CN106592499B - A kind of clear snow robot and its clear snow method - Google Patents

Abstract

A snow shoveling method for a snow shoveling robot includes: acquiring a ground image of a scene where the snow shoveling robot is located through a camera module of the snow shoveling robot, identifying an area to be cleared of snow according to the ground image; Obstacles around the snow robot; dynamically generate two-dimensional map information through the navigation module, and generate a snow shoveling path in combination with the area to be cleared of snow and the position of the obstacle; generate a driving instruction according to the snow shoveling path, and drive the snow shoveling The robot shovels snow according to the snow shoveling path. The method can automatically clear the snow in the scene, can greatly reduce the operating time of the residents, and is conducive to improving the convenience and efficiency of snow clearing.

Description

A snow removal robot and snow removal method thereof

technical field

The invention belongs to the field of robots, and in particular relates to a snow-shoveling robot and a snow-shoveling method thereof.

Background technique

In winter in northern China, or other cold regions of the world, snow will form on the ground due to the cooling of the weather. If the snow is not cleaned up in time, it will cause difficulties for people to walk or drive, and bring inconvenience to people's lives; For example, it may cause the elderly or children to fall, and may even cause serious traffic accidents.

At present, household snow removal generally needs to be done manually by the residents themselves. Snow removal in cold weather requires a lot of energy and time for residents, and snow often continues to form, which increases the workload and difficulty of snow removal for residents.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a snow removal robot and snow removal method to solve the problem that in the prior art, when the residents manually remove the snow, it needs to consume more physical strength and time of the residents, the workload of removal is large, and the removal is difficult. The problem.

In the first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a snow removal robot, the snow removal robot includes a camera module, a snow removal mechanism, a power mechanism, an obstacle detection mechanism, and a controller, wherein:

The camera module is used to obtain the ground image of the scene where the snow removal robot is located;

The obstacle detection mechanism is used to detect obstacles around the snow removal robot;

The controller is used to receive the ground image acquired by the camera module, detect the area including snow to be cleared in the ground image, and receive the obstacle position acquired by the obstacle detection mechanism, and dynamically generate a two-dimensional image through the navigation module. The map information, combined with the obstacle position and the area to be cleared of snow, generates a snow plowing path, and generates a driving instruction according to the snow plowing path;

The power mechanism receives a driving instruction from the controller, and drives the snow removal robot to perform snow removal operations according to the snow removal path;

The snow shoveling mechanism is used to perform snow shoveling operations according to the snow shoveling instruction issued by the controller.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the snow removal robot further includes a wireless communication module connected to the control terminal for uploading the status data acquired by the snow removal robot to to the control terminal, and send the control command of the control terminal to the snow removal robot.

With reference to the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the robot further includes an odometer, and a spatial three-dimensional information acquisition device, and the odometer and the spatial three-dimensional information acquisition device are used to obtain the snow removal The absolute distance and pose estimation of the robot's movement, and the presentation of the pose in the map is sent to the controller, and the controller navigates or adjusts the path according to the absolute distance.

In combination with the first aspect, in a third possible implementation of the first aspect, the camera module is a depth image collector based on 3D structured light, and the ground of the scene where the robot is located is collected by the 3D structured light depth image collector. image.

With reference to the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the controller generates a snow removal unit according to the width of the snow shovel of the snow removal robot and the length of each snow removal, and according to the pair of snow removal units The snow area to be cleared is rasterized to generate a two-dimensional octree map, and the snow removal robot is controlled based on the A* algorithm to generate a snow removal path and traverse the grid.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation of the first aspect, in the fifth possible implementation of the first aspect, the controller of the snow plowing robot is further configured to automatically treat the snow to be removed according to the thickness of the acquired snow Number of times to traverse snowy regions.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a snow removal method for a snow removal robot, the method comprising:

Obtain the ground image of the scene where the snow removal robot is located by the camera module of the snow removal robot, and identify the area to be cleared of snow according to the ground image;

Detecting obstacles around the snow removal robot through an obstacle detection mechanism, dynamically generating two-dimensional map information through a navigation module, and generating a snow removal path in combination with the area to be cleared of snow;

A driving instruction is generated according to the snow removal route, and the snow removal robot is driven to remove snow according to the snow removal route.

With reference to the second aspect, in the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes:

Send the ground image of the scene where the snow removal machine is located by the camera module to the control terminal through the wireless module, or receive control instructions from the control terminal through the wireless module, and control the snow removal robot according to the control instructions.

With reference to the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes:

The moving distance and track of the robot are recorded by the odometer, and the snow removal robot is adjusted for navigation and path planning according to the recorded moving distance and track of the robot.

With reference to the second aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes:

The snow plowing scene map is pre-generated by the spatial three-dimensional information acquisition device, and in the process of snow plowing, the local adjustment of the map is made according to the actual situation, and the map is rasterized, which is used for navigation and path planning adjustment of the snow plowing robot.

Acquire the snow shovel width of the snow shovel robot, and the length of each snow shovel to generate a snow shovel unit, rasterize the area to be cleared of snow according to the snow shovel unit, and generate a snow shovel path pair grid Optimized unit traversal.

The snow shoveling robot of the present invention obtains the ground image of the scene where the snow shoveling robot is located through the camera module, detects obstacles around the robot through the obstacle detection mechanism, and obtains the area to be cleared of snow by identifying the ground image through the controller. The navigation module dynamically generates two-dimensional map information, combines the detected obstacles to generate a snow plowing path, generates driving instructions through the snow plowing path, drives the power mechanism to drive the robot according to the snow plowing path, and controls the snow plowing mechanism to perform snow plowing operations. The method can automatically clear the snow in the scene, can greatly reduce the operating time of the residents, and is conducive to improving the convenience and efficiency of snow clearing.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the mechanism of a snow removal robot provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of realizing the snow removal method of the snow removal robot provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the object, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described here are only used to explain the present invention, not to limit the present invention.

The purpose of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a snow removal robot and snow removal method thereof, so as to solve the problem of heavy workload, time-consuming and labor-intensive snow removal for family households in the prior art. And in the cold north, it is often necessary to remove the snow, which further increases the workload and difficulty of snow removal. Below in conjunction with accompanying drawing, the present invention will be further described.

Fig. 1 shows the structural representation of the snow removal robot that the embodiment of the present invention provides, and details are as follows:

The snow removal robot described in the embodiment of the present invention includes: a camera module 1, a snow removal mechanism 2, a power mechanism 3, an obstacle detection mechanism 4, and a controller 5, wherein:

The camera module 1 is used to obtain the ground image of the scene where the snow removal robot is located;

The obstacle detection mechanism 4 is used to detect obstacles around the snow removal robot;

The controller 5 is used to receive the ground image acquired by the camera module, detect the area including the snow to be cleared in the ground image, and receive the obstacle position acquired by the obstacle detection mechanism, and dynamically generate it through the navigation module two-dimensional map information, combined with the position of the obstacle and the area to be cleared of snow, to generate a snow plowing path, and generate a driving instruction according to the snow plowing path;

The power mechanism 3 receives a driving command from the controller, and drives the snow removal robot to perform snow removal operations according to the snow removal path;

The snow shoveling mechanism 2 is used to perform snow shoveling operations according to the snow shoveling instructions issued by the controller.

Specifically, the camera module can be a camera arranged at the front of the snow removal robot, through which the ground image of the snow removal robot's advancing direction can be obtained, and the snow removal robot can determine the advancing distance and direction according to the ground image . Of course, the camera can be rotated to collect ground images around the snow removal robot to obtain a map of a complete picture of the scene where the robot is located. Loop detection can be performed during the map construction process, so that the map can form a closed loop, even if the snowplow robot starts from the starting point and returns to the starting point.

As an optimized implementation of the present invention, since the texture features of snowflakes are not obvious, a depth image collector with three-dimensional structured light can be used to collect images, so that the ground image of the scene where the robot is located can be generated without being disturbed by texture and other features, so that It can more effectively detect the area to be cleared of snow in the scene where the robot is located.

The detection of the area to be cleared of snow can perform color clustering on the collected images, obtain the pure white duty cycle corresponding to the snowflakes, and filter the image according to a preset duty cycle threshold. When the duty cycle is smaller than the preset duty cycle threshold, it is considered that the snow has been cleaned up.

The navigation module may include a camera module and an obstacle detection mechanism. The image collected by the camera module is analyzed, and the structural obstacle detection mechanism detects obstacles in the scene to obtain accurate two-map map information of the scene where the robot is located.

The obstacle detection mechanism 4 may include a laser radar and/or an ultrasonic radar. As shown in FIG. 1 , a laser radar is arranged symmetrically on both sides of the snow removal robot, and an ultrasonic radar is arranged on the front of the robot. Through the lidar, the depth information of the fan position of the robot can be detected based on infrared ranging, which helps the snowplow robot to obtain the position of obstacles in the scene. Ultrasonic radar can be used to assist in judging the distance between the robot and the obstacles in front. Of course, the settings of the ultrasonic radar and the laser radar can also be exchanged.

The controller 5 is used for splicing the ground images acquired by the camera module to generate a complete map of the current scene. And combined with the position of the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection mechanism, the invalid snow plowing area where the obstacle is located can be marked, and the invalid snow plowing area is excluded during snow plowing planning, the map is corrected and the snow plowing path is generated.

The snow shoveling robot needs to traverse the snow area of the entire map, and the snow removal process needs to move in a roundabout way. The controller generates a snow shovel unit according to the width of the snow shovel of the snow shovel robot and the length of each snow shovel, and The snow shoveling unit rasterizes the snow area to be cleared to generate a two-dimensional octree map, controls the snow shoveling robot to generate a snow shoveling path based on the A* algorithm, and traverses the grid. After traversing all the grids, the snow removal robot completes a cycle of snow removal, and can obtain the ground image in the scene again, and redefine the area to be cleared of snow.

In addition, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the controller of the snow removal robot is further configured to automatically traverse the area to be cleared of snow according to the acquired snow thickness. The snow cover thickness may receive a parameter input by a user, or may be obtained through detection by a depth sensor. Of course, the distance of a snow removal operation can be determined according to the thickness of the snow accumulation. For example, for the first thickness of snow, combined with the size of the snow shovel, the distance traveled by one snow shovel is L1, and the number of times to traverse is N.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when clearing the snow, the current starting position and general direction of the robot can be given in the map according to the current position of the robot. After the robot performs direction correction, it enters the snow area and starts to traverse .

The robot snow shovel can have two degrees of freedom of up and down motion and rotation. The controller gives a backward command to the power mechanism (the power mechanism can be a motor driving the chain), and the snow removal robot retreats to leave a shoveling distance; after receiving the forward command, it controls the snow removal robot to level the shovel and move forward To the start position, control the snow shovel to lower properly so that the top of the snow shovel is lower than the snowflake surface; control the snow shovel robot to continue to move forward, and the snow shovel completes a snow shovel; after that, control the snow shovel to raise, and the snow shovel robot moves to the nearest dumping location specified by the map Area: Control the shovel of the snow shoveling robot to rotate and turn down. After dumping the snow, keep the snow shovel up and return to the horizontal direction, move to the next snow shoveling area, and start the next snow shoveling until all snow shoveling areas are completed. Traverse so far.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the robot also includes an odometer 6, the odometer is used to obtain the absolute distance of the movement of the snow removal robot, and the absolute distance is sent to the controller, and the controller according to the Absolute distance to navigate or adjust the path. During the snow clearing process, the forward and backward distance of the snow removal robot is quantified by the map and the odometer, and the position of the snow removal robot in the map is precisely positioned by the odometer, so that the snow in the scene can be removed more effectively operate. In addition, the robot may also include a spatial three-dimensional information acquisition device, which can effectively estimate the current pose of the robot, and send the presentation of the robot pose in the map to the controller. According to the estimated pose information, accurate and effective data is provided for the controller to navigate and adjust the path of the robot, further improving the navigation efficiency.

In addition, as a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the snow removal robot also includes a wireless communication module 7, the wireless communication module is connected to the control terminal, and is used to upload the state data obtained by the snow removal robot to the control terminal, and to The control command of the control terminal is sent to the snow removal robot. The control terminal can be a computer, or a smart phone or a tablet computer. The wireless communication module may be a WIFI module.

The snow removal robot can have a WIFI module, and the snow removal robot and the control terminal are connected to the same local area network; after the connection is successful, the robot movement is controlled by the snow removal robot management software. Collect the surrounding three-dimensional depth information, extract feature information such as corners and arcs in the physical world based on this information, combine the robot odometer information, extract invariant features during the robot's movement, perform coordinate system conversion, and generate a scene topology map.

In addition, considering that when the snow removal area is too large, the WIFI signal cannot be completely covered, a WIFI hotspot can be set up through the mobile terminal, and the snow removal robot can connect to the control terminal after connecting to the hotspot.

Fig. 2 is the implementation flowchart of the snow removal method of the snow removal robot provided by the embodiment of the present invention, detailed description is as follows:

The snow removal method of the snow removal robot described in the embodiment of the present invention includes:

In step S201, the ground image of the scene where the snow shoveling robot is located is acquired through the camera module of the snow shoveling robot, and the area to be cleared of snow is identified according to the ground image;

In step S202, obstacles around the snow removal robot are detected by an obstacle detection mechanism, two-dimensional map information is dynamically generated by a navigation module, and a snow removal path is generated in combination with the area to be cleared of snow;

In step S203, a driving instruction is generated according to the snow shoveling path, and the snow shoveling robot is driven to shovel snow according to the snow shoveling path.

Preferably, the method also includes:

Send the ground image of the scene where the snow removal machine is located by the camera module to the control terminal through the wireless module, or receive control instructions from the control terminal through the wireless module, and control the snow removal robot according to the control instructions.

Preferably, the method also includes:

The distance and trajectory of the robot are recorded by the odometer and the spatial three-dimensional information acquisition device, and the pose of the robot is estimated. According to the recorded distance, trajectory and pose of the robot, combined with the two-dimensional map information dynamically generated by the navigation module, the The snowplowing robot performs navigation and path planning adjustments.

Preferably, the method also includes:

Acquire the snow shovel width of the snow shovel robot, and the length of each snow shovel to generate a snow shovel unit, rasterize the area to be cleared of snow according to the snow shovel unit, and generate a snow shovel path pair grid Optimized unit traversal.

The snow shoveling method of the snow shoveling robot described in the embodiment of the present invention corresponds to the description of the snow shoveling robot shown in FIG. 1 , and will not be repeated here.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection of the present invention. within range.

Claims (8)

1. a kind of clear snow robot, which is characterized in that the clear snow robot include photographing module, snow scraper mechanism, actuating unit, Detection of obstacles mechanism, controller, wherein：

The ground image of scene where the photographing module is used to obtain clear snow robot；

The detection of obstacles mechanism is used to detect the barrier around the clear snow robot；

The controller is used to receive the ground image that the photographing module obtains, and it includes to be cleaned to detect the ground image The region of accumulated snow, and the Obstacle Position that the detection of obstacles mechanism obtains is received, pass through navigation module dynamic generation two Cartographic information is tieed up, in conjunction with the region of the Obstacle Position and accumulated snow to be cleaned, generates clear snow path, and according to the clear snow Coordinates measurement driving instruction；

The actuating unit receives the driving instruction of the controller, drive the clear snow robot according to the clear snow path into Row clear snow operates；

The clear snow instruction that the snow scraper mechanism is used to be issued according to controller carries out clear snow operation；

The controller generates clear snow unit according to the width of the snow cave shovel of clear snow robot and the length of each clear snow, according to described Clear snow unit handles the snow region to be cleaned rasterizing, generates two-dimensional Octree map, described in the control of A* algorithms Clear snow machine life traverses the grid at clear snow path.

2. clear snow robot according to claim 1, which is characterized in that the clear snow robot further includes radio communication mold Block, the wireless communication module are connected with control terminal, and the status data for obtaining clear snow robot is uploaded to control terminal, And the control instruction of control terminal is issued to the clear snow robot.

3. clear snow robot according to claim 1, which is characterized in that the robot further includes odometer and space three-dimensional Information acquisition device, the odometer and space three-dimensional information acquisition device are for obtaining the absolute of the clear snow robot motion Distance and pose estimation, and are sent to controller by presentation of the pose in map, by controller according to it is described absolutely away from From being navigated or adjusted to path.

4. clear snow robot according to claim 1, which is characterized in that the photographing module is the depth based on three-dimensional structure light Image acquisition device is spent, the ground image of scene where acquiring robot by the depth image collector of the three-dimensional structure light.

5. clear snow robot according to claim 1, which is characterized in that the controller of the clear snow robot is additionally operable to basis The thickness of the accumulated snow of acquisition, the number that the region of the accumulated snow to be cleaned is traversed automatically.

6. a kind of clear snow method of clear snow robot, which is characterized in that the method includes：

The ground image of scene where obtaining clear snow robot by the photographing module of clear snow robot, according to the ground image Identify the region of accumulated snow to be cleaned；

Barrier around the clear snow robot detects in the testing agency that breaks the barriers, and passes through navigation module dynamic generation two dimension Cartographic information, in conjunction with the Area generation clear snow path of the accumulated snow to be cleaned；

The snow cave shovel width of the clear snow robot is obtained, and the length of clear snow generates clear snow unit every time, according to the clear snow The region rasterizing processing of the accumulated snow to be cleaned is generated clear snow path and is traversed to the unit of rasterizing by unit；

According to the clear snow coordinates measurement driving instruction, the clear snow robot is driven to carry out clear snow according to the clear snow path.

7. method according to claim 6, which is characterized in that the method further includes：

The ground image for the clear snow machine place scene that the photographing module obtains is sent to control terminal by wireless module, Alternatively, receiving the control instruction of control terminal by the wireless module, clear snow robot is controlled according to the control instruction.

8. method according to claim 6, which is characterized in that the method further includes：

By odometer and space three-dimensional information acquisition device recorder people move distance and track, and estimate robot position Appearance, according to the robot motion of record distance, the pose of track and robot, the two-dimensional map of navigation module dynamic generation Information carries out navigation to the clear snow robot and path planning adjusts.