CN111596651B

CN111596651B - Environmental area division and fixed-point cleaning method, equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN111596651B
Application number: CN201910122607.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 岑斌
Original assignee: Ecovacs Robotics Suzhou Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ecovacs Robotics Suzhou Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-02-19
Filing date: 2019-02-19
Publication date: 2022-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 2039-02-19
Also published as: CN111596651A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides an environmental area dividing and fixed-point sweeping method, equipment and a storage medium. In the embodiment of the application, the height information of a plurality of sampling points is collected during the process of traversing the working area by the self-moving equipment, the working area can be partitioned in a finer granularity by combining the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points, and the partitioned sub-areas are identified on the environment map; furthermore, the cleaning task is executed based on the environment map marked with the sub-areas, the range of the cleaning area can be selected more flexibly, the range of the cleaning area can be smaller and more accurate, and the flexibility and the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning task can be improved.

Description

Environmental area division and fixed-point cleaning method, equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of artificial intelligence, in particular to a method, equipment and a storage medium for dividing and cleaning an environmental area at a fixed point.

Background

With the development of artificial intelligence technology, home appliances also tend to be intelligent. For example, the sweeping robot can draw an environment map by means of certain artificial intelligence, automatically complete a ground sweeping task by depending on the environment map, and liberate a user from cleaning work.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides an environmental zone dividing method, which is suitable for self-moving equipment and comprises the following steps: in the process of traversing the working area, acquiring height information of a plurality of sampling points, wherein the height information of each sampling point refers to the distance between the mobile equipment and an obstacle above the sampling point; identifying at least one sub-region from the working region based on height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points; and identifying the at least one sub-area on an environment map corresponding to the working area by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area.

The embodiment of the application further provides a fixed-point cleaning method, which is suitable for a sweeping robot, and the method comprises the following steps: responding to a fixed point cleaning trigger event, and determining the position of a fixed point cleaning area by combining an environment map corresponding to a working area; moving to the fixed point cleaning area from the current position, and executing a fixed point cleaning task aiming at the fixed point cleaning area; the environment map comprises at least one sub-region, the at least one sub-region is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot, and the fixed-point sweeping region is a sub-region in the at least one sub-region.

The embodiment of the application further provides a fixed-point cleaning method, which is suitable for terminal equipment, and the method comprises the following steps: displaying an environment map corresponding to a working area of the sweeping robot; the environment map comprises at least one sub-area, and the at least one sub-area is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot; responding to the selection operation of the user on the environment map, determining a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, and setting time information of fixed-point cleaning; and sending a fixed-point cleaning task to the cleaning robot, wherein the fixed-point cleaning task contains fixed-point cleaning time information and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, so that the cleaning robot can execute the fixed-point cleaning task.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a self-moving device, including: the device comprises a device body, wherein one or more processors and one or more memories for storing computer instructions are arranged on the device body; the one or more processors to execute the computer instructions to: in the process of traversing the working area, acquiring height information of a plurality of sampling points, wherein the height information of each sampling point refers to the distance between the mobile equipment and an obstacle above the sampling point; identifying at least one sub-region from the working region based on height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points; and identifying the at least one sub-area on an environment map corresponding to the working area by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising: in the process of traversing the working area, acquiring height information of a plurality of sampling points, wherein the height information of each sampling point refers to the distance between the mobile equipment and an obstacle above the sampling point; identifying at least one sub-region from the working region based on height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points; and identifying the at least one sub-area on an environment map corresponding to the working area by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area.

The embodiment of the application further provides a robot of sweeping floor, include: the machine body is provided with one or more processors and one or more memories for storing computer instructions; the one or more processors to execute the computer instructions to: responding to a fixed point cleaning trigger event, and determining the position of a fixed point cleaning area by combining an environment map corresponding to a working area; moving to the fixed point cleaning area from the current position, and executing a fixed point cleaning task aiming at the fixed point cleaning area; the environment map comprises at least one sub-region, the at least one sub-region is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot, and the fixed-point sweeping region is a sub-region in the at least one sub-region.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising: responding to a fixed point cleaning trigger event, and determining the position of a fixed point cleaning area by combining an environment map corresponding to a working area; moving to the fixed point cleaning area from the current position, and executing a fixed point cleaning task aiming at the fixed point cleaning area; the environment map comprises at least one sub-area, the at least one sub-area is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot, and the fixed-point sweeping area is the sub-area in the at least one sub-area.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal device, including: one or more processors, a display, a communications component, and one or more memories storing computer instructions; the one or more processors to execute the computer instructions to: displaying an environment map corresponding to a working area of the sweeping robot on the display; the environment map comprises at least one sub-area, and the at least one sub-area is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot; responding to the selection operation of the user on the environment map, determining a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, and setting time information of fixed-point cleaning; the communication component sends a fixed-point cleaning task to the sweeping robot, and the fixed-point cleaning task contains fixed-point cleaning time information and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, so that the sweeping robot can execute the fixed-point cleaning task.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising: displaying an environment map corresponding to a working area of the sweeping robot; the environment map comprises at least one sub-area, and the at least one sub-area is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot; responding to the selection operation of the user on the environment map, determining a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, and setting time information of fixed-point cleaning; and sending a fixed-point cleaning task to the cleaning robot, wherein the fixed-point cleaning task contains fixed-point cleaning time information and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, so that the cleaning robot can execute the fixed-point cleaning task.

In the embodiment of the application, the height information of a plurality of sampling points is acquired during the process of traversing the working area by the self-moving equipment, the working area can be partitioned in finer granularity by combining the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points, and the partitioned sub-areas are identified on the environment map; furthermore, the cleaning task is executed based on the environment map marked with the sub-areas, the range of the cleaning area can be selected more flexibly, the range of the cleaning area can be smaller and more accurate, and the flexibility and the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning task can be improved.

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 flowchart of an environmental region partitioning method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B is a scatter-fit curve of distance information collected by an upward ranging laser sensor A and a horizontal ranging laser sensor B provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2a is a schematic diagram of a process of dividing sub-regions for a known region according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2b is a schematic diagram of a process of dividing a sub-region for an unknown region according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3a is a schematic diagram illustrating a comparison relationship of height information corresponding to a chair, a bed, and a ceiling lamp according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3b is a stylistic view of an area under a bed and a graphical trace formed in the area from a mobile device arcuate movement provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3c is a stylistic view of an area under a light and a trajectory plot formed in the area from a mobile device arcuate movement provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a representation of an environment map identified with at least one sub-region provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a fixed-point sweeping method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a self-moving device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a sweeping robot according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application.

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.

In the operation process of self-moving equipment such as a sweeping robot, an environment map is often not separated. The accuracy of the environment map has a great relationship with the quality of work from the mobile device. In some embodiments of the application, height information of a plurality of sampling points is collected during traversal of a working area by a self-mobile device, the working area can be partitioned in a finer granularity by combining the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points, and the partitioned sub-areas are identified on an environment map; furthermore, the cleaning task is executed based on the environment map marked with the sub-areas, the range of the cleaning area can be selected more flexibly, the range of the cleaning area can be smaller and more accurate, and the flexibility and the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning task can be improved.

The environmental area division method provided by the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by a self-moving device, and the following explains the "self-moving device" in the embodiment of the present application. The explanation is applicable to all the embodiments of the present application, and repeated explanation will not be provided in the following embodiments.

In the embodiment of the present application, the self-moving device may be any mechanical device capable of performing a highly autonomous spatial movement in its environment, and for example, may be a robot, a purifier, or the like. The robot may include a sweeping robot, an accompanying robot, a guiding robot, and the like.

Fig. 1a is a schematic flowchart of an environmental area dividing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 1a, the method comprises:

101. in the process of traversing the working area, the height information of a plurality of sampling points is collected, and the height information of each sampling point refers to the distance between the mobile device and an obstacle above the sampling point.

102. At least one sub-region is identified from the working region based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points.

103. And identifying the at least one sub-area on the environment map corresponding to the working area by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area.

The working area of the self-mobile device can be different according to different application scenes. From the area range, the working area of the self-mobile device can be the whole environment area where the self-mobile device is located, or can be a part of the environment area where the self-mobile device is located. Taking a home environment as an example, the work area of the self-moving device may be the whole home environment area; further, if the entire home environment is divided into different areas such as bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, balconies, etc., the work area of the self-moving device may also be a local area such as bedrooms, kitchens, etc. in the home environment.

In this embodiment, the self-moving device has a function of identifying altitude information, for example, a ranging sensor for ranging upward may be added to the self-moving device. Alternatively, the distance measuring sensor may be a single-point laser sensor (laser sensor) or a multi-point laser sensor. Based on the ranging sensor, the self-moving device can acquire distance information between the self-moving device and an obstacle above the self-moving device. In the embodiments of the present application, distance information between a self-moving device and an obstacle above the self-moving device is referred to as height information.

The self-moving device is generally provided with a sensor for acquiring obstacle information, such as a camera, a laser sensor for horizontal ranging, and the like, and the sensor can acquire the surrounding obstacle information during the moving process of the self-moving device. While there may be uncertainty in the information from obstacles present around the mobile device, some altitude information gathered up from the mobile device is generally of definite significance. For example, in the same home environment, the height information (i.e., distance) between the mobile device and the ceiling is generally constant, and based on this height information, it can be determined which floor areas correspond to the ceiling, and the floor areas corresponding to the ceiling can be considered to be open areas.

In view of the above, in this embodiment, the work area of the mobile device is further partitioned by combining the altitude information collected from the mobile device, for example, when an obvious altitude change is identified, the work area of the mobile device is considered as a boundary of a partition, and thus the work area of the mobile device is partitioned with finer granularity. The mobile device can traverse the working area, height information of a plurality of sampling points is collected in the traversing process, at least one sub-area is identified from the working area based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points, the at least one sub-area is identified on an environment map corresponding to the working area by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area, and further partitioning of the working area is completed. Each sampling point is a certain position point traversed by the mobile device, and the plurality of sampling points may be all or part of the position points traversed by the mobile device. It is possible for the self-moving device to move freely within the sub-area. In addition, the horizontal position information of the sub-region may determine the position and region extent of the sub-region within the work region.

The height information of each sampling point refers to the distance between the mobile device and an obstacle above the sampling point. Of course, the obstacles above different sampling points may be different. For example, in a home environment, at a sampling point below the bed, the obstacle above it is the bed plate; at a certain sampling point below the dining table, the obstacle above the certain sampling point is a table top; a sampling point without an obstacle in the living room, the obstacle above which is a ceiling; and so on.

In order to verify the beneficial effect of the technical scheme, the self-moving equipment provided with the laser sensor A for measuring the distance upwards and the laser sensor B for measuring the distance horizontally is tested and explained. The two sensors respectively collect the distance information of each traversed position in the vertical direction and the distance information of each traversed position in the horizontal direction in the process of traversing the working area by the self-moving equipment. The distance information of each position in the vertical direction refers to height information of each traversed position; on the other hand, it is possible to calculate whether or not an obstacle exists around each position, the approximate position of the obstacle, and the like, based on the distance information of each position in the horizontal direction. And fitting the distance information acquired by the laser sensor A for measuring the distance upwards and the laser sensor B for measuring the distance horizontally to obtain a scattered point fitting curve shown in the figure 1B. In fig. 1b, the dotted line represents a scatter-fit curve of the distance information collected by the laser sensor a ranging upward; the solid line represents a scatter-fit curve of the distance information acquired by the laser sensor B for horizontal ranging. As can be seen from fig. 1b, the distance information acquired by the laser sensor a that measures distance upward can identify a partition boundary line, and based on this, the working area can be divided into different sub-partitions, and further, the sub-partitions can be embodied in an environment map, which is beneficial to the partition granularity of the working area.

It is worth to be noted that, by using the environment region division method provided by the embodiment of the present application, an environment map with finer partition granularity may be established, which may be referred to as a regional environment map. The following illustrates the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application in combination with different scenes in which a regional environment map with finer partition granularity needs to be constructed:

scene A:

in scenario a, a regionalized environment map with finer partition granularity may be constructed for the entire environment area in which the mobile device is located.

One of the situations is: in the case where the self-moving device enters a new environment area, in order to facilitate the self-moving device to be able to successfully perform a job task in the new environment area more efficiently and accurately, it is necessary to construct an environment map for the entire new environment area. For example, a user has just bought a sweeping robot that needs to build a regional environment map of the entire home environment. For another example, if the guiding robot is tuned from S mall to X mall by the merchant, and one floor of X mall is responsible for providing guiding service for the customer entering X mall, the guiding robot needs to construct a regional environment map of one floor of X mall.

In another case: in the case where the self-mobile device is restored to the factory setting and the existing environment map therein is deleted, it is necessary to construct a regional environment map for the entire environment area in order to facilitate the self-mobile device to continue to execute the job task in the environment area where the self-mobile device is located.

In the above scenario, the self-mobile device needs to work in the whole environment area where the self-mobile device is located, and a regional environment map with finer partition granularity needs to be constructed for the whole environment area where the self-mobile device is located. The self-moving device can traverse the whole environment area where the self-moving device is located, the height information of a plurality of sampling points is collected in the traversing process, at least one sub-area where the self-moving device can freely move is identified from the whole environment area where the self-moving device is located based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points, and the at least one sub-area is identified on the environment map corresponding to the whole environment area where the self-moving device is located by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area, so that the regional environment map with finer partition granularity is obtained. The regional environment map includes both obstacle information from the entire environmental area in which the mobile device is located and information of at least one sub-region included in the entire environmental area.

Scene B:

in scenario B, the entire environment area in which the mobile device is located has been preliminarily divided into different areas. The preliminary partition manner is different from the partition manner based on the height information in the embodiment of the present application, and for example, the preliminary partition manner may be divided according to a plan diagram or the like, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. For example, for a self-moving device operating in a home environment, the home environment may be initially divided into different areas such as a kitchen, a bedroom, a living room, and so on. For another example, for a self-moving device working in a shopping mall, the shopping mall may be divided into a book area, a clothing area, an electronic device area, a jewelry area, and other different areas.

In the above scenario, under a specific condition at a specific time, the self-mobile device needs to operate in a selected partial environment area, which can be regarded as an operating area of the self-mobile device. To facilitate better work from the mobile device within the selected partial environmental area, a regionalized environmental map with finer partition granularity may be constructed for the selected partial area. The selected partial area may be determined according to the requirement, but is not limited thereto, and may be a bedroom area, a kitchen area or a living room area in a home environment, for example. The self-moving device can traverse the selected partial environment area, height information of a plurality of sampling points is collected in the traversing process, at least one sub-area which can freely move in the self-moving device is identified from the selected partial environment area based on the height information and horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points, and the at least one sub-area is identified on the environment map corresponding to the selected partial environment area by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area, so that a regional environment map corresponding to the selected partial environment area is obtained.

In some optional embodiments, when further partitioning of the work area of the self-mobile device is required, the user may issue a partitioning instruction to the self-mobile device, through which the self-mobile device is triggered to partition its work area. For the self-moving device, a partition instruction may be received, it is determined that the work area needs to be partitioned according to the partition instruction, and then the flow in fig. 1a and other embodiments is executed to partition the work area.

In the embodiment of the present application, a manner in which a user issues a partition instruction to a self-moving device is not limited. Optionally, the user may issue a partition instruction to the self-moving device in a voice manner; the self-moving equipment has a voice recognition function and recognizes the partition instruction of the user. Or, the user can send a partition instruction to the self-mobile device through the App or the client on the terminal device; and receiving a partition instruction sent by the terminal equipment from the mobile equipment. The terminal device and the self-moving device can be in communication connection through communication technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi and infrared in advance. Or, the self-moving device is provided with a control panel, and the user can send a partition instruction to the self-moving device through the control panel; the self-mobile device detects touch operation on a control surface, and therefore a partition instruction of a user is identified.

Optionally, the partition instruction carries an area identifier, where the area identifier is used to identify an area where the mobile device needs to work, for example, the area identifier may be an identifier of a preliminarily divided partial area, such as an identifier of a living room, an identifier of a bedroom, or an identifier of an entire environment area where the mobile device is located. Optionally, for a case that the working area of the self-moving device is the entire environment area where the self-moving device is located, the partition instruction may not carry the area identifier, and the partition instruction directly instructs the self-moving device to partition the entire environment area where the self-moving device is located.

In addition to the user triggering the self-mobile device to be a work area zone, in some cases the self-mobile device may also autonomously be its work area zone. For example, when the mobile device is first powered on for use, the whole environment area where the mobile device is located can be automatically used as the working area of the mobile device, and the partition process can be automatically started. Of course, in a scenario where the mobile device is first powered on for use, the user may trigger the mobile device to partition its work area.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the sub-region may be divided for a known region, or may be divided for an unknown region. In the embodiment of the present application, the "known area" refers to an environmental area where an environmental map already exists, and the environmental map refers to an environmental map established by a conventional mapping method, such as a grid map. For any area, the environment map may include obstacle information in the area, or may include preliminarily divided area information. In the present embodiment, the "unknown area" refers to an environmental area in which an environmental map is not yet created, and is a completely new and unknown area for the mobile device. The following description is made for these two cases, respectively:

for the known regions:a process of dividing sub-regions, as shown in fig. 2a, comprising:

21a, collecting height information of a plurality of sampling points in the process of traversing a working area; the height information of each sampling point refers to the distance between the mobile device and an obstacle above the sampling point.

22a, identifying at least one sub-region from the working region based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points.

23a, determining the position of at least one sub-area in an environment map corresponding to the working area by combining the horizontal position information of at least one sub-area; the environment map is constructed in advance.

And 24a, according to the position of the at least one sub-area in the environment map, identifying the boundary line of the at least one sub-area in the environment map.

For unknown regions:a process of dividing sub-regions, as shown in fig. 2b, comprising:

21b, collecting height information of a plurality of sampling points and peripheral obstacle information in the process of traversing the working area; the height information of each sampling point refers to the distance between the mobile device and an obstacle above the sampling point.

22b, identifying at least one sub-area from the working area based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points.

23b, combining the obstacle information around each sampling point to construct an environment map corresponding to the working area.

And 24b, determining the position of the at least one sub-area in the constructed environment map by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area.

And 25b, according to the position of the at least one sub-area in the environment map, identifying the boundary line of the at least one sub-area in the environment map.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the execution sequence of step 22b and step 23b is not limited, and may be executed sequentially or in parallel, as long as the environment map corresponding to the work area is constructed before the boundary line of at least one sub-area is identified.

Further, no matter which environment area is divided into sub-areas, the sub-areas can be divided by users or not. The environment area division mode can be divided into a manual mode and an automatic mode according to different user participation degrees. The manual mode is a partition mode that the user participation degree is relatively high, is mainly dominated by the user, and the user manually identifies the sub-area information in the environment map and responds by the self-mobile device. Correspondingly, the automatic mode is a partition mode that the user participation degree is relatively low or no user participation exists, and the automatic partition mode is mainly dominated by the self-mobile device and automatically identifies the sub-area information in the environment map.

Optionally, one way to manually partition the environment area is as follows:

the user issues a partition instruction to the self-moving device. And after receiving the partitioning instruction from the mobile equipment, determining the work area needing partitioning according to the partitioning instruction.

Optionally, if the partition instruction includes an area identifier, the self-moving device may determine the work area that needs to be partitioned according to the area identifier. Optionally, if the partition instruction does not include the area identifier, the self-moving device may directly use the default area, the preset area, or the entire environment area where the default area, the preset area, or the whole environment area is located as the work area to be partitioned.

After the mobile equipment determines the working area needing partitioning, the working area starts to be traversed, and in the process of traversing the working area, the height information of a plurality of sampling points is collected.

Optionally, for the self-moving device, when traversing to a position point, the position point may be used as a sampling point, and a distance between the self-moving device and an obstacle above the sampling point is acquired by using a ranging sensor mounted on the self-moving device, that is, the height information of the sampling point. It is worth mentioning that the obstacles above different sampling points may be different, for example, for most sampling points in living rooms and bedrooms, the obstacle above the sampling points is a roof or ceiling lamp, and for the sampling points below tables, tea tables, sofas or beds, the obstacle above the sampling points is a table top, a tea table surface, a sofa surface or a bed board. Obviously, the distance between the self-moving device and the roof or the ceiling lamp is different from the distance between the self-moving device and the desktop, the tea table surface, the sofa surface or the bed board, that is, the height information of different sampling points is different.

The self-moving device may identify at least one sub-area in which the self-moving device is freely movable from the work area based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points. For example, a sub-area under a bed, a sub-area under a table, a sub-area under a tea table, a sub-area under a sofa, etc. may be identified from the work area. Furthermore, boundary information of at least one sub-area may be identified on an environment map corresponding to the work area with the participation of the user.

Optionally, the mobile device may acquire an environment map of the work area, output the environment map and the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area to the user, and the user may selectively and manually identify a boundary line of the at least one sub-area on the environment map according to actual needs. The environment map may be existing or may be constructed in real time from the mobile device according to the obstacle information in the work area.

Optionally, one way to automatically partition the environment area is as follows:

the user may issue a partition instruction to the self-moving device. And after receiving the partitioning instruction from the mobile equipment, determining the work area needing partitioning according to the partitioning instruction. For the related description of the partition instruction, reference may be made to the foregoing embodiments, and details are not repeated here. Of course, the mobile device may automatically regard the whole environment area where the mobile device is located as a work area needing to be partitioned after being powered on.

The self-moving device may identify at least one sub-region from the working region based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points. For example, a sub-area under a bed, a sub-area under a table, a sub-area under a tea table, a sub-area under a sofa, etc. may be identified from the work area. And under the condition of no user participation, automatically combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area from the mobile device, and identifying the boundary information of the at least one sub-area on the environment map corresponding to the working area.

Optionally, the self-moving device may also mark at least one sub-area in the environment map, for example, mark information such as name, number, and the like of each sub-area. The environment map may be existing or may be constructed in real time from the mobile device according to the obstacle information in the work area.

Optionally, in a manner of automatically dividing the environment area, after obtaining the environment map identified with the at least one sub area, the environment map identified with the at least one sub area may be edited by the user. For example, the self-mobile device displays an environment map with at least one sub-area identified on a control panel of the self-mobile device for a user to edit the environment map. Or the self-mobile device sends the environment map marked with the at least one sub-area to a terminal device of the user, and the environment map is displayed to the user by the terminal device so that the user can edit the environment map. Of course, the self-moving device may also display the environment map identified with the at least one sub-area on the control panel of the self-moving device, and at the same time, send the environment map identified with the at least one sub-area to the terminal device of the user, and display the environment map identified with the at least one sub-area to the user by means of the terminal device.

Wherein, the user can edit the environment map with at least one sub-area identified, including but not limited to: editing the identification of the sub-regions, editing the boundaries of the sub-regions, increasing or decreasing the number of the sub-regions, and the like.

If the user edits the environment map through the terminal device, various editing operations can be sent to the environment map displayed on the terminal device. Optionally, the terminal device may detect an editing operation sent by the user, and synchronize the editing operation of the user to the self-moving device, so that the self-moving device responds to the editing operation of the user to perform corresponding editing on the environment map. Of course, the terminal device may also perform corresponding editing on the environment map in response to the editing operation, and send the edited environment map to the self-mobile device, so that the self-mobile device updates the local environment map.

If the user edits the environment map through the self-moving device, various editing operations can be sent to the environment map displayed on the control panel of the self-moving device; and responding to the editing operation of the user by the mobile equipment, and correspondingly editing the environment map.

For example, the self-mobile device or the terminal device may edit the identifier of the corresponding sub-area in the environment map in response to a first editing operation issued by the user. The first editing operation can carry the original identifier and the new identifier of the subarea to be edited. The first editing operation may include a single-step operation or a multi-step operation, and may include, for example, an operation of selecting a sub-area to be edited, an operation of inputting a new identifier, a confirmation operation, and other multi-step operations. For example, the sub-area corresponding to the sofa may be edited as the sub-area corresponding to the bed, the sub-area corresponding to the table may be edited as the sub-area corresponding to the sofa, and so on.

For another example, the self-mobile device or the terminal device may edit the boundary of the corresponding sub-area in the environment map in response to a second editing operation issued by the user. And the second editing operation can carry the identifier of the subarea to be edited. The second editing operation may include a single-step operation or a multi-step operation, and may include, for example, an operation of selecting a sub-region to be edited, an operation of adjusting a boundary, a confirmation operation, and other multi-step operations. For example, the boundaries of the sub-regions may be expanded, scaled, regularized, and the like.

For another example, the mobile device or the terminal device may increase or decrease the number of sub-areas in the environment map in response to a third editing operation by the user. The third editing operation may include a single-step operation or may include a multi-step operation. For example, in the case of deleting an existing sub-region, a multi-step operation of selecting a sub-region to be deleted, confirming deletion, and the like may be included. In the case of creating a new sub-area, the creating step may include creating the sub-area, inputting an identifier of the newly created sub-area, confirming the creating step, and the like.

Whether the mode is a manual mode or an automatic mode, the mode can be further divided into two modes according to the real-time performance of environment area division, wherein one mode is a real-time mode, and the other mode is a global mode. The real-time mode is a mode of identifying sub-regions while collecting and dividing an environment region in real time in the process of traversing a working region. The global mode is a mode of dividing the environment area at one time according to the collected related information after the traversal of the working area is completed.

The process of dividing the environment area by the self-moving equipment in the real-time mode comprises the following steps: in the process of traversing the working area, acquiring the height information of a plurality of sampling points and identifying whether a boundary line of a sub-area appears; and if the boundary line of the sub-area is identified, marking the sub-area on a local environment map constructed in real time or a global environment map constructed in advance by combining the identified horizontal position information of the sub-area until the working area is traversed.

The self-mobile equipment adopts the process of dividing the environment area in a global mode: in the process of traversing the working area, collecting and storing height information of a plurality of sampling points, and optionally collecting and storing obstacle information around each sampling point; after traversing the working area, identifying at least one sub-area from the working area at one time based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points; and marking each sub-area on the real-time constructed environment map or the pre-constructed environment map by combining the horizontal position information of at least one sub-area.

In the above embodiments, whether in manual mode or automatic mode, whether in real-time mode or global mode, whether for an already-known area or for an unknown area, it is necessary to identify at least one sub-area from the working area based on the height information and horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points. Optionally, at least one connected region with the same or basically the same height information existing in the working region can be determined based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points; and selecting at least one subregion from the attribute information of the at least one connected region and the surrounding obstacle information. Optionally, the attribute information of the connected region includes at least one of height information, horizontal position information, area, and shape information of the connected region. The height information is basically the same, which means that the difference between the height information is within the set difference range. The value of the difference range can be flexibly determined according to the application requirement, and this embodiment does not limit this, and may be (-1cm, 1cm), (-5mm, 5mm), for example. Wherein the self-moving device is freely movable in the at least one communication area. The connected region is a region formed by a plurality of sampling points which have the same or basically the same height and are adjacent in horizontal position.

Alternatively, whether a sampling point set with a difference from the height information of the adjacent position larger than a set threshold exists or not can be detected based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points; and if so, determining the region defined by the sampling point set as a connected region with the same or basically the same height information.

For example, taking a home scene as an example, assume a chair in a living room, a bed in a bedroom, and a ceiling lamp, but not limited thereto. When the mobile device moves to the positions below the chair, the bed and the ceiling lamp respectively, the height information corresponding to the ceiling lamp on the chair, the bed and the ceiling lamp can be measured by using the ranging sensor for ranging upwards. Wherein, the comparison relationship of the height information corresponding to the chair, the bed and the ceiling lamp is shown in fig. 3 a. From the difference in height information corresponding to the chair, the bed and the ceiling lights shown in fig. 3a, the connected area under the chair, the connected area under the bed and the connected area under the ceiling lights can be determined. In fig. 3a, h1 represents height information for a chair, h2 represents height information for a bed, and h3 represents height information for a ceiling lamp. In these communication areas, the communication area under the ceiling lamp has no practical significance, so it can be removed; the communication area under the chair and the communication area under the bed have practical significance, for example, fixed-point cleaning tasks can be set for the communication areas, and therefore the communication areas can be marked in an environment map.

In order to screen out sub-regions with practical significance from the identified connected regions, corresponding screening conditions can be flexibly set according to application scenes and application requirements, sub-regions with practical significance are screened out from the connected regions based on the screening conditions, and the screened sub-regions are sub-regions needing to be marked in the environment map. The following description will be given by taking the attribute information of the connected region as an example, with respect to the screening conditions and the manner of screening the sub-regions based on the screening conditions:

for example, a connected region having height information within a set height interval may be selected as a sub-region from among the at least one connected region. Through setting up reasonable high interval, can filter the communicating region of too high or low excessively, if filter the communicating region that corresponds the ceiling lamp and select the communicating region below chair, bed.

For another example, a connected region having a set shape may be selected as a sub-region from among the at least one connected region. For example, the shape of the region can be set to be square, so that the communication region below the chair and the bed can be selected, and the communication region (circle) corresponding to the ceiling lamp is filtered.

For another example, a connected region having an area satisfying the condition may be selected as a sub-region from among the at least one connected region. Through setting up reasonable area condition, can filter regional area undersize or too big region, for example can filter the communicating region that the ceiling lamp corresponds, and select the communicating region that chair, bed correspond.

For another example, a connected region having horizontal position information in the set region may be selected as a sub-region from among the at least one connected region. Through setting up reasonable horizontal position information, can filter the region that the position is unreasonable, for example can filter the communicating region that the ceiling lamp corresponds, and select the communicating region that chair, bed correspond.

It should be noted that the above screening methods may be used alternatively or in any combination. When the combination is used, the connected regions which simultaneously satisfy the combination condition are selected as the sub-regions, otherwise, the connected regions are filtered out. For example, the sub-area with the area satisfying the condition and the shape of rectangle or square, the height of which is within the set height interval, may be screened out, and the boundary line of the corresponding sub-area may be identified on the environment map.

The process of selecting sub-areas is described with a bed and a ceiling lamp as examples:

bed: when the mobile device performs the zigzag pass, the height information acquired by passing through the bed-shaped area is synchronously stored as shown in fig. 3 b. According to the height information matrix, the height jump when the step occurs on the edge line of the bed can be obtained, and the height information is basically kept unchanged in the area, and a height diagram is shown in fig. 3 b. And combining the height information and the area size information of the area, judging that the area is a bed-shaped area and is an effective subarea.

Lamp: when the mobile device performs the zigzag pass, the collected height information is also synchronously stored through the lamp-shaped area as shown in fig. 3 c. From this height information matrix, the height variation (not shown in the diagram) can be obtained when an arc-like progression occurs on the edge line of the lamp, the height diagram being shown in fig. 3 c. The height information and the area size information of the area are combined, and the area can be judged to be an invalid partition.

The following is an exemplary illustration of an environment map identified with at least one sub-area provided by various embodiments of the present application. Fig. 4 is a schematic representation of an environment map. In fig. 4, taking the existing environment map of the working area as a grid map as an example, the filling of each grid element is as shown in fig. 4, and the filling is mainly classified into four types: the height information acquired by a ranging sensor for ranging upwards is determined as a free area (free) of a non-subregion boundary; the obstacle information, i.e., the boundary that the mobile device cannot pass through, is detected in the horizontal direction, as indicated by the thick black line in fig. 4; the horizontal direction is a freely passable area, and the boundary of the sub-area is determined based on the height information collected by the ranging sensor for ranging up, as shown by the dotted line in fig. 4. It is worth noting that the free areas that are blank in fig. 4 include; in fig. 4, the solid line boundary and the dashed line boundary may define one sub-partition.

By adopting the environmental area division method provided by the embodiment of the application, the environmental map with finer partition granularity can be obtained, and the environmental map with finer partition granularity has multiple application scenes, such as application to fixed-point cleaning, fixed-point monitoring, fixed-point positioning and the like. The fixed-point cleaning refers to cleaning a certain sub-area or a certain number of sub-areas based on the sub-areas included in the environment map, and the user can select to clean the certain sub-area or the certain number of sub-areas, and can even set cleaning time, cleaning frequency and the like. The pointing monitoring refers to that a user can select to monitor a certain sub-area or a certain sub-area based on the sub-areas contained in the environment map. Pointing location refers to the sub-area contained in the environment map, and the user can locate the self-mobile device in a specific sub-area. The following describes a fixed-point sweeping process based on an environment map, taking fixed-point sweeping as an example.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a fixed point cleaning method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

501. and responding to the fixed point cleaning triggering event, and determining the position of the fixed point cleaning area by combining with an environment map corresponding to the working area.

502. And moving the current position to the fixed point cleaning area, and executing the fixed point cleaning task aiming at the fixed point cleaning area.

The fixed-point cleaning method of the embodiment can be executed by the cleaning robot. The sweeping robot builds an environment map of the working area of the sweeping robot in advance or obtains the environment map of the working area of the sweeping robot in other modes. The environment map comprises at least one sub-area, and the at least one sub-area is divided according to the height information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot. The sampling point is a position point traversed by the sweeping robot, and the height information of the sampling point is distance information and horizontal position information between the sweeping robot and an obstacle above the sampling point; the plurality of sampling points may be all or part of the position points traversed by the sweeping robot.

The cleaning robot responds to the fixed point cleaning triggering event, and can determine a fixed point cleaning area which is a sub-area of at least one sub-area; and then may move to the spot-cleaning area where the cleaning task is performed. Taking a home environment as an example, the fixed-point cleaning area can be a sub-area under a bed, a sub-area under a dining table, a sub-area under a chair, a sofa, a tea table and the like; the sweeping robot can sweep the sub-areas in a targeted manner, the sweeping efficiency is improved, the sweeping robot is prevented from sweeping all the sub-areas comprehensively, and resources are saved.

Alternatively, the fixed-point cleaning triggering event may be an event that a voice cleaning instruction issued by the user is received. Based on the method, the sweeping robot can receive a voice sweeping instruction of a user, and the voice sweeping instruction comprises an identifier of a sub-area needing to be swept in a fixed point manner; and then, determining the position of the fixed point cleaning area according to the identifier of the sub-area needing fixed point cleaning contained in the voice cleaning instruction and the identifier of each sub-area in the environment map corresponding to the working area. For example, the identifier of the sub-area included in the voice cleaning instruction may be matched with the identifier of each sub-area in the environment map, and the sub-area and the position thereof in matching may be used as the fixed-point cleaning area and the position thereof, respectively. Then, the cleaning robot moves to the fixed-point cleaning area, and performs a cleaning task in the fixed-point cleaning area.

For example, when it is desired to clean an area under a bed or a toilet area, the user may issue a voice cleaning instruction to the cleaning robot, such as "please clean the area under the bed or the toilet area". The sweeping robot receives the voice cleaning instruction, performs voice recognition on the voice cleaning instruction, and determines an area under the bed or a toilet area to be cleaned; then, the position of the under-bed area or the toilet area is determined based on the environment map, a path is planned based on the obstacle information in the environment map, and then the planned path is moved from the current position to the under-bed area or the toilet area, and a cleaning task is performed. The sweeping robot cleans specific sub-areas in real time according to the user instruction, so that all the areas can be prevented from being cleaned, and resources are saved. Optionally, a fixed-point cleaning task may be set in advance in the cleaning robot, where the fixed-point cleaning task includes time information of fixed-point cleaning and an identifier of a sub-area that needs to be cleaned at a fixed point. Based on this, the fixed-point sweeping trigger event may be an event in which time information in the preset point sweeping task arrives. Based on the method, the sweeping robot can acquire the identifier of the sub-area needing fixed-point sweeping in the fixed-point sweeping task when the time information in the fixed-point sweeping task arrives; determining the position of the fixed point cleaning area according to the identifier of the sub-area needing fixed point cleaning in the fixed point cleaning task and the identifier of each sub-area in the environment map corresponding to the working area; and then moves to the spot cleaning area and performs a cleaning task in the spot cleaning area.

Optionally, one or more sub-areas that need to be cleaned at a fixed point in the fixed-point cleaning task may be provided, and further, when the fixed-point cleaning task includes a plurality of sub-areas that need to be cleaned at a fixed point, the cleaning time information of different sub-areas may be the same or may be different. For example, in a spot cleaning task, the under-bed area may be set to clean once a month on a specified date, the toilet area may be set to clean once a day, and the dining area may be set to clean three times a day. The sweeping robot can sweep corresponding sub-areas in a targeted sweeping task in a targeted manner when corresponding time information arrives, effective sweeping efficiency can be improved through similar customized sweeping, the sweeping robot can sweep the sub-areas which need to be swept only without sweeping all the areas comprehensively, and resources can be saved.

It should be noted that the manner of setting the fixed-point cleaning task includes, but is not limited to, the following manners:

mode 1: the sweeping robot supports a voice function, a user can send a fixed-point sweeping task setting command to the sweeping robot in a voice mode, and the command carries the identification of a sub-area needing fixed-point sweeping and a sweeping event or sweeping frequency. And the sweeping robot sets a fixed-point sweeping task locally according to the command.

Mode 2: the sweeping robot is provided with a control panel which supports touch operation. Based on the method, a user can send a fixed-point cleaning task setting command to the sweeping robot through the control panel, wherein the command carries the identification of the sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning and the cleaning event or the cleaning frequency. And the sweeping robot sets a fixed-point sweeping task locally according to the command.

Mode 3: and an App for controlling the sweeping robot is installed on the terminal equipment of the user. The user can set a fixed-point cleaning task through the App on the terminal equipment of the user, and the task comprises the identification of the subarea needing fixed-point cleaning and a cleaning event or cleaning frequency. The terminal equipment of the user sends the fixed-point cleaning task to the sweeping robot; the sweeping robot receives a fixed-point sweeping task sent by the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the manner in which the user sets the fixed-point cleaning task through the terminal device includes: the terminal equipment displays an environment map corresponding to a working area where the sweeping robot is located; the environment map comprises at least one sub-area, and the at least one sub-area is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot; responding to the selection operation of a user on an environment map, determining a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, and setting time information of fixed-point cleaning; and sending a fixed-point cleaning task to the cleaning robot, wherein the fixed-point cleaning task comprises fixed-point cleaning time information and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, so that the cleaning robot can execute the fixed-point cleaning task. The sampling point is a position point traversed by the sweeping robot, and the height information of the sampling point is distance information between the sweeping robot and an obstacle above the sampling point; the plurality of sampling points may be all or part of the position points traversed by the sweeping robot.

For example, a user can select an under-bed area, a toilet area and a dining table area, and set the under-bed area to be cleaned once every month on a specified date, the toilet area is cleaned once every day, the dining table area is cleaned three times every day, the information is carried in a fixed-point cleaning task and sent to the sweeping robot, and the sweeping robot can clean the corresponding area at a corresponding time according to the fixed-point cleaning task.

It should be noted that 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 501, 502, 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 limit the types of "first" and "second" to be different.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a self-moving device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the self-moving apparatus includes: the device body 60 is provided with one or more processors 601 and one or more memories 602 for storing computer instructions on the device body 60. The device body 60 includes a plurality of driving components 608, and the driving components 608 may include driving wheels, driving motors, universal wheels, etc. for driving the device body 60 to move autonomously.

Further, as shown in fig. 6, the self-moving device may further include: communications component 603, ranging up sensor 607, display 604, power component 605, audio component 606, and other components. The present embodiment is only given to some of the components schematically, and does not mean that the self-moving apparatus includes only these components. It is to be noted that the components shown in fig. 6 by the dashed line boxes are optional components, not essential components.

Among other things, one or more processors 601 to execute computer instructions stored in one or more memories 602 to:

in the process of traversing the working area, acquiring height information of a plurality of sampling points, wherein the height information of each sampling point refers to the distance between the mobile equipment and an obstacle above the sampling point;

identifying at least one sub-region from the working region based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points;

and identifying the at least one sub-area on an environment map corresponding to the working area by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area.

Optionally, the working area is from the whole environment area where the mobile device is located, or from a part of the environment area where the mobile device is located.

In an alternative embodiment, the one or more processors 601 are further configured to: before traversing the working area, receiving a partitioning instruction, and determining the working area needing partitioning according to the partitioning instruction.

In an alternative embodiment, the one or more processors 601 are specifically configured to: in the process of traversing the working area, the height information of a plurality of sampling points is collected by using the ranging sensor 607 for ranging upwards.

In an alternative embodiment, the one or more processors 601 are specifically configured to: determining at least one connected area with the same or basically the same height information in the working area based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points, wherein the self-moving equipment can freely move in the at least one connected area; and selecting at least one sub-area from the at least one connected area according to the attribute information of the at least one connected area.

Optionally, the attribute information of the connected component includes at least one of height information, horizontal position information, area, and shape of the connected component. Accordingly, the one or more processors 601, when selecting at least one sub-region from among the at least one connected region according to the attribute information of the at least one connected region, may perform at least one of the following operations:

selecting a communication area with height information in a set height interval from the at least one communication area as a sub-area;

selecting a communication area with a set shape from the at least one communication area as a sub-area;

selecting a connected region with an area meeting a condition from the at least one connected region as a sub-region;

and selecting a connected region with the horizontal position information in the set region from the at least one connected region as a sub-region.

Further, when determining at least one connected region, the one or more processors 601 are specifically configured to: detecting whether a sampling point set with the difference between the height information of the plurality of sampling points and the height information of the adjacent positions larger than a set threshold exists or not based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points; and if so, determining the region defined by the sampling point set as a connected region with the same or basically the same height information.

In an alternative embodiment, the one or more processors 601 are specifically configured to: determining the position of the at least one sub-area in an environment map corresponding to the working area by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area; and according to the position of the at least one sub-area in the environment map, identifying the boundary line of the at least one sub-area in the environment map.

In an optional embodiment, the self-moving device may further include: laser sensor and/or camera for horizontal distance measurement. The one or more processors 601 are further configured to: and acquiring the information of the obstacles around each sampling point in the process of traversing the working area. Alternatively, a laser sensor or a camera with horizontal ranging can be used to collect the obstacle information around each sampling point. Based on this, the one or more processors 601 are further configured to: and before the position of the at least one sub-area in the environment map corresponding to the working area is determined, combining the obstacle information around each sampling point to construct the environment map corresponding to the working area.

In an alternative embodiment, the one or more processors 601 are further configured to perform at least one of the following:

displaying the environment map marked with at least one sub-area on a control panel of the mobile device so as to be edited by a user;

and sending the environment map marked with at least one sub-area to a terminal device of a user, and displaying the environment map to the user by virtue of the terminal device so that the user can edit the environment map.

Further, the one or more processors 601 are further configured to perform at least one of the following:

responding to the first editing operation, and editing the identifier of the corresponding sub-area in the environment map;

responding to the second editing operation, and editing the boundary of the corresponding sub-area in the environment map;

and responding to the third editing operation, and increasing and decreasing the number of the sub-areas in the environment map.

Alternatively, the self-moving device of the present embodiment may be a sweeping robot, an accompanying robot, a guiding robot, an air cleaner, or the like.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to implement the following:

It is noted that, in addition to the actions described above, a computer program, when executed by one or more processors, may cause the one or more processors to perform other operations in the above-described embodiments of the environment region dividing method.

In an alternative embodiment, the self-moving device provided in the above embodiment can be implemented as a sweeping robot. As shown in fig. 7, the sweeping robot 700 of the present embodiment includes: the machine body 701 is provided with one or more processors 702, one or more memories 703 for storing computer instructions, and a communication component 704 on the machine body 701. The communication component 704 can be a Wifi module, an infrared module, or a bluetooth module, among others.

In addition to one or more processors 702, a communication component 704, and one or more memories 703, some basic components of the cleaning robot 700, such as a distance measuring sensor (single-point laser sensor or multi-point laser sensor) 709 for measuring distance upwards, a vision sensor 706, a power supply component 707, a driving component 708, and the like, are disposed on the machine body 701. The vision sensor may be a camera, or the like. Alternatively, the drive assembly 708 may include drive wheels, drive motors, universal wheels, and the like. Further, as shown in fig. 7, the cleaning robot 700 may further include a cleaning assembly 707, and the cleaning assembly 707 may include a cleaning motor, a cleaning brush, a dusting brush, a dust suction fan, and the like. The basic components and the configurations of the basic components included in different sweeping robots 700 are different, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are only some examples. It is to be noted that the components shown in fig. 7 by the dashed line boxes are optional components, not essential components.

It is noted that one or more processors 702 and one or more memories 703 may be disposed inside the machine body 701 or disposed on a surface of the machine body 701.

The machine body 701 is an execution mechanism by which the robot 700 performs a task, and can execute an operation designated by the processor 702 in a certain environment. The mechanical body 701 reflects the appearance of the sweeping robot 700 to a certain extent. In the present embodiment, the external appearance of the sweeping robot 700 is not limited, and may be, for example, a circle, an ellipse, a triangle, a convex polygon, or the like.

The one or more memories 703 are used primarily to store computer instructions that are executable by the one or more processors 702 such that the one or more processors 702 may control the robot 700 to perform corresponding tasks. In addition to storing computer instructions, the one or more memories 703 may also be configured to store other various data to support operations on the robot 700. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the robot 700, an environment map of the environment/scene in which the robot 700 is located, a signal strength map, and so forth.

The one or more processors 702, which may be considered a control system for the sweeping robot 700, may be configured to execute computer instructions stored in the one or more memories 703 to control the sweeping robot 700 to perform corresponding tasks. For example, the computer instructions stored in the one or more processors 702 and the one or more memories 703 may implement the steps of the method for dividing an environment region in the foregoing method embodiments, so as to obtain an environment map with at least one sub-region identified for dividing a work region into sub-regions of finer granularity.

In addition to the operations described above, the one or more processors 702 executing the computer instructions stored in the one or more memories 703 may also be configured to: responding to a fixed point cleaning trigger event, and determining the position of a fixed point cleaning area by combining an environment map corresponding to a working area; moving to a fixed point cleaning area from the current position, and executing a fixed point cleaning task aiming at the fixed point cleaning area; the environment map comprises at least one sub-area, and the at least one sub-area is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot; the spot-sweeping area is a sub-area of the at least one sub-area. The sampling point is a position point traversed by the sweeping robot, and the height information of the sampling point is distance information between the sweeping robot and an obstacle above the sampling point; the plurality of sampling points may be all or part of the position points traversed by the sweeping robot.

Optionally, the one or more processors 702 may be specifically configured to: receiving a voice cleaning instruction of a user, wherein the voice cleaning instruction comprises an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning; and determining the position of the fixed point cleaning area according to the identifier of the sub-area needing fixed point cleaning and the identifier of each sub-area in the environment map corresponding to the working area. Or,

optionally, the one or more processors 702 may be specifically configured to: when time information in the fixed point cleaning task arrives, acquiring an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed point cleaning in the fixed point cleaning task; and determining the position of the fixed point cleaning area according to the identifier of the sub-area needing fixed point cleaning and the identifier of each sub-area in the environment map corresponding to the working area.

Further, the one or more processors 702 are also operable to: the fixed-point cleaning task sent by the terminal device is received through the communication component 704, and the fixed-point cleaning task includes time information of fixed-point cleaning and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to implement the following:

responding to a fixed point cleaning trigger event, and determining the position of a fixed point cleaning area by combining an environment map corresponding to a working area;

moving to a fixed-point cleaning area from the current position, and executing a fixed-point cleaning task aiming at the fixed-point cleaning area;

the environment map comprises at least one sub-area, the at least one sub-area is divided according to height information and horizontal position information between the at least one sub-area and an upper obstacle traversed by the sweeping robot, and the fixed point sweeping area is a sub-area in the at least one sub-area.

It is noted that, in addition to the actions described above, a computer program, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform other operations in the above-described embodiments of the fixed-point sweeping method.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, the terminal device includes: one or more processors 801, one or more memories 802 storing computer instructions, and a communications component 803, a display 804.

Further, as shown in fig. 8, the terminal device may further include: power components 805, audio components 806, and other components. The present embodiment is only given to some of the components schematically, and does not mean that the self-moving apparatus includes only these components. It is to be noted that the components shown in the dotted line block in fig. 8 are optional components, not essential components.

Among other things, one or more processors 801 to execute computer instructions stored in one or more memories 802 to:

displaying an environment map corresponding to a working area where the sweeping robot is located on the display 804; the environment map comprises at least one sub-area, and the at least one sub-area is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot;

responding to the selection operation of a user on an environment map, determining a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, and setting time information of fixed-point cleaning;

and sending a fixed-point cleaning task to the sweeping robot through the communication component 803, wherein the fixed-point cleaning task comprises time information of fixed-point cleaning and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, so that the sweeping robot can execute the fixed-point cleaning task. The sampling point is a position point traversed by the sweeping robot, and the height information of the sampling point is distance information between the sweeping robot and an obstacle above the sampling point; the plurality of sampling points may be all or part of the position points traversed by the sweeping robot.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

displaying an environment map corresponding to a working area where the sweeping robot is located; the environment map comprises at least one sub-area, and the at least one sub-area is divided according to height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points acquired in the traversal process of the sweeping robot;

and sending a fixed-point cleaning task to the cleaning robot, wherein the fixed-point cleaning task comprises fixed-point cleaning time information and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, so that the cleaning robot can execute the fixed-point cleaning task.

The sampling point is a position point traversed by the sweeping robot, and the height information of the sampling point is distance information between the sweeping robot and an obstacle above the sampling point; the plurality of sampling points may be all or part of the position points traversed by the sweeping robot.

The memory in the above embodiments may be configured to store various data to support operations on its associated devices, in addition to the computer programs. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the device to which the memory pertains, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and the like.

The memory in the above embodiments may be implemented by any type or combination of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic or optical disks.

The communication component in the above embodiments is configured to facilitate communication between the device in which the communication component is located and other devices in a wired or wireless manner. The device in which the communication component is located can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as Wifi, 2G or 3G, 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, or the like.

The display in the above embodiments includes a screen, which may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a Touch Panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive an input signal from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, slide, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundary of a touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation.

The power supply components in the embodiments of the figures described above provide power to the various components of the device in which the power supply components are located. The power components may include a power management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for the device in which the power component is located.

The audio component in the above embodiments may be configured to output and/or input an audio signal. For example, the audio component includes a Microphone (MIC) configured to receive an external audio signal when the device in which the audio component is located is in an operational mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal may further be stored in a memory or transmitted via a communication component. In some embodiments, the audio assembly further comprises a speaker for outputting audio signals.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention 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 invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. 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 like elements in a 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. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. An environmental region division method, which is suitable for an autonomous mobile device, is characterized by comprising the following steps:

identifying at least one sub-region from the working region based on height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points;

identifying the at least one sub-area on an environment map corresponding to the working area in combination with the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area;

identifying at least one sub-region from the working region based on the height information and horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points, including:

determining at least one connected region with the same or basically the same height information in the working region based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points;

and selecting the at least one sub-area from the at least one connected area according to the attribute information of the at least one connected area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the working area is from an entire environment area where the mobile device is located or from a partial environment area where the mobile device is located.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein collecting height information for a plurality of sample points during traversal of the working area comprises:

in the process of traversing the working area, height information of a plurality of sampling points is collected by using a ranging sensor for ranging upwards.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information includes at least one of height information, horizontal position information, area, and shape of a connected region;

selecting the at least one subregion from the at least one connected region according to the attribute information of the at least one connected region, wherein the at least one subregion comprises at least one of the following components:

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining at least one connected region having the same or substantially the same height information present in the working region based on the height information and horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points comprises:

detecting whether a sampling point set with the difference between the height information of the plurality of sampling points and the height information of the adjacent positions larger than a set threshold exists or not based on the height information and the horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points;

and if so, determining the area defined by the sampling point set as a connected area with the same or basically the same height information.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein identifying the at least one sub-area on an environment map corresponding to the work area in combination with horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area comprises:

determining the position of the at least one sub-area in an environment map corresponding to the working area by combining the horizontal position information of the at least one sub-area;

and according to the position of the at least one sub-area in the environment map, identifying the boundary line of the at least one sub-area in the environment map.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising at least one of:

displaying the environment map identified with the at least one sub-area on a control panel of the self-moving device for a user to edit the environment map;

and sending the environment map marked with the at least one sub-area to a terminal device of the user, and displaying the environment map to the user by virtue of the terminal device so as to edit the environment map by the user.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising at least one of:

responding to a second editing operation, and editing the boundary of the corresponding sub-area in the environment map;

and responding to a third editing operation, and increasing and decreasing the number of sub-areas in the environment map.

9. A fixed-point sweeping method is suitable for a sweeping robot, and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

moving to the fixed point cleaning area from the current position, and executing a fixed point cleaning task aiming at the fixed point cleaning area;

wherein the environment map contains at least one sub-region, which is at least one connected region having the same or substantially the same existing height information selected from the working region determined based on the height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points; the spot-cleaning area is a sub-area of the at least one sub-area.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the location of the spot-cleaning area in response to the spot-cleaning trigger event in combination with an environmental map corresponding to the work area comprises:

receiving a voice cleaning instruction of a user, wherein the voice cleaning instruction comprises an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning;

and determining the position of the fixed point cleaning area according to the identifier of the sub-area needing fixed point cleaning and the identifier of each sub-area in the environment map corresponding to the working area.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the location of the spot-cleaning area in response to the spot-cleaning trigger event in combination with an environmental map corresponding to the work area comprises:

when time information in a fixed point cleaning task arrives, acquiring an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed point cleaning in the fixed point cleaning task;

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, before a sweep time in the spot-sweeping task arrives:

and receiving the fixed-point cleaning task sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the fixed-point cleaning task comprises time information of fixed-point cleaning and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning.

13. A fixed-point cleaning method is suitable for terminal equipment and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

displaying an environment map corresponding to a working area of the sweeping robot; the environment map includes at least one sub-area, which is at least one connected area having the same or substantially the same existing height information selected from the working areas determined based on height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points;

responding to the selection operation of the user on the environment map, determining a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, and setting time information of fixed-point cleaning;

and sending a fixed-point cleaning task to the cleaning robot, wherein the fixed-point cleaning task contains fixed-point cleaning time information and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, so that the cleaning robot can execute the fixed-point cleaning task.

14. An autonomous mobile device, comprising: the device comprises a device body, wherein one or more processors and one or more memories for storing computer instructions are arranged on the device body;

the one or more processors to execute the computer instructions to:

15. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

16. A sweeping robot is characterized by comprising: the machine body is provided with one or more processors and one or more memories for storing computer instructions;

the one or more processors to execute the computer instructions to:

wherein the environment map contains at least one sub-area, the at least one sub-area being at least one connected area having the same or substantially the same existing height information selected from the working area determined based on the height information and horizontal position information of the plurality of sampling points, and the spot-sweeping area being a sub-area of the at least one sub-area.

17. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

18. A terminal device, comprising: one or more processors, a display, a communications component, and one or more memories storing computer instructions;

the one or more processors to execute the computer instructions to:

displaying an environment map corresponding to a working area of the sweeping robot on the display; the environment map includes at least one sub-area, which is at least one connected area having the same or substantially the same existing height information selected from the working areas determined based on height information and horizontal position information of a plurality of sampling points;

the communication component sends a fixed-point cleaning task to the sweeping robot, and the fixed-point cleaning task contains fixed-point cleaning time information and an identifier of a sub-area needing fixed-point cleaning, so that the sweeping robot can execute the fixed-point cleaning task.

19. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising: