CN113970918A - Automatic walking equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an automatic walking device. The method comprises the following steps: the device comprises a machine body, a microwave radar, a control module and a walking module; the walking module comprises a wheel set arranged on the machine body and a walking motor used for driving the wheel set; the control module is arranged in the machine body, is respectively electrically connected with the walking module and the microwave radar and is used for controlling the automatic walking equipment to work and walk; the microwave radar is installed inside the machine body and located at the front end of the automatic walking equipment. The technical defect that a traditional ultrasonic sensor cannot identify short obstacles in the operation environment is overcome, and the ultrasonic sensor is more suitable for the outdoor working environment of automatic walking equipment.

Description

Automatic walking equipment

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of automation technology, and more particularly, to an automatic walking device.

Background

With the continuous development of scientific technology, more and more automatic walking devices are used for walking into the production and life of people, such as floor sweeping robots, intelligent mowers, floor mopping robots and the like, and can automatically perform the tasks of cleaning and mowing the ground under the conditions of navigation and obstacle avoidance, so that the life quality of people is greatly improved. However, the existing mower mostly realizes the detection of the obstacle by arranging the ultrasonic sensor at the top of the outer side of the mower, so that the obstacle avoidance operation is completed, and as the cone-shaped light beam emitted by the ultrasonic sensor has a certain detection range, the existing mower is often out of the ultrasonic detection range for some short obstacles such as shoes, leather balls and pets, and collides with automatic walking equipment to form potential safety hazards, so that the user experience is poor.

Disclosure of Invention

To overcome the problems in the related art, the present disclosure provides an automatic walking device.

The method comprises the following steps: the device comprises a machine body, a microwave radar, a control module and a walking module;

the walking module comprises a wheel set arranged on the machine body and a walking motor used for driving the wheel set;

the control module is arranged in the machine body, is respectively electrically connected with the walking module and the microwave radar and is used for controlling the automatic walking equipment to work and walk;

the microwave radar is installed inside the machine body and located at the front end of the automatic walking equipment.

In one possible implementation, the microwave radar includes a millimeter-wave radar operating in a millimeter-wave band.

In one possible implementation manner, the installation height of the microwave radar is 40mm or more away from the working surface of the automatic walking device.

In a possible implementation manner, the automatic walking device is an automatic mower, a cutting mechanism for mowing is arranged on the mower body, and the microwave radar is located in front of the cutting mechanism.

In a possible implementation manner, the mowing mechanism comprises a cutter head, and the installation position of the microwave radar is 100mm or more away from the edge of the cutter head.

In a possible implementation manner, the main power direction of the microwave radar transmitting the electromagnetic wave forms a preset angle with the horizontal direction.

In a possible implementation manner, the preset angle range between the main power direction of the electromagnetic wave emitted by the microwave radar and the horizontal direction comprises 0-45 °.

In a possible implementation manner, an auxiliary transmitting module is further disposed in the electromagnetic wave transmitting direction of the microwave radar, and the auxiliary transmitting module is configured to limit the electromagnetic wave beam transmitted by the microwave radar within a preset angle range.

In one possible implementation, the preset angle range includes 10 ° -60 °.

In one possible implementation, the auxiliary transmitting module includes an antenna.

In one possible implementation, the antenna has a perpendicular angle of less than 20 °.

In one possible implementation, the antenna is a horn antenna and/or a patch antenna.

In a possible implementation, a filler is provided in the horn antenna to block dust.

In a possible implementation manner, the number of the microwave radars is multiple, and the multiple microwave radars are horizontally and uniformly distributed at the front end of the automatic walking device.

In a possible implementation, the antenna outside of microwave radar is equipped with the antenna house, the plane at antenna place with the distance of antenna house is greater than half of microwave radar electromagnetic wave carrier wavelength, just antenna house thickness is even, do not have the strengthening rib, the thickness of antenna house is greater than half of microwave radar electromagnetic wave wavelength.

In a possible implementation manner, the distance between the plane where the antenna of the microwave radar is located and the housing of the automatic walking device in the passing direction of the electromagnetic wave of the microwave radar is greater than half of the carrier wavelength of the electromagnetic wave, the housing is uniform in thickness and free of reinforcing ribs, and the thickness of the housing is greater than half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave.

In one possible implementation manner, the microwave radar is used for transmitting electromagnetic waves and receiving the electromagnetic waves reflected by the front object to be measured; and the control module is used for controlling the automatic walking equipment to execute a preset obstacle avoidance measure when the characteristic parameter of the reflected electromagnetic wave is determined to be larger than a preset value.

In a possible implementation manner, the control module may adjust the preset value accordingly according to an electromagnetic wave signal received by the microwave radar.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can have the following beneficial effects: the microwave radar is arranged inside the machine body, the obstacles are identified by utilizing the difference of the intensity of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the same object to be detected, the identified obstacles can comprise obstacle areas with larger volume and also shorter obstacles, the obstacle identification device can be used in the operation environment with small grass, wheat or other crops, and the technical defect that the traditional ultrasonic sensor cannot identify the short obstacles in the operation environment is overcome. And, install the microwave radar inside the fuselage, need not additionally to install other waterproof construction, can save the cost to make automatic walking equipment present comparatively pleasing to the eye molding design. Compared with infrared and laser radars, the microwave radar has the advantages of strong capability of penetrating fog, smoke and dust, long transmission distance, stable performance and no interference of shapes, colors and the like of objects to be detected, well makes up use scenes which other sensors such as infrared, laser, ultrasonic waves, cameras and the like do not have, and is more suitable for outdoor working environments of automatic walking equipment.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an application scenario of an automated walking device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating an automated walking apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an intelligent lawn mower according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an application scenario for an automated walking device, according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating an automated walking apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the exemplary embodiments below are not intended to represent all implementations consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present disclosure, as detailed in the appended claims.

In order to facilitate those skilled in the art to understand the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, a technical environment for implementing the technical solutions is described below.

Automatic walking equipment, especially outdoor work's automatic walking equipment, adopt ultrasonic sensor to carry out the detection of barrier mostly. The ultrasonic sensor is generally arranged at the top of the outer side of the automatic walking equipment, and the shape of an ultrasonic beam emitted by the ultrasonic sensor is similar to that of a light beam emitted by a flashlight, so that when the ultrasonic sensor is arranged at the top of the front of the automatic walking equipment and emits ultrasonic waves forwards, some short obstacles such as shoes of small animals and children are difficult to identify, the automatic walking equipment is easy to collide with the obstacles, and potential safety hazards are formed; if the ultrasonic waves are emitted obliquely downward by changing the emission direction, although short obstacles can be scanned, non-obstacles such as small grass are also irradiated at the same time, and the small grass and the short obstacles are not well distinguished by the ultrasonic sensor, so the small grass is mistaken for the obstacles. Other sensors, such as laser radar sensors, infrared sensors and vision sensors, also have the condition that short obstacles and small grasses cannot be distinguished, and the sensors are greatly influenced by weather, and have poor detection effect on the obstacles due to the influence of the small grasses or the crops on outdoor automatic walking equipment, particularly intelligent mowers or crop harvesters and the like.

Based on the practical technical needs similar to those described above, the present application provides an automatic walking device.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an application scenario of an automated walking device according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to fig. 1, the automatic walking device may include an intelligent mower 100, the intelligent mower 100 is provided with a microwave radar 101, a control module, a housing 104, a moving module and an operation module, the moving module may include a rear wheel 105 and a front wheel 107 located at the bottom of the housing, and the operation module may include a cutter head and a driving device for driving the cutter head to rotate. In operation, the microwave radar 101 continuously emits electromagnetic waves 106, and the electromagnetic waves 106 are emitted onto the grass 103 and reflected back to the microwave radar 101 through the grass. If an obstacle is encountered, which may for example comprise a football 102, as shown in fig. 1, the electromagnetic waves 106 are emitted onto the football 102 and reflected back to the microwave radar 101 via the football 102. When the electromagnetic wave 106 emitted by the microwave radar 101 has a low ground friction angle (the included angle between the central axis of the beam of the electromagnetic wave 106 and the ground surface is small), the intensity of the electromagnetic wave reflected from the grass 103 is less than the intensity of the electromagnetic wave reflected from the obstacle. Since the echo intensity of the electromagnetic wave is related to the size, shape, direction of the object to be measured and the material of the reflecting surface, the intensity of the electromagnetic wave reflected by the grass 103 is different from the intensity of the electromagnetic wave reflected by the obstacle. Based on this, when the control module of the intelligent lawn mower 100 determines that the intensity of the reflected electromagnetic wave is greater than or equal to a preset value, it may be determined that an obstacle exists in front of the irradiation direction of the electromagnetic wave, and then the control module controls the automatic walking device to execute a preset obstacle avoidance measure.

An automatic walking device according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating an automated walking apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to fig. 2, the automatic walking apparatus 200 includes:

the device comprises a machine body, a microwave radar 101, a control module 201 and a walking module;

the walking module comprises a wheel set 202 mounted on the body and a walking motor for driving the wheel set 202;

the control module 201 is arranged in the machine body, and the control module 201 is electrically connected with the walking module and the microwave radar 101 respectively and is used for controlling the automatic walking equipment to work and walk;

the microwave radar 101 is installed inside the machine body and located at the front end of the automatic walking equipment.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the automatic walking device 200 may include an intelligent lawn mower 100, a wheat harvester, and other automatic working devices for fruits, vegetables, and crops. In one example, the microwave installation height may be determined according to the height of the automatic walking device 200 and the height of the object to be measured. The object to be detected can comprise lawn, wheat seedling, other fruits and vegetables, crops and obstacles. The control module 201 is arranged in the machine body, the control module 201 is electrically connected with the walking module and the microwave radar 101 respectively and used for controlling the automatic walking equipment to work and walk, and in one example, the control module 201 is further used for controlling the automatic walking equipment to execute preset obstacle avoidance measures after determining obstacles. The walking module may include wheel sets 202 or tracks to move the automated walking device. The work of the self-propelled apparatus may include a mowing work of a mower, a cutting work of a wheat harvester, and the like, corresponding to the self-propelled apparatus.

In the disclosed embodiment, the microwave radar comprises a microwave transmitter and a microwave receiver, wherein the microwave transmitter may comprise a modulation signal control circuit, a microwave generator, an array transmitting antenna and a detector housing; the microwave receiver can comprise a detector shell, an array receiving antenna, a signal detector and a signal analyzing and controlling circuit. The microwave radar can be arranged in the machine body due to the high penetration capacity of the microwave, and whether the object to be detected is an obstacle or not can be distinguished by adjusting the emission direction of the electromagnetic wave of the microwave radar and utilizing the difference of characteristic parameters of the electromagnetic wave reflected by the object to be detected. The microwave radar also has the advantage of small environmental influence and is suitable for outdoor automatic walking equipment.

In one example, referring to fig. 3, the self-propelled device 200 may include a smart lawn mower 100. The microwave radar 101 is used for transmitting electromagnetic waves, receiving the electromagnetic waves reflected by the object to be measured in front, and controlling the intelligent mower to execute a preset obstacle avoidance measure by using the difference between the characteristic parameters of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the small grass and the characteristic parameters of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the obstacle, namely, the characteristic parameters of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the small grass are smaller than the characteristic parameters of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the obstacle.

In another example, the automatic walking device may include a wheat harvester, and the operation module of the wheat harvester may include a wheat harvesting tool and a driving device for driving the wheat harvesting tool to rotate, and the wheat harvester transmits electromagnetic waves by using the microwave radar and receives the electromagnetic waves reflected by the front object to be measured. And determining whether the obstacle exists in the electromagnetic wave transmitting direction of the microwave radar according to the difference between the characteristic parameters of the electromagnetic wave reflected by the wheat and the electromagnetic wave reflected by the obstacle, such as small animals, stones and the like in the wheat field, and controlling the wheat harvester to execute a preset obstacle avoidance measure.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the preset obstacle avoidance measures may include: when the position direction of the obstacle is detected, if the obstacle is located in the advancing direction of the automatic walking equipment, the automatic walking equipment can be controlled to turn (turn left or turn right) and advance for a preset distance according to a preset direction, then the automatic walking equipment turns and advances according to the direction opposite to the previous direction (if the automatic walking equipment turns left after encountering the obstacle before, then the automatic walking equipment turns right at the moment, if the automatic walking equipment turns right after encountering the obstacle before, then the automatic walking equipment turns left at the moment) so as to bypass the obstacle, then the automatic walking equipment determines the position point closest to the planned path, and the automatic walking equipment continues to travel according to the planned path; the preset obstacle avoidance measures may further include: and if the obstacle is positioned in the advancing direction of the automatic walking equipment, controlling the automatic walking equipment to turn according to a preset direction, determining a position point close to the planned path, driving according to the planned path, and finally, planning the path of the non-driving area and continuing driving. It should be noted that the preset obstacle avoidance measure is not limited to the above examples, and other modifications may be made by those skilled in the art within the spirit of the present application, and all that is needed is to cover the scope of the present application as long as the function and effect achieved by the preset obstacle avoidance measure are the same as or similar to the present application.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the ground-wiping angle of the electromagnetic wave is smaller by controlling the electromagnetic wave emitting direction of the microwave radar, so that the electromagnetic wave is incident on the object to be measured, such as the part of the grass, and more electromagnetic wave beams are incident on the head of the grass under the condition of low ground-wiping angle, so that the characteristic parameters of the electromagnetic wave reflected by the grass and the characteristic parameters of the electromagnetic wave reflected by the obstacle are more obvious.

The microwave radar is arranged inside the machine body, the obstacles are identified by utilizing the difference of the intensity of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the same object to be detected, the identified obstacles can comprise obstacle areas with larger volume and also shorter obstacles, the obstacle identification device can be used in the operation environment with small grass, wheat or other crops, and the technical defect that the traditional ultrasonic sensor cannot identify the short obstacles in the operation environment is overcome. And, install the microwave radar inside the fuselage, need not additionally to install other waterproof construction, can save the cost to make automatic walking equipment present comparatively pleasing to the eye molding design.

In one possible implementation, the microwave radar includes a millimeter-wave radar operating in a millimeter-wave band. The electromagnetic wave band of the millimeter wave comprises 1-10 mm. Because the wavelength of the millimeter wave radar is between 1 mm and 10mm, the size of the antenna is equivalent to the wavelength, the antenna of the millimeter wave radar is small, and the antenna can be made into a microstrip patch antenna, so that the antenna of the millimeter wave radar can be made into a PCB (printed circuit board); the millimeter wave radar can comprise a radio frequency part, a baseband part and a corresponding control unit, wherein the radio frequency part of the millimeter wave radar is used for generating alternating electromagnetic waves; the baseband is used for synthesizing a transmitted baseband signal or decoding a received baseband signal; the control unit comprises a plurality of algorithm controls such as signal detection, measurement, classification and tracking. The millimeter wave radar has the advantages of microwave guidance and photoelectric guidance because the wavelength of the millimeter wave radar is between centimeter waves and light waves. Compared with infrared and laser radars, the millimeter wave radar has the advantages of strong capability of penetrating fog, smoke and dust, long transmission distance, stable performance and no interference of shapes, colors and the like of objects to be detected, well makes up use scenes which other sensors such as infrared, laser, ultrasonic waves, cameras and the like do not have, and is more suitable for outdoor working environments of automatic walking equipment.

In one possible implementation manner, the installation height of the microwave radar is 40mm or more away from the working surface of the automatic walking device. The installation height of the microwave radar in the embodiment of the present disclosure is determined by a specific application scenario. In one example, the automatic walking device comprises an automatic mower, in consideration of the recognition effect of short obstacles, electromagnetic waves are reflected by other objects to be detected except for the obstacles, if the installation height of the microwave radar is lower than 40mm, the characteristic parameters of the reflected electromagnetic waves and the characteristic parameters of the obstacles are not obvious and false alarm is likely to be generated due to the influence of grass density and the ground, and therefore, the installation height is set to be more than 40mm, and a good recognition effect can be achieved.

In a possible implementation manner, the automatic walking device is an automatic mower, a cutting mechanism for mowing is arranged on the mower body, and the microwave radar is located in front of the cutting mechanism. In the embodiment of the disclosure, in consideration of the fact that the electromagnetic wave emitted by the microwave radar has directivity, in order to reduce the image of the cutting mechanism in front of the microwave radar to the microwave radar, the microwave radar is arranged in front of the cutting mechanism, and the using effect of the microwave radar is ensured.

In a possible implementation manner, the mowing mechanism comprises a cutter head, and the installation position of the microwave radar is 100mm or more away from the edge of the cutter head.

In a possible implementation manner, the main power direction of the electromagnetic wave emitted by the microwave radar and the horizontal direction form a preset angle. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the radar lobe represents the relative field strength characteristic of the electromagnetic wave radiated or received by the radar antenna in each direction, and in the directional diagram radiated by the radar, there are a plurality of radiation beams, where the beam with the largest radiation intensity is referred to as a main lobe, and the main power direction of the electromagnetic wave is the main lobe direction. The electromagnetic wave main power direction and the horizontal direction of the microwave radar transmission form a preset angle, and the method comprises the following steps: in one example, the main power direction of the electromagnetic wave of the microwave radar is an obliquely upward direction, and at this time, the electromagnetic wave of the microwave radar does not irradiate the ground, so that the interference of ground clutter can be avoided, and a better implementation effect is achieved. In another example, the main power direction of the electromagnetic wave of the microwave radar is the same as the horizontal direction, and referring to fig. 4, the microwave radar 101 is installed on the self-propelled device in a vertical manner, in this case, the beam emitted by the microwave radar 101 is located right in front of the self-propelled device 100, and the position of the microwave radar 101 on the self-propelled device can be adaptively adjusted according to the height of the self-propelled device 100 and the height ratio of the small grass, so that the low obstacle can be located in the identification area of the microwave radar 101. In another example, the main power direction of the microwave radar is a downward inclined direction, which can be referred to as fig. 1, and the working principle that the microwave radar 101 is installed on the automatic walking device in a manner of inclining downwards by a preset angle has been explained in the above embodiment, and is not described herein again.

In a possible implementation manner, the preset angle range between the main power direction of the electromagnetic wave emitted by the microwave radar and the horizontal direction comprises 0-45 degrees. The microwave radar is arranged on the automatic walking equipment in a mode of inclining upwards or downwards by 0-45 degrees so as to control the emission direction of the electromagnetic waves of the microwave radar. In one example, the microwave radar is inclined downwards by 0-45 degrees, the included angle between the emission direction of the main power of the electromagnetic waves and the ground is also within the preset angle range, and a smaller ground wiping angle is maintained, so that more electromagnetic waves enter the head of the grass, the intensity of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the grass and the intensity of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the obstacle are more obvious, and the detection accuracy and sensitivity are improved; in another example, the microwave radar is inclined upwards by 0-45 degrees, and at this time, the electromagnetic wave of the microwave radar does not irradiate the ground, so that the interference of ground noise can be avoided, and a better implementation effect is achieved.

In a possible implementation manner, an auxiliary transmitting module is further disposed in the electromagnetic wave transmitting direction of the microwave radar, and the auxiliary transmitting module is configured to limit the electromagnetic wave beam transmitted by the microwave radar within a preset angle range. The auxiliary transmitting module may include a horn antenna or a lens antenna. The electromagnetic wave beam of the microwave radar is a cone-shaped beam, so that the microwave radar has the advantages of large reflecting surface and easiness in identifying the obstacle, and in order to detect the direction of the obstacle more accurately, the auxiliary transmitting module can be adopted to restrict the electromagnetic wave beam transmitted by the microwave radar within a certain range.

In a possible implementation manner, the auxiliary transmitting module includes the beam angle of the electromagnetic wave transmitted by the microwave radar between 10 ° and 60 °, or the auxiliary transmitting module includes the beam angle of the electromagnetic wave transmitted by the microwave radar between more than 10 ° and less than 60 °.

In one possible implementation, the auxiliary transmitting module may include an antenna, which may be a horn antenna and/or a patch antenna. The horn antennas may include a pyramidal horn antenna, a sectorial horn antenna, a conical horn antenna, an exponential horn antenna, and a corrugated horn antenna. The electromagnetic wave propagates along the horn antenna towards the aperture, increasing the horn angle reduces the gain and increases the beam width, so that in order to provide a narrower beam width, a smaller horn angle can be obtained by increasing the length of the horn. A plurality of symmetrical patch antenna arrays can be used, radiation can be controlled, a flat electromagnetic wave waveform can be generated, signals are concentrated in the horizontal direction, and a narrower wave beam is generated.

In a possible implementation, a filler is provided in the horn antenna to block dust. Because the electromagnetic wave of microwave radar transmission has better penetrability, consequently, can set up the filler in horn antenna, be full of or with horn antenna's bore department packing seal with the cavity packing in the horn antenna to prevent the dirt bits that automatic walking equipment produced in outdoor operations's process fly into in the cavity.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating an automated walking apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to fig. 4, the number of the microwave radars 101 is plural, and the plural microwave radars are horizontally and uniformly distributed at the front end of the automatic walking apparatus 100.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the microwave radars 101 is plural, because each of the electromagnetic waves emitted by the microwave radars 101 has a certain detection range, and the detection range may not completely cover all areas of the automatic walking device 100 that need to be identified, and therefore, by adding the plurality of microwave radars 101, the identifiable range of the automatic walking device 100 is increased. The plurality of microwave radars are horizontally and uniformly distributed at the front end of the automatic walking device 100, because the microwave radars are located at the front end of the automatic walking device, and the emitted electromagnetic wave beams are consistent with the advancing direction of the automatic walking device, so that corresponding obstacle avoidance measures can be better implemented. The plurality of microwave radars 101 are uniformly distributed in the front end of the automatic walking device 100 in a horizontal (straight) manner, and are not distributed in a vertically staggered manner, because the plurality of microwave radars 101 may have the same pitch angle at the same horizontal height, thereby simplifying the subsequent control algorithm.

In a possible implementation manner, an antenna housing is arranged on the outer side of an antenna of the microwave radar, a plane where the antenna is located and the distance between the antenna housing are larger than half of the wavelength of the carrier wave of the electromagnetic wave, the antenna housing is even in thickness and free of reinforcing ribs, and the thickness of the antenna housing is larger than half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna cover is disposed outside the antenna of the microwave radar, which can protect the antenna and improve the transmission efficiency of the electromagnetic wave under the following conditions. The conditions may include: the distance between the plane where the antenna is located and the antenna housing is larger than half of the wavelength of the carrier wave of the electromagnetic wave, the thickness of the antenna housing is uniform, no reinforcing rib is arranged, and the thickness of the antenna housing is larger than half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave.

In a possible implementation manner, under the condition that the microwave radar is located inside the automatic walking device shell, the distance between the plane where the antenna of the microwave radar is located and the shell in the electromagnetic wave passing direction is greater than half of the carrier wavelength of the electromagnetic waves, the shell is uniform in thickness and free of reinforcing ribs, and the thickness of the shell is greater than half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves. Because microwave radar's penetrability is better, consequently, microwave radar both can install the inside of automatic walking equipment also can install the outside of automatic walking equipment. When the microwave radar is located inside the automatic walking equipment shell, the transmission efficiency of electromagnetic waves can be improved under the following conditions. The conditions may include: the distance between the plane where the antenna of the microwave radar is located and the shell in the passing direction of the electromagnetic waves is larger than half of the carrier wavelength of the electromagnetic waves, the shell is uniform in thickness and free of reinforcing ribs, and the thickness of the shell is larger than half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves.

In one possible implementation manner, the microwave radar is used for transmitting electromagnetic waves and receiving the electromagnetic waves reflected by the front object to be measured; and the control module is used for controlling the automatic walking equipment to execute a preset obstacle avoidance measure when the characteristic parameter of the reflected electromagnetic wave is determined to be larger than a preset value. The characteristic parameter of the electromagnetic wave in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include an echo intensity of the electromagnetic wave, and may further include a parameter value of the received electromagnetic wave signal after frequency domain transformation, for example, a corresponding parameter value of the received electromagnetic wave signal after fourier transformation. It should be noted that the setting method of the electromagnetic wave characteristic parameter is not limited to the above example, for example, laplace transform or wavelet transform is performed on the echo signal, and other modifications are possible for those skilled in the art based on the technical spirit of the present application, but the present application is covered within the scope of protection as long as the achieved function and effect are the same or similar to the present application.

In a possible implementation manner, the control module may adjust the preset value accordingly according to an electromagnetic wave signal received by the microwave radar. In one example, the characteristic parameter of the electromagnetic wave reflected by the object to be measured other than the obstacle, such as a lawn, may be used as the preset value, and in another example, the characteristic parameter of the electromagnetic wave reflected by the microwave radar may be changed, and even if the same object to be measured, such as a lawn, is different, a value at which the characteristic parameter of the electromagnetic wave reflected within a preset time is stable may be used as the preset value. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the preset value is set in a self-adaptive manner, so that the automatic walking equipment can work stably.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

It will be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise arrangements described above and shown in the drawings and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims (18)

1. An automated walking device comprising: the device comprises a machine body, a microwave radar, a control module and a walking module;

the walking module comprises a wheel set arranged on the machine body and a walking motor used for driving the wheel set;

the control module is arranged in the machine body, is respectively electrically connected with the walking module and the microwave radar and is used for controlling the automatic walking equipment to work and walk;

the microwave radar is arranged in the machine body and is positioned at the front end of the automatic walking equipment.

2. The self-propelled apparatus of claim 1, wherein said microwave radar comprises a millimeter wave radar operating in the millimeter wave band.

3. The self-propelled apparatus of claim 1, wherein a mounting height of said microwave radar comprises 40mm and more from a working surface of said self-propelled apparatus.

4. The self-propelled apparatus of claim 1, wherein said self-propelled apparatus is a robotic lawnmower having a cutting mechanism for mowing grass disposed on said body, said microwave radar being positioned in front of said cutting mechanism.

5. The self-propelled apparatus of claim 4, wherein said mowing mechanism comprises a cutterhead, and wherein said microwave radar is mounted at a location that is 100mm or more from an edge of said cutterhead.

6. The automatic walking device of claim 1, wherein the main power direction of the electromagnetic waves emitted by the microwave radar is at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction.

7. The automatic walking device of claim 6, wherein the preset angle range of the main power direction of the electromagnetic wave emitted by the microwave radar and the horizontal direction comprises 0-45 °.

8. The automatic walking device of claim 1, wherein an auxiliary transmitting module is further disposed in the electromagnetic wave transmitting direction of the microwave radar, and the auxiliary transmitting module is configured to limit the electromagnetic wave beam transmitted by the microwave radar within a preset angle range.

9. The automated walking device of claim 8, wherein the preset angular range comprises 10 ° -60 °.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the auxiliary transmission module comprises an antenna.

11. The self-propelled apparatus of claim 10, wherein said antenna has a vertical angle of less than 20 °.

12. The self-propelled device of claim 10, wherein said antenna is a horn antenna and/or a patch antenna.

13. The self-propelled apparatus of claim 12, wherein the horn antenna is filled with a filler to block debris.

14. The automatic walking device of claim 1, wherein the number of the microwave radars is plural, and the plural microwave radars are horizontally and uniformly distributed at the front end of the automatic walking device.

15. The automatic walking device of claim 1, wherein an antenna housing is arranged outside an antenna of the microwave radar, a distance between a plane where the antenna is located and the antenna housing is greater than half of a carrier wavelength of electromagnetic waves of the microwave radar, the antenna housing is uniform in thickness and free of reinforcing ribs, and the thickness of the antenna housing is greater than half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves of the microwave radar.

16. The automatic walking device of claim 1, wherein the distance between the plane of the antenna of the microwave radar and the housing of the automatic walking device in the passing direction of the electromagnetic wave of the microwave radar is greater than half of the carrier wavelength of the electromagnetic wave, the housing has uniform thickness and no reinforcing ribs, and the thickness of the housing is greater than half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave.

17. The automatic walking device of claim 1, wherein the microwave radar is configured to emit electromagnetic waves and receive electromagnetic waves reflected by a forward object to be measured; and the control module is used for controlling the automatic walking equipment to execute a preset obstacle avoidance measure when the characteristic parameter of the reflected electromagnetic wave is determined to be larger than a preset value.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the control module adjusts the preset value accordingly based on electromagnetic wave signals received by the microwave radar.

Images