CN113748827B - Signal station for autonomous working equipment, autonomous working equipment and system - Google Patents

Signal station for autonomous working equipment, autonomous working equipment and system Download PDF

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CN113748827B
CN113748827B CN202010485023.1A CN202010485023A CN113748827B CN 113748827 B CN113748827 B CN 113748827B CN 202010485023 A CN202010485023 A CN 202010485023A CN 113748827 B CN113748827 B CN 113748827B
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signal
pulse
flag
boundary
values
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CN113748827A (en
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周昶
崔江伟
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Shanghai Shanke Robot Co ltd
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Shanghai Shanke Robot Co ltd
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01D—HARVESTING; MOWING
    • A01D34/00—Mowers; Mowing apparatus of harvesters
    • A01D34/006—Control or measuring arrangements
    • A01D34/008—Control or measuring arrangements for automated or remotely controlled operation
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L11/00—Machines for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
    • A47L11/24—Floor-sweeping machines, motor-driven
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L11/00—Machines for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
    • A47L11/28—Floor-scrubbing machines, motor-driven
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L11/00—Machines for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
    • A47L11/40—Parts or details of machines not provided for in groups A47L11/02 - A47L11/38, or not restricted to one of these groups, e.g. handles, arrangements of switches, skirts, buffers, levers
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L—DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L11/00—Machines for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
    • A47L11/40—Parts or details of machines not provided for in groups A47L11/02 - A47L11/38, or not restricted to one of these groups, e.g. handles, arrangements of switches, skirts, buffers, levers
    • A47L11/4011—Regulation of the cleaning machine by electric means; Control systems and remote control systems therefor
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
    • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
    • B25J11/00—Manipulators not otherwise provided for
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
    • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
    • B25J9/00—Programme-controlled manipulators
    • B25J9/16—Programme controls
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
    • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
    • B25J9/00—Programme-controlled manipulators
    • B25J9/16—Programme controls
    • B25J9/1694—Programme controls characterised by use of sensors other than normal servo-feedback from position, speed or acceleration sensors, perception control, multi-sensor controlled systems, sensor fusion

Abstract

The invention provides a signal station for autonomous working equipment. The signal station includes: a signal generator configured to generate a sequence of boundary signals based on a correspondence relationship, the boundary signals including a flag signal and a body signal occurring in sequence, the flag signal having a first characteristic, the body signal having a second characteristic corresponding to the first characteristic, and the correspondence relationship uniquely specifying a value of the second characteristic for each different value of the first characteristic; and a transmitter configured to transmit the sequence of boundary signals to a boundary connected to the signal station.

Description

Signal station for autonomous working equipment, autonomous working equipment and system
Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of automatic control, and more particularly, to a beacon for an autonomous working apparatus, the autonomous working apparatus, and an autonomous working system including the beacon and the autonomous working apparatus.
Background
Various autonomous working devices exist on the market today, such as robots for mowing, sweeping and mopping, etc. In the case of a mowing robot, a mowing robot in the mainstream generally performs mowing work in a predetermined operation area in a mode of walking along a random or regular path. The predetermined operating region is typically defined by a boundary. While the autonomous working device is working, its docking station (beacon) continuously emits a boundary signal to the boundary, which generates an electromagnetic field around the boundary, and the autonomous working device captures the boundary signal by sensing the electromagnetic field to determine that it is located within its predetermined operating area.
However, in an actual working environment, there are likely to be other signal sources around the autonomous working apparatus, which may interfere with the autonomous working apparatus so that it cannot correctly recognize the boundary signal corresponding thereto, which further results in that the autonomous working apparatus cannot work or is lost.
In this regard, in some related art solutions, it is proposed to make boundary signals of a plurality of adjacent autonomous operating apparatuses at different operating frequencies, respectively, set a specific time interval for the boundary signals of the autonomous operating apparatuses, set a specific pulse interval for pulses included in the boundary signals, and the like by cooperative management so that the autonomous operating apparatuses can recognize the boundary signals specific thereto.
However, the above-described prior art solutions still have respective disadvantages, such as the need for a controller capable of overriding adjacent autonomous operating systems in one of the above-described solutions to cooperatively manage the autonomous operating devices, which may not work well in many cases, such as when adjacent autonomous operating devices are from different manufacturers or different models of the same manufacturer.
Disclosure of Invention
In view of at least one of the above problems, according to further aspects of the present invention, a signal station for an autonomous working machine is proposed. The signal station includes: a signal generator configured to generate a sequence of boundary signals based on a correspondence relationship, the boundary signals including a flag signal and a body signal occurring in sequence, the flag signal having a first characteristic, the body signal having a second characteristic corresponding to the first characteristic, and the correspondence relationship uniquely specifying a value of the second characteristic for each different value of the first characteristic; and a transmitter configured to transmit the sequence of boundary signals to a boundary connected to the signal station.
According to other aspects of the present invention, an autonomous working apparatus is provided. The autonomous operating device includes: a sensor configured to sense a boundary signal for the autonomous working device to generate a sense signal: and a controller configured to detect a flag signal of the boundary signal from the sensing signal; determining a first characteristic of the signpost signal; determining a second feature corresponding to the first feature based on the first feature and a correspondence between the first feature and a second feature of the subject signal; detecting the subject signal from the sense signal based on the flag signal and the second characteristic of the subject signal.
According to still further aspects of the present invention, an autonomous operating system is provided. The autonomous operation system includes: a signal station as described above; and an autonomous working apparatus as described above.
Drawings
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an autonomous operating system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a docking station of an autonomous operating system, according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a sequence of boundary signals according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a flag signal in a boundary signal according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a sequence of boundary signals according to another embodiment of the invention;
fig. 6 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an autonomous working apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 7 illustrates a timing diagram of a state of an autonomous working apparatus according to some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 8 illustrates a timing diagram of a state of an autonomous working device according to further embodiments of the present invention;
fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of identifying boundary signals by an autonomous working apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram showing an ideal sense signal in the presence of an adjacent autonomous operating system in the prior art;
FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating actual sensing signals in the presence of a neighboring autonomous operating system in the prior art; and
fig. 10C shows an equivalent effect diagram of the actual sensing signal shown in fig. 10B.
Detailed Description
The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in order to more clearly understand the objects, features and advantages of the present invention. It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, but are merely intended to illustrate the spirit of the technical solution of the present invention.
In the following description, for the purposes of illustrating various disclosed embodiments, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various disclosed embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details. In other instances, well-known devices, structures and techniques associated with this application may not be shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.
Throughout the specification and claims, the word "comprise" and variations thereof, such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to have an open, inclusive meaning, i.e., will be interpreted to mean "including, but not limited to", unless the context requires otherwise.
Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should be noted that the term "or" is generally employed in its sense including "and/or" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Throughout the specification, the expressions "plural" and "plural" mean two or more in number unless otherwise specified.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an autonomous operating system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the autonomous working system includes an autonomous working apparatus 1 and a docking station 2, and the autonomous working apparatus 1 is normally initially located at the docking station 2 to perform operations such as positioning or charging.
The autonomous working device 1 is, in particular, a robot which can autonomously move within the preset working area 4 and perform a specific work, typically, an intelligent sweeper/cleaner which performs a cleaning work, or an intelligent mower which performs a mowing work, or the like. The present invention will be described in detail with reference to an intelligent lawnmower as an example. The autonomous working apparatus 1 can autonomously walk on the surface of the working area 4, and can autonomously perform mowing work on the ground particularly as an intelligent mower. The autonomous operating device 1 at least comprises a main body mechanism, a moving mechanism, a working mechanism, an energy module, a detection module, an interaction module, a control module and the like.
The main body mechanism generally includes a chassis and a housing, and the chassis is used for installing and accommodating functional mechanisms and functional modules such as a moving mechanism, a working mechanism, an energy module, a detection module, an interaction module, and a control module. The housing is typically configured to at least partially enclose the chassis, primarily to enhance the aesthetics and visibility of the autonomous working apparatus 1. In this embodiment, the housing is configured to translate and/or rotate relative to the chassis under an external force, and further functions to sense an event such as a collision, a lift, etc. in cooperation with a suitable detection module, such as a hall sensor, for example.
The moving mechanism is configured to support the main body mechanism on the ground and drive the main body mechanism to move on the ground, and generally includes a wheel type moving mechanism, a crawler type or semi-crawler type moving mechanism, a walking type moving mechanism, and the like. In this embodiment, the moving mechanism is a wheeled moving mechanism comprising at least one driving wheel and at least one walking prime mover. The travel prime mover is preferably an electric motor, and in other embodiments may be an internal combustion engine or a machine that uses another type of energy source to generate power. In the present embodiment, it is preferable to provide a left driving wheel, a left traveling prime mover driving the left driving wheel, a right driving wheel, and a right traveling prime mover driving the right driving wheel. In the present embodiment, the straight travel of the autonomous working machine 1 is achieved by the equidirectional and constant-speed rotation of the left and right drive wheels, and the turning travel is achieved by the equidirectional differential or opposite-direction rotation of the left and right drive wheels. In other embodiments, the movement mechanism may further include a steering mechanism independent of the drive wheels and a steering prime mover independent of the walking prime mover. In the present embodiment, the moving mechanism further includes at least one driven wheel, typically configured as a universal wheel, the driving wheel and the driven wheel being located at the front and rear ends of the autonomous working apparatus 1, respectively.
The work mechanism is configured for performing a specific work task and includes a work piece and a work prime mover for driving the work piece in operation. Illustratively, for an intelligent sweeper/cleaner, the workpiece includes a roller brush, a dust collection pipe, a dust collection chamber, and the like; for intelligent mowers, the working member includes a cutting blade or a cutter disc, and further includes other components for optimizing or adjusting the mowing effect, such as a height adjusting mechanism for adjusting mowing height. The working prime mover is preferably an electric motor, and in other embodiments may be an internal combustion engine or a machine that uses another type of energy source to generate power. In other embodiments, the working prime mover and the walking prime mover are configured as the same prime mover.
The energy module is configured to provide energy for various operations of the autonomous working apparatus 1. In the present embodiment, the energy module includes a battery, preferably a rechargeable battery, and a charging connection structure, preferably a charging electrode, which may be exposed to the outside of the autonomous working apparatus 1.
The detection module is configured as at least one sensor sensing an environmental parameter of the autonomous working apparatus 1 or an operating parameter of itself. Typically, the detection module may comprise sensors associated with the definition of the work area 4, of various types, for example magnetic induction, impact, ultrasound, infrared, radio, etc., the type of sensor being adapted to the position and number of the corresponding signal generating means. The detection module may also include positioning navigation related sensors such as GPS positioning devices, laser positioning devices, electronic compasses, geomagnetic sensors, and the like. The detection module may also include sensors related to its operational safety, such as obstacle sensors, lift sensors, battery pack temperature sensors, etc. The detection module may also include sensors associated with the external environment, such as an ambient temperature sensor, an ambient humidity sensor, an acceleration sensor, a light sensor, and the like.
The interactive module is configured at least for receiving control instruction information input by a user, emitting information requiring user perception, communicating with other systems or devices to transmit and receive information, and the like. In the present embodiment, the interactive module includes an input device provided on the autonomous operating device 1 for receiving control instruction information input by a user, typically, such as a control panel, an emergency stop key, and the like; the interactive module further comprises a display screen and/or a buzzer arranged on the autonomous operating device 1, and information is sensed by a user through light emission and/or sound production. In other embodiments, the interactive module further includes a communication module provided on the autonomous working apparatus 1 and a terminal apparatus independent from the autonomous working apparatus 1, such as a mobile phone, a computer, a web server, and the like, and control instruction information or other information of the user may be input on the terminal apparatus and reach the autonomous working apparatus 1 via the wired or wireless communication module.
The control module typically includes at least one processor and at least one non-volatile memory, in which a pre-written computer program or set of instructions is stored, according to which the processor controls the execution of movements, work, etc. of the autonomous working apparatus 1. Further, the control module is also capable of controlling and adjusting the respective behavior of the autonomous working apparatus 1, modifying data in the memory, and the like, according to the signal of the detection module and/or the user control instruction.
The boundary 3 is used to limit the working area 4 of the autonomous working machine 1, and generally comprises an outer boundary and an inner boundary. The autonomous working machine 1 is restricted to move and work within the outer boundary, outside the inner boundary, or between the outer boundary and the inner boundary. The boundary 3 may be solid, typically such as a wall, fence, railing, etc.; the boundary 3 may also be virtual, typically as a virtual boundary signal emitted by boundary signal generating means, typically an electromagnetic signal, for example emitted by a closed live conductor, or an optical signal, an ultrasonic signal, etc. emitted by other devices, and may also be a virtual boundary set in an electronic map, formed by two-dimensional or three-dimensional coordinates, for example, for an autonomous working machine 1 provided with a positioning device, such as a GPS, etc.
The docking station 2 is generally configured on the boundary 2 or near the boundary 3 for the autonomous working apparatus 1 to be docked, and in particular, is capable of supplying energy to the autonomous working apparatus 1 docked at the docking station 2.
Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of a docking station 2 of the autonomous operating system according to the present invention. More specifically, fig. 2 shows a schematic view of the signal station 20 comprised by the docking station 2. The signal station 20 may feed the boundary 3 to which it is connected, thereby generating an electromagnetic field around the boundary 3. Hereinafter, the terms "docking station" and "signaling station" may sometimes be used interchangeably without affecting the scope of the claimed invention. As shown in fig. 2, signal station 20 may include a signal generator 22 and a transmitter 24, where signal generator 22 is configured to generate a sequence of boundary signals for autonomous working apparatus 1, and transmitter 24 is configured to transmit the sequence of boundary signals to boundary 3 connected to signal station 20.
Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a sequence of boundary signals 30 according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the sequence of boundary signals is composed of a plurality of boundary signals 30 (boundary signals 30) 1 、30 2 8230; 8230). Each boundary signal 30 has a duration of a first period T _ all. Each boundary signal 30 may include a flag signal S _ flag (shown as a left-diagonal block in fig. 3) and a body signal S _ norm (shown as a white block in fig. 3) that occur in sequence. The flag signal S _ flag comprises at least one first pulse 32 and the body signal S _ norm comprises at least one second pulse 34, wherein the duration of each second pulse 34 is a second period T _ norm. It should be noted that the duration of a pulse in this context refers to the time interval between two adjacent pulses, which is different from the pulse width of the pulse itself. For example, the duration of a first pulse 32 refers to the time interval between two first pulses 32, and the duration of a second pulse 34 refers to the time interval between one second pulse 34 and aboveThe time interval (i.e., the second period T norm) between a pulse (which may be the last first pulse 32 or the last second pulse 34).
For an autonomous operating system, two feature sets C are provided flag And C norm Wherein the first feature set C flag A flag signal S _ flag for characterizing its boundary signal 30, a second set of features C norm The body signal S norm, which is used to characterize its boundary signal 30. First feature set C flag Including at least one of pulse width, pulse strength, pulse direction, number of pulses, pulse coding rules, and time intervals between adjacent pulses. Second feature set C norm Including at least one of pulse width, pulse strength, pulse direction, number of pulses, pulse coding rules, and time intervals between adjacent pulses.
The flag signal S _ flag should be such that the autonomous working apparatus 1 that receives the boundary signal 30 can distinguish it from the main signal S _ norm and possibly interfering signals, and therefore the first feature set C flag And a second feature set C norm There should be at least one element of a different type or value.
In one example, a first set of features C can be made flag And a second feature set C norm Is of a different type. For example, the first feature set C flag May include two element types of pulse width and pulse intensity, and a second feature set C norm Two element types, the number of pulses and the time interval between adjacent pulses, may be included. As another example, the first feature set C flag May include two element types of pulse width and pulse intensity, and a second feature set C norm Four element types of pulse width, pulse intensity, number of pulses, and time interval between adjacent pulses may be included.
In another example, the first set of features C can be made flag And a second feature set C norm The element types of (a) are the same and the values of the elements are different. For example, the first feature setC flag And a second feature set C norm Both comprise two element types, pulse width and pulse intensity, wherein a first set of characteristics C flag Is different from the second feature set C in value of at least one of the pulse width and the pulse intensity norm 。
Still further, a first feature set C may be provided flag The values of the elements in (A) are greatly different from those in the second feature set C norm The value of the corresponding element(s) in (b), for example, the former is 2 times or more the latter, so that it is easier to distinguish the two.
In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, the flag signal S _ flag includes at least two first pulses 32, and the at least two first pulses 32 have the same pulse width.
In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, the flag signal S _ flag may include at least two first pulses 32, and a pulse width of one of the first pulses 32 is greater than a pulse width of the other first pulse 32. Further, for the convenience of detection, the pulse width of one first pulse 32 is generally set to be much larger than that of another first pulse 32. For example, the pulse width of one of the first pulses 32 may be at least twice the pulse width of the other first pulse 32.
In one embodiment, the flag signal S _ flag may include at least three first pulses 32, and the time intervals between adjacent two first pulses 32 are the same.
In another embodiment, the flag signal S _ flag may include at least three first pulses 32, and the time interval between adjacent two first pulses 32 is different.
In some embodiments, the flag signal S _ flag has exactly the same characteristics for the boundary signals 30 in all first periods T _ all in a sequence of one boundary signal 30.
In some embodiments, the boundary signal 30 (e.g., the boundary signal 30) in two adjacent first periods T _ all in the sequence of one boundary signal 30 is used 1 、30 2 ) In other words, its body signal S _ norm may have a different secondFeature set C norm That is, at least one characteristic of the body signal S _ norm in the adjacent two first periods T _ all is different. As shown in FIG. 3, in one embodiment, boundary signal 30 1 The time interval between the second pulses 34 of the body signal S _ norm is T _ norm1, the boundary signal 30 2 The time interval between the second pulses 34 of the body signal S _ norm is T _ norm2, T _ norm1 not equal to T _ norm2.
In some embodiments, the second set of characteristics C of each boundary signal 30 in the sequence of boundary signals norm May be the same. In this case, however, time synchronization between the docking station 2 and the autonomous working apparatus 1 is required frequently.
To avoid situations where time synchronization is frequently required between the docking station 2 and the autonomous working apparatus 1, in some embodiments of the invention, the second feature set C of adjacent boundary signals 30 in the sequence of boundary signals may be set norm The settings are different. For this reason, predetermined rules may be set in the docking station 2 and the autonomous working apparatus 1, respectively, to indicate the second feature set of the main signal S _ norm and the cycle order (if necessary) in each boundary signal 30. To this end, as shown in fig. 2, the signalling station 20 may further comprise a memory 26 in which predetermined rules for the body signal S _ norm for indicating at least one characteristic of the body signal S _ norm of the boundary signal 30 in each first period T _ all are stored. For example, the sequence of the boundary signal 30 corresponds to a limited number of second feature sets C normi In this case, the predetermined rule may also indicate the second feature sets C normi The cycle sequence of (a). Table 1 lists one example of a predetermined rule.
TABLE 1 Preset rules
Figure BDA0002518823590000081
Figure BDA0002518823590000091
Such as a watch1, the body signal S _ norm of each boundary signal 30 may be in accordance with S _ norm1 —, in a plurality of consecutive first periods T _ all>S_norm2—>S_norm3—>S_norm1—>8230the sequence loop of (8230), where S _ norm1, S _ norm2 and S _ norm3 correspond to different second feature sets C respectively norm1 、C norm2 And C norm3 。
In one embodiment, each second feature set C normi (i =1, 2, 3) may include a pulse intensity, a pulse width, and a time interval between two adjacent second pulses 34 (i.e., the second period T _ norm), etc. of the second pulses 34, and the predetermined rule may be such that at least one of the characteristics (e.g., the pulse width or the second period T _ norm) is different. For example, in the example shown in fig. 3, two adjacent second pulses 34 have different second periods T _ norm1 and T _ norm2, respectively, therebetween. As another example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, two adjacent boundary signals 30 1 、30 2 The pulse width of the second pulse 34 of the body signal of (a) is different.
In some embodiments, each second feature set C normi (i =1, 2, 3) may further include a remainder T endi of the first period T _ all divided by the second period T _ norm (as shown in fig. 3). Since the first period T _ all is usually not divisible by the second period T _ norm, the remainder T _ endi may also serve as a distinguishing feature to assist in identifying the flag signal S _ flag of the next period T _ all.
In some embodiments, for better discrimination, the second periods T _ norm (i =1, 2, 3) may also be set to be relatively prime to each other. More preferably, the second periods T _ norm (i =1, 2, 3) may be respectively set to different prime numbers.
Transmitter 24 of signal station 20 continuously transmits the sequence of boundary signals 30 generated as described above to boundary 3 connected to signal station 20 to enable autonomous working apparatus 1 to capture the boundary signals.
Fig. 6 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the autonomous working apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1 and 6, the autonomous working apparatus 1 may include at least one sensor 10 and a controller 12, wherein the sensor 10 is configured to sense a boundary signal 30 for the autonomous working apparatus 1 to generate a sensing signal, and the controller 12 is configured to control the operation of the autonomous working apparatus 1 according to the sensing signal. Furthermore, the autonomous working apparatus 1 may further comprise a memory 14, which may be used to store predetermined rules as described above. As shown in fig. 1, at least one sensor 10 may be located in front of the autonomous working apparatus 1. Two sensors 10 are schematically shown in fig. 1, however, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the autonomous working machine 1 may be provided with more or fewer sensors 10. Further, the position of the sensor 10 is not limited to the front as shown in the drawing, and may be located on both sides of the autonomous working apparatus 1 or the like.
The sampling of the boundary signal 30 by the autonomous working apparatus 1 comprises two phases, one being a pre-sampling phase, i.e. a phase of sampling the sequence of the boundary signal 30 to determine the set of basis features of the boundary signal 30 when the autonomous working apparatus 1 is located at a predetermined initial position, such as at the docking station 2, and the other being a sampling phase, i.e. a phase of analyzing the received signal to identify the boundary signal 30 corresponding to its docking station 2 when the autonomous working apparatus 1 is located at any position within or near the working area 4.
In some embodiments of the present invention, controller 12 is configured with a status flag that may be used to indicate that autonomous working apparatus 1 is in one of a sampling state and a response state. The sampling state and the response state of the autonomous working apparatus 1 alternate, and the autonomous working apparatus 1 can be in only one of the states at the same time. Here, the response state refers to a state in which the autonomous working apparatus 1 does not perform the signal sampling operation, and may also be referred to as a ready state. Fig. 7 shows a timing diagram of the state of the autonomous working apparatus 1 according to some embodiments of the present invention. The left-hand hatched block indicates that the autonomous operating device 1 is in the response state, and the right-hand hatched block indicates that the autonomous operating device 1 is in the sampling state. It is assumed that the autonomous working apparatus 1 is in a response state in the initial state.
In one implementation, the status flag may include a flag bit that indicates a sampling status when set to a first value (e.g., 0) and a response status when set to a second value (e.g., 1).
In another implementation, the status flag may include two flag bits, wherein a first flag bit is used to indicate the sampling status (e.g., the first flag bit is set to 1) and a second flag bit is used to indicate the response status (e.g., the second flag bit is set to 1), i.e., the status flag 10 indicates the sampling status and the status flag 01 indicates the response status, or vice versa.
As shown in fig. 7, the controller 12 is configured to determine whether the intensity of the rising edge of the pulse signal in the sensing signal of the sensor 10 is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold pw th If the intensity is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold pw th The status flag of the controller 12 is set to the sampling state. In the sampling state, the controller 12 obtains the intensity of the pulse signal sensed by the sensor 10 greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold pw th And form an independent signal recording record1.
When it is determined that the duration of the state flag of the controller 12 in the sampling state reaches the preset time t _ sa or the intensity of the falling edge of the pulse signal is less than the predetermined threshold pw th The status flag of the controller 12 is set to the response state.
In one embodiment, the preset time t _ sa is set to be greater than or equal to the effective pulse width pw of the current pulse signal prst . For example, the preset time t _ sa may be greater than the effective pulse width pw of the current pulse signal prst Larger than a small predetermined value, e.g. the effective pulse width pw of the current pulse signal prst 5% of the total. In this way, a complete pulse signal can be guaranteed to be acquired in the pre-sampling phase for subsequent effective signal analysis.
In another embodiment, for example, in the sampling phase of the autonomous working apparatus 1, the preset time t _ sa may be set to be greater than or equal to the pulse width pw of the body signal 34 of the boundary signal 30 norm . For example, the preset time t _ sa may be greater than the pulse width pw of the body signal 34 norm Greater by a small predetermined value, e.g. pulse width pw of the subject signal 34 norm 5% of the total. In this way, it is possible to guarantee during the sampling phaseA complete pulse signal is acquired. In this case, although a part of the effective subject signal may be omitted due to the presence of the interference signal, the interference signal can be further excluded.
In some embodiments, during the pre-sampling phase, the response state of the controller 12 is always off and the sampling state is always on, i.e., all of the pre-sampling period reaches the threshold pw th Are all recorded in the same signal recording record1.
In other embodiments of the present invention, controller 12 is configured with a status flag that may be used to indicate that autonomous working apparatus 1 is in one of an interval state, a sampling state, and a response state. The interval state, the sampling state, and the response state of the autonomous working apparatus 1 alternate, and the autonomous working apparatus 1 can be in only one of the states at the same time. Fig. 8 shows a timing diagram of a state of the autonomous working apparatus 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Where the grid-like boxes indicate that the autonomous operating device 1 is in the spaced state, the left-diagonal boxes indicate that the autonomous operating device 1 is in the responsive state, and the right-diagonal boxes indicate that the autonomous operating device 1 is in the sampling state. The duration of the interval state is denoted as interval time t _ intvl. The difference from the embodiment shown in fig. 7 is that when the duration of the state flag of the controller 12 in the sampling state reaches the preset time t _ sa, the state flag of the controller 12 is set to the interval state, and the state flag of the controller 12 is set to the response state after the interval time t _ intvl.
In one embodiment, the second feature set C of the body signal S _ norm in the current period can be used as a basis norm To determine the interval time t _ intvl. Specifically, the pulse width pw of the body signal S _ norm may be determined according to norm And a second period T _ norm to determine the interval time T _ intvl. For example, the interval time t _ intvl can be determined using the following equation (1):
t_intvl＝T_norm-pw norm -∈1-∈2, (1)
wherein the second period T _ norm is a preset value, the pulse width pw of the main signal S _ norm norm May be based on a second set of characteristics C of the subject signal S _ norm during the current period norm To determine that e 1 is a relative to pw norm Very small values (e.g.. Di ∈ 1 ≦ 5% norm ) E 2 is a statistical value indicating a time difference between detection of the complete signal by the autonomous working apparatus 1 and recognition that the complete signal is the flag signal S _ flag.
In this case, the autonomous working apparatus 1 may enter the interval state after recognizing the flag signal S _ flag, and enter the response state after waiting the interval time t _ intvl to further reduce power consumption.
The signal sampling scheme of the autonomous working apparatus 1 described above in connection with fig. 7 and 8 may be used for the pre-sampling phase and the sampling phase. In the pre-sampling stage, when a signal is acquired, whether the signal is a flag signal S _ flag is judged, and other non-flag signals in the period are identified until two adjacent flag signals S _ flag are identified. In the sampling stage, it may be immediately determined whether the acquired signal is an effective signal according to the second feature set of the current period, or it may be determined whether each signal is an effective signal in sequence according to the second feature set of the current period after accumulating a segment of signal, and the corresponding second feature set is changed according to the flag signal S _ flag and the predetermined rule in the memory 14.
Fig. 9 shows a flowchart of a method 900 for the autonomous working apparatus 1 to recognize the boundary signal 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Method 900 may be performed, for example, by controller 12 of autonomous working apparatus 1. Controller 12 may be implemented, for example, as a microprocessor that performs method 900 in accordance with a computer program stored in a memory of autonomous working apparatus 1. Alternatively, the controller 12 may be implemented as a hardware programmed circuit or chip (e.g., a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.) that performs the method 900 in accordance with a computer program embedded therein.
First, in a pre-sampling phase, the autonomous operating device 1 pre-samples a sequence of the boundary signal 30 at a predetermined initial position to obtain a pre-sampled signal of the boundary signal 30 in step 910. Here, the controller 12 may receive, for example, a pre-sampled signal from the sensor 10 that is acquired by the sensor 10. As described previously, each boundary signal 30 has a duration of a first period T _ all and the boundary signal 30 includes a flag signal S _ flag and a body signal S _ norm. The length of the pre-sampled signal (pre-sampling duration) should be greater than or equal to 2 times the first period T _ all to ensure that at least one complete boundary signal 30 is acquired.
Here, the predetermined initial position is a position where the intensity of the boundary signal 30 is highest. In one implementation, the predetermined initial position is the position of the docking station 2 (i.e., the beacon 20) of the autonomous working device 1.
In some embodiments, the sensor 10 may acquire multiple pulse signals having approximately the same pulse width and frequency, in which case an appropriate signal may be selected from the multiple pulse signals as the pre-sampled signal. To this end, step 910 may further comprise a sub-step 912 (not shown in the figures) in which a plurality of candidate pre-sampled signals are obtained that pre-sample the sequence of boundary signals 30, the plurality of candidate pre-sampled signals comprising pulses having substantially the same pulse width and frequency; and a sub-step 914 (not shown in the figure) in which one candidate pre-sampled signal having the largest pulse intensity is selected from the plurality of candidate pre-sampled signals as the pre-sampled signal.
Next, at step 920, the controller 12 determines whether the pre-sampled signal satisfies a predetermined condition.
In one embodiment, the predetermined condition comprises a predetermined characteristic of a body signal of the pre-sampled signal. Specifically, the controller 12 identifies two consecutive flag signals S _ flag from the pre-sampled signal based on the characteristics of the flag signals S _ flag. Next, the controller 12 extracts the body signal S _ norm from the two consecutive flag signals S _ flag. The controller 126 determines whether at least one second pulse 34 of the subject signal S norm complies with a plurality of second feature sets C normi At least one of (a). If at least one second pulse 34 of the subject signal S _ norm corresponds to a plurality of second feature sets C normi The controller 12 determines that the pre-sampled signal satisfies a predetermined condition. In other embodiments, the predetermined condition may also include other conditions, such as a pre-sampled signalThe signature signal of (a), etc.
Next, at step 930, in response to determining that the pre-sampled signal satisfies the predetermined condition, the controller 12 determines the set of basis features C for the boundary signal 30 based on the pre-sampled signal base 。
As previously mentioned, depending on the pre-sampling duration, the obtained pre-sampled signal may contain a plurality of boundary signals 30 (e.g. a plurality of first periods T _ all of the pre-sampling duration). In this case, it should also be determined whether one or more body signals S _ norm are extracted from the pre-sampled signal in step 920. If it is determined that only one subject signal S _ norm is extracted from the pre-sampled signals, a second feature set C corresponding to the subject signal S _ norm will be extracted in step 930 norm As a base feature set C base 。
On the other hand, if it is determined in step 920 that a plurality of subject signals S _ norm are extracted from the pre-sampled signal, the controller 12 determines whether the plurality of subject signals S _ norm comply with a predetermined rule, and if the plurality of subject signals comply with the predetermined rule, determines that the pre-sampled signal satisfies the predetermined condition. As described above, the predetermined rule is used to indicate at least one feature of the main signal S _ norm of the boundary signal 30 in each first cycle T _ all, so that acquiring a pre-sampled signal that satisfies the predetermined condition means that the autonomous operating apparatus 1 has captured a valid signal from the signal station 20 to achieve synchronization between the signal station 20 (i.e., the docking station 2) and the autonomous operating apparatus 1. In case there are a plurality of second feature sets in the body signal of the boundary signal 30, the predetermined rule may also indicate a cyclic order of these second feature sets (as shown in table 1), so that after one synchronization the next sampling signal may be identified according to the cyclic order indicated in the predetermined rule. For this case, in step 930, the controller 12 may take the second feature set corresponding to the last subject signal of the plurality of subject signals S _ norm as the basic feature set C base 。
Next, in the sampling phase, at step 940, at an arbitrary position of the predetermined operation region of the autonomous working apparatus 1, the controller 12 obtains a sampling signal obtained by sampling the sequence of the boundary signals 30. The sampled signal may be a result of the sensor 10 sampling and processing the electromagnetic field around the boundary 3.
In step 950, the controller 12 bases the set of basic features C of the boundary signal 30 on base It is determined whether the sampled signal is a valid signal.
In one embodiment, the controller 12 may intercept a signal segment of the length of the first cycle T _ all from a position in the sampled signal where the last first cycle T _ all ends, and determine the second feature set C of the subject signal S _ norm contained in the signal segment norm Whether or not to match the basic feature set C base And (4) matching. If the second set of characteristics C of the body signal S _ norm contained in the signal segment norm And the basic feature set C base And if the sampling signal is matched with the valid signal, determining the sampling signal as a valid signal. Conversely, if the second feature set C of the subject signal S norm contained in this signal segment is present norm And the basic feature set C base And if not, determining that the sampling signal is not a valid signal. Further, if the sampled signal is not a valid signal, the controller 12 may instruct the sensor 10 to re-sample the boundary signal 30 or to obtain a new sampled signal from the signals that are continuously acquired by the sensor 10.
In some embodiments, a second set of characteristics C of the subject signal S norm in a different first period T _ all norm May be different. In this case, the second feature set C of the subject signal S norm contained in the signal segment is determined norm And the basic feature set C base After matching, the controller 12 also determines a second feature set C of the subject signal S norm contained in the signal segment norm And a second set C of characteristics of the subject signal S _ norm contained in one or more first cycles T _ all following the signal segment norm Whether a predetermined rule as described above, such as a cyclic order of a plurality of second discriminating characteristic sets as shown in table 1, is met. If it is determined that the predetermined rule is met, the controller 12 determines the sampling signal as a valid signal.
Various aspects of the present invention are described above with reference to fig. 1 to 9, including the signal station (docking station) of the autonomous operating system constructing boundary signals having different feature sets, the autonomous operating device sampling the boundary signals, and the autonomous operating device identifying the boundary signals from the sampled sensing signals, and the like. However, the above aspects are concerned with signal design for a single autonomous operating system and do not take into account interference issues for neighboring autonomous operating systems. When a plurality of autonomous operating systems as shown in fig. 1 are adjacently disposed and the autonomous operating systems are products of the same specification of the same manufacturer (i.e., the pulse frequencies of the generated boundary signals may be the same), the sensing signal received by the sensor 10 of the autonomous operating apparatus 1 may include the boundary signals of the adjacent systems in addition to the boundary signals of the current system.
Fig. 10A shows a schematic diagram of an ideal sensing signal in the presence of an adjacent autonomous operating system in the prior art. As shown in fig. 10A, the signal sensed by the sensor 10 of the autonomous working apparatus 1 includes a boundary signal 1020 (indicated by a thin solid line in fig. 10A) of an adjacent autonomous working system in addition to the boundary signal 1010 (indicated by a thick solid line in fig. 10A) of itself. In this ideal case, the boundary signals 1010 and 1020 have the same frequency and a stable phase difference, but since the distance from the sensor 10 is different, the intensity of the boundary signal 1010 is generally greater than that of the boundary signal 1020, so the autonomous working apparatus 1 can identify which of the sensed signals is the boundary signal 1010 for itself by determining the pulse intensity (S) of the sensing signal, and further determine the specific information of the boundary signal 1010 for itself according to the characteristics of the identification signal and the main body signal described earlier. However, in an actual situation, due to a hardware error of the signal generator 22 of the signal station 20 that transmits the boundary signal (an error caused by a crystal oscillator of a signal generation chip used), phases of two different boundary signals 1010 and 1020 are continuously changed relatively, so that a signal actually sensed by the autonomous working apparatus 1 is different from the actual situation shown in fig. 10A. FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating actual sensing signals in the presence of a neighboring autonomous operating system in the prior art; fig. 10C shows an equivalent effect diagram of the actual sensing signal shown in fig. 10B. As shown in fig. 10B and 10C, due to the above-mentioned error, the adjacent boundary signals 1010 and 1020 are shifted and may partially overlap, so that the signal actually sensed by the sensor 10 is as shown in fig. 10C. With such a sense signal, it would be difficult for the autonomous working apparatus 1 to recognize the boundary signal 1010 for itself, so that the boundary 3 cannot be accurately determined. Further, in the case where two adjacent autonomous operating systems employ products of the same specification (the autonomous operating device 1 and the docking station 2), the signal generation frequencies are substantially the same, so that such signal overlapping will last for a considerable time, which makes it more difficult to recognize the boundary signal 1010.
In this regard, the present invention also provides a scheme for preventing coupling of signals generated by adjacent signal generators 22 as much as possible by controlling the frequency of occurrence of the signals. More specifically, in addition to the advance coordination between the characteristics of the flag signal, the characteristics of the body signal, and the cycle rule of the body signal as described in table 1, the correspondence between the characteristics of the flag signal and the characteristics of the body signal may be advanced, for example, the correspondence between the first time interval T _ flag of the first pulse 32 of the flag signal S _ flag and the second time interval T _ norm of the second pulse 34 of the body signal S _ norm may be advanced.
Referring to fig. 2 and 3 in conjunction, the signal station 20 for the autonomous working apparatus 1 includes a signal generator 22 configured to generate a sequence of boundary signals 30 (boundary signals 30) based on the correspondence relationship 1 、30 2 8230 \ 8230;). The boundary signal 30 includes a flag signal S _ flag (indicated by a left-diagonal square in fig. 3) and a body signal S _ norm (indicated by a white square in fig. 3) which occur in this order. As mentioned above, the flag signal S _ flag has a first characteristic, which for example belongs to the first set of characteristics C mentioned above flag The body signal S _ norm has a second characteristic, which for example belongs to the second set of characteristics C described above norm Wherein the first feature set C flag And a second feature set C norm At least one element has different types or values. First feature set C flag Comprises a pulse width,Pulse strength, pulse direction, number of pulses, pulse coding rules, and time intervals between adjacent pulses. Second feature set C norm Including at least one of pulse width, pulse strength, pulse direction, number of pulses, pulse coding rules, and time intervals between adjacent pulses.
In an embodiment according to the invention, the correspondence between the first feature and the second feature may be constructed such that for each value of the first feature, the correspondence uniquely specifies the value of the second feature. By constructing the boundary signal 30 in such a unique correspondence relationship, the receiving end (autonomous working apparatus 1) can uniquely determine the main signal S _ norm corresponding thereto after determining the flag signal S _ flag.
In some embodiments, the flag signal S _ flag may include at least two first pulses 32 and the body signal S _ norm may include at least one second pulse 34. The first characteristic may comprise a first time interval T _ flag of the first pulse 32 and the second characteristic may comprise a second time interval T _ norm of the second pulse 34. Herein, the time interval between two adjacent first pulses 32 (as shown in fig. 3) is referred to as a first time interval T _ flag, and the time interval between the last first pulse 32 and an adjacent second pulse 34 or the time interval between two adjacent second pulses 34 is referred to as a second time interval T _ norm (i.e., the second period T _ norm described above).
In some embodiments according to the invention, the correspondence may be expressed as a functional relationship between the first feature and the second feature, such that the corresponding second feature can be uniquely determined from the first feature and the functional relationship.
In other embodiments according to the present invention, the correspondence may be represented as a correspondence table, for example, stored in memory 26 of signal station 20. The correspondence table may include values for a plurality of first characteristics of the first pulse 32 and values for a plurality of second characteristics of the second pulse 34, respectively. For example, as shown in table 2, the correspondence table may include a correspondence of at least one pair of the first time interval T _ flag and the second time interval T _ norm. Since the first time interval T _ flag of the first pulse 32 takes a value within the range of the second time interval T _ norm of the second pulse 34, i.e., T _ flag e (0, T _norm), the boundary signal 30 can be constructed by a unique correspondence relationship therebetween, so that the receiving end (autonomous working apparatus 1) can uniquely determine the subsequent second time interval T _ norm after the first time interval T _ flag is determined, thereby identifying the corresponding body signal S _ norm to identify the entire boundary signal 30.
TABLE 2 table of correspondences
Numbering T_flag(ms) T_norm(ms)
1 2 12600
2 4 13333
3 6 15333
4 8 16555
In some embodiments, the different values of the first time interval T _ flag are relatively prime to each other. Furthermore, a plurality of values of the first time interval T _ flag are prime numbers.
In some embodiments, the different values of the second time interval T norm are relatively prime to each other. Further, a plurality of values of the second time interval T _ norm are prime numbers.
The transmitter 24 is configured to transmit the sequence of boundary signals 30 constructed as above to the boundary 3 connected to the signal station 20.
In one embodiment, the correspondence table includes only one pair of the first time interval T _ flag and the second time interval T _ norm (in the case where only one row is included in table 2). In this case, each boundary signal 30 in the sequence of boundary signals 30 has the same first time interval T _ flag and second time interval T _ norm. This case corresponds to the two time intervals being set uniquely in advance.
In another embodiment, the correspondence table may include values of a plurality of first time intervals T _ flag for the first pulse 32 and values of a plurality of second time intervals T _ norm for the second pulse 34, as shown in table 2, and the correspondence table includes 4 values of the first time intervals T _ flag and the second time intervals T _ norm. In this case, the signal generator 22 may be configured to select (e.g., in a specified order or a random order) one of the values of the first time interval T _ flag for the first pulse 32 from the correspondence table, and to select a value of the second time interval T _ norm corresponding to the selected value of the first time interval T _ flag for the second pulse 34 from the correspondence table. For example, the signal generator 22 may select 2ms (milliseconds) in the correspondence table as the first time interval T _ flag, and 12600ms corresponding to 2ms as the second time interval T _ norm. In one embodiment, the signal generator 22 may select a first time interval T _ flag, for example, first time interval T _ flag =2ms, and determine the second time interval T _ norm =12600ms accordingly. When the occurrence of signal interference is detected, the signal generator 22 may select a different first time interval T _ flag, for example, first time interval T _ flag =4ms, and determine the second time interval T _ norm =13333ms accordingly. Here, the detection of signal interference can be effected by a corresponding sensor arranged on the docking station 2; it may also be implemented by a corresponding sensor provided on the autonomous working apparatus 1 and notifies the docking station 2 (more specifically, the notification signal transmitter 22) through the communication module.
Further, the signal generator 22 may further determine values of a plurality of different first characteristics (e.g., a first time interval T _ flag) and values of a plurality of corresponding second characteristics (e.g., a second time interval T _ norm) for a plurality of boundary signals 30 in the sequence of boundary signals 30, respectively.
Specifically, in one embodiment, the signal generator 22 is configured to sequentially select values of a plurality of first features (e.g., first time intervals T _ flag) from the correspondence table for a plurality of first pulses 32 of the sequence, respectively, in a specified order, and select values of a second feature (e.g., second time intervals T _ norm) from the correspondence table corresponding to the selected values of the plurality of first features (e.g., first time intervals T _ flag) for a plurality of second pulses 34 of the sequence, respectively. For example, assuming that the specified order is the order and cycles as shown in Table 2, the signal generator 22 may select the combination of the first time interval and the second time interval in the order of the numbers 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 4\8230, the combination of the first time interval and the second time interval, i.e., sequentially selecting 2ms and 12600ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 1 4ms and 13333ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 2 6ms and 15333ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 3 First pulse 32 and second pulse 34 \8230 \ 8230, 2ms and 12600ms were selected for boundary signal 30, respectively 5 First pulse 32 and second pulse 34, etc.
Further, the above-described specified order may also be variable. For example, at least two different specified orders may be defined such that the signal generator 22 may select the values of the first feature and the values of the second feature for the plurality of boundary signals 30 from the correspondence table according to the at least two different specified orders. More specifically, the signal generator 22 may select the values of the first characteristic and the values of the second characteristic for the plurality of boundary signals 30 from the correspondence table in a first designated order of the at least two different designated orders, and after the selection of the first designated order is completed or when the signal interference is detected, the signal generator 22 selects the values of the first characteristic and the values of the second characteristic for the plurality of boundary signals 30 from the correspondence table in a second designated order of the at least two different designated orders. In one embodiment, the second designated order may be randomly selected from the at least two different designated orders, which may be the same as the first designated order or different from the first designated order. In another embodiment, the second specified order may be randomly selected from among other specified orders of the at least two different specified orders than the first specified order. In this case, it can be ensured that the sequences of adjacent boundary signals are generated in a different specified order, which is particularly suitable in the case of signal interference being detected.
Still referring to table 2, assume that the first specified order is selected in the order of number 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 and the second specified order is selected in the order of number 3 → 1 → 4 → 2. In this case, the signal generator 22 may sequentially select 2ms and 12600ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 1 4ms and 13333ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 2 6ms and 15333ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 3 8ms and 16555ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 4 A first pulse 32 and a second pulse 34. After the selection of the first specified order is complete, the signal generator 22 may sequentially select 6ms and 15333ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 5 2ms and 12600ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 6 8ms and 16555ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 7 4ms and 13333ms for the boundary signal 30, respectively 8 A first pulse 32 and a second pulse 34.
In another embodiment, the signal generator 22 is configuredIn order to select a plurality of first time intervals T _ flag respectively for the first pulses 32 of the sequence in a random order in turn from the correspondence table, and to select second time intervals T _ norm corresponding to the selected first time intervals T _ flag respectively for the second pulses 34 of the sequence from the correspondence table. For example, the signal generator 22 may randomly select 2ms, 4ms, 8ms, 6ms to be used as the boundary signal 30, respectively 1 、30 2 、30 3 、30 4 、30 5 The first time interval T _ flag of (1), the signal generator 22 should accordingly select 12600ms, 13333ms, 16555ms, 15333ms to be used as the boundary signal 30, respectively 1 、30 2 、30 3 、30 4 、30 5 Of the second time interval T norm. By adopting the method, the problem that the adjacent boundary signals 1010 and 1020 are difficult to identify due to long-time superposition can be effectively avoided.
On the other hand, at the receiving end, the sensor 10 of the autonomous working apparatus 1 senses the boundary signal 30 of the autonomous working apparatus 1 to generate a sensing signal. The sense signal may be, for example, a sense signal as shown in fig. 10A or 10C.
The controller 12 detects the flag signal S _ flag of the boundary signal 30 from the sensing signal and determines a first characteristic of the flag signal S _ flag. Here, the method of detecting the flag signal S _ flag of the boundary signal 30 may be as described above in conjunction with fig. 6 to 9. The controller 12 detects the intensity of the rising edge of the pulse signal in the sensing signal, and sets the status flag of the controller 12 to the sampling state when the intensity is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value. When the duration of the state flag of the controller 12 in the sampling state reaches a preset time or the intensity of the falling edge of the pulse signal is less than a predetermined threshold value, the state flag of the controller 12 is switched to the interval state. The controller 12 may extract a first signal segment whose status flag is from the sampling status to the interval status as a first pulse 32 of the flag signal S _ flag. In this manner, the controller 12 may continuously extract a plurality of pulse signals, and determine whether the pulse signals are the first pulses 32 according to the size of the time interval between the pulse signals (e.g., the time interval between the rising edges of two consecutive pulse signals). For example, as shown in Table 2, the first time interval T _ flag of the first pulse 32 of the flag signal S _ flag is typically much smaller than the second time interval T _ norm of the second pulse 34 of the body signal S _ norm, only a few milliseconds. Therefore, in the case of blind detection at the receiving end, it is possible to determine whether the first pulse 32 is detected or not according to the magnitude of the time interval between the detected pulse signals, thereby determining the first time interval T _ flag.
Further, the controller 12 may continuously detect all consecutive first pulses 32 in the sensing signal as above to determine the flag signal S _ flag in the sensing signal. Alternatively, the controller 12 may be based on the first set of characteristics C flag The number of the first pulses 32 of the flag signal S _ flag included in the boundary signal 30 is known, thereby determining the flag signal S _ flag in the sensing signal.
Next, the controller 12 determines a second feature corresponding to the first feature based on the determined first feature of the flag signal S _ flag and the correspondence between the first feature and the second feature.
In one embodiment, the controller 12 may determine the second characteristic based on the first characteristic and a functional relationship between the first characteristic and the second characteristic.
In another embodiment, controller 12 may determine the correspondence based on a correspondence table stored in autonomous working apparatus 1 (more specifically, for example, memory 14). For example, the controller 12 may determine the second time interval T _ norm corresponding to the first time interval T _ flag based on the correspondence table (as shown in table 2). The correspondence table stored in the memory 14 of the autonomous working apparatus 1 is the same as the correspondence table stored in the memory 26 of the beacon station 20.
The controller 12 may detect the body signal S _ norm from the sensing signal based on the flag signal S _ flag and the second characteristic of the body signal S _ norm.
Here, the method of detecting the body signal S _ norm from the sensing signal may be as described above in connection with fig. 6 to 9. The controller 12 may begin with the first pulse 32 determined above and will elapse an interval t _ intvlThe status flag of controller 12 switches from the interval state to the response state. Here, the interval time T _ intvl is determined by the second time interval T _ norm. For example, the interval time T _ intvl may be determined from the second time interval T _ norm by the above formula (1). In a rough calculation, the second time interval T _ norm is much larger than the pulse width pw of the body signal S _ norm norm E 1 and e 2, so the interval time T _ intvl can be considered to be substantially equal to the second time interval T _ norm.
The state flag of the controller 12 is switched from the response state to the sampling state when the intensity of the rising edge of the pulse signal in the sensing signal is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, and the state flag of the controller 12 is switched to the interval state when the duration that the state flag of the controller 12 is in the sampling state reaches a preset time or the intensity of the falling edge of the pulse signal is less than the predetermined threshold value. The controller 12 may extract a second signal segment of the status flag from the sampling state to the interval state as a second pulse 34 of the body signal S _ norm.
Further, the controller 12 may continuously detect all of the continuous second pulses 34 in the sensing signal as above to determine the subject signal S _ norm in the sensing signal. Alternatively, the controller 12 may be based on the second feature set C norm The number of second pulses 34 of the subject signal S _ norm contained in the boundary signal 30 is known, thereby determining the subject signal S _ norm in the sense signal.
Here, the detection of the first pulse 32 and the second pulse 34 may be performed by referring to the signal sampling process using the sampling state of the controller 12 described above with reference to fig. 7 or fig. 8, and will not be described again.
After determining the flag signal S _ flag and the body signal S _ norm in one of the boundary signals 30 as described above, the controller 12 may determine the complete boundary signal 30.
The above embodiments exemplarily describe the technical solution of the present invention by taking the pulse time interval as an example. It should be understood that any one or more of the other elements of pulse frequency, pulse width, pulse intensity, etc. may be used as the first and second features having unique correspondence in other equivalents.
The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (10)

1. A signal station for an autonomous operating machine, comprising: a signal generator configured to generate a sequence of boundary signals based on a correspondence relationship, the boundary signals including a flag signal and a body signal occurring in sequence, the flag signal having a first characteristic, the body signal having a second characteristic corresponding to the first characteristic, and the correspondence relationship uniquely specifying a value of the second characteristic for each different value of the first characteristic; and a transmitter configured to transmit the sequence of boundary signals to a boundary connected to the signal station; wherein the correspondence is stored in a correspondence table comprising values of a plurality of first features for a first pulse and values of a plurality of second features for a second pulse, and wherein the signal generator is configured to select a value of at least one first feature for the first pulse from the correspondence table and to select a value of a second feature corresponding to the selected value of the first feature for the second pulse from the correspondence table.
2. The signal station of claim 1, wherein the correspondence is stored in a correspondence table comprising values for a plurality of first characteristics of the first pulses and values for a plurality of second characteristics of the second pulses, and wherein the signal generator is configured to select, in a specified order, the values of the plurality of first characteristics in turn from the correspondence table for the plurality of first pulses of the sequence, respectively, and to select, from the correspondence table, the values of the second characteristics corresponding to the selected values of the plurality of first characteristics for the plurality of second pulses of the sequence, respectively.
3. The signal station of claim 2, wherein the signal generator is configured to select values of a plurality of first features and values of a plurality of second features for a plurality of boundary signals from the correspondence table in at least two different specified orders.
4. The signaling station of claim 3, wherein the signal generator is configured to
Selecting values of a plurality of first features and values of a plurality of second features for the plurality of boundary signals from the correspondence table according to a first designated order of the at least two different designated orders, and
selecting values of first features and values of second features for the plurality of boundary signals from the correspondence table according to a second designated order of the at least two different designated orders after the selection of the first designated order is completed or when signal interference is detected,
wherein the second specified order is randomly selected from the at least two different specified orders other than the first specified order.
5. The signal station of claim 1, wherein the correspondence is stored in a correspondence table comprising values for a plurality of first characteristics of the first pulses and values for a plurality of second characteristics of the second pulses, and wherein the signal generator is configured to select the values of the plurality of first characteristics in turn from the correspondence table in a random order for a first pulse of the sequence, respectively, and to select the values of the second characteristics corresponding to the selected values of the first characteristics from the correspondence table for a second pulse of the sequence, respectively.
6. An autonomous working apparatus comprising: a sensor configured to sense a boundary signal for the autonomous working device to generate a sense signal: and a controller configured to detect a flag signal and a body signal of the boundary signal from the sensing signal; determining a first characteristic of the signpost signal; determining a second feature corresponding to the first feature based on the first feature and a correspondence between the first feature and a second feature of the subject signal; detecting the subject signal from the sense signal based on the flag signal and the second characteristic of the subject signal;
wherein the controller is configured with a status flag to indicate that the autonomous working apparatus is in one of a sampling state and a response state, and wherein detecting the flag signal and the body signal of the boundary signal from the sense signal comprises:
setting a state flag of the controller to a sampling state when the intensity of a rising edge of a pulse signal in the sensing signal is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, and switching the state flag of the controller to an interval state when the duration of the state flag of the controller in the sampling state reaches a preset time or the intensity of a falling edge of the pulse signal is less than the predetermined threshold value; and
a first signal segment of the status flag from a sampling state to an interval state is extracted as a first pulse of the flag signal.
7. The autonomous operating device of claim 6, wherein determining a second feature corresponding to the first feature based on the first feature and a correspondence between the first feature and a second feature of the subject signal comprises:
determining the correspondence based on a correspondence table stored in the autonomous operating device, wherein the correspondence table includes values of a plurality of first characteristics for a first pulse and values of a plurality of second characteristics for a second pulse.
8. The autonomous working apparatus of claim 7, wherein detecting the subject signal from the sense signal comprises:
switching a status flag of the controller from an interval state to a response state after an interval time from the first pulse, wherein the interval time is determined by a second time interval of the second pulse;
switching a state flag of the controller from a response state to a sampling state when intensity of a rising edge of a pulse signal in the sensing signal is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, and switching the state flag of the controller to an interval state when duration of the state flag of the controller in the sampling state reaches a preset time or intensity of a falling edge of the pulse signal is less than the predetermined threshold value; and
a second signal segment of the status flag from a sampling state to an interval state is extracted as a second pulse of the body signal.
9. The autonomous operating device of any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the flag signal comprises at least two first pulses, the main signal comprises at least one second pulse, the first characteristic comprises any one of element types of a first time interval, a first pulse width, a first pulse strength, a first pulse number, and a first pulse coding rule of the first pulse, and the second characteristic comprises any one of element types of a second time interval, a second pulse width, a second pulse strength, a second pulse number, and a second pulse coding rule of the second pulse.
10. An autonomous operating system, comprising:
the signal station of any one of claims 1 to 5; and
the autonomous working apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9.
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