command transmitter by controlling the direction.

The prior art according to Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1 transmits an infrared beam of a single code or designs a BPF (Band Pass Filter) in the receiver to specify a tracking target using infrared rays, such as lighting or external infrared rays. It blocks out disturbances. In addition, the prior art predicts the direction of an object to be estimated by installing a plurality of infrared light receiving sensors for receiving infrared rays.

Therefore, the infrared estimation technology according to the existing prior art has a problem in that the configuration of the system or the algorithm for analyzing the path or direction becomes complicated.

A first technical problem of the present invention is to propose a technology capable of specifying an estimation target using only one infrared emitting means and one infrared receiving means corresponding thereto.

In addition, a second technical task of the present invention is to propose a very simple and accurate algorithm capable of predicting the path or direction of an estimation target using only one infrared emitting means and one infrared receiving means corresponding thereto.

In order to achieve the above object, as a first aspect of the present invention, an autonomous driving device autonomously following the movement of a user carrying an infrared light emitting sensor based on an infrared signal is provided with an infrared command signal from the infrared light emitting sensor and a different infrared ray a memory for storing a synchronization pattern for discriminating disturbance signals; a driving unit including a plurality of wheels for moving the autonomous driving device forward, backward, left, and right, and a motor for driving the wheels; a single infrared light receiving sensor for receiving infrared signals such as the infrared command signal and the infrared disturbance signal; and synchronizing the infrared light-receiving sensor with the infrared light emitting sensor so as to receive only the infrared command signal having the synchronization pattern, and discriminating the position and angle of a point of the infrared command signal displayed on a pixel of the infrared light-receiving sensor. It is characterized in that it includes a driving control unit for driving and controlling the driving unit.

In another second aspect of the present invention, the driving control unit of the autonomous driving device of the first aspect includes a synchronization setting module for synchronizing the infrared light receiving sensor with the infrared light emitting sensor based on the synchronization pattern; When a synchronized infrared command signal is displayed as a point on a pixel of the infrared light-receiving sensor, a path determination module for driving and controlling the traveling unit by determining the location and angle of the point within the pixel is included.

Another third aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous driving device of the second aspect, is characterized in that the location of the point is any one of the left side, right side and y-axis of a pixel.

Another fourth aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous driving device of the third aspect, is characterized in that the angle of the point is an angle formed by the point with the y-axis.

Another fifth aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous driving device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the synchronization pattern continuously emits a predetermined number of infrared pulses in a first time period (time t ₁ ), It is characterized in that it is a periodic pattern that does not emit infrared pulses in the following second time period (time t ₂ ).

In another sixth aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous driving device of the fifth aspect, when the point is located in the second quadrant or the third quadrant of the pixel at an angle of θ ₂ from the y-axis, the driving controller controls the autonomous driving It is characterized in that the driving unit is driven and controlled to move the traveling device to the left at an angle of θ ₂ from the current position.

In another seventh aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous driving device of the fifth aspect, when the point is located in the first quadrant or the fourth quadrant of the pixel at an angle of θ ₁ from the y-axis, the driving controller controls the autonomous driving It is characterized in that the driving unit is driven and controlled to move the traveling device from the current position to the right at an angle of θ ₁ .

Another eighth aspect of the present invention, in the autonomous driving device of the fifth aspect, when the point is located on the y-axis, the driving control unit drives the driving unit to move the autonomous driving device straight from the current position characterized by control.

Another ninth aspect of the present invention, in the self-driving device of the fifth aspect, is characterized in that the self-driving device is a mobile robot capable of following a user and moving autonomously.

Another tenth aspect of the present invention is a mobile robot equipped with a single infrared light-receiving sensor for autonomously following the movement of a user carrying an infrared light-emitting sensor based on an infrared signal, wherein the infrared light-emitting sensor detecting an infrared disturbance signal different from an infrared command signal having a synchronization pattern from the external infrared disturbance signal; When an infrared signal having a synchronization pattern exists among the detected infrared signals, the infrared light receiving sensor is tuned to detect only the infrared command signal having the synchronization pattern, thereby synchronizing the infrared light receiving sensor with the infrared light emitting device. step; receiving, by the infrared light receiving sensor, an infrared command signal having the synchronization pattern, and displaying the received infrared command signal as an infrared point on a pixel; determining the position and angle of the infrared point in a pixel; and driving and controlling the mobile robot based on the position and angle.

Another eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the method of the tenth aspect, is characterized in that the position of the infrared point is any one of the left side, the right side and the y-axis of the pixel.

Another twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the method of the eleventh aspect, is characterized in that the angle of the infrared point is an angle formed by the infrared point and the y-axis.

In another thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the method of the twelfth aspect, the synchronization pattern continuously emits a predetermined number of infrared pulses in a first time period (time t ₁ ), and in a second time period (time t ₂ ) ) characterized in that it is a periodic pattern that does not emit infrared pulses.

In another 14th aspect of the present invention, in the method of the 13th aspect, when the infrared point is located in the second quadrant or the third quadrant of the pixel at an angle of θ ₂ from the y-axis, the mobile robot is moved from the current position. It is characterized in that driving is controlled to move to the left at an angle of θ ₂ .

Another 15th aspect of the present invention, in the method of the 14th aspect, when the infrared point is located in the first quadrant or the fourth quadrant of the pixel at an angle of θ ₁ from the y-axis, the mobile robot is moved from the current position. It is characterized in that driving is controlled to move to the right at an angle of θ ₁ .

Another 16th aspect of the present invention, in the method of the 15th aspect, is characterized in that when the infrared point is located on the y-axis, the mobile robot is driven and controlled to move straight from the current position.

According to the present invention, by synchronizing one infrared light emitting sensor and one infrared light receiving sensor using a preset pattern, separate infrared signals (disturbing signals) and command signals generated from external lighting or natural light are distinguished. It does not require a band pass filter (BPF) or frequency modulation means.

In addition, the present invention can easily track in which direction a user carrying an infrared light emitting sensor is moving from a current position using only one infrared camera without installing multiple infrared light receiving sensors at various angles and directions in an autonomous driving device. there is.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to follow a user by using a simple and easy location analysis algorithm without the aid of a complex following algorithm or an artificial intelligence mechanism for autonomously following a moving user.

The following drawings attached to this specification illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the detailed description of the present invention serve to further understand the technical idea of the present invention, the present invention is the details described in such drawings should not be construed as limited to

1 is a diagram showing a path following autonomous driving device following a user according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a path-following autonomous driving device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which infrared points are displayed on pixels of an infrared camera.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm for the autonomous driving device of the present invention to follow a user carrying an infrared light emitting device.

Since the present invention can make various changes and have various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

It is understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but other elements may exist in the middle. It should be.

On the other hand, when an element is referred to as “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another element, it should be understood that no other element exists in the middle.

Terms used in this specification are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, the terms "include" or "have" are intended to designate that there is a feature, number, process, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features It should be understood that the presence or addition of numbers, processes, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof is not precluded.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in this application, they should not be interpreted in ideal or excessively formal meanings. don't

The terms or words used in this specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to conventional or dictionary meanings, and the inventors may appropriately define the concept of terms in order to best explain their invention. Based on the principle that there is, it should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical spirit of the present invention. In addition, unless there is another definition in the technical terms and scientific terms used, they have meanings commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, and the gist of the present invention is described in the following description and accompanying drawings. Descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may be unnecessarily obscure are omitted. The drawings introduced below are provided as examples to sufficiently convey the spirit of the present invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in other forms without being limited to the drawings presented below. Also, like reference numerals denote like elements throughout the specification. It should be noted that like elements in the drawings are indicated by like numerals wherever possible.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings are not drawn to scale, and like reference numbers in each drawing indicate like elements.

The user tracking system of the present invention recognizes the infrared light emitting device 200 that transmits a command signal through an infrared light emitting sensor and the transmitted command signal and traces the path of the signal to track the user carrying the infrared light emitting device 200. It consists of a path following autonomous driving device 100 that moves by following the movement. That is, the infrared light emitting device 200 and the autonomous driving device 100 track the user's path by exchanging commands with infrared signals.

The path-following autonomous driving device 100 is a 'robot for (specific function)', 'mobile robot', 'cart mobile robot', 'cart robot', 'self-driving cart', 'smart cart' capable of autonomous driving. etc. is preferable.

The infrared light emitting device 200 is a command transmitter that sends a command signal to the autonomous driving device 100, and is equipped with an infrared light emitting sensor that emits electromagnetic waves in a predetermined IR frequency band. Infrared is light outside the red spectrum of visible light and does not reach very far, but it carries information relatively simply and without crosstalk.

A path following autonomous driving device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a power supply unit 120, an input unit 130, a communication unit 140, an infrared sensor 150, an output unit 160, and a memory 180. , At least one of the driving unit 190 and the driving control unit 110 that controls the driving operation of the driving unit 190 from information detected by the infrared sensor 150, or a combination thereof.

At this time, the components shown in FIG. 1 are not essential, so it goes without saying that an autonomous driving device having more or fewer components can be implemented.

Hereinafter, each component will be reviewed.

First, the power supply unit 120 includes a battery that can be charged by an external commercial power source and supplies power to the autonomous driving device 100 . The power supply unit 120 may supply driving power to each component included in the autonomous driving device 100 to supply operating power required for the autonomous driving device 100 to drive or perform a specific function.

To this end, the driving controller 110 detects the remaining power of the battery. When the remaining amount of power is insufficient, the driving controller 110 controls the autonomous driving device 100 to move to a charging station connected to an external commercial power source, and receives charging current from the charging station to charge the battery. The battery is connected to the battery detector so that the battery remaining amount and charging state can be transmitted to the driving control unit 110 .

The output unit 160 may display the remaining battery capacity on the output unit 160 . The driving control unit 110 serves to process information based on artificial intelligence technology, and includes one or more modules that perform at least one of information learning, information inference, information perception, and natural language processing. can do.

The driving control unit 110 is learning, reasoning, and processing a vast amount of information (big data, big data) such as information stored in an autonomous driving device and information stored in a communicable external storage using machine running technology. At least one can be done. Then, the driving control unit 110 predicts (or infers) at least one executable action using the information learned using the machine learning technology, and selects the most feasible action among the at least one predicted action. The self-driving device 100 may be controlled so that this is executed.

Machine learning technology is a technology that collects and learns large-scale information based on at least one algorithm, and determines and predicts information based on the learned information. Learning of information is an operation of identifying characteristics, rules, criteria, etc. of information, quantifying the relationship between information and predicting new data using quantified patterns.

The algorithm used by machine learning technology can be an algorithm based on statistics, for example, a decision tree using a tree structure as a predictive model, and an artificial neural network that mimics the structure and function of a neural network in a living organism. (neural network), genetic programming based on the evolutionary algorithm of organisms, clustering that distributes observed examples into subsets called clusters, and Monte Carlo method that calculates function values as probabilities through randomly extracted random numbers (Monter Carlo method) and the like.

As a field of machine learning technology, deep learning technology is a technology that performs at least one of learning, judgment, and processing of information using a Deep Neuron Network (DNN) algorithm. An artificial neural network (DNN) may have a structure that connects layers and transfers data between layers. Such deep learning technology can learn a vast amount of information through an artificial neural network (DNN) using a graphic processing unit (GPU) optimized for parallel computation.

The driving control unit 110 uses training data stored in an external server or memory, and may be equipped with a learning engine that detects a feature for recognizing a predetermined object. In this case, the characteristics for recognizing the object may include the size, shape, and shade of the object. The above learning engine may be installed in the driving control unit 110 or may be installed in an external server. When the learning engine is mounted on an external server, the driving control unit 110 may control the communication unit 140 to transmit at least one image that is an analysis target to the external server.

The driving control unit 110 according to the present invention may include a synchronization setting module 112 and a path determination module 114 as functional modules that follow a user by detecting an infrared signal as well as the above-described machine learning technology.

The synchronization setting module 112 detects infrared rays transmitted from the infrared light emitting device 200 among various infrared rays received through the infrared sensor 150, and sets the infrared sensor 150 to the infrared light emitting device 200. It is a function module that synchronizes with The infrared light emitting device 200 emits infrared rays in a pattern (synchronization pattern) agreed with the autonomous driving device 100 in advance. The predetermined pattern, that is, the synchronization pattern, continuously emits a predetermined number (eg, 3) of infrared pulses in a first time period (eg, t ₁ time), and in a second time period (eg, For example, a periodic pattern that does not emit infrared pulses at t ₂ hours). Therefore, the synchronization setting module 112 distinguishes the infrared command signal from the infrared light emitting device 200 from disturbance signals such as infrared rays such as other external lighting or natural light, and the infrared detector 150 detects the It is synchronized to be tuned to the infrared light emitting device 200.

The path determining module 114 displays an infrared command signal (hereinafter referred to as an infrared point) received by an infrared camera as an infrared sensor 150 synchronized with the infrared light emitting device 200 on a pixel as shown in FIG. 3 Then, by discriminating the direction and angle at which the infrared point deviates from the center of the pixel to the left or right, the driving unit 190 is instructed the direction and angle to be followed.

The driving unit 190 may include a plurality of wheels rolling along the floor and a motor rotating the wheels. By driving the motor, the main body can be rotated or moved by rotating a plurality of wheels in various directions. At this time, the plurality of wheels can move independently. The driving unit 190 may move the body of the autonomous driving device 100 forward and backward, left and right, drive in a curve, or rotate in place.

Meanwhile, the input unit 130 receives various control commands for the autonomous driving device 100 from the user. The input unit 130 may include one or more buttons, and may include, for example, a confirmation button and a setting button. The confirmation button is a button for receiving a command for confirming detection information, obstacle information, location information, and map information from the user, and the setting button is a button for receiving a command for setting the information from the user. In addition, the input unit 130 may be installed above the autonomous driving device 100 as a hard key, a soft key, or a touch pad. Also, the input unit 130 may have the form of a touch screen together with the output unit 160 .

The output unit 130 may display a battery state, an operating state, a driving method, an executable menu, and the like on a screen. In addition, the output unit 160 may output internal state information of the autonomous driving device 100, for example, the current state of each component included in the autonomous driving device 100. In addition, the output unit 160 may display external state information, obstacle information, location information, map information, article information, etc. detected by other sensors on the screen. The output unit 160 may be any one of a light emitting diode (LED), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel, and an organic light emitting diode (OLED). It can be formed as an element of.

The output unit 160 may further include a sound output means for aurally outputting the operation process or operation result of the autonomous driving device 100 performed by the driving control unit 110 . For example, the output unit 160 may output a warning sound to the outside according to a warning signal generated by the driving control unit 110 . In this case, the sound output unit (not shown) may be a unit for outputting sound such as a beeper or a speaker, and the output unit 160 may include audio data or message data having a predetermined pattern stored in the memory 180. It can be output to the outside through the sound output means by using.

The memory 180 stores a control program for controlling or driving the autonomous driving device 100 and corresponding data. The memory 180 may store audio information, image information, obstacle information, location information, map information, product information, and the like. Also, the memory 180 may store information related to the synchronization pattern. The memory 180 mainly uses a non-volatile memory. Here, the non-volatile memory (NVM, NVRAM) is a storage device capable of continuously maintaining stored information even when power is not supplied, for example, a ROM, a flash memory, a magnetic computer It may be a storage device (eg, hard disk, diskette drive, magnetic tape), optical disk drive, magnetic RAM, PRAM, and the like.

Meanwhile, the other sensors may include at least one of an external signal detection sensor, a front detection sensor, a cliff detection sensor, a 2D camera sensor, and a 3D camera sensor. Here, the external signal detection sensor may detect an external signal of the autonomous driving device. The external signal detection sensor may be, for example, an ultrasonic sensor (UltraSonic Sensor), an RF sensor (Radio Frequency Sensor), a UWB sensor, an NFC sensor, and the like.

Meanwhile, the communication unit 140 is connected to another device located within a specific area through one of wired, wireless, and satellite communication methods to transmit and receive signals and data. The communication unit 140 may transmit/receive data with other devices located within a specific area. In this case, the other device may be any device that can transmit and receive data by connecting to a network, and may be, for example, an air conditioning device, a heating device, an air purifying device, a light, a TV, a vehicle, and the like. Also, the other device may be a device that controls a door, a window, a water valve, a gas valve, and the like. In addition, the other device may be a sensor that detects temperature, humidity, air pressure, gas, and the like. Also, the communication unit 140 may communicate with other autonomous driving devices located in a specific area or within a predetermined range.

The infrared sensor 150 is an infrared camera for detecting infrared rays incident from an area to be driven. As shown in FIG. 3 , the infrared camera 150 displays the detected infrared signal on a pixel in a point form and outputs it through the output unit 160 . At this time, the infrared signal detected through the infrared camera 150 is an infrared signal having the agreed synchronization pattern.

The driving control unit 110 receives the detection information of the infrared sensor 150 and processes it according to the algorithm of FIG. 4 to operate the driving unit 190 - more specifically, driving a plurality of wheels. It may include an arithmetic unit (eg, CPU, MPU, SW module running on a general-purpose CPU that controls the entire operation of the autonomous driving device) that controls the motor.

The communication unit 140 may be a communication module that performs one or more of various wireless data communications such as Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, ZigBee communication, and cellular communication.

The infrared light emitting device 200 is attached to or carried by an object (eg, a user) that the autonomous driving device 100 follows, and may be an infrared lamp emitting electromagnetic waves in a predetermined IR frequency band. Preferably, the infrared light emitting device 200 is a lamp that emits infrared rays in a pattern (synchronized pattern) agreed with the autonomous driving device 100 in advance.

The predetermined pattern, that is, the synchronization pattern, continuously emits a predetermined number (eg, 3) of infrared pulses in a first time period (eg, t ₁ time), and in a subsequent second time period (eg, t 1 time) For example, t ₂ time) means a periodic pattern that does not emit infrared pulses. Accordingly, the synchronization pattern is a periodic pattern having a first time period and a second time period as one cycle, in which a predetermined number of infrared pulses are emitted during the first time period and no infrared pulses are emitted during the following second time period.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, a procedure for following a user using infrared rays according to a preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which infrared points are displayed on pixels of an infrared camera, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an algorithm for the autonomous driving device of the present invention to follow a user carrying an infrared emitting device.

The infrared emitting device 200 possessed by the user transmits an infrared signal having a synchronization pattern. Accordingly, the autonomous driving device 100 according to the present invention uses the infrared signal having the synchronization pattern to follow the user's movement according to the following algorithm.

The infrared sensor 150 (i.e., infrared camera) of the path-following autonomous driving device 110 according to the present invention, in which the promised synchronization pattern is stored in the memory 180, captures all detected infrared signals and detects the driving control unit 110 ) to (S110).

The synchronization setting module 112 of the driving control unit 110 determines whether an infrared signal identical to the synchronization pattern stored in the memory 180 exists among the detected infrared signals (S112). That is, a predetermined number (eg, 3) of infrared pulses are continuously emitted in a first time period (eg, time t ₁ ) among the infrared signals, and a second time period (eg, time t ₂ ) It is determined whether an infrared signal having a periodic pattern that does not emit infrared pulses exists.

At this time, when there is no synchronization pattern among the detected infrared signals, the process returns to S110 to continuously perform infrared detection. When there is a synchronization pattern among the detected infrared signals, the synchronization setting module 112 The infrared sensor 150 is synchronized with the infrared emitting device 200 possessed by the user by tuning the infrared camera to detect only the infrared signal having the synchronization pattern (eg, frequency synchronization) (S114). .

The infrared sensor 150 synchronized with the infrared light emitting device 200 captures an image of the infrared signal emitted by the infrared light emitting device 200 and displays it as an infrared point 55 on the pixel 50 of the camera as shown in FIG. . That is, the location of the user carrying the infrared light emitting device 200 is displayed as a single point (infrared point) on a pixel of the infrared camera. The pixels 50 on which the infrared points 55 are displayed are transferred to the path determination module 114 of the driving control unit 110 . Accordingly, the path determination module 114 determines the location of the infrared point 55 within the pixel 50 (S116).

That is, it is determined whether the infrared point 55 is located on the right side (quadrant 1 and quadrant 4) with respect to the y-axis of the pixel 50 as shown in (a) of FIG. 3 (S118). At this time, if the infrared point 55 is located at an angle point of θ ₁ from the y-axis to the right from the center 52 of the pixel 50 as shown in (a) of FIG. 3, the path determination module 114 is the driving unit ( 190) is instructed to move the autonomous driving device 100 from the current position to the right at an angle of θ ₁ (S119).

On the other hand, when the infrared point 55 is not located on the right side (quadrant 1 and quadrant 4) with respect to the y-axis of the pixel 50, the left side with respect to the y-axis of the pixel 50 as shown in (b) of FIG. It is determined whether it is located in the plane (quadrant 2 and quadrant 3) (S120). At this time, if the infrared point 55 is located at an angle point of θ ₂ from the y-axis to the left from the center 52 of the pixel 50 as shown in (b) of FIG. 3, the path determination module 114 is the driving unit ( 190) is instructed to move the autonomous driving device 100 to the left at an angle of θ ₂ from the current position (S121).

Finally, it is determined whether the infrared point 55 is located on the y-axis of the pixel 50 as shown in (c) of FIG. Do (S122). At this time, if the infrared point 55 is located on the y-axis of the pixel 50 as shown in (c) of FIG. Instructs to go straight from (S124).

In this way, the path determination module 114 determines whether the infrared signal received from the infrared sensor 150 exists on a pixel of the camera, and accordingly, the driving control unit 110 determines whether the driving unit 190 By driving and controlling the motor of the self-driving device 100 to go left or right or straight, the user's movement is autonomously followed.

The present invention synchronizes one infrared emitting sensor and one infrared light receiving sensor using a preset pattern, thereby distinguishing between an infrared signal (disturbing signal) and a command signal generated from external lighting or natural light, thereby providing a separate band. It does not require a pass filter (BPF) or frequency modulation means.

Although the present invention has been described above with limited examples and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto and will be described below and the technical spirit of the present invention by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs. Of course, various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the claims.

The method and device for following a user using infrared rays of the present invention can be used in various robotic fields such as autonomous mobile robots.

Claims

An autonomous driving device that autonomously follows the movement of a user carrying an infrared light emitting sensor based on an infrared signal,

The autonomous driving device,

a memory for storing a synchronization pattern for discriminating an infrared command signal from the infrared light emitting sensor and another infrared disturbance signal;

a driving unit including a plurality of wheels for moving the autonomous driving device forward, backward, left, and right, and a motor for driving the wheels;

a single infrared light receiving sensor for receiving infrared signals such as the infrared command signal and the infrared disturbance signal; and

The infrared light-receiving sensor is synchronized with the infrared light emitting sensor so that only the infrared command signal having the synchronization pattern can be received, and the position and angle of the point of the infrared command signal displayed on the pixel of the infrared light-receiving sensor is determined to perform the driving. An autonomous driving device that follows a user using infrared rays, characterized in that it includes a driving control unit for driving and controlling the unit.
According to claim 1,

The driving control unit,

a synchronization setting module for synchronizing the infrared light receiving sensor with the infrared light emitting sensor based on the synchronization pattern;

When a synchronized infrared command signal is displayed as a point in a pixel of the infrared light-receiving sensor, a path determination module for driving and controlling the driving unit by determining the position and angle of the point in the pixel using infrared rays, characterized in that it includes A self-driving device that follows the user.
According to claim 2,

The location of the point is any one of the left side, right side and y-axis of the pixel. An autonomous driving device that follows a user using infrared rays.
According to claim 3,

An autonomous driving device that follows a user using infrared rays, characterized in that the angle of the point is an angle formed by the point with the y-axis.
According to any one of claims 1 to 4,

The synchronization pattern is a periodic pattern that continuously emits a predetermined number of infrared pulses in a first time period (time t 1 ) and does not emit infrared pulses in a second time period (time t 2 ). A self-driving device that follows the user by using
According to claim 5,

When the point is located in the second or third quadrant of the pixel at an angle of θ 2 from the y-axis, the driving control unit driving and controlling the driving unit to move the autonomous driving device to the left from the current position at an angle of θ 2 An autonomous driving device that follows a user using infrared rays, characterized in that.
According to claim 5,

When the point is located in the first quadrant or the fourth quadrant of the pixel at an angle of θ 1 from the y-axis, the driving control unit driving and controlling the driving unit to move the autonomous driving device to the right from the current position at an angle of θ 1 An autonomous driving device that follows a user using infrared rays, characterized in that.
According to claim 5,

When the point is located on the y-axis, the driving controller drives and controls the driving unit to move the autonomous driving device straight from the current position.
According to claim 5,

An autonomous driving device following a user using infrared rays, characterized in that the autonomous driving device is a mobile robot capable of autonomously moving following a user.
In a mobile robot having a single infrared light receiving sensor to autonomously follow the movement of a user carrying an infrared light emitting sensor based on an infrared signal,

sensing an external infrared disturbance signal different from an infrared command signal having a synchronization pattern from the infrared light emitting sensor;

When an infrared signal having a synchronization pattern exists among the detected infrared signals, the infrared light receiving sensor is tuned to detect only the infrared command signal having the synchronization pattern, thereby synchronizing the infrared light receiving sensor with the infrared light emitting device. step;

receiving, by the infrared light receiving sensor, an infrared command signal having the synchronization pattern, and displaying the received infrared command signal as an infrared point on a pixel;

determining the position and angle of the infrared point in a pixel; and

A method for following a user using infrared rays, comprising driving and controlling the mobile robot based on the position and angle.
According to claim 10,

The location of the infrared point is any one of the left side, right side and y-axis of the pixel.
According to claim 11,

The method of following a user using infrared rays, characterized in that the angle of the infrared point is an angle formed by the infrared point and the y-axis.
According to claim 12,

The synchronization pattern is a periodic pattern that continuously emits a predetermined number of infrared pulses in a first time period (time t 1 ) and does not emit infrared pulses in a second time period (time t 2 ). How to use it to follow users.
According to claim 13,

When the infrared point is located in the second or third quadrant of the pixel at an angle of θ 2 from the y-axis, the mobile robot is driven and controlled to move to the left at an angle of θ 2 from the current position Using infrared rays, characterized in that How to follow users.
15. The method of claim 14,

When the infrared point is located in the 1st or 4th quadrant of the pixel at an angle of θ 1 from the y-axis, the mobile robot is driven and controlled to move from the current position to the right at an angle of θ 1 Using infrared rays, characterized in that How to follow users.
According to claim 15,

When the infrared point is located on the y-axis, the mobile robot is driven and controlled to move straight from the current position.