CN111083332B

CN111083332B - Structured light module, autonomous mobile device and light source distinguishing method

Info

Publication number: CN111083332B
Application number: CN201911398774.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨晓璐; 单俊杰
Original assignee: Ecovacs Robotics Suzhou Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ecovacs Robotics Suzhou Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-30
Filing date: 2019-12-30
Publication date: 2022-09-06
Anticipated expiration: 2039-12-30
Also published as: CN111083332A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a structured light module, an autonomous mobile device and a light source distinguishing method. In this application embodiment, combine together camera module and line laser emitter, set up line laser emitter in camera module both sides and obtain a new structured light module, in this structured light module, the outside emission line laser of line laser emitter, the camera module gathers the environmental image that is detected by line laser, detects the higher advantage of precision with the help of line laser, can detect the place ahead environmental information more accurately. In addition, the line laser transmitters are positioned on two sides of the camera module, the size of the mode occupies a small space, more space can be saved, and the application scene of the line laser sensor can be expanded.

Description

Structured light module, autonomous mobile device and light source distinguishing method

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of data processing, in particular to a structured light module, an autonomous mobile device and a light source distinguishing method.

Background

With the popularization of laser technology, the application of laser sensors is gradually being explored. The obstacle identification and obstacle avoidance are important application directions of the laser sensor. The requirements of various fields on laser sensors are higher and higher, the existing laser sensors cannot meet the application requirements of users, and new laser sensor structures are to be provided.

Disclosure of Invention

Aspects of the application provide a structured light module, autonomous mobile device and light source distinguishing method for providing a new structured light module and expanding the application range of a laser sensor.

The embodiment of the application provides a structured light module, includes: the device comprises a camera module, line laser transmitters distributed on two sides of the camera module, a first control unit and a second control unit; the first control unit is electrically connected with the line laser transmitter, the second control unit and the camera module respectively; the camera module is also electrically connected with the second control unit; the second control unit is used for carrying out exposure control on the camera module, and a synchronous signal generated by each exposure of the camera module is output to the first control unit; the first control unit controls the laser emitters to work alternately according to the synchronous signals and provides laser source distinguishing signals for the second control unit; the second control unit marks the environment image acquired by each exposure of the camera module left and right according to the laser source distinguishing signal.

An embodiment of the present application further provides an autonomous mobile device, including: the device comprises a device body, wherein a main controller and a structured light module are arranged on the device body; the structured light module includes: the device comprises a camera module, line laser transmitters distributed on two sides of the camera module, a first control unit and a second control unit; the first control unit is electrically connected with the line laser transmitter, the second control unit and the camera module respectively; the camera module is also electrically connected with the second control unit; the second control unit is also electrically connected with the main controller; the second control unit is used for carrying out exposure control on the camera module, and a synchronous signal generated by each exposure of the camera module is output to the first control unit; the first control unit controls the laser emitters to work alternately according to the synchronous signals and provides laser source distinguishing signals for the second control unit; the second control unit marks the left and right of the environment image acquired by each exposure of the camera module according to the laser source distinguishing signal and provides the marked environment image to the main controller; and the main controller is responsible for carrying out function control on the autonomous mobile equipment according to the marked environmental image.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a light source distinguishing method, which is applicable to a structured light module, where the structured light module includes: the camera comprises a camera module and line laser transmitters distributed on two sides of the camera module; the method comprises the following steps: carrying out exposure control on the camera module, wherein the camera module generates a synchronous signal during each exposure; controlling the laser emitters to work alternately according to the synchronous signals, and generating different laser source distinguishing signals aiming at the line laser emitters in the working state each time; and distinguishing signals according to the laser source, and marking the environment image acquired by the camera module in each exposure.

In this application embodiment, combine together camera module and line laser emitter, set up line laser emitter in camera module both sides and obtain a new structured light module, in this structured light module, the outside transmission line laser of line laser emitter, the camera module is gathered by the environmental image that line laser detected, detects the higher advantage of precision with the help of line laser, can detect the place ahead environmental information more accurately. In addition, the line laser transmitters are positioned on two sides of the camera module, the size of the mode occupies a small space, more space can be saved, and the application scene of the line laser sensor can be expanded.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application and not to limit the application. In the drawings:

fig. 1a is a schematic structural diagram of a structured light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram illustrating an operating principle of a line laser transmitter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 1c is a schematic diagram illustrating a mounting position relationship of devices in a structured light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 1d is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between a line laser of a line laser transmitter and a field angle of a camera module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 1e is a front view of a structured light module provided in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 1f is a bottom view of a structured light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 1g is a top view of a structured light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1h is a rear view of a structured light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1i is an exploded view of a structured light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2a is a schematic diagram of another structured light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of a combination of first and second control units provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2c is a schematic structural diagram of a laser driving circuit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3a is a schematic structural diagram of an autonomous mobile device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3b is a schematic structural diagram of an autonomous mobile device control structure light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3c is an exploded view of an apparatus body and a striking plate according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3d is an exploded view of a structured light module and a striking plate according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a light source distinguishing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the technical solutions of the present application will be described in detail and completely with reference to the following specific embodiments of the present application and the accompanying drawings. It should be apparent that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Aiming at the problem that the existing laser sensor cannot meet the application requirements, the embodiment of the application provides a structured light module which mainly comprises a line laser transmitter and a camera module; the line laser emitters are distributed on two sides of the camera module and can emit line laser outwards, after the line laser reaches the surface of an object and the background of the object, the line laser information returned is collected by the camera module, and then information such as the position and the depth of the object can be calculated according to the change of the line laser information caused by the object, and the whole three-dimensional space is restored. The structured light module provided in the embodiments of the present application can have various implementation forms, and the following description will be separately provided by different embodiments.

Fig. 1a is a schematic structural diagram of a structured light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1a, the structured light module 100 includes: the camera module 101, the line laser transmitter 102, the first control unit 103 and the second control unit 108 are distributed on two sides of the camera module. The first control unit 103 is electrically connected with the line laser transmitter 102, the second control unit 108 and the camera module 101 respectively; the camera module 101 is also electrically connected to the second control unit 108.

In the embodiment of the present application, the implementation forms of the first control unit 103 and the second control unit 108 are not limited, and for example, but not limited to: CPU, GPU, MCU, processing chip or singlechip based on FPGA or CPLD realization.

In the embodiment of the present application, the second control unit 108 performs exposure control on the camera module 101, and a synchronization signal generated by each exposure of the camera module 101 is output to the first control unit 103; the first control unit 103 controls the line laser transmitters 102 to operate alternately according to the synchronization signal. For example, the first control unit 103 may control the line laser emitters 102 on one side to work and the line laser emitters 102 on both sides to work alternately according to a synchronization signal generated by each exposure of the camera module 101, so as to achieve the purpose that the line laser emitters 102 on both sides work alternately. In this case, the environment image acquired by the camera module 101 at each time is not a full image, but a half image.

In order to identify whether the environment image acquired by each exposure is the left half image or the right half image, it is necessary to distinguish the line laser transmitter 102 which is in operation during the exposure. In order to distinguish the line laser emitters 102 in the working state during each exposure, the first control unit 103 is further electrically connected with the second control unit 108, the first control unit 103 controls the line laser emitters 102 to work alternately according to the synchronous signal, and outputs a laser source distinguishing signal to the second control unit 108; the second control unit 108 marks the left and right of the environmental image acquired by each exposure of the camera module 101 according to the laser source distinguishing signal. If the line laser transmitter 102 on the left side of the camera module 101 is in a working state during the current exposure period, the environmental image acquired during the exposure period can be marked as a right half image; on the contrary, if the line laser transmitter 102 on the right side of the camera module 101 is in the working state during the current exposure period, the environment image acquired during the exposure period may be marked as a left half image. The synchronization signal is a time reference signal provided to other devices or components that need to process information synchronously, for example, an exposure synchronization (LED STROBE) signal is a time reference provided by the camera module 101 for the line laser transmitter 102, and is a trigger signal triggering the line laser transmitter 102 to emit the line laser during the exposure. The synchronization signal may be, but is not limited to, a switching signal, a continuous pulse signal, and the like.

It should be noted that the signal parameters of the laser source distinguishing signals corresponding to different line laser transmitters 102 are different, and the laser source distinguishing signals may be voltage signals, current signals, pulse signals, or the like. Taking the voltage signal as an example, and assuming that two line laser emitters are distributed on two sides of the camera module, the voltage of the laser source distinguishing signal corresponding to the left line laser emitter is 0V, and the voltage of the laser source distinguishing signal corresponding to the right line laser emitter is 3.3V. Of course, as the number of line laser emitters increases, the laser source distinguishing signals can also increase adaptively so as to meet the criteria of distinguishing different line laser emitters. For example, if there is a line laser transmitter on the left side of the camera module, and there are two line laser transmitters on the right side of the camera module, it is necessary to distinguish not only the line laser transmitters on the left and right sides, but also the two line laser transmitters on the right side, three laser source distinguishing signals, which are 0V, 3.3V, and 5V, may be set, where the laser source distinguishing signal of 0V corresponds to the line laser transmitter on the left side; the laser source distinguishing signals of 3.3V and 5V respectively correspond to the two line laser transmitters on the right side. The voltage value of the laser source discrimination signal is merely an example and is not limited thereto.

Further alternatively, in the case where the first control unit 301 controls the line laser emitters 303b to operate alternately according to the synchronization signal, the second control unit 108 may control the camera module 101 to set the operation mode of the lens alternately to adapt to the line laser emitters 102 in the operation state. The second control unit 108 controls the camera module 101 to alternately set the working mode of the lens, which is an implementation manner of performing left-right marking on the environmental image acquired by each exposure of the camera module 101.

Specifically, under the condition that the second control unit 108 controls the camera module 101 to alternately set the working mode of the lens, when the first control unit 103 controls the line laser emitter 102 located on the left side of the camera module 101 to work according to the synchronization signal, the second control unit 108 can identify that the line laser emitter located on the left side is in the working state during the current exposure period according to the laser source distinguishing signal, so as to control the lens of the camera module 101 to work in the right half mode, and in the right half mode, the environment image collected by the camera module 101 is marked as a right half image; when the first control unit 103 controls the line laser transmitter 102 located on the right side of the camera module 101 to work according to the synchronization signal, the second control unit 108 can identify that the line laser transmitter on the right side is in a working state during the current exposure period according to the laser source distinguishing signal, so as to control the lens of the camera module 101 to work in a left half mode, and in the left half mode, the environment image collected by the camera module 101 is marked as a left half image.

In the present embodiment, the line laser transmitter 102 is not limited to be implemented, and may be any device/product capable of emitting line laser. For example, line laser transmitter 102 may be, but is not limited to: and (3) a laser tube. Line laser transmitter 102 may emit line laser light outward to detect the environmental image. In the present embodiment, the first control unit 103 may control the line laser transmitter 102 to operate, for example, may control the time and the transmitting power of the line laser transmitter 102 to emit the line laser outwards. For the line laser transmitter 102, line laser may be emitted outward under the control of the first control unit 103. As shown in fig. 1b, the line laser transmitter 102 may emit a laser plane FAB and a laser plane ECD to the outside under the control of the first control unit 103, and the laser plane reaches an obstacle to form a line of laser on the surface of the obstacle, i.e. a line AB and a line CD shown in fig. 1 b.

In the present embodiment, the implementation form of the camera module 101 is not limited. All visual equipment capable of acquiring environment images are suitable for the embodiment of the application. For example, the camera module 101 may include, but is not limited to: a monocular camera, a binocular camera, etc. In this embodiment, the wavelength of the line laser beam emitted from the line laser emitter 102 is not limited, and the color of the line laser beam may be different depending on the wavelength, and may be, for example, a red laser beam or a violet laser beam. Accordingly, the camera module 101 may adopt a camera module capable of collecting line laser emitted by the line laser emitter 102. The camera module 101 may also be an infrared camera, an ultraviolet camera, a starlight camera, a high-definition camera, etc., for example, adapted to the wavelength of the line laser emitted by the line laser emitter 102. The camera module 101 can capture an environment image within a field angle thereof. The angles of view of the camera module 101 include a vertical angle of view and a horizontal angle of view. In this embodiment, the angle of view of the camera module 101 is not limited, and the camera module 101 with a suitable angle of view may be selected according to application requirements.

In this embodiment, the line laser emitted by the line laser emitter 102 is located in the field of view of the camera module 101, the line laser can help detect information such as the profile, height and/or width of an object in the field of view of the camera module 101, and the camera module 101 can collect an environmental image detected by the line laser. In this embodiment, the second control unit 108 can control the camera module 101 to work, for example, can control the exposure frequency, the exposure duration, the working frequency, and the like of the camera module 101. For the camera module 101, the environment image detected by the line laser can be collected under the control of the second control unit 108. In this embodiment, as long as the line laser emitted by the line laser emitter 102 is located within the field of view of the camera module 101, an angle between the line laser and a horizontal plane is not limited, for example, a laser line segment formed by the line laser on the surface of an object may be parallel to or perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and may form any angle with the horizontal plane, which may be specifically determined according to application requirements. The angle between the line laser and the horizontal plane is related to factors such as the installation manner and the installation angle of the line laser transmitter 102. Fig. 1d is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between the line laser emitted by the line laser emitter 102 and the field angle of the camera module 101. Wherein, letter K represents the camera module, and letters J and L represent the line laser transmitters positioned at two sides of the camera module; q represents the intersection point of the line laser emitted by the line laser emitters at the two sides in the field angle of the camera module; straight lines KP and KM represent two boundaries of the horizontal field of view of the camera module, and angle PKM represents the horizontal field angle of view of the camera module. In fig. 1d, a straight line JN represents the center line of the line laser emitted by the line laser emitter J; the straight line LQ represents the center line of the line laser light emitted by the line laser transmitter L.

Based on the environmental image collected by the camera module 101, the distance from the structured light module 100 or the device in which the structured light module 100 is located to the front object (e.g., an obstacle) can be calculated, the information such as the height, width, shape, or contour of the front object (e.g., the obstacle) can be calculated, and further, three-dimensional reconstruction can be performed. The distance between the line laser transmitter and the object in front of the line laser transmitter can be calculated through a trigonometric function by utilizing the trigonometric principle.

In the embodiment of the present application, the total number of the line laser transmitters 102 is not limited, and may be, for example, two or more. The number of the line laser emitters 102 distributed on each side of the camera module 101 is not limited, and the number of the line laser emitters 102 on each side of the camera module 101 may be one or more; in addition, the number of line laser emitters 102 on both sides may be the same or different. In fig. 1a, one line laser transmitter 102 is provided on each side of the camera module 101 for illustration, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, 2 line laser emitters 102 may be disposed on the left side of the camera module 101, and 1 line laser emitter 102 may be disposed on the right side of the camera module 101. For another example, 2, 3, or 5 line laser transmitters 102 are disposed on both the left and right sides of the camera module 101.

In this embodiment, the distribution of the line laser emitters 102 on both sides of the camera module 101 is also not limited, and may be, for example, uniform distribution, non-uniform distribution, symmetrical distribution, or non-symmetrical distribution. Wherein, the uniform distribution and the non-uniform distribution may mean that the laser emitters 102 are distributed between the same side of the camera module 101, and may be uniformly distributed or non-uniformly distributed, and of course, they may also be understood as: the line laser emitters 102 distributed on both sides of the camera module 101 are uniformly distributed or non-uniformly distributed as a whole. The symmetric distribution and the asymmetric distribution mainly mean that the line laser transmitters 102 distributed on both sides of the camera module 101 are symmetrically distributed or asymmetrically distributed as seen from the whole. Symmetry here includes both the number of equivalents and the mounting location. For example, in the structured light module shown in fig. 1b, the number of the line laser emitters 102 is two, and the two line laser emitters 102 are symmetrically distributed on two sides of the camera module 101.

In this embodiment, the installation position relationship between the line laser emitter 102 and the camera module 101 is also not limited, and the installation position relationship that the line laser emitter 102 is distributed on both sides of the camera module 101 is suitable for this embodiment. The installation position relationship between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 is related to the application scene of the structured light module 100. The installation position relationship between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 can be flexibly determined according to the application scene of the structured light module 100. The installation position relationship here includes the following aspects:

installation height: the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 may be located at different heights in the installation height. For example, the line laser emitters 102 on both sides are higher than the camera module 101, or the camera module 101 is higher than the line laser emitters 102 on both sides; or the line laser transmitter 102 on one side is higher than the camera module 101, and the line laser transmitter 102 on the other side is lower than the camera module 101. Of course, the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 may be located at the same height. Preferably, the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 may be located at the same height. For example, in actual use, the structured light module 100 may be installed on a device (e.g., an autonomous mobile device such as a robot, a purifier, an unmanned vehicle, etc.), in which case the distance between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 to the working surface (e.g., the ground) is the same, e.g., the distance between the line laser transmitter and the camera module and the working surface is 47mm, 50mm, 10cm, 30cm, or 50cm, etc.

Installation distance: the installation distance is a mechanical distance (or referred to as a baseline distance) between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101. The mechanical distance between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 can be flexibly set according to the application requirements of the structured light module 100. The size of the measurement blind area can be determined to some extent by information such as a mechanical distance between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101, a detection distance required to be satisfied by a device (e.g., a robot) where the structured light module 100 is located, and a diameter of the device. For an apparatus (for example, a robot) where the structural optical module 100 is located, the diameter thereof is fixed, and the mechanical distance between the measurement range and the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 can be flexibly set according to requirements, which means that the mechanical distance and the blind area range are not fixed values. On the premise of ensuring the measurement range (or performance) of the equipment, the blind area range should be reduced as much as possible, however, the larger the mechanical distance between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 is, the larger the controllable distance range is, which is beneficial to better control the size of the blind area.

In some application scenarios, the structured light module 100 is applied to a sweeping robot, for example, the structured light module may be mounted on a striking plate or a robot body of the sweeping robot. For the sweeping robot, the following exemplary embodiment shows a reasonable mechanical distance range between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101. For example, the mechanical distance between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 may be greater than 20 mm. Further optionally, the mechanical distance between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 is greater than 30 mm. Further, the mechanical distance between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101 is greater than 41 mm. It should be noted that the mechanical distance range given here is not only applicable to the scene that the structured light module 100 is applied to the sweeping robot, but also applicable to the application of the structured light module 100 to other devices with the specification and size closer to or similar to that of the sweeping robot.

Emission angle: the emission angle is an angle between a center line of the line laser emitted from the line laser emitter 102 and an installation base line of the line laser emitter 102 after installation. The installation baseline refers to a straight line where the line laser module 102 and the camera module 101 are located under the condition that the line laser module 102 and the camera module 101 are located at the same installation height. In the present embodiment, the emission angle of the line laser transmitter 102 is not limited. The emission angle is related to the detection distance that needs to be satisfied by the equipment (e.g. robot) where the structured light module 100 is located, the radius of the equipment, and the mechanical distance between the line laser transmitter 102 and the camera module 101. Under the condition that the detection distance required to be met by the equipment (such as a robot) where the structured light module 100 is located, the radius of the equipment and the mechanical distance between the line laser emitter 102 and the camera module 101 are determined, the emission angle of the line laser emitter 102 can be directly obtained through a trigonometric function relationship, namely the emission angle is a fixed value.

Of course, if a specific emitting angle is required, it can be achieved by adjusting the detecting distance required to be satisfied by the device (e.g. robot) where the structured light module 100 is located and the mechanical distance between the line laser emitter 102 and the camera module 101. In some application scenarios, in the case of determining the detection distance and the radius of the device (e.g. robot) that the device (e.g. the structured light module 100) needs to satisfy, the emission angle of the line laser emitter 102 may be varied within a certain angle range, for example, 50-60 degrees, by adjusting the mechanical distance between the line laser emitter 102 and the camera module 101, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 1c, an application of the structured light module 100 to a sweeping robot is taken as an example, and an exemplary illustration of the mounting position relationship and related parameters is given. In fig. 1C, letter B denotes a camera module, and letters a and C denote line laser emitters located at both sides of the camera module; h represents the intersection point of the line laser emitted by the line laser emitters on the two sides in the field angle of the camera module; lines BD and BE represent two boundaries of the horizontal field of view of the camera module, and angle DBE represents the horizontal field of view of the camera module. In fig. 1c, line AG represents the center line of the line laser emitted by line laser emitter a; the straight line CF represents the center line of the line laser light emitted by the line laser transmitter C. In fig. 1c, a straight line BH indicates a center line of a field angle of the camera module, that is, in fig. 1c, center lines of line laser beams emitted from the line laser emitters on both sides intersect with the center line of the field angle of the camera module.

In the embodiments of the present application, the horizontal angle and the vertical angle of view of the employed camera module are not limited. Alternatively, the horizontal field angle range of the camera module can be 60-75 degrees. Further, the horizontal angle of view of the camera module may be 69.49 degrees, 67.4 degrees, etc. Accordingly, the vertical field angle range of the camera module can be 60-100 degrees. Further, the vertical angle of view of the camera module may be 77.74 degrees, 80 degrees, or the like.

In fig. 1c, the radius of the sweeping robot is 175mm, and the diameter is 350 mm; the line laser transmitters A and C are symmetrically distributed on two sides of the camera module B, and the mechanical distance between the line laser transmitter A or C and the camera module B is 30 mm; the horizontal field angle DBE of the camera module B is 67.4 degrees; under the condition that the detection distance of the sweeping robot is 308mm, the emission angle of the line laser emitter A or C is 56.3 degrees. As shown in fig. 1c, the distance between the straight line IH passing through the point H and the installation baseline is 45mm, the distance between the straight line IH and the tangent line of the edge of the sweeping robot is 35mm, and the area is a blind area of the visual field. The various values shown in FIG. 1c are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting.

For convenience of use, the structured light module 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application includes, in addition to the camera module 101, the line laser emitters 102 distributed on two sides of the camera module 101, the first control unit 103, and the second control unit 108, some carrying structures for carrying the camera module 101, the line laser emitters 102, the first control unit 103, and the second control unit 108. The bearing structure may have various implementations, which are not limited thereto. In some optional embodiments, the bearing structure includes a fixing base, and further includes a fixing cover cooperating with the fixing base. The structure of the structured light module 100 with the holder and the cover will be described with reference to fig. 1 e-1 i. Fig. 1e to 1i are a front view, a bottom view, a top view, a rear view and an exploded view of the structured light module 100, and each view does not show all the components due to the view angle, so only some of the components are labeled in fig. 1e to 1 i. As shown in fig. 1 e-1 i, the structured light module 100 further includes: a fixed base 104. The camera module 101 and the line laser transmitter 102 are assembled on the fixing base 104, the first control unit 103 and the second control unit 108 are installed on the control board 112, and the control board 112 is fixed behind the fixing base 104.

Further optionally, as shown in fig. 1i, the fixing base 104 includes: a main body 105 and end portions 106 located on both sides of the main body 105; wherein the camera module 101 is assembled on the main body part 105, and the line laser transmitter 102 is assembled on the end part 106; the end face of the end part 106 faces a reference surface, so that the center line of the line laser transmitter 102 and the center line of the camera module 101 intersect at one point; the reference plane is a plane perpendicular to the end face or end face tangent of the body portion 105.

In an alternative embodiment, in order to facilitate fixing and reduce the influence of the device on the appearance of the structural optical module 100, as shown in fig. 1i, a groove 109 is formed in the middle of the main body 105, and the camera module 101 is installed in the groove 109; the end portion 106 is provided with a mounting hole 110, and the line laser transmitter 102 is mounted in the mounting hole 110. Further optionally, as shown in fig. 1i, the structured light module 100 is further equipped with a fixing cover 107 above the fixing base 104; a cavity is formed between the fixing cover 107 and the fixing base 104 to accommodate the camera module 101 and the connecting wires between the line laser emitter 102 and the first control unit 103 and the second control unit 108. The fixing cover 107, the mounting plate 112 and the fixing base 104 can be fixed by fixing members. In fig. 1i, the fixing member is illustrated by taking a screw 111 as an example, but the fixing member is not limited to the screw implementation.

In an optional embodiment, the lens of the camera module 101 is located inside the outer edge of the groove 109, i.e. the lens is retracted inside the groove 109, so that the lens can be prevented from being scratched or knocked, and the protection of the lens is facilitated.

In the embodiment of the present application, the shape of the end face of the main body 105 is not limited, and may be, for example, a flat surface, or a curved surface that is recessed inward or outward. The shape of the end face of the main body 105 varies depending on the device in which the structured light module 100 is installed. For example, assuming that the structural optical module 100 is applied to an autonomous mobile device whose outline is circular or elliptical, the end surface of the body portion 105 may be implemented as an inwardly recessed curved surface that is adapted to the outline of the autonomous mobile device. If the configuration optical module 100 is applied to an autonomous mobile device having a square or rectangular outline, the end surface of the main body portion 105 may be implemented as a plane that matches the outline of the autonomous mobile device. The autonomous mobile equipment with the circular or oval outline can be a sweeping robot, a window cleaning robot and the like with the circular or oval outline. Accordingly, the autonomous moving apparatus having a square or rectangular outer contour may be a sweeping robot, a window cleaning robot, or the like having a square or rectangular outer contour.

In an alternative embodiment, for an autonomous mobile device with a circular or elliptical outline, the structured light module 100 is mounted on the autonomous mobile device, and in order to match the appearance of the autonomous mobile device more and maximize the space utilization of the autonomous mobile device, the radius of the curved surface of the main body 105 is the same as or approximately the same as the radius of the autonomous mobile device. For example, if the outline of the autonomous moving apparatus is circular and the radius range is 170mm, when the structured light module is applied to the autonomous moving apparatus, the radius of the curved surface of the main body portion may be 170mm or approximately 170mm, for example, may be in the range of 170mm to 172mm, but is not limited thereto.

Further, in the case that the structured light module is applied to an autonomous mobile device with a circular or elliptical outline, the emission angle of the line laser emitter in the structured light module is mainly determined by the detection distance required by the autonomous mobile device, the radius of the autonomous mobile device, and the like. Under this scene, the terminal surface or the terminal surface tangent line of the main part of structured light module are parallel with the installation baseline, therefore the emission angle of line laser emitter also can be defined as: the included angle between the central line of the line laser emitted by the line laser emitter and the end surface or the tangent of the end surface of the main body part. In some application scenarios, the range of emission angles of the line laser transmitter may be implemented as 50-60 degrees, but is not limited thereto, in case of detection range and radius determination of the autonomous mobile device. As shown in fig. 1e to fig. 1i, the number of the line laser emitters 102 is two, and the two line laser emitters 102 are symmetrically distributed on two sides of the camera module 101. The detection distance required to be met by the autonomous mobile device refers to a distance range in which the autonomous mobile device needs to detect environmental information, and mainly refers to a certain distance range in front of the autonomous mobile device.

The structured light module that above-mentioned embodiment of this application provided, stable in structure, size are little, agree with the complete machine outward appearance, have greatly saved the space, can support multiple type autonomic mobile device.

In addition to the structured light module described above, embodiments of the present application provide another structured light module. Fig. 2a is a schematic structural diagram of another structured light module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The structured light module 200 includes: at least two line laser transmitters 201, a camera module 202, a first control unit 203 and a second control unit 208; the at least two line laser transmitters 201 are distributed on two sides of the camera module 202, and the first control unit 203 is electrically connected with the line laser transmitters 201, the second control unit 208 and the camera module 202 respectively; the camera module 202 is also electrically connected with the second control unit 208;

further, as shown in fig. 2a, the structured light module 200 further includes a laser driving circuit 204. The laser driver circuit 204 is electrically connected to the line laser transmitter 201. In the embodiment of the present application, the number of the laser driving circuits 204 is not limited. Different laser emitters 201 may share one laser driving circuit 204, or one line laser emitter 201 may correspond to one laser driving circuit 204. Preferably, one line laser emitter 201 corresponds to one laser driver circuit 204. In fig. 2a, one line laser emitter 201 is illustrated corresponding to one laser driving circuit 204. As shown in fig. 2a, the structured light module 200 includes two line laser emitters 201, which are respectively denoted by 201a and 201b, and laser driving circuits 204, which are respectively denoted by 204a and 204b, corresponding to the two line laser emitters 201.

In this embodiment, the laser driving circuit 204 is mainly configured to amplify the control signal sent by the first control unit 203 to the line laser transmitter 201, and provide the amplified control signal to the line laser transmitter 201 to control the line laser transmitter 201. In the embodiment of the present application, the circuit structure of the laser driving circuit 204 is not limited, and any circuit structure that can amplify a signal and provide the amplified signal to the line laser transmitter 201 is suitable for the embodiment of the present application.

In an alternative embodiment, as shown in fig. 2c, a circuit configuration of the laser driver circuit 204 (e.g., 204a and 204b) includes: a first amplification circuit 2041 and a second amplification circuit 2042. The first amplifying circuit 2041 is electrically connected to the first control unit 103, and the on-off control signal sent by the first control unit 203 to the line laser transmitter 201 is amplified by the first amplifying circuit 2041 and then enters the line laser transmitter 201 to drive the line laser transmitter 201 to start working. The second amplifying circuit 204b is also electrically connected to the first control unit 203, and a current control signal sent by the first control unit 203 to the line laser transmitter 201 is amplified by the first amplifying circuit 2041 and then enters the line laser transmitter 201 to control the working current of the line laser transmitter 201.

Further, as shown in fig. 2c, the first amplifying circuit 2041 includes: a transistor Q1; the base electrode of the triode Q1 is connected with the resistor R27, the resistor R27 and the base electrode are grounded through the capacitor C27, and the two ends of the capacitor C27 are connected with the resistor R29 in parallel; the other end of the resistor R27 is electrically connected to the first IO interface of the first control unit 203 as an input end of the first amplifying circuit. The first IO interface of the first control unit 203 outputs an on-off control signal, which is filtered by the capacitor C27 and amplified by the transistor Q1, to drive the line laser transmitter 201 to start working. The first control unit 203 at least includes two first IO interfaces, and each first IO interface is electrically connected to one laser driving circuit 204 and is configured to output an on-off control signal to the laser driving circuit 204 (for example, 204a or 204 b). In fig. 2c, the first control unit 203 outputs an on-off control signal denoted by LD _ L _ EMIT _ CTRL to the laser driving circuit 204a through the first IO interface, and outputs an on-off control signal denoted by LD _ R _ EMIT _ CTRL to the laser driving circuit 204 b.

Further, as shown in fig. 2c, the second amplifying circuit 2042 includes: a gate of the MOS transistor Q7, the MOS transistor Q7 is connected to the resistor R37 and the resistor R35, the resistor R37 and the resistor R35 are grounded through the capacitor C29, and the other end of the resistor R35 is electrically connected to the second IO interface of the first control unit 203 as the input end of the second amplifying circuit; the drain electrode of the MOS transistor Q7 is grounded through a resistor R31, and the source electrode of the MOS transistor Q7 is electrically connected with the emitter electrode of the triode Q1; the output end of the laser driving circuit is arranged between the collector of the triode Q1 and the power supply of the laser driving circuit and used for connecting the laser emitter. A Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal output by the second IO interface of the first control unit 203 is filtered by a filter circuit formed by a resistor R35 and a capacitor C29, and the working current of the laser emitter can be controlled by changing the gate voltage of the MOS transistor Q7. The first control unit 203 includes at least two second IO interfaces, and each second IO interface is electrically connected to one laser driving circuit 204 and is used for outputting a PWM signal to the laser driving circuit 204 (e.g., 204a or 204 b). In fig. 2c, the PWM signal output from the first control unit 203 to the laser drive circuit 204a via the second IO interface is denoted by LD _ L _ PWM, and the PWM signal output to the laser drive circuit 204b is denoted by LD _ R _ PWM. Further, as shown in fig. 2c, J1 denotes a control interface of the line laser transmitter 201a, J2 denotes a control interface of the line laser transmitter 201b, and the pin connection relationship between J1 and J2 and the laser driving circuits 204a and 204b is shown in fig. 2 c. That is, the pins LD _ L _ CATHOD (cathode) and LD _ L _ ANODE (ANODE) of the J1 are respectively connected to corresponding pins in the laser driving circuit 204 a; pins LD _ R _ CATHOD (cathode) and LD _ R _ ANODE (ANODE) of J2 are connected to corresponding pins in the laser driving circuit 204b, respectively.

In the embodiment of the present application, the implementation forms of the first control unit 203 and the second control unit 208 are not limited, and may be, for example and without limitation: CPU, GPU, MCU, chip and singlechip based on FPGA or CPLD realization.

In an alternative embodiment, the first control unit 203 and the second control unit 208 are implemented by a single chip, in other words, the first control unit 203 and the second control unit 208 are in the form of a single chip. Optionally, as shown in fig. 2b, one implementation structure of the first control unit 203 includes: a first main control board 203 b; one implementation structure of the second control unit 208 includes: a second master control board 208 b.

In the embodiment of the present application, the implementation structures of the first main control board 203b and the second main control board 208b are not limited. All circuit boards capable of achieving the control function are suitable for the embodiment of the application. For example, the system can be an FPGA board, a single chip microcomputer, and the like. Optionally, in order to reduce the implementation cost, a single chip microcomputer with low price and high cost performance can be used as the main control board.

Optionally, the first main control board 203b and the second main control board 208b include a plurality of IO interfaces (pins). Among these interfaces, a part of the IO interface may be used as a test interface and connected to the debugging and burning module 21 b. For simplicity, in fig. 2b, only the electrical connection relationship between the second main control board 208b and the debugging and burning module 21b is taken as an example for illustration. The debugging and burning module 21b is used for completing the burning of the configuration file and testing the hardware function after the burning is successful. The connection relationship between the debugging and burning module 21b and the second main control board 208b is as follows: the 2 nd pin21 b _ pin2 of the debugging and burning module 21b is electrically connected to the 23 rd pin 208b _ pin23 of the second main control board 208b, and the 3 rd pin21 b _ pin3 of the debugging and burning module 21b is electrically connected to the 24 th pin 208b _ pin24 of the second main control board 208 b. The pins 21b _ pin3 and 208b _ pin24 belong to an IO interface for testing.

Optionally, the IO interfaces of the first master board 203b and the second master board 208b may further include interfaces for connecting clock signals, and these interfaces may be electrically connected to the clock control circuit 22b and are responsible for receiving the clock signals provided by the clock control circuit 22 b. For simplicity, fig. 2b only illustrates the electrical connection relationship between the second main control board 208b and the clock control circuit 22 b. As shown in fig. 2b, the IO interfaces of the second master board 208b include interfaces for connecting clock signals, and these interfaces may be electrically connected to the clock control circuit 22b and are responsible for receiving the clock signals provided by the clock control circuit 22 b. The clock control circuit 22b includes: a resistor R9; a crystal oscillator Y1 connected in parallel with the resistor R9; a capacitor C37 connected in parallel with Y1; c38 in series with capacitor C37, wherein capacitors C37 and C38 are both grounded; two ends of the resistor R9 respectively lead out the output end of the clock control circuit 22b, and are electrically connected to the clock signal interface on the second main control board 208 b. The clock control circuit 22b further includes: a resistor R10 connected with +3V voltage; the resistor R10 is grounded through the capacitor C40, and an output terminal is led out between the resistor R10 and the capacitor C40 and electrically connected to an asynchronous reset (NRST) pin of the second main control board 208 b. Further, the clock control circuit 22b further includes: a resistor R5; one end of the resistor R5 is grounded through a capacitor C26; the other end of the resistor R5 is grounded through C18; a +3V voltage and a processor of the autonomous mobile device are connected between the R5 and the C18, and an output end is led out between the resistor R5 and the capacitor C26 and is electrically connected with a VDDA pin of the second main control board 208 b. The crystal oscillator Y1 in the clock control circuit 22b provides the high frequency pulse, which becomes the internal clock signal of the second master board 208b after frequency division processing, and uses the clock signal as the control signal for coordinating the operation of each component. The connection relationship between the clock control circuit 22b and the second master control board 208b is: one end of R9 is connected with 208b _ pin2, the other end is connected with 208b _ pin3, 208b _ pin4 is connected between R10 and C40, and 208b _ pin5 is connected between R5 and C26. 208b _ pin2 denotes pin2 of second master board 208b, i.e. clock signal interface 2 in fig. 2 b; 208b _ pin3 denotes the 3 rd pin of the second master board 208b, i.e. clock signal interface 3 in FIG. 2 b; 208b _ pin4 denotes the 4 th pin of second master board 208b, i.e. the NRST pin in FIG. 2 b; 208b _ pin5 denotes the 5 th pin of the second master board 208b, i.e. the VDDA pin in fig. 2 b.

In the embodiment of the present application, the connection manner between the camera module 202 and the second main control board 208b is not limited. The camera module 202 may be directly connected to the second main control board 208 b; and can also be connected with the second main control board 208b through an fpc (flexible Printed circuit) flat cable 23 b.

Under the condition that the camera module 202 is connected to the second main control board 208b through the FPC cable 23b, the connection relationship between the FPC cable 23b and the second main control board 208b is: 23b _ pin 7-208 b _ pin7, 23b _ pin-208 b _ pin7, 23b _ pin 7-36208 b _ pin7, 23b _ pin 7-208 b _ pin7, 23b _ pin-7 b _ 7, 23b _ pin-7 b _ pin-7, 23b _ pin-7 b _ 7, 23b _ pin _ 7, 23b _ pin _ 7, and 7 b _ 7. In addition, the connection relationship between the FPC cable 23b and the first main control board 203b is: 301b _ pin 31-23 b _ pin 35. Wherein "-" represents a connection relationship; 23b _ pinx represents an x pin on the FPC cable 23 b; 208b _ pinx represents the x pin on the second master board 208 b; 203b _ pinx denotes the x pin on the first master control board 203 b; x is a natural number greater than or equal to 0. In addition, the connection relationship among the pin names, the pin numbers, and the corresponding pin numbers shown in fig. 2b and 2c is only an exemplary description, and should not be construed as limiting the circuit configuration of the present application.

As shown in fig. 2a to 2c, the connection relationship between the laser driving circuit 204 (taking 204a and 204b as examples) and the first main control board 203b is as follows: in fig. 2c, J1 is connected to the line laser transmitter 201a in fig. 2a, and J1 is a control interface of the line laser transmitter 201 a; in fig. 2c, J2 is connected to the line laser transmitter 201b in fig. 2a, and J2 is a control interface of the line laser transmitter 201 b. As shown in fig. 2b, the laser driving circuit 204a includes pins LD _ L _ catod and LD _ L _ ANODE, which are electrically connected to the pins LD _ L _ catod and LD _ L _ ANODE of J1, respectively; the laser driving circuit 204b includes pins LD _ R _ CATHOD and LD _ R _ ANODE, which are electrically connected to the pins LD _ R _ CATHOD and LD _ R _ ANODE of J2, respectively. 203b _ pin28 in FIG. 2b is connected to the LD _ L _ EMIT _ CTRL terminal of the laser driving circuit 204a to control the turning on and off of the line laser transmitter 201a, for example, when 203b _ pin28 is high, the line laser transmitter 201a is in an on state; when 203b _ pin28 is low, line laser transmitter 201a is off. In fig. 2b, 203b _ pin27 is connected to the LD _ R _ EMIT _ CTRL terminal of the laser driving circuit 204b to control the on/off of the line laser transmitter 201b, for example, when 203b _ pin27 is at high level, the line laser transmitter 201b is in on state, and when 203b _ pin27 is at low level, the line laser transmitter 201b is in off state. In fig. 2b, 203b _ pin26 is connected to the LD _ L _ PWM terminal of the laser driving circuit 204a to control the operating current of the line laser transmitter 201a, and 203b _ pin26 outputs a PWM signal, the duty ratio of the PWM signal can be increased from 0% to 100%, and as the duty ratio is increased, the operating current of the line laser transmitter 201a is also increased, so that the operating current of the line laser transmitter 201a can be controlled by adjusting the duty ratio of the PWM signal output by 203b _ pin 26. In fig. 2b, 203b _ pin25 is connected to the LD _ R _ PWM terminal of the laser driving circuit 204b to control the working current of the laser transmitter 201b, and similarly, the PWM signal is also output from 203b _ pin25, and the working current of the laser transmitter 201b can be controlled by adjusting the duty ratio of the PWM signal output from 203b _ pin 25. In addition, the first main control board 203b and the second main control board 208b also have a connection relationship of: 203b _ pin 30-208 b _ pin 40.

Based on the above-mentioned structured light module, an embodiment of the present application further provides a schematic structural diagram of an autonomous mobile device, as shown in fig. 3a, the device includes: the device comprises a device body 300, wherein a main controller 301 and a structured light module 302 are arranged on the device body 300; structured light module 302 includes: the camera module 302a, the line laser transmitter 302b distributed on both sides of the camera module 302a, the first control unit 302c and the second control unit 302 d. The first control unit 302c is electrically connected with the line laser transmitter 302b, the second control unit 302d and the camera module 302a respectively; the camera module 302a is also electrically connected with the second control unit 302 d; the second control unit 302d is also electrically connected to the main controller 301.

The second control unit 302d performs exposure control on the camera module 302a, and a synchronization signal generated by each exposure of the camera module 302a is output to the first control unit 302 c; the first control unit 302c controls the line laser emitters 302b to alternately operate according to the synchronization signal and provides a laser source discrimination signal to the second control unit 302 d; the second control unit 302d marks the environment image acquired by each exposure of the camera module 302a left and right according to the laser source distinguishing signal, and provides the marked environment image to the main controller 301; the main controller 301 is responsible for the functional control of the autonomous mobile device according to the marked ambient image. For a detailed description of the structured light module 302, reference is made to the contents of the foregoing embodiments, which are not repeated herein.

In the embodiment of the present application, the self-moving device may be any mechanical device capable of performing space movement highly autonomously in the environment where the self-moving device is located, and for example, the self-moving device may be a robot, a purifier, a drone, or the like. The robot can comprise a sweeping robot, a glass cleaning robot, a family accompanying robot, a welcoming robot and the like.

Of course, the shape of the autonomous mobile device may vary depending on the implementation of the autonomous mobile device. The embodiment does not limit the implementation form of the autonomous mobile device. Taking the outer contour shape of the autonomous mobile device as an example, the outer contour shape of the autonomous mobile device may be an irregular shape or some regular shapes. For example, the outer contour shape of the autonomous mobile apparatus may be a regular shape such as a circle, an ellipse, a square, a triangle, a drop, or a D-shape. The irregular shapes other than the regular shapes are called irregular shapes, and include, for example, an outer contour of a humanoid robot, an outer contour of an unmanned vehicle, and an outer contour of an unmanned vehicle.

In the embodiment of the present application, the implementation form of the main controller 301 is not limited, and the processor may be, for example, but not limited to, a CPU, a GPU, or an MCU. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner in which the main controller 301 performs function control on the autonomous mobile device according to the environment image. For example, the main controller 301 may control the autonomous mobile device to implement various context awareness-based functions according to the environment image. For example, the functions of object recognition, tracking, classification and the like on a visual algorithm can be realized; in addition, based on the advantage of high line laser detection precision, the functions of positioning, map building and the like with strong real-time performance, strong robustness and high precision can be realized, and further, the constructed high-precision environment map can provide omnibearing support for motion planning, path navigation, positioning and the like. Of course, the main controller 301 may also perform travel control on the autonomous mobile apparatus according to the environmental image, for example, control the autonomous mobile apparatus to perform actions such as moving forward, moving backward, and turning.

Further, as shown in fig. 3b, the structured light module 302 further includes: the laser driving circuit 302 e. The working principle of the structured light module 302 for collecting the environment image will be described below by taking the first control unit 302c as the MCU1 and the second control unit 302d as the MCU2 as an example. As shown in fig. 3b, after power is turned on, the MCU1 and the MCU2 start initializing the IO interface, and configure the structured light module 302 through the I2C interface. After the initialization is completed, the MCU1 and the MCU2 control the structural optical module 302 through the I2C interface, so as to control the camera module 302a and the line laser transmitter 302b in the structural optical module 302. The MCU2 sends a trigger signal to the camera module 302a through an I2C interface, and the camera module 302a receives the trigger signal to start exposure and simultaneously sends an exposure synchronization (LED STROBE) signal to the MCU 1; after receiving the LED STROBE signal, the MCU1 drives the right side line laser transmitter 302b to emit laser light through the laser driving circuit 302e at the rising edge of the LED STROBE signal; on the falling edge of the LED STROBE signal, MCU1 turns off right line laser transmitter 302 b; after exposure, the camera module 302a informs the MCU2 of reading the picture data, the MCU2 reads the picture data and marks the read picture data according to the laser source distinguishing signal, and then reports the mark to the main controller 301 through the serial interface. Similarly, the MCU2 sends a trigger signal to the camera module 302a through the I2C, and the camera module 302a receives the trigger signal to start exposure and sends an exposure synchronization (LED STROBE) signal to the MCU 1; after receiving the LED STROBE signal, the MCU1 drives the left line laser transmitter 302b to emit laser through the laser driving circuit 202e at the rising edge of the LED STROBE signal, and the MCU1 turns off the left line laser transmitter 302b at the falling edge of the LED STROBE signal; after exposure is completed, the camera module 302a informs the MCU2 of reading the picture data; the MCU2 reads the picture data and marks the read picture data left and right according to the laser source distinguishing signal, and reports the result to the main controller 301 through the serial interface. The above process is repeated until the operation is finished.

In the embodiment of the present application, the specific position of the structured light module 302 in the apparatus body 300 is not limited. For example, but not limited to, the front, back, left, right, top, middle, and bottom of the device body 300, etc. Further, the structured light module 302 is disposed at a middle position, a top position, or a bottom position in the height direction of the apparatus body 300.

In an alternative embodiment, the autonomous mobile device moves forward to perform a task, and in order to better detect the environmental information in front, the structured light module 302 is disposed on the front side of the device body 300; the front side is the side that the device body faces during the forward movement of the autonomous mobile device.

In another alternative embodiment, in order to protect the structured light module 302 from being damaged by external force, a striking plate 305 is further installed on the front side of the device body 300, and the striking plate 305 is located outside the structured light module 302. Fig. 3c is an exploded view of the device body 300 and the striking plate 305. In fig. 3c, the autonomous moving apparatus is illustrated by a sweeper robot as an example, but is not limited thereto. The structured light module 302 can be mounted on a strike plate; the striker plate may not be mounted thereto, and is not limited thereto. The area of the striking plate corresponding to the structured light module 302 is provided with a window to expose the camera module 302a and the line laser transmitter 302b in the structured light module. Further optionally, windows are respectively opened on the striking plate corresponding to the positions of the camera module 302a and the line laser transmitter 302 b. As shown in fig. 3c,

windows

31, 32 and 33 are provided on the striking plate 305, wherein the

windows

31 and 33 correspond to the line laser emitters 302 b; the window 32 corresponds to the camera module 302 a.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the structured light module 302 is mounted on the inner sidewall of the striker plate 305. FIG. 3d is an exploded view of the structured light module 302 and the striking plate 305.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the distance from the center of the structured light module 302 to the work surface on which the autonomous mobile device is located is in the range of 30-60 mm. In order to reduce the spatial blind area of the autonomous mobile device and make the angle of view sufficiently large, further optionally, the distance from the center of the structured light module 302 to the working surface where the autonomous mobile device is located is 47 mm.

Further, in addition to the various components mentioned above, the autonomous mobile device of the present embodiment may also include some basic components, such as one or more memories, communication components, power components, drive components, and so forth.

Wherein the one or more memories are primarily for storing a computer program executable by the master controller to cause the master controller to control the autonomous mobile device to perform a corresponding task. In addition to storing computer programs, the one or more memories may be configured to store other various data to support operations on the autonomous mobile device. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the autonomous mobile device, map data of the environment/scene in which the autonomous mobile device is located, operating modes, operating parameters, and so forth.

The communication component is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the device in which the communication component is located and other devices. The device where the communication component is located can access a wireless network based on communication standards, such as Wifi, 2G or 3G, 4G, 5G or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component receives a broadcast signal or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component may further include a Near Field Communication (NFC) module, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology, and the like.

Alternatively, the drive assembly may include drive wheels, drive motors, universal wheels, and the like. Optionally, the autonomous mobile device of this embodiment may be implemented as a sweeping robot, and then under the condition of being implemented as a sweeping robot, the autonomous mobile device may further include a cleaning assembly, and the cleaning assembly may include a cleaning motor, a cleaning brush, a dusting brush, a dust collection fan, and the like. These basic components and the configuration of the basic components contained in different autonomous mobile devices may be different, and the embodiments of the present application are only some examples.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a light source distinguishing method, which is applicable to a structured light module, where the structured light module includes: the camera module with distribute in the line laser emitter of camera module both sides. As shown in fig. 4, the method includes:

41. carrying out exposure control on the camera module, wherein the camera module generates a synchronous signal during each exposure;

42. controlling the laser emitters to work alternately according to the synchronous signals, and generating different laser source distinguishing signals aiming at the line laser emitters in the working state each time;

43. according to the laser source distinguishing signal, the camera module is left and right marked on the environment image acquired by exposure each time.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application is suitable for any structured light module comprising a camera module and line laser emitters distributed on two sides of the camera module, for example, the method is not only suitable for the structured light module provided by the embodiment, but also suitable for a structured light module comprising a main control unit, and is also suitable for a structured light module not comprising any main control or control unit. For a detailed description of the structured light module, reference is made to the description of the foregoing embodiments, and details are not repeated herein.

In step 41, exposure control is performed on the camera module in the structured light module. The embodiment of the exposure control performed by the camera module is not limited in this embodiment. For example, but not limited to, an auto exposure mode, a program exposure mode, an aperture priority mode, a shutter priority mode, and the like. Each exposure of the camera module generates a synchronization signal, which is a time reference signal provided to other devices or components that need to process information synchronously, for example, an exposure synchronization (LED STROBE) signal is a time reference provided by the camera module to the line laser transmitter, and is a trigger signal for triggering the line laser transmitter to emit the line laser during the exposure. The synchronization signal may be, but is not limited to, a switching signal, a continuous pulse signal, and the like.

It should be noted that, according to different implementation structures of the structured light module, the execution body for performing exposure control on the camera module in the structured light module may be different, and in the following embodiments, this will be described, and will not be detailed at all.

In step 42, the line laser emitters are controlled to operate alternately in response to synchronization signals generated by the exposure of the camera module. When the line laser transmitters work alternately, the camera module also needs to alternately set the lens working modes of the camera module so as to be matched with the line laser transmitters in the working modes. For example, when the line laser transmitter positioned at the left side of the camera module works, the lens of the camera module works in a right half mode; when the line laser transmitter on the right side of the camera module works, the lens of the camera module works in a left half mode and the like.

In order to distinguish and identify whether the environment image acquired by each exposure is a left half image or a right half image, the line laser transmitters in working state during the exposure are needed to be distinguished. To facilitate distinguishing between line laser emitters that are active during each exposure, a different laser source distinguishing signal may be generated for each line laser emitter that is active.

The laser source distinguishing signals corresponding to different line laser transmitters have different signal parameters, and can be voltage signals, current signals, pulse signals or the like. Taking the voltage signal as an example, and assuming that two line laser emitters are distributed on two sides of the camera module, the voltage of the laser source distinguishing signal corresponding to the left line laser emitter is 0V, and the voltage of the laser source distinguishing signal corresponding to the right line laser emitter is 3.3V. Of course, as the number of line laser emitters increases, the laser source distinguishing signal can also increase adaptively so as to meet the requirement of distinguishing different line laser emitters. For example, if there is a line laser transmitter on the left side of the camera module, and there are two line laser transmitters on the right side of the camera module, it is necessary to distinguish not only the line laser transmitters on the left and right sides, but also the two line laser transmitters on the right side, three laser source distinguishing signals, which are 0V, 3.3V, and 5V, may be set, where the laser source distinguishing signal of 0V corresponds to the line laser transmitter on the left side; the laser source distinguishing signals of 3.3V and 5V respectively correspond to the two line laser transmitters on the right side. The voltage value of the laser source discrimination signal is merely an example and is not limited thereto.

In an optional embodiment, the structured light module further includes, in addition to the camera module and the line laser emitters distributed on two sides of the camera module: a first control unit and a second control unit. In the embodiment of the present application, the implementation forms of the first control unit and the second control unit are not limited, and for example, but not limited to: CPU, GPU, MCU, processing chip or singlechip based on FPGA or CPLD realization. In addition, in this application embodiment, first control unit and second control unit can realize the control function to camera module and line laser emitter. Specifically, the first control unit is electrically connected with the line laser transmitter, the camera module and the second control unit; the second control unit is electrically connected with the camera module.

In combination with the structure of the structured light module, the implementation process of the method of this embodiment specifically includes: the second control unit is used for carrying out exposure control on the camera module, and a synchronous signal generated by each exposure of the camera module is output to the first control unit; the first control unit controls the laser emitters to work alternately according to the synchronous signals and provides laser source distinguishing signals for the second control unit; the second control unit marks the environment image acquired by each exposure of the camera module left and right according to the laser source distinguishing signal.

Optionally, under the condition that the second control unit controls the camera module to alternately set the working mode of the lens, when the first control unit controls the line laser emitter positioned on the left side of the camera module to work, the second control unit controls the lens of the camera module to work in a right half mode; when the first control unit controls the line laser transmitter on the right side of the camera module to work, the second control unit controls the lens of the camera module to work in a left half mode.

Further optionally, the second control unit may control the camera module to expose, and when the camera module exposes each time, the first control unit controls the line laser emitters on one side to work, so as to achieve the purpose that the line laser emitters on both sides work alternately. Specifically, the first control unit can send an on-off control signal and a PWM signal to the line laser transmitter through a laser driving circuit in the structured light module so as to drive the line laser transmitter to work.

In another alternative embodiment, the structured light module mainly comprises a camera module and line laser transmitters distributed on two sides of the camera module, and is not provided with a control unit. The structured light module can be applied to the autonomous mobile equipment, the autonomous mobile equipment comprises a first control unit and a second control unit, and the first control unit is electrically connected with the line laser transmitter, the camera module and the second control unit; the second control unit is electrically connected with the camera module. Based on this, the first control unit and the second control unit on the autonomous mobile device can control the camera module and the line laser transmitter in the structured light module to work in a matched mode. Based on this, the implementation process of the method of this embodiment is specifically as follows: the second control unit is used for carrying out exposure control on the camera module, and a synchronous signal generated by each exposure of the camera module is output to the first control unit; the first control unit controls the laser emitters to work alternately according to the synchronous signals and provides laser source distinguishing signals for the second control unit; the second control unit marks the environment image acquired by each exposure of the camera module left and right according to the laser source distinguishing signal.

In another alternative embodiment, the structured light module mainly includes a camera module, line laser transmitters distributed on two sides of the camera module, and a main control unit. The main control unit is electrically connected with the line laser transmitter and the camera module. Based on this, the implementation process of the method of this embodiment is specifically as follows: the main control unit is used for carrying out exposure control on the camera module, and a synchronous signal generated by each exposure of the camera module is output to the main control unit; the main control unit controls the line laser emitters to work alternately according to the synchronous signals, generates laser source distinguishing signals corresponding to the line laser emitters which are in a working state during each exposure period and records the laser source distinguishing signals; and then, the main control unit marks the environment image acquired by each exposure of the camera module left and right according to the laser source distinguishing signal.

In this application embodiment, with the help of the higher advantage of line laser detection precision, can survey the environmental information of higher precision, under the condition of line laser emitter alternate work moreover, through distinguishing the signal for different laser sources of different line laser emitter generation, can realize laser source area and discernment, be favorable to improving the degree of accuracy of laser source discernment, provide the condition for using more line laser emitters in the structured light module, the suitability is higher. Further, under the condition of multiple control units, the laser source distinguishing signals are realized in a hardware mode, and the reliability and the robustness are high.

It should be noted that the execution subjects of the steps of the methods provided in the above embodiments may be the same device, or different devices may be used as the execution subjects of the methods. For example, the execution subjects of steps 41 to 43 may be device a; for another example, the execution subject of

steps

41 and 42 may be device a, and the execution subject of step 43 may be device B; and so on.

In addition, in some of the flows described in the above embodiments and the drawings, a plurality of operations are included in a specific order, but it should be clearly understood that the operations may be executed out of the order presented herein or in parallel, and the sequence numbers of the operations, such as 41, 42, etc., are merely used for distinguishing different operations, and the sequence numbers do not represent any execution order per se. Additionally, the flows may include more or fewer operations, and the operations may be performed sequentially or in parallel. It should be noted that, the descriptions of "first", "second", etc. in this document are used for distinguishing different messages, devices, modules, etc., and do not represent a sequential order, nor do they limit the types of "first" and "second".

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

In a typical configuration, a computing device includes one or more processors (CPUs), input/output interfaces, network interfaces, and memory.

The memory may include forms of volatile memory in a computer readable medium, Random Access Memory (RAM) and/or non-volatile memory, such as Read Only Memory (ROM) or flash memory (flash RAM). Memory is an example of a computer-readable medium.

Computer-readable media, including both non-transitory and non-transitory, removable and non-removable media, may implement information storage by any method or technology. The information may be computer readable instructions, data structures, modules of a program, or other data. Examples of computer storage media 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 Discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device. As defined herein, a computer readable medium does not include a transitory computer readable medium such as a modulated data signal and a carrier wave.

It should also be noted that the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The above description is only an example of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art to which the present application pertains. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement or the like made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A structured light module adapted for use with an autonomous mobile device, the structured light module comprising: the device comprises a camera module, line laser transmitters distributed on two sides of the camera module, a first control unit, a second control unit, a fixed seat and a fixed cover assembled above the fixed seat;

the first control unit is electrically connected with the line laser transmitter, the second control unit and the camera module respectively; the camera module is also electrically connected with the second control unit;

the second control unit is used for carrying out exposure control on the camera module, and a synchronous signal generated by each exposure of the camera module is output to the first control unit; the first control unit controls the line laser transmitter to work alternately according to the synchronous signal and provides a laser source distinguishing signal for the second control unit; the second control unit marks the environment image acquired by each exposure of the camera module left and right according to the laser source distinguishing signal;

the camera module and the line laser transmitter are assembled on the fixed seat, the first control unit and the second control unit are installed on a control board, and the control board is fixed behind the fixed seat; a cavity is formed between the fixed cover and the fixed seat to accommodate the camera module and the connecting line between the line laser transmitter and the control panel.

2. The module of claim 1, wherein in a mounted position, the line laser transmitter and the camera module are at the same height.

3. The die set of claim 1, wherein the holder comprises: a main body part and end parts positioned at two sides of the main body part; wherein the camera module is assembled on the main body part, and the line laser transmitter is assembled on the end part;

the end face of the end part faces a reference surface, so that the center line of the line laser transmitter and the center line of the camera module are intersected at one point; the reference surface is a plane perpendicular to the end surface or the tangent to the end surface of the main body portion.

4. The module of claim 3, wherein a groove is formed in the middle of the main body, and the camera module is mounted in the groove; the end part is provided with a mounting hole, and the line laser transmitter is mounted in the mounting hole.

5. The module of claim 4, wherein the lens of the camera module is located within the outer edge of the recess.

6. The module of claim 3, wherein the end surface of the body portion is an inwardly concave curved surface.

7. The module of claim 1, wherein the number of the line laser emitters is two, and the two line laser emitters are symmetrically distributed on two sides of the camera module.

8. The die set of claim 1, further comprising: a laser driving circuit;

the laser driving circuit is electrically connected between the first control unit and the line laser transmitter, and is used for amplifying the control signal sent by the first control unit to the line laser transmitter and providing the amplified control signal to the line laser transmitter so as to control the line laser transmitter.

9. The module of claim 8, wherein the laser driver circuit comprises: a first amplifying circuit and a second amplifying circuit;

the first amplifying circuit is electrically connected with the first control unit, and an on-off control signal sent to the line laser transmitter by the first control unit enters the line laser transmitter after being amplified by the first amplifying circuit so as to drive the line laser transmitter to start working;

the second amplifying circuit is electrically connected with the first control unit, and a current control signal sent to the line laser transmitter by the first control unit enters the line laser transmitter after being amplified by the first amplifying circuit so as to control the working current of the line laser transmitter.

10. The module of claim 9, wherein the first amplification circuit comprises: a transistor Q1; the base electrode of the triode Q1 is connected with the resistor R27, the space between the resistor R27 and the base electrode is grounded through the capacitor C27, and the two ends of the capacitor C27 are connected with the resistor R29 in parallel; the other end of the resistor R27 is used as the input end of the first amplifying circuit and is electrically connected with a first IO interface of the first control unit;

and a first IO interface of the first control unit outputs an on-off control signal, the on-off control signal is filtered by a capacitor C27 and amplified by the triode Q1, and then the line laser transmitter is driven to start working.

11. The module of claim 10, wherein the second amplification circuit comprises: a MOS tube Q7, wherein the gate of the MOS tube Q7 is connected with the resistor R37 and the resistor R35, the resistor R37 and the resistor R35 are grounded through a capacitor C29, and the other end of the resistor R35 is electrically connected with the second IO interface of the first control unit as the input end of the second amplifying circuit;

the drain electrode of the MOS transistor Q7 is grounded through a resistor R31, and the source electrode of the MOS transistor Q7 is electrically connected with the emitter electrode of the triode Q1; the output end of the laser driving circuit is arranged between the collector of the triode Q1 and the power supply of the laser driving circuit and is used for connecting the line laser transmitter;

the second IO interface of the first control unit outputs a PWM signal, which is filtered by the filter circuit formed by the resistor R35 and the capacitor C29, and the gate voltage of the MOS transistor Q7 is changed to control the working current of the laser emitter.

12. A module according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that said first control unit is in the form of a single-chip microcomputer.

13. An autonomous mobile device, comprising: the device comprises a device body, wherein a collision plate, a main controller and a structured light module are arranged on the device body; the structured light module includes: the device comprises a camera module, line laser transmitters distributed on two sides of the camera module, a first control unit and a second control unit; the first control unit is electrically connected with the line laser transmitter, the second control unit and the camera module respectively; the camera module is also electrically connected with the second control unit; the second control unit is also electrically connected with the main controller;

the second control unit is used for carrying out exposure control on the camera module, and a synchronous signal generated by each exposure of the camera module is output to the first control unit; the first control unit controls the line laser emitters to work alternately according to the synchronous signals and provides laser source distinguishing signals for the second control unit; the second control unit marks the environment image acquired by each exposure of the camera module left and right according to the laser source distinguishing signal and provides the marked environment image to the main controller; the main controller is responsible for carrying out function control on the autonomous mobile equipment according to the marked environment image;

the collision plate is arranged on the front side of the equipment body and is positioned on the outer side of the structured light module; a window is arranged on the collision plate corresponding to the area of the structured light module to expose the camera module and the line laser transmitter in the structured light module; the structured light module is mounted on the inner side wall of the striking plate.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the structured light module is disposed on a front side of the device body; the front side is a side toward which the device body faces during forward movement of the autonomous mobile device.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the strike plate has windows formed therein at locations corresponding to the camera module and the line laser transmitter, respectively.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the structured light module is disposed at a middle position, a top position, or a bottom position in a height direction of the apparatus body.

17. The apparatus of any one of claims 14-16, wherein the autonomous mobile apparatus is a sweeping robot or a window wiping robot.

18. A light source distinguishing method, adapted for use with a structured light module adapted for use with an autonomous mobile device, the structured light module comprising: the device comprises a camera module, a line laser transmitter, a first control unit, a second control unit, a fixed seat and a fixed cover, wherein the line laser transmitter, the first control unit and the second control unit are distributed on two sides of the camera module;

the camera module and the line laser transmitter are assembled on the fixed seat, the first control unit and the second control unit are installed on a control board, and the control board is fixed behind the fixed seat; a cavity is formed between the fixed cover and the fixed seat to accommodate a connecting wire between the camera module and the control panel as well as between the line laser transmitter and the control panel;

the method comprises the following steps:

the second control unit is used for carrying out exposure control on the camera module, a synchronous signal generated by each exposure of the camera module is output to the first control unit, and the camera module generates a synchronous signal by each exposure;

the first control unit controls the line laser transmitter to work alternately according to the synchronous signal and provides a laser source distinguishing signal for the second control unit; and

and the second control unit marks the environment image acquired by the camera module in each exposure according to the laser source distinguishing signal.