CN211674019U

CN211674019U - Robot recharges seat and robot system

Info

Publication number: CN211674019U
Application number: CN201921597603.9U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘琳; 徐金鹏; 崔彧玮
Original assignee: Ankobot Shanghai Smart Technologies Co ltd; Shankou Shenzhen Intelligent Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Akobert Robot Co ltd; Shenzhen Akobot Robot Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-09-24
Filing date: 2019-09-24
Publication date: 2020-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 2029-09-24

Abstract

The application provides a robot recharges seat and robot system, set up a plurality of reflection of light portions that have a certain position relation on the robot recharges the seat, and set up to each reflection of light portion and can receive and reflect the structure of infrared light at 360 space ranges at least in the vertical direction like the cylinder, and set up a plurality of reflection of light signs to wherein at least one reflection of light portion, in order to form the guide shape, the robot can all acquire the guide shape that the infrared light of its transmission formed via recharging seat department in each position of charging seat place physical space, discern the guide shape and output navigation information and realize the electricity with moving to recharging seat department by oneself and connect.

Description

Robot recharges seat and robot system

Technical Field

The application relates to the field of mobile robots, in particular to a mobile robot recharging seat and a robot system.

Background

With the development of science and technology and the improvement of living standard, mobile robots are widely applied, such as cleaning robots which can automatically complete cleaning work according to set rules; mobile robots are typically powered by rechargeable power sources.

At present, the robot can be charged by adopting an automatic recharging positioning navigation technology, and the main positioning modes comprise three types: infrared positioning, bluetooth positioning, and radar positioning. The mobile robot autonomously returns to the charging seat to charge when detecting that the charging is needed, the accuracy of the most frequently used infrared positioning mode is high, and the robot guides light to realize navigation by identifying and following the infrared rays of the charging seat. The robot is positioned by adopting the mode and is established on the basis of receiving infrared guide light, and the infrared light emitted by the charging seat is collected and identified by arranging the infrared guide light emitting structure or the infrared light reflecting structure on the charging seat. In practice, due to the limitation of the emitting or reflecting condition, the infrared radiation area emitted or reflected by the charging stand only within a certain angle and usually a poor angle (an angle less than 180 °) cannot cover the whole range of the physical space where the charging stand is located, i.e. the robot can collect the infrared guiding signal for navigation only within a specific range.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art, it is an object of the present application to provide a robot refill seat and a robot system for solving the problems of the prior art.

To achieve the above and other related objects, a first aspect of the present application provides a robot refill seat comprising: the surface of the shell is provided with a first electric connection end used for forming charging contact with the robot; the charging device is arranged on the shell and is used for electrically connecting an external power supply and the first electric connection end; and the three-dimensional light reflecting device is arranged in the shell and is provided with at least two light reflecting parts so as to provide observation surfaces with different directions for the robot.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the housing is further provided with light transmission means for transmitting light.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, an outer surface of each of the retroreflective portions is provided with retroreflective markings for recognition by the robot.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the pattern and/or number of retro-reflective markings of each retro-reflective portion is different, so that the camera of the robot distinguishes each retro-reflective portion based on the reflected light of the robot recharging seat.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the retro-reflective device comprises: the first light reflecting part is arranged on the first side of the robot recharging seat; the second light reflecting part is arranged on the second side of the robot recharging seat; at least one of the first light reflecting part and the second light reflecting part is provided with at least two light reflecting marks, so that the light reflecting marks on the first light reflecting part and the second light reflecting part form a guide shape.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the guide shape comprises: regular shapes or custom shapes.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the retro-reflective means comprises a regular geometric body or a doll or a landscape.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, further comprising a support or suspension of the spatial light reflector.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, each of the retroreflective portions comprises an infrared retroreflective sign.

The second aspect of the present application also provides a robot system including: the robot recharging seat in any one of the above embodiments, configured to provide observation surfaces in different directions to the robot; the robot comprises at least one camera device capable of receiving the reflected light of the robot refill seat and a transmitting device for generating the transmitted light.

In certain embodiments of the second aspect of the present application, the robot comprises: the power management system comprises a second electric connection end which is arranged on the robot and matched with the first electric connection end of the robot recharging seat; the navigation system is connected with the camera device and used for outputting navigation information based on the reflected light received by the camera device; and the driving system is connected with the navigation system and used for driving the robot to integrally move based on the navigation information so as to electrically connect the second electric connection end with the first electric connection end.

In certain embodiments of the second aspect of the present application, the robot is a cleaning robot.

As described above, the robot recharging seat and the robot system of the present application have the following beneficial effects: the robot can obtain the guide shape formed by the infrared light emitted by the robot through the recharging seat in each direction of the physical space of the recharging seat, recognize the guide shape and output navigation information to automatically move to the recharging seat to realize electric connection.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot refill seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the robotic refill seat of the present application in one embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot refill seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot of the robot system of the present application in one embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot hardware system of the robot system of the present application in one embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present application is provided for illustrative purposes, and other advantages and capabilities of the present application will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure.

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that describe several embodiments of the application. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that mechanical composition, structure, and operational changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of embodiments of the present application is defined only by the claims of the issued patent. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. Spatially relative terms, such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "lower," "below," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like, may be used herein to facilitate describing one element or feature's relationship to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures.

Although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements in some instances, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, the first light reflecting portion may be referred to as a second light reflecting portion, and similarly, the second light reflecting portion may be referred to as a first light reflecting portion, without departing from the scope of the various described embodiments.

Also, as used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes" and/or "including," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, species, and/or groups, but do not preclude the presence, or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, species, and/or groups thereof.

In the common automatic robot refill navigation technology, an infrared positioning mode is applied to positioning of about 70% of industrial robots. The mobile robot receives the reflective image of the charging seat after emitting infrared light by arranging reflective materials on the charging seat (or the charging pile), analyzes the reflective image based on a certain mapping relation between the emitted infrared light and the received reflective image to obtain the position or direction relation between the charging seat and the mobile robot, and then forms navigation information. In practice, the light reflecting device of the charging stand is usually a plane capable of realizing mirror reflection, and the acquisition of the light reflecting image of the charging stand depends on that the mobile robot is in a range which can be covered by a reflection angle, so that the range in which the robot can realize automatic charging is limited.

Referring to fig. 1, a schematic view of a robot recharging stand 10 of the present application in one embodiment is shown, wherein the robot recharging stand comprises: comprises a shell 11, a charging device 12 and a stereo light reflecting device 13.

The robot is usually a mobile robot, and is a machine device for automatically executing specific work, which can receive the command of a human, run a pre-programmed program, and perform an action according to a principle formulated by an artificial intelligence technology. The robot recharging seat is used for charging the robot, in one embodiment of charging the robot, the robot recharging seat can receive and reflect light emitted by the robot based on the light reflecting device, the robot collects and processes the reflected light, and the reflected light can be analyzed to form a navigation path so as to realize automatic charging.

The robot recharging seat 10 is a working device for realizing autonomous charging for the robot. In common use, the robot recharging station 10 is also referred to as a charging pile, a charging dock, a recharging station or the like.

The housing 11 forms the outer contour of the robot recharging stand 10, in which the charging device 12 and the solid light reflecting device 13 are accommodated. The surface of the shell 11 is provided with two first electric terminals 14 for forming charging contact with the robot.

Referring to fig. 2, which is a side view of the robot refill seat 10 of the present application in one embodiment, as shown, the housing 11 is configured as an overall L-shaped structure, including an upright structure and an extended base. The three-dimensional light reflecting device 13 is accommodated in the upright structure of the L-shaped structure, and the charging device 12 can be arranged at the bottom of the housing 11 to lower the overall gravity center of the robot recharging seat 10. In one implementation, the housing may be integrally molded from plastic including, but not limited to, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), Polycarbonate (PC), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), polyurethane, polyamide, thermoplastic elastomer, polysulfone and polyetheretherketone.

The charging device 12 includes, but is not limited to, a rectifying circuit for rectifying ac power into dc power for charging the battery module of the robot. In one implementation, the charging device is electrically connected to an external power source, and is configured to rectify and transmit a current of the external power source to the first power connection terminal.

The housing 11 further includes a light-transmitting device 111 for transmitting light to realize light transmission. The light transmission device 111 includes a light transmission part, which is disposed on the upright structure of the housing 11, so that the three-dimensional light reflection device 13 can receive the light emitted by the robot through the light transmission part and reflect the light to the outside of the robot recharging stand 10. In an implementation manner of the present application, the light-transmitting portion is a light-transmitting plate made of a material having a high light transmittance for emitted light of the robot; for example, when the reflected light is laser light, the transparent plate may be made of a material having high laser transmittance, such as PC (polycarbonate) or PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate); for another example, when the reflected light is infrared light, the material of the light-transmitting plate can be infrared-transmitting glass or infrared-transmitting plastic such as PC, PMMA, ABS, etc.; for another example, when the emitted light is visible light in a certain wavelength range, the light-transmitting plate can be a plexiglas plate or a quartz glass plate. The light-transmitting plate comprises an arc-shaped panel and a plane plate, and at least forms an upright surface surrounding the three-dimensional light reflecting device 13.

The first electric connecting terminal 14 is used for forming the necessary electric connection with the equipment to be charged in the charging process. In order to realize the application of the robot recharging seat 10 in the automatic charging of the mobile robot, the first electric connecting terminal 14 is made of a conductive material, has a protruding structure outside the shell 11, and can be contacted and identified by a charging device to form electric connection. The first electric connection end comprises a positive electric connection end and a negative electric connection end, and the positive electric connection end and the negative electric connection end are connected with an external power supply through the recharging device 12.

In some embodiments, the first electrical end 14 is a metal sheet, a metal strip, or a metal wheel. The metal material of the first electrical terminal 14 comprises: the copper silver plating, the copper zinc plating, the conductive metal materials such as copper, aluminum, iron and the like, and the metal sheet is a regular polygon or irregular sheet made of the materials which can be used for manufacturing the electric connection end; the metal strip is made of the materials which can be used for manufacturing the electric connection end into a regular rectangle; the radian of the metal wheel is more beneficial to the corresponding electric connection end on the robot chassis to smoothly contact with the first electric connection end 14; charging can be achieved in a state that the electric connection end of the robot is in contact with the first electric connection end 14.

In an embodiment of the present application, the conductive portion of the first electrical terminal 14 is disposed on a locking structure, and the conductive portion is a pressing end on the locking structure and is always in contact with an external device in a locked state of the locking structure. The locking structure has small locking pressure and return resistance, namely, the locking structure can keep a locking state without returning after being slightly pressed, and can automatically return after the applied pressure disappears. In one implementation mode, the locking structure comprises a locking spring, a locking block, a blocking piece and a return spring, and the locking block and the blocking piece are arranged at the end part of the side face of the pressing end. In the initial state, namely the state that the locking structure is not subjected to external force, one end of the locking block is abutted against the stop piece under the action of the reset spring. Be provided with a breach on the locking piece, the locking structure moves along with pressure direction when applying pressure to the end of pressing, and locking piece breach and locking spring contact form the locking state, press the end pressure promptly at the external force and disappear the back, locking structure automatic recovery initial condition under reset spring's effect.

In some embodiments, the first electrical terminal 14 includes a spring biasing system. The spring biasing system is disposed within the extended base of the housing 11 on the underside of the first electrical terminal 14, the spring biasing system receiving a spring bias that is biased upwardly and away from the extended base. The spring bias allows the first electrical terminals 14 to remain in contact with the robot with a certain supporting force to ensure that the two first electrical terminals 14 of the extended base are in sufficient contact with the two electrical terminals of the robot. In a specific embodiment, the spring bias includes, for example, a spring, a leaf spring, a spring strip, or other elastic element having an elastic restoring force.

The stereo reflector 13 is disposed in the housing 11 and has at least two reflectors 131 to provide different orientations of the viewing surface to the robot. The outer surface of each light reflecting part 131 is provided with a light reflecting mark for the robot to recognize. The observation surface is a surface which is formed by reflecting the light emitted by the robot by the different light reflecting portions 131 and can be used for acquiring a reflected light image by the robot.

The reflection of light includes specular reflection and diffuse reflection, and the collection of reflected light is usually based on the specular reflection. The light intensity of the reflected light in each direction depends on the structure of the reflecting surface, and generally, the light intensity of the reflected light in each direction is approximately the same, so that the positional relationship between the incident device and the reflecting device cannot be judged through the reflected light. In specular reflection, the reflective surface is a smooth surface, which may be a flat surface or an arcuate surface. On the microstructure, the emitted light is regarded as a collection of countless tiny light rays, and for each light ray, an incident point, namely a reflection point, is formed when the light ray irradiates on the smooth surface; for plane reflection, the incident direction and the emission direction of each light ray are symmetrical to the normal line of the plane; for a smooth curved surface, the reflection of each ray can also be considered as a planar reflection, each plane being the tangent to the curved surface at the point of incidence of the ray.

In a conventional robot refill seat reflector, a reflective portion of the reflector is configured as a smooth surface to achieve specular reflection. Based on the property of specular reflection, the light reflected by the light reflecting device and the emitted light of the robot are symmetrical about the normal of the light reflecting surface, that is, when the direction of the emitted light of the robot, namely the incident light to the light reflecting device, is vertical to the light reflecting surface of the light reflecting device, the incident light and the emitted light are collinear and reverse, and the robot can obviously receive the reflected light emitted by the light reflecting device; when the incident light and the reflecting light form a certain acute angle or an obtuse angle, for each microscopic light, the incident light and the reflecting light are always positioned at two sides of the normal of the reflecting surface at the incident point, and obviously, when the incident angle is smaller, the light angle is changed, namely, the included angle between the incident light and the reflecting light is larger; in practical use, the robot can often receive the reflected light only within a certain angle range of the light reflecting device facing the recharging seat in the forward direction, for example, when the robot is located on the side surface of the light reflecting surface or the emitted light and the light reflecting surface form a small acute angle, the incident light which can reach the light reflecting surface is deflected by the angle after the incident light is reflected, and the robot cannot obtain the reflected light.

To solve the problems of the prior art, the disclosed robot refill seat 10 employs a three-dimensional reflector 13, wherein the three-dimensional reflector 13 includes regular geometric bodies or dolls or landscapes.

The light reflecting part 131 of the three-dimensional light reflecting device 13 has a structure with a 360-degree light reflecting surface on at least a vertical surface, a vertical plane in a defined space is a 0-degree plane, the vertical plane is rotated along a vertical axis of the vertical plane, and an included angle formed between the rotated plane and an original plane is an angle value of the plane. For example, the 360 ° reflective surface may be a curved surface formed by a series of reflective units with continuous angles of 0-360 ° in a space, each reflective unit being a microscopic plane, such as a side surface of a cylinder, as shown in fig. 1, in the embodiment, the reflective portion 131 of the stereo reflector 13 may be shaped as a sphere having continuous reflective surfaces with different angles in the whole three-dimensional space; alternatively, in another implementation, the light reflecting portion 131 may be shaped as a cylinder having a continuous light reflecting surface with different angles on an upright surface, i.e., a side surface.

For another example, the 360 ° reflective surface may be formed by a series of reflective units with discontinuous angles of 0 to 360 ° in a space, and each reflective unit is a plane, for example, a plane arranged at a fixed angle interval is formed as a side surface of a regular polygonal prism. The light emitted by the robot to the robot recharging seat is generally emitted by a plurality of light-emitting units and is non-parallel light with a certain diffusion angle, reflected light can be obtained when the robot is located in a certain angle range relative to a reflection plane at a certain distance, the angle range is defined as an effective angle, and an area covered by the effective angle is defined as an effective area. If the light reflecting part 131 is a regular polygon prism, each light reflecting surface has a corresponding effective angle, and the effective angles of the planes on the side surfaces of the regular polygon prism form a continuous angle range of 0-360 degrees around the robot recharging seat, that is, the corresponding effective areas can form continuous areas covering all directions of the robot recharging seat. The certain distance is the relative distance of the robot which can receive the reflected signal of the robot recharging seat, namely the reflected light; when the relative distance between the robot and the robot refill seat exceeds the certain distance, the emitted light which can reach the surface of the reflector can be considered as parallel light, and only the emitted light which is collinear with the normal of the emitting surface can be emitted to the robot by the reflector.

The shape of the light reflecting part can be a polygonal sphere, a cone, a doll or a landscape with certain ornamental or decorative performance and the like, at least part of the outer contour of the light reflecting part is provided with a reflecting unit to realize mirror reflection, and based on the shape and the position of the reflecting unit, the light emitted to the robot when the robot is positioned at each direction of the robot recharging seat is in a state of receiving reflected light to obtain a reflected signal, namely, the robot is provided with an observation surface at each direction. Of course, the arrangement of the light reflecting portion of the three-dimensional light reflecting device is not limited to the above examples.

In one implementation manner of the present application, the stereo light reflecting device 13 includes a first light reflecting portion and a second light reflecting portion. The first light reflecting part is arranged on the first side of the robot recharging seat 10, and the second light reflecting part is arranged on the second side of the robot recharging seat 10. The first side and the second side of the robot recharging seat 10 are shown as two positions with a certain distance, and the first light reflecting part and the second light reflecting part are accommodated in the vertical structure of the housing 11. Each reflecting portion is provided with a reflecting mark, the reflecting mark can be a certain pattern which is attached around or fused on the surface of the reflecting portion, and can be arranged into a sheet-like structure made of a material with high reflection rate, so that the mirror reflection can be realized. Alternatively, the reflective mark may be a reflective body made of a material with high reflectivity, and a material with low reflectivity, such as a material with light absorption, such as a black film, may be attached to the reflective mark of the reflective body, or made of a material with high light transmittance, or may be configured as a structure with an uneven surface to diffuse incident light. That is, the reflective mark and the part outside the reflective mark pattern on the reflective part have different reflectivity to the emitted light, so as to form a characteristic mark pattern on the reflective mark.

In an embodiment of the application, the surface of the light reflecting portion is provided with a plurality of layers of sheet-like structures, and the layers of sheet-like structures are a plastic bottom layer, a light reflecting material layer, a black plastic sheet and an infrared transmission filter from bottom to top. The black plastic sheet is hollowed into a specific pattern, namely a characteristic mark pattern for image recognition is formed; and the specific pattern formed by hollowing out can surround the surface of the light reflecting part for one circle so as to realize that the robot has observation surfaces with different directions.

In yet another embodiment of the present application, the retroreflective sign can also be provided as a sheet-like structure made of a retroreflective coefficient material, such as a retroreflective film. The retro-reflection is retro-reflection, i.e. a reflection of a reflected ray back from an opposite direction nearly collinear with the incident ray. The coefficient of retroreflection is generally related to the surface structure and material of the object, for example, the object with the surface microstructure of sphere and cube corner has a higher coefficient of retroreflection; meanwhile, the higher the gray scale value, which is a numerical value indicating the brightness of an image, i.e., the color depth of a point in a black-and-white image, the higher the retroreflection coefficient, the more generally the range is from 0 to 255, white is 255, and black is 0. To form a recognizable emission image, the retroreflective marking material and the retroreflective portion surface material are provided as two materials having a difference in coefficient of retroreflection. In one implementation mode, the reflective mark is a reflective film attached, and the surface of the reflective part outside the reflective mark is provided with a structure with lower flatness and diffuse reflection. After the diffused light emitted by the robot light-emitting unit irradiates the surface of the reflective mark, the diffused light is reversely folded back along the direction approximately collinear with the emitted light, namely, the light emitted by the robot in all directions of the robot recharging seat can form a reflective image which can be acquired by the robot.

At least one of the first light reflecting part and the second light reflecting part is provided with at least two light reflecting marks, so that the light reflecting marks on the first light reflecting part and the second light reflecting part form a guide shape. The guide shape depends on the position relation between different reflective marks on the reflective part, and comprises a regular shape or a custom shape. For example, two reflecting marks are arranged on the first reflecting part, one reflecting mark is arranged on the second reflecting part, the three reflecting marks form a triangle at relative positions, and the triangle can be in different types such as an isosceles triangle or a right triangle according to the position arrangement of the reflecting marks; for another example, at least two reflective marks are arranged on each of the first reflective part and the second reflective part, and the relative positions of the different reflective marks form a polygon such as a regular polygon; for another example, the first light reflecting portion and the second light reflecting portion have a plurality of reflective marks thereon, and the plurality of reflective marks can form a pattern with obvious identification, for example, the outlines of the patterns can be connected to form an external shape of a common object in a view direction.

In practical use, the physical space where the robot refill seat 10 is located is generally a home environment, reflection of most objects to light is diffuse reflection, and a certain shape is not generally formed between positions where planes where light emitted by the robot can be received and mirror surface emission occurs in the physical space. The robot can obtain the reflection image of the guide image, and the reflection image is processed and analyzed to obtain the position mapping relation between the robot and the robot recharging seat based on the incidence relation between the deformation and the position of the reflection image relative to the guide image.

In some embodiments of the present application, the stereoscopic light reflecting device includes three or more light reflecting portions. Specifically, taking the example that the light reflecting device includes three light reflecting portions, the three light reflecting portions are respectively disposed at certain intervals on the upright structure portion of the robot recharging seat. Each light reflecting part is provided with at least one light reflecting mark. When each light reflecting part is provided with one light reflecting mark, the positions of the three light reflecting marks are arranged to be not collinear, and then a triangle can be formed, so that a guiding shape which can be used for recognizing the light reflecting image is formed. When at least one of the light reflecting parts has more than two luminous marks, the guide shape can be obviously formed. It is easy to understand that the case of the stereo reflecting device having four or more reflecting portions is similar to the case of three reflecting portions in the arrangement of the luminous signs, and the example is not repeated here.

In each of the embodiments provided herein, the light reflectance is described in terms of the emitted light of the robot for that particular embodiment. For example, in an embodiment of the present application, the emitted light is infrared light, the reflection rate is a reflection rate for the infrared light, the reflective mark is an infrared reflective mark, and the infrared reflective mark may be an infrared reflective film with a certain shape, and is wound and attached on the surface of the reflective portion.

In another implementation manner of this embodiment, the infrared reflective mark includes a plurality of passive mark points made of a high infrared reflective material, the mark points may be made of metal powder, and different mark points have a certain position relationship and may at least form a polygon, that is, form the guiding shape. The robot obtains the reflection images of a plurality of identification points, analyzes the reflection images, for example, self-adaptive threshold processing is carried out on the images, then low-pass blurring is carried out on the images, then threshold processing is carried out, the geometric center of the images can be obtained, descriptors of the geometric center are calculated by using at least four nearest points around the geometric center and are matched with points on a template frame, a homography matrix of the current robot relative to a robot recharging seat can be calculated, and the mapping relation of the positions of the robot and the recharging seat can be obtained.

In an embodiment of the present application, the three-dimensional light reflecting device 13 is provided with light reflecting marks for different reflected lights. For example, the emitted light of the robot may be infrared light or laser light, the reflective marks disposed on the three-dimensional reflective device 13 of the robot refill seat 10 include a plurality of infrared reflective marks and a plurality of laser reflective marks, and the reflective marks of each type may form the guiding shape, that is, a reflective image of the guiding shape may be obtained in different emitted light states.

In some embodiments, the robot refill seat 10 is provided with an infrared reflective mark and a laser characteristic identification mark; the robot has a three-dimensional light reflecting device 13 capable of emitting laser for remote positioning, a laser characteristic identification mark such as a laser light reflecting mark capable of reflecting the emitted laser is arranged in the three-dimensional light reflecting device 13 of the robot refill seat 10, and a guiding shape is formed between the laser light reflecting marks. When the robot is far away from the robot recharging seat 10, the robot emits laser and starts laser feature recognition to judge the relative position of the robot recharging seat and the robot, so as to plan a path. When the robot runs to the effective distance which can be positioned by the infrared reflection mark, the robot emits infrared light, the infrared light is received by the robot recharging seat 10 and reflected to the robot to form an infrared light reflection image, the robot analyzes and processes the infrared light reflection image to obtain the position relation between the robot and the robot recharging seat, and long-distance navigation and short-distance accurate positioning are realized; namely, an approximate path is planned through laser characteristic recognition in a long distance range, and accurate positioning and navigation are carried out within an effective infrared distance until the butt joint of the robot and different electric connection ends of the robot recharging seat 10 is completed.

In an embodiment of the present application, the robot refill socket 10 further comprises a supporting device or a suspension device for receiving or erecting the stereo reflector 13, and the supporting device or the suspension device is disposed on the housing 11.

Please refer to fig. 3, which is a schematic structural diagram of the robot refill seat 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, the stereo reflector 13 includes three light-reflecting portions 131, the light-reflecting portions 131 are shaped as cylinders, and the three light-reflecting portions 131 are not positioned in a same line. The three-dimensional light reflecting device 13 is arranged on a supporting device 15, and the supporting device 15 is arranged on a robot recharging seat base and is of a stand structure. In one implementation manner of this embodiment, the reflective portion 131 is configured with a smaller structural size, and the reflective mark is limited to a certain area. Under the condition that the light reflecting area is small, the robot extracts angular points or characteristic points from each frame of image of the reflection imaging to identify known patterns, and the angular points extracted from the frames are matched to determine the association relationship, so that accurate positioning can be realized. Specifically, the robot acquires the reflection image of the guide shape, extracts characteristic points of the reflection image, performs adaptive threshold processing on the image, performs low-pass blurring on the image, performs threshold processing again to obtain a geometric center of the reflection image, calculates a descriptor of the geometric center by using at least four nearest points around the geometric center, matches the descriptor with points on a template frame, and calculates a homography matrix of the current robot relative to the robot recharging seat, so that a mapping relation between the positions of the current robot and the robot recharging seat can be obtained.

In an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 1 or fig. 3, the positions of the light reflecting portions 131 are at different levels, and the spatial positions of the three light reflecting portions 131 form a triangle. Naturally, the light emitting markers provided on the different light reflecting portions 131 are also formed in a triangular shape, and form a guide shape for the robot image recognition.

In some embodiments, the light reflecting device is disposed on a suspension device, the suspension device is connected to the housing and includes a suspension portion, and the light reflecting portion of the light reflecting device is connected to the suspension portion at a predetermined interval. In one implementation of the present application, the module suspension height of the suspension portion provided with the light reflecting portion is adjustable.

In some embodiments, the housing 11 of the robotic refill socket 10 is further provided with a cleaning pad (not shown) mounted to the extended base of the robotic refill socket 10 via a detachable structure, such as a covering structure, a snap-fit structure, a screw-locking structure, or an adhesive structure. The cleaning pad is made of flexible materials and comprises a bottom surface used for skid prevention and a top surface used for cleaning a chassis of the robot.

In some embodiments, the bottom surface of the cleaning pad is made of a non-slip material, or the bottom surface is laid with a non-slip mat, the bottom surface is formed with non-slip lines, or the bottom surface is provided with an absorbent member. The antiskid material includes: silicone, rubber, polyurethane elastomers, and the like. In some embodiments, the cleaning pad bottom surface can be made to have a specific texture or texture for anti-slip function, such as: the structure that bump structure, grid structure, helicitic texture etc. can increase the frictional force between bottom surface and ground. In some embodiments, the anti-slip function is achieved by providing an anti-slip patch on the bottom surface, the surface of the anti-slip patch is made of a special anti-slip material selected from anti-slip sand, and the back surface primer is firmly attached to the bottom surface of the cleaning pad by using a strong adhesive. The friction force between the bottom surface and the ground ensures that the robot refill seat 10 is in a static state when the robot moves on the cleaning pad at a certain speed.

In some embodiments, the cleaning pad is provided with a cleaning ring on its top surface, which may be formed by an annularly disposed sponge or rag, which in this embodiment is a porous material with good water absorption properties that can be used to clean objects. Currently, sponges commonly used by people are made of wood cellulose fibers or foamed plastic polymers. In addition, there are also natural sponges made from marine sponges. By installing the cleaning ring on the extended base, when the robot moves from the ground to the robot recharging seat 10 for charging, the cleaning ring on the top surface of the cleaning pad makes contact with the top surface of the cleaning pad once, and at the moment, the chassis of the robot is preliminarily cleaned by the cleaning ring on the top surface of the cleaning pad. After charging, the robot can also perform deep cleaning on the chassis of the robot by moving the cleaning pad in a rotating, irregular motion mode and the like.

In summary, the present application provides a robot recharging seat in a first aspect, in which a three-dimensional light reflecting device having emitting surfaces in different directions is provided, so that the robot recharging seat can reflect emitted light of a robot in any direction around the robot recharging seat back to the robot, and an area where the robot can automatically recharge is enlarged; and each reflecting part of the three-dimensional reflecting device is provided with a reflecting mark, and the reflecting images received by the robot are enabled to present a certain recognizable guiding shape by designing the shapes and arranging the positions of different reflecting marks, so that the positioning and navigation of the robot are realized.

In a second aspect, a robot system is disclosed, please refer to fig. 6, which is a schematic structural diagram of the robot system in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the robot system includes a robot refill socket 10 and a robot 20.

The robot recharging stand 10 includes the robot recharging stand 10 according to any one of the embodiments shown in fig. 1 to 3, and is configured to provide observation surfaces with different orientations to the robot.

The robot 20 is a mobile robot, and is a machine device that automatically executes a specific task, and can receive human commands, run a preprogrammed program, and perform a brief action according to a principle formulated by an artificial intelligence technique. The mobile robot can be used indoors or outdoors, can be used for industry or families, can be used for replacing security patrol, replacing people to clean the ground, and can also be used for family companions, auxiliary office work and the like. Taking the most common sweeping robot as an example, the sweeping robot, also known as an autonomous cleaner, an automatic sweeping machine, an intelligent dust collector and the like, is one of intelligent household appliances and can complete cleaning, dust collection and floor wiping. Specifically, the floor sweeping robot can be controlled by a person (an operator holds a remote controller by hand or through an APP loaded on an intelligent terminal) or automatically complete floor cleaning work in a room according to a certain set rule, and can clean floor impurities such as hair, dust and debris on the floor.

Referring to fig. 4, which is a schematic structural diagram of a robot 20 of the present application in one embodiment, as shown, the robot body includes a housing, and the housing includes a chassis and an upper housing. In some embodiments, the chassis may be integrally molded from a material such as plastic that includes a plurality of preformed slots, recesses, detents, or the like for mounting or integrating an associated device or component on the chassis. In some embodiments, the upper housing may include a top panel and side panels, or the upper housing may be integrally formed from a material such as plastic and configured to complement the chassis and provide protection for various associated devices or components mounted to the chassis. The chassis and the upper housing may be detachably combined by various suitable means (e.g., screws, snaps, etc.), and after being combined, the chassis and the upper housing may form an enclosure having a receiving space for receiving the driving system, the navigation system, the power management system, the buffer assembly, and other related devices or components.

In some embodiments of the present application, the robot 20 is a cleaning robot, and the accommodating space further accommodates a cleaning system and the like.

In one implementation, the overall body of the robot 20 is in an oblate cylindrical structure: the chassis is circular, and the top panel of going up the casing is circular, and the lateral part panel of going up the casing extends downwards from circular top panel's periphery and forms outer circumference lateral wall, a plurality of recesses, opening etc. also can be seted up to the lateral part panel. When the robot moves (the movement comprises at least one combination of forward movement, backward movement, steering and rotation), the robot body with the flat cylindrical structure has better environmental adaptability, for example, the probability of collision with surrounding objects (such as furniture, walls and the like) is reduced or the collision strength is reduced when the robot moves so as to reduce the damage to the robot body and the surrounding objects, and the steering or rotation is more facilitated; however, the present invention is not limited to this, and in other embodiments, the robot main body may have a rectangular structure, a triangular prism structure, or a semi-elliptical prism structure (also referred to as a D-shaped structure).

Generally, the top surface of the upper shell is also provided with a key area 21, which is laid with one or more function keys, such as: a power button, a charging button, a cleaning mode selection button, etc. In some embodiments, the keys are also provided with status display lamps, and the status of the keys is displayed so as to provide better human-computer user experience. In a specific implementation, the status display lamp may have different selections of display colors and display modes, for example, the status display lamp may display different light colors according to different statuses (e.g., normal, standby, failure, etc.), the status display lamp may display different light colors according to different functions (e.g., power, charging, cleaning mode, etc.), and the status display lamp may also adopt different display modes (e.g., normal, standby, failure, etc.) according to different statuses (e.g., normal, standby, failure, etc.) or different functions (e.g., power, charging, cleaning mode, etc.) (e.g., normal, breathing light mode, flashing, etc.).

Other devices can also be arranged on the top surface of the upper shell. For example, in some embodiments, a microphone may be provided on the top surface of the upper housing for capturing ambient sounds from the robot during cleaning operations or voice commands from the user. In some embodiments, a microphone may be disposed on the top surface of the upper housing for playing voice information. In some embodiments, a touch display screen can be arranged on the top surface of the upper shell, so that good human-computer experience is realized.

In an embodiment of the present application, the robot 20 further comprises a buffer device. The buffer device is arranged on the front side of the robot main body, and is used for absorbing and eliminating impact force of colliding with an obstacle in the actual working process of the robot, so that the main body of the robot is protected.

The robot 20 includes at least one camera 22 that receives light reflected from the robotic refill socket 10 and an emitter device for generating emitted light.

The camera device is used for receiving the reflected light of the robot refill seat 10, obtaining a reflected light image including the guiding shape, and analyzing the reflected light image obtained by the camera device to obtain the relative position information of the robot 20 and the robot refill seat 10. The image capturing device includes but is not limited to: cameras, video cameras, camera modules integrated with optical systems or CCD chips, camera modules integrated with optical systems and CMOS chips, and the like. The power supply system of the camera device can be controlled by the power supply system of the robot, and the camera device starts to shoot images when the robot is powered on and moves. Further, the imaging device may be provided on the main body of the robot 20. Taking the sweeping robot as an example, the camera device may be disposed in the middle or at the edge of the top cover of the sweeping robot, or the camera device may be disposed on a concave structure below the plane of the top surface of the sweeping robot, near the geometric center of the main body, or near the edge of the main body. In addition, the optical axis of the camera may be at an angle of ± 30 ° with respect to the vertical, or the optical axis of the camera may be at an angle of 0-180 ° with respect to the horizontal.

In an implementation manner of the present application, the robot 20 performs adaptive threshold processing on the reflection image obtained by the camera device, then performs low-pass blurring on the image, performs threshold processing again, calculates geometric centers of the reflection patterns of each reflection portion of the robot recharging seat and the guide shape formed jointly, calculates descriptors of each geometric center by using the nearest n points around the geometric center, matches the descriptors with points on the template frame, calculates a homography matrix of the robot relative to the robot recharging seat according to a matching result, obtains a rotation matrix and a translation vector of the robot relative to the robot recharging seat by using the internal reference of the camera device and the homography matrix calibrated in advance, and can determine the position relationship between the two.

The emitting device is used for producing emitting light, and the emitting light can comprise any one or more of infrared rays, laser or colored light. In certain implementations of the present application, the transmitting device includes a plurality of transmitting units configured to deliver the transmitted light in a time-multiplexed manner. The plurality of emission units are disposed at different positions for forming emission light having a certain diffusion angle and coverage. According to the requirement of the robot for charging, when the transmitting device receives an instruction of the robot for automatic charging, the plurality of transmitting units transmit light according to a set rule, and the transmitted light is reflected at the robot recharging seat 10, so that the camera device obtains a reflected light image for subsequent navigation.

In one embodiment of the present application, the emitting device is an infrared emitter such as an infrared light emitting diode, and the infrared light emitting diode is a diode capable of emitting infrared rays and is a semiconductor electronic component capable of converting electric energy into light energy. The infrared light emitting diode is made of a material with high infrared radiation efficiency (such as gallium arsenide GaAs) into a PN junction, and current is injected into the PN junction by applying forward bias to excite infrared light. The spectral power distribution is the central wavelength of 830-950 nm, and the half-peak bandwidth is about 40 nm. The infrared LED can realize complete red storm-free (the red storm is visible red light), thereby prolonging the service life of the infrared LED.

In an embodiment of the present application, the transmitting device of the robot 20 may further transmit a near guard signal in the form of a light signal, where the near guard signal is used to avoid mistakenly considering the robot recharging base 10 as an obstacle when the robot 20 is in operation, so that the robot 20 may be far away from the robot recharging base 10, and the near guard signal may also enable the robot 20 to adjust the posture in time during charging to avoid colliding with the robot recharging base 10 to cause a recharging failure, so as to accurately dock the robot 20 to the robot recharging base 10.

In some implementations, the transmitting device further includes a driving unit, the driving unit is connected to the transmitting unit and a control circuit, and the driving unit drives the transmitting unit to transmit the light or the close guard signal according to a control signal. The control circuit may be an integrated circuit chip that may integrate a controller, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), various I/O ports, an interrupt system, a timer, a display driver circuit, a pulse width modulation circuit, an analog multiplexer, an a/D converter, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, etc. to perform the steps of implementing the automatic charging of the robot 20.

Specifically, in an implementation manner, the emission device includes an emission source, a first driving unit connected to the emission source and the control circuit, and a second driving unit connected to the emission source and the control circuit, where the first driving unit and the second driving unit are connected in parallel on a line where the emission source is located. The first driving unit drives the emission source to emit light according to the first control signal, and the second driving unit drives the emission source to emit a near guard signal according to the second control signal. In an embodiment of the present application, each of the first driving unit and the second driving unit includes a switch and a resistor, and the switch includes, but is not limited to, any one of a power transistor, a triode (BJT), a Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET), a depletion MOS power transistor (depletion) MOS power transistor, a thyristor, and the like. The switch in the present application is an NPN type transistor, but not limited thereto, and a PNP type transistor may also be used.

In some embodiments of the present application, the robot 20 includes a power management system, a navigation system, and a drive system. In certain embodiments, the robot 20 is a cleaning robot.

The power management system comprises a second electric connection end which is arranged on the robot and matched with the first electric connection end of the robot recharging seat 10. The second electric connection end is used for receiving current output by the robot recharging seat after being in butt joint with the first electric connection end of the robot recharging seat, the second electric connection end is made of a metal material and can be arranged into a regular polygon such as a regular quadrangle or an irregular sheet, and the metal material comprises: copper silver plating, copper zinc plating, copper, aluminum, iron and other conductive metal materials.

And after the second electric connection end is contacted with the first electric connection end of the robot recharging seat, a closed loop is formed, and the charging current is provided for the robot.

In another embodiment of the present application, the robot 20 and the robot recharging base 10 may be charged by using a wireless induction charging device, and the robot 20 and the robot recharging base 10 may be charged without providing an exposed power receiving terminal. In some implementations, the robot 20 is provided with a wireless charging receiver, and the robot recharging base 10 is provided with a wireless charging transmitter. Specifically, the robot launching device emits light to the surface of the light reflecting device of the robot recharging seat 10 to be reflected, the reflected light forms a light reflecting image at the robot camera device, the light reflecting image is analyzed through a preset image processing algorithm, the position relation between the robot and the robot recharging seat 10 is obtained to form a planned path, and when the robot 20 moves to the induction range of the wireless charging launching device, charging can be started. The transmission method of the wireless energy includes an electromagnetic induction type wireless charging method, an electromagnetic resonance type wireless charging method, or a microwave energy transmission type wireless charging method, but is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the power management system further comprises a battery module built into the robot housing. The battery module of the robot is used for supplying power to other electric devices (such as a navigation system, a driving system, a sensing device, a cleaning system and the like). The battery module can adopt conventional nickel-hydrogen battery, perhaps, the battery module also can adopt the lithium cell, compares in nickel-hydrogen battery, and the volumetric ratio energy of lithium cell is higher than nickel-hydrogen battery, and the lithium cell does not have memory effect, can fill along with using, and the convenience is high. In some embodiments, the battery module can be used with a rechargeable battery, for example, a solar battery. In other embodiments, the battery module may further include a main battery and a backup battery, and when the main battery has too low power or the outlet fails, the backup battery may operate.

When the robot 20 performs a cleaning operation, the mobile robot can be temporarily disconnected from an external power source to operate through the built-in battery module, and accordingly, when the electric quantity of the battery module is insufficient or lower than a preset value, the robot 20 automatically returns to the robot recharging seat 20 to be recharged. The transmission method of the wireless electric energy comprises an electromagnetic induction type wireless charging mode, an electromagnetic resonance type wireless charging mode, a microwave energy transmission type wireless charging mode and the like.

The navigation system of the robot 20 is connected with a driving system, and the driving system enables the robot to integrally move under the instruction of the navigation system; meanwhile, the navigation system is connected with the camera device to output navigation information after the camera device receives the reflected light and processes the reflected light.

Please refer to fig. 5, which is a simplified structural diagram of a hardware system of a robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the system comprises a robot controller, and a traveling unit, a cleaning unit, a robot storage unit, a robot communication unit, a control unit, an upper image capturing unit, a front image capturing unit, a voice input unit and an obstacle detecting unit which are respectively connected with the controller.

The communication unit is connected with the controller, is externally connected with an intelligent terminal and communicates with the intelligent terminal, in one implementation mode, the communication unit is a GSM module, the controller is a single chip microcomputer, and the single chip microcomputer communicates with the GSM module through an RS232 serial port.

The control unit can be used as a module for human-computer interaction, for example, in an implementation manner, as shown in fig. 4, the control unit is a key area on the top of the robot; and the controller is connected with the controller and then inputs an external instruction to the controller, and the controller transfers different units to cooperate together according to the input of the control unit so as to complete the target set by the control unit.

In one implementation, the navigation system is disposed on a circuit board in the robot housing, and includes the storage unit (e.g., a hard disk, a flash memory unit, a random access memory unit), the controller (e.g., a central processing unit, an application controller), and the like. The storage unit and the controller are electrically connected directly or indirectly to realize data transmission or interaction. For example, the memory unit and the controller may be electrically connected to each other via one or more communication buses or signal lines. The navigation system may further comprise at least one software module stored in the memory unit in the form of software or Firmware (Firmware). The software modules are used for storing various programs for the robot to execute, such as a path planning program of the robot. The controller is configured to execute the program to control the robot to perform a set operation.

In some embodiments, the controller has signal processing capability, for example, may be a digital signal controller (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, and may implement or perform the methods, steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general controller may be a microcontroller or any conventional controller or the like. In some embodiments, the Memory unit may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), an erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and the like. The storage unit is used for storing a program, and the controller executes the program after receiving the execution instruction.

The navigation system may be further provided with a sensing system for sensing the relevant signals and physical quantities to determine positional information, motion state information, and the like of the robot. In some embodiments, the sensing system may include a camera, a Laser Direct Structuring (LDS), various sensing devices, and the like, wherein the devices may be combined differently according to product requirements. For example, in some embodiments, the sensing system may include a camera device and various types of sensing devices. In certain embodiments, the sensing system may include a laser ranging device and various types of sensing devices. In some embodiments, the sensing system may include a camera device, a laser ranging device, and various sensing devices. In the above embodiments, the number of the imaging devices may be one or more. In one implementation mode, the camera device comprises an upper image capturing unit and a front image capturing unit, is connected with the controller, and transmits image information captured by the controller to the controller. The controller may also generate navigation information from voice commands based on a voice input unit connected to the controller as shown in fig. 5.

In some embodiments, at least one camera may be disposed at the junction of the top panel (e.g., the central region of the top panel, the front end of the top panel relative to the central region, the rear end of the top panel relative to the central region), the side surface, or the top panel and the side surface of the main body, corresponding to the front image capturing unit and the upper image capturing unit, respectively, and an optical axis of the at least one camera is at an acute angle or close to a right angle to a plane formed by the top panel for capturing an image of the operating environment of the robot, so as to facilitate subsequent VSLAM (Visual simultaneous localization and Mapping) and object recognition. For example, in some embodiments, a monocular camera may be disposed on the top panel of the main body, the monocular camera may calculate a change in the pose of the camera through neighboring image matching, perform triangulation ranging on two viewing angles and obtain depth information of corresponding points, and positioning and mapping may be achieved through an iterative process. In some embodiments, the top panel of the main body may be provided with a binocular camera, the binocular camera may calculate depth information by a triangulation method, and positioning and mapping may be achieved by an iterative process. In some embodiments, the top panel of the main body may be provided with a fisheye camera protruding from the top panel of the main body, and a panoramic image may be obtained through the fisheye camera.

The sensing system may include a variety of sensors for a variety of different purposes including, but not limited to, any one or combination of pressure sensors, gravity sensors, ranging sensors, cliff sensors, drop sensors, collision detection sensors, and the like. And an obstacle detection unit in the perception system is connected with the controller, and the route planning is carried out under the control of the controller.

In some embodiments, a pressure sensor may be provided on the damping device of the driving wheel to determine whether the robot passes the concave-convex surface of the cleaning region by detecting a pressure change of the damping device, and when the robot passes the concave-convex surface, the damping motion of the damping device causes the pressure sensor to output a pressure signal different from a pressure signal on a flat ground.

In some embodiments, the gravity sensor may be disposed at any position of the main body, and detect a gravity value of the robot to determine whether the mobile device passes through a concave-convex surface of the cleaning area, and the gravity value of the robot changes when the robot passes through the concave-convex surface.

In some embodiments, the periphery of the front end of the main body is provided with a plurality of obstacle detectors. The obstacle detector comprises but not limited to a cliff sensor, a distance measuring sensor, a collision detection sensor and the like, and is used for detecting peripheral objects of a clean environment by the robot, so that the self moving direction or moving posture can be adjusted according to the received feedback signal, and the collision or falling of the cliff with the obstacle can be avoided. In some embodiments, the body is provided on at least one side with the cliff sensor located at the front end and near the bottom of the robot edge. In some embodiments, the number of cliff sensors is multiple, for example four, and each of the cliff sensors is disposed at the front end of the bottom of the body and is configured to transmit a sensing signal to the ground and sense a cliff using a signal received by reflection. Cliff sensors are also known as hover sensors, which are optical sensors that primarily utilize a variety of modalities, and in some embodiments, cliff sensors may employ infrared sensors having infrared signal transmitters and infrared signal receivers so that a cliff may be sensed by transmitting infrared light and receiving reflected infrared light, and further, the depth of the cliff may be analyzed.

In some embodiments, a distance measuring sensor may be further provided to detect a change in a vertical distance between the chassis of the robot and the ground, and/or to detect a change in a distance between the robot and a surrounding object. The ranging sensor may be provided on a bumper assembly of the robot for measuring a distance between the robot and the obstacle while the robot travels. The ranging sensor is capable of detecting changes in the distance of the robot from other objects in the clean environment. As previously described, the ranging sensor may be a TOF sensor.

Of course, in some embodiments, the distance measuring sensor may be disposed on the chassis of the robot, and the robot may determine whether the robot passes through the concave-convex surface of the cleaning region by detecting the distance between the chassis of the robot and the floor surface, and the distance measuring sensor may detect the distance change between the chassis of the robot and the floor surface when the robot passes through the concave-convex surface.

Of course, in certain embodiments, the sensing device may also include other sensors, such as magnetometers, accelerometers, gyroscopes, odometers, and the like. In practical application, the sensors can be combined to achieve better detection and control effects.

In some embodiments, the navigation system is further provided with a positioning and navigation system, the controller draws an instant map of the environment where the robot is located by using a positioning algorithm (e.g., SLAM) according to object information fed back by, for example, a laser ranging device in the sensing system, or the controller draws an instant map of the environment where the robot is located by using a positioning algorithm (e.g., VSLAM) according to image information taken by a camera device in the sensing system, so that the most efficient and reasonable cleaning path and cleaning mode are planned based on the drawn instant map information, and the cleaning efficiency of the robot is greatly improved. And the working state of the robot at present is comprehensively judged by combining distance information, speed information, attitude information and the like fed back by other sensors (such as a pressure sensor, a gravity sensor, a distance measuring sensor, a cliff sensor, a falling sensor, a collision detection sensor, a magnetometer, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an odometer and the like) in the sensing system, so that specific next action strategies can be provided according to different conditions, and corresponding control instructions can be sent to the robot.

In certain embodiments, the navigation system is further provided with a mileage calculating system. The controller obtains an instruction of reaching a target preset position, and calculates and obtains a cleaning path according to the target preset position and the current initial position of the robot. After the robot starts to work, the controller calculates the mileage of the robot in real time according to the speed data, the acceleration data and the time data fed back by the motor.

In certain embodiments, the navigation system is further provided with a vision measurement system. Similar to the object recognition system and the positioning and navigation system, the vision measurement system is also based on SLAM or VSLAM, measures the clean environment through a camera device in the perception system, recognizes the marker objects and main features in the clean environment, and draws a map of the clean environment through principles such as triangulation and the like and performs navigation, thereby confirming the current position of the robot and confirming the cleaned area and the uncleaned area.

The sweeping unit is used for executing sweeping instructions under the control of the controller, and in some embodiments, the sweeping unit comprises a middle sweeping assembly and an edge sweeping assembly for executing cleaning operation. The middle sweeping component can be arranged into a rolling brush structure and comprises a middle sweeping rotating roller and a middle sweeping brush arranged on the middle sweeping rotating roller, the middle sweeping component is arranged in a cavity between the upper shell and the lower shell of the robot, a brush sweeping cavity opening (also called a dust suction opening) is arranged at the lower part of the lower shell, and the middle sweeping brush protrudes out of the sweeping cavity opening and contacts with the ground to be swept. The side-sweeping assembly can comprise a cleaning side brush and a side brush motor used for controlling the cleaning side brush, and the cleaning side brush is driven by the side brush motor to rotate so as to sweep garbage, scraps and the like in a certain area into the rolling brush structure.

The driving system is connected to the navigation system and used for driving the robot to integrally move based on the navigation information so as to electrically connect the second electric connection end with the first electric connection end. The drive system includes a travel unit that moves under the command of the controller. In an embodiment of the present application, the traveling unit includes driving wheels disposed at opposite sides of the robot main body for driving the robot main body to move. The driving wheels are installed along either side of the chassis and used for driving the robot to do back and forth reciprocating motion, rotating motion or curvilinear motion and the like according to a planned moving track or driving the robot to conduct posture adjustment and providing two contact points of the main body and the floor surface. The drive wheel may have a biased drop-type suspension system movably secured, such as rotatably mounted, to the body and receiving a spring bias biased downwardly and away from the body. The spring bias allows the drive wheel to maintain contact and traction with the ground with a certain ground contact force to ensure that the tread of the drive wheel is in sufficient contact with the ground. In the application, when the robot needs to turn or curve, the rotation speed difference of the driving wheels on the two sides of the moving main body is driven by the adjuster to realize steering.

At least one driven wheel (also referred to as a sub-wheel, caster wheel, roller, universal wheel, etc. in some embodiments) may also be provided on the main body to stably support the main body. For example, at least one driven wheel is provided on the main body, and the balance of the main body in the motion state is maintained together with the driving wheels on both sides of the main body. The driven wheel can be arranged at the front part of the main body, and particularly, in one implementation mode, the driven wheel is one, is arranged at the front side of the driving wheel, and keeps the balance of the main body in a moving state together with the driving wheels at the two sides of the main body.

In order to drive the driving wheel and the driven wheel to operate, the driving system further comprises a driving motor. The robot may further comprise at least one drive unit, such as a left wheel drive unit for driving the left side drive wheel and a right wheel drive unit for driving the right side drive wheel. The drive unit may contain one or more Controllers (CPUs) or micro-processing units (MCUs) dedicated to controlling the drive motor. For example, the micro-processing unit is used for converting information or data provided by the processing device into an electric signal for controlling a driving motor, and controlling the rotating speed, the steering direction and the like of the driving motor according to the electric signal so as to adjust the moving speed and the moving direction of the robot. The information or data is as determined by the processing means. The controller in the drive unit may be shared with the controller in the processing device or may be provided independently. For example, the drive unit functions as a slave processing device, the processing apparatus functions as a master device, and the drive unit performs movement control based on control of the processing apparatus. Or the drive unit is shared with a controller in the processing device. The driving unit receives data provided by the processing device through the program interface. The driving unit is used for controlling the driving wheel based on the movement control instruction provided by the processing device.

Referring to fig. 6 to 7, a process of moving the robot 20 from a relative position at a certain distance from the robot recharging stand 10 to realize charging is shown.

As shown in fig. 6, the power management system of the robot 20 detects that the amount of charge stored in the battery module is insufficient or has dropped below a set threshold, and then switches to the charging mode. In the charging mode, the emitting device emits light, obtains part of reflected light reaching the three-dimensional light reflecting device of the robot recharging seat 10, forms a reflected light image at the camera device, and the robot 20 matches the image on the template frame based on the reflected light image to obtain the position relationship between the robot 20 and the robot recharging seat 10. Navigation information is formed based on the positional relationship, and the navigation system transmits the navigation information to the driving system to drive the robot 20 to move to the robot refill seat 10 as a whole according to the planned path, and the moving direction of the robot refill seat can be the direction F' shown in fig. 6.

When the robot 20 reaches the robot recharging seat 10, the posture of the robot can be adjusted based on the proximity signal, so that the second electric connection end arranged at the bottom of the robot 20 is in butt joint with the first electric connection end exposed out of the robot recharging seat 10 as shown in fig. 7, that is, the electric connection is realized, and the charging current is transmitted to the battery module of the robot. In another implementation, wireless induction charging is adopted between the robot 20 and the robot recharging seat 10, and based on the formed navigation information, the robot 20 moves to the induction range of the wireless charging transmitting device and charges. After the charging is completed, the robot 20 continues to perform its operation away from the robot recharging station 10, and its moving direction may be the direction F' shown in fig. 7.

In an implementation manner of the present application, when the power management system of the robot detects that the amount of charge stored in the battery is reduced to a charge threshold, the power management system switches to a charging mode to drive the emitting device to emit light, and the camera device receives the reflected light of the robot recharging seat. The navigation system carries out image processing on the emitted light acquired by the camera device based on a certain positioning algorithm to acquire the corresponding positions of the robot and the robot recharging seat; and then the navigation system plans a navigation route moving from the current position to the recharging seat, and controls the driving system to execute corresponding moving operation according to the navigation route, so that the second electric connection end is electrically connected with the first electric connection end.

The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and utilities of the present application and are not intended to limit the application. Any person skilled in the art can modify or change the above-described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Accordingly, it is intended that all equivalent modifications or changes which can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical concepts disclosed in the present application shall be covered by the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A robot recharges seat which characterized in that includes:

the surface of the shell is provided with a first electric connection end used for forming charging contact with the robot;

the charging device is arranged on the shell and is used for electrically connecting an external power supply and the first electric connection end;

and the three-dimensional light reflecting device is arranged in the shell and is provided with at least two light reflecting parts so as to provide observation surfaces with different directions for the robot.

2. A robot refill seat according to claim 1, wherein said housing is further provided with light transmission means for transmitting light.

3. A robot refill seat according to claim 1, wherein the outer surface of each of said reflective portions is provided with a different reflective marker for recognition by said robot.

4. A robot refill socket according to claim 3, wherein the pattern and/or number of retro-reflective markings of each retro-reflective part is different for enabling the camera of the robot to distinguish each retro-reflective part based on the light reflected by the robot refill socket.

5. A robotic refill seat according to claim 3, wherein said three-dimensional light reflecting means comprises:

the first light reflecting part is arranged on the first side of the robot recharging seat;

the second light reflecting part is arranged on the second side of the robot recharging seat;

at least one of the first light reflecting part and the second light reflecting part is provided with at least two light reflecting marks, so that the light reflecting marks on the first light reflecting part and the second light reflecting part form a guide shape.

6. A robotic refill seat according to claim 5, wherein said guiding shape comprises: regular shapes or custom shapes.

7. A robotic refill seat according to claim 1, wherein said retro-reflective means comprises a regular geometric body or a doll or a landscape.

8. A robotic refill seat according to claim 1, further comprising a support means or suspension means for said spatial light reflector.

9. A robotic refill seat according to claim 1, wherein each of said reflective portions comprises an infrared reflective marker.

10. A robotic system, comprising:

the robot recharging stand of any one of claims 1 to 9, configured to provide different orientations of the viewing surface to the robot;

the robot comprises at least one camera device capable of receiving the reflected light of the robot refill seat and a transmitting device for generating the transmitted light.

11. The robotic system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the robot comprises:

the power management system comprises a second electric connection end which is arranged on the robot and matched with the first electric connection end of the robot recharging seat;

the navigation system is connected with the camera device and used for outputting navigation information based on the reflected light received by the camera device;

and the driving system is connected with the navigation system and used for driving the robot to integrally move based on the navigation information so as to electrically connect the second electric connection end with the first electric connection end.

12. The robotic system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the robot is a cleaning robot.