KR101430103B1 - Golf ball pick up robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a golf ball collecting robot which drives safely and is reliable while analyzing the distribution of golf balls, detects an optimal movement path in accordance to the distribution, drives along the detected movement path, and collects the golf balls. The golf ball collecting robot comprises: main processor comprising a controlling part, a location estimating part, and a collecting movement path deciding part; a driving distance measuring module; an INS module; a USN module; a GPS module; an RFID module; a visual sensor module; an ultrasonic sensor module; and a PSD sensor module.

Description

{Golf ball pick up robot}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a golf ball recovery robot, and more particularly, to a golf ball recovery robot that secures stability in running and reliability and analyzes the distribution of golf balls, will be.

In general, a golf driving range is such that a ball hit by a golfer is scattered on the floor, and the operator of the golf driving range periodically stops golfers' hitting and collects the scattered ball through a manpower.

However, such a golf ball recovery operation not only hinders the user's immersion but also causes an increase in the operation cost due to the cost incurred due to stoppage of the hitting and the manpower ratio.

In order to overcome such a problem, a method using a topography such as forming a bottom surface of a golf driving range as an inclined surface has been studied and used. However, this method is disturbed from a player's concentration because it is distant from an actual field site formed by a flat surface , The inclination of the floor of the golf driving range area of a large area necessitates a large-scale construction, thereby increasing the installation cost.

Accordingly, various researches have been made on a golf ball collection robot which can not recycle the golf ball and does not use manpower but deform the terrain.

1 is a block diagram showing a robot control unit and a golf ball collection robot described in Korean Patent No. 10-1127657 entitled " Golf ball automatic recovery robot system ".

The conventional golf ball automatic recovery robot system (hereinafter referred to as a conventional technique) 100 of FIG. 1 comprises a robot control unit 110 and a golf ball collection robot 120.

The robot control unit 110 includes a route setting unit 113 for setting a travel route on which the travel unit of the robot 120 travels and a control unit for transmitting a control signal composed of the travel route set by the route setting unit 113 to the golf ball collection robot And a receiving unit 112 for receiving position information from the golf ball collection robot 120. The receiving unit 121 receives the position information from the golf ball collection robot 120,

The golf ball collection robot 120 includes a receiving unit 121 for receiving a control signal of a traveling unit traveling on the robot from the robot control unit 110 and a GPS 122 for estimating the position of the robot.

The conventional art 100 configured in this way can estimate the position of the golf ball collection robot in a shaded area where the reception electric field of the GPS signal is weak because the position estimation of the golf ball collection robot 120 is detected using only GPS There is no disadvantage.

Also, although not shown in the drawings, the conventional technique 100 extracts a golf ball from an image by analyzing an image obtained by photographing a golf driving range, generates a distribution map based on the extracted golf ball, Is configured to detect the shortest distance to collect a golf ball. However, this configuration can be applied to a field of a golf practice field having a small area, but when applied to a field having a large area, the golf ball can not be accurately detected, It has a limit that can not be applied to a practice field.

That is, although the conventional art 100 describes that the shortest distance is calculated by analyzing the distances between the regions distributed based on the images photographed by a long distance by the path setting unit 113 and the golf ball collection robot 120 However, this method is not only complicated in operation but also fails to detect an appropriate path when considering golf ball areas scattered in a large area of the central heating.

In addition, since the conventional art 100 can detect only areas where a large number of golf balls are gathered, the actual golf ball collecting robot 120 visits only the areas to collect golf balls, .

In this way, the golf ball is automatically picked up unmanned to reduce manpower consumption. At the same time, it is possible to accurately detect the golf balls scattered in the field of the golf driving range having a large area and to perform the golf course Research on airborne robots is urgent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf ball recovery robot capable of accurately detecting and recovering golf balls scattered in a field of a golf driving range.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of golf ball collection by detecting a recovery movement path, which is an optimal movement path for recovering golf balls based on a map of distribution of golf balls, The present invention relates to a golf ball recovery robot.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a golf course recovery robot, which is based on a predetermined sensing area S 'and a golf driving range field (S) area of a visual sensor, (P ') is previously set and stored, and the recovery movement path (P') is separately detected at each of the route points of the basic movement route (P), so golf And to provide a ball collecting robot.

Another problem to be solved by the present invention is that the distribution map is set as a node and the nodes are connected as a path and a retrieval path P ' And to provide a golf ball recovery robot formed corresponding to a path.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a golf ball recovery robot for searching a field (S) of a golf driving range for collecting golf balls scattered in the field (S), the golf ball recovery robot comprising: A recovery unit for recovering the golf ball; A sensor based module for detecting a motion vector of the recovery robot through a sensor and detecting a position and a motion vector of the recovery robot and a signal based module for detecting a position coordinate of the recovery robot through data transmission / A plurality of modules including; A position estimator for estimating position information detected by the signal-based module as position information of the recovery robot when the position information detected by the sensor-based module and the position information detected by the signal-based module are different; (P), which is a travel path of the predetermined traveling section, and the position information detected by the position estimating section, and controls the traveling section to travel along the basic traveling route (P), and the position information A control unit for generating a control signal for driving the collecting unit to drive the collecting unit when the collecting unit is one of path points that are predetermined positions via the basic movement path (P); And a control unit for receiving the control signal from the control unit to discriminate golf balls located in a predetermined sensing area S ', to retrieve golf balls to be discriminated from the current route point, And a recovery movement path determination unit for detecting a recovery movement path P ', wherein the control unit drives the recovery movement path determination unit when the position information is any one of the path points, When the recovery movement path (P ') is detected, the control unit controls the driving unit to travel to the next path point of the basic movement path (P) when the recovery movement path (P') is not detected, And controls the traveling unit to travel to the next route point after traveling along the return movement route (P ').

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the recovery movement path determination unit includes a visual sensor for discriminating golf balls located within a predetermined sensing area S '; A distribution map generating unit for generating a distribution map of the golf ball using the position information of the golf balls determined by the visual sensor; And a recovered movement path detection module for detecting a recovery movement path P 'which is a movement path for recovering the golf balls based on the distribution map.

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According to the present invention having the above-described problems and the solution, golf balls scattered in the field of the golf range can be accurately detected, so that the golf ball recovery rate can be increased.

In addition, according to the present invention, the position recognition and the autonomous traveling technology of the unmanned mobile robot can be secured and utilized in various applications related to the service robot.

Further, according to the present invention, since the golf ball recovery operation is performed by unmanned operation, it is possible to operate an efficient golf course, and manpower and time consumption can be reduced.

In addition, according to the present invention, when the robot is positioned at each of the route points, which are passing points on the basic movement route, the robot travels along the recovery movement path (P ') to improve the golf ball recovery rate .

1 is a block diagram showing a robot position collection robot described in Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2010-0094909 (titled "Golf ball automatic recovery robot system").
2 is a block diagram of a golf ball recovery robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an exemplary view for explaining sensors applied to the position estimating unit and the retrieving and moving path determining unit of FIG.
4 is a block diagram showing the position estimating unit of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the collected movement path determining unit of FIG. 2. FIG.
6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the golf ball recovery robot of FIG.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to attached drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a golf ball recovery robot applied to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an exemplary view for explaining sensors applied to the position estimating unit and the travel path determining unit of FIG.

The golf ball recovery robot 1 of FIG. 2 includes a main processor 2 including a control unit 3, a position estimating unit 5, a travel path determining unit 7, a traveling unit 8 and a collecting unit 9, An INS module 12, a USN module 13, a GPS module 14, an RFID module 15, and a visual sensor module 16 connected to the main processor 2 via a network. An ultrasonic sensor module 17, and a PSD sensor module 18. At this time, the odometer measuring module 11 and the INS module 12 detect the motion vector of the golf ball recovery robot 1 through the sensor and analyze the detected motion vector to determine the direction of the golf ball recovery robot 1, The USN module 13, the GPS module 14 and the RFID module 15 transmit and receive data to and from the golf ball recovery robot 1, Is a signal-based module for detecting the position coordinates of the ball collecting robot (1).

The odometer measuring module 11 analyzes the travel distance measured by the odometry sensor and calculates information on the distance and direction moved from the initial position to detect the position prediction data indicating the position and direction of the robot .

The INS module 12 detects position prediction data indicating angular displacement, movement distance and direction measured by an inertial navigation system (INS).

The USN (Ubiquitous Sensor Network) module 13 calculates the distance difference between the robot and the sensor nod according to the electric field intensity generated from the sensor nodes forming the USN, and detects the positional prediction data of the robot. In order to estimate the 2D position of the robot, it is measured using a predetermined triangulation algorithm based on distances from three or more sensor nodes.

The GPS (Global Positioning System) module 14 receives the GPS signals from the GPS satellites and detects the position prediction data including the current position coordinates of the robot 1.

The RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) module 15 receives the tag information stored in the RFID tag and detects the position prediction data including the position and the singular point stored in the RFID tag.

When receiving the control signal from the control unit 3, the visual sensor module 16 detects the golf ball distribution information, which is the position of the golf balls scattered in the predetermined sensing area S ' , And inputs the detected golf ball distribution information to the movement route determining unit (7).

Also, the visual sensor module 16 detects golf ball position information indicating the position of the golf balls detected by the visual sensor, and inputs the detected golf ball position information to the movement path determining unit 7.

The ultrasonic sensor module 17 detects information of the obstacle detected by the ultrasonic sensor.

The control unit 3 controls the travel unit 8 to travel in accordance with the basic travel route P which is a predetermined travel route and the robot 1 travels to any of the route points via the basic travel route P When the vehicle is in the recovery mode defined by a state in which the vehicle is traveling, the traveling section 8 is driven so as to travel along the local-path P 'detected by the recovery movement route determining section 7 of FIG. .

At this time, the basic movement path P searches the entire field S using the area of the field S of the golf driving range, which is the object of golf ball collection, and the area of the predetermined sensing area S 'of the visual sensor The path points P1, P2, ..., Pn, which are defined as movement paths to which the robot 1 should move, and which are coordinate information on points to be passed by the robot 1, .

That is, when the robot 1 reaches the initial path point P1 in accordance with the basic movement path P, the W control unit 3 transmits a control signal to the visual sensor, (S '), and the recovery movement path determination unit (7) analyzes the detected distribution information to determine the number of times of collection, which is the optimum movement path for recovering the golf balls in the detection area (S' When the movement path P 'is detected, the control unit 3 controls the robot to travel according to the detected return movement path P'. When the recovery of the golf ball of the robot 1 is completed, (1) to the next route point P2 according to the basic movement route (P).

At this time, in the present invention, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the robot 1 travels along the basic travel route P in the basic travel mode, and when the robot 1 travels along the return travel route, the travel mode.

4 is a block diagram showing the position estimating unit of FIG.

The position estimation unit 5 includes a position estimation module 51 and a position correction module 53 as shown in FIG.

The position estimation module 51 analyzes the position estimation data inputted from the travel distance measurement module 11 and the INS module 12 and detects the position estimation data indicating the position of the robot.

The position correction module 53 compares the position estimation data received from the USN module 13, the GPS module 14 and the RFID module 15 with the position estimation data received from the position estimation module 51, And corrects the position estimation data according to the data.

At this time, the position estimation data corrected by the position correction module 53 is input to the movement path determination section 7.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the collected movement path determining unit of FIG. 2. FIG.

The recovery movement path determining unit 7 tracks the position of the robot on the basis of the position information detected by the position estimating unit 5 by the control unit 3 so that the position of the robot is detected as the path point P1 of the basic movement path P ), ..., (Pn). At this time, the controller 3 controls the visual sensor module 16 to operate the visual sensor.

Accordingly, when the golf ball position in the sensing area S 'is input from the visual sensor module 16, the return movement path determining unit 7 analyzes the input golf ball position information to determine a return movement path The controller 3 determines that the robot 1 is traveling along the recovery movement route P 'by inputting the determined recovery movement route P' to the control unit 3, do.

As shown in FIG. 5, the recovery movement path determination unit 7 includes a distribution map generation module 71, a movement path detection module 73, and a recovery continuity determination module 75.

The distribution map generating module 71 is driven under the control of the controller 3 when in the recovery mode and generates a golf ball distribution map based on the golf ball position information received from the visual sensor module 16 .

At this time, the distribution map registers the golf ball area located in the search area S 'as a peak node (Peak-Node), sets the golf balls as nodes, and implements the nodes as a tree structure.

In addition, the distribution map generation module 71 connects the nodes to each other at the time of generating the distribution map, so that the recovery movement path P 'is detected by the recovery movement path detection module 73 corresponding to the connected line.

The recovery movement path detection module 73 detects the recovery movement path P 'which is the optimum path for recovering the golf balls corresponding to the paths of the nodes based on the distribution map generated by the distribution map generation module 73, .

In the present invention, the recovered movement path detection module 73 detects the recovery movement path P 'as the optimal path in correspondence with the paths of the nodes. However, when the recovered movement path detection module 73 detects the recovery movement path P' The present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use the predetermined shortest distance algorithm for detecting the shortest distance when the recovered movement path detecting module 73 visits at least two adjacent areas in the current position, It is also possible to detect the shortest distance at which the nodes of the map can be visited and determine the shortest distance as the shortest path length P '.

In addition, when there is no peak node in the distribution map, the recovered movement path detecting module 73 sends a control signal to the control unit 3 to move to the path point in the order of the next path point where the current robot is located.

When the number of golf balls reaches a limit in the storage portion of the robot 1 storing the golf balls collected, it is determined that the golf ball can not be collected, and the collected golf balls are loaded Return to the position of the loading space.

Also, the recovery continuity determination module 75 returns to the current routing point when all nodes registered in the detection area S 'are visited.

The traveling unit 8 of FIG. 2 performs a function of running the robot, and the collecting unit 9 performs a function of collecting the golf ball into a storage unit (not shown).

6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the golf ball recovery robot of FIG.

The operation procedure of the golf ball recovery robot 1 includes a first moving step S10 of moving the robot 1 to the first path point P1 according to a predetermined basic moving path P, (S20) for searching the golf ball in the sensing area (S ') by driving the visual sensor module (16) when the robot (1) reaches the first path point (P1) A distribution map generating step S30 for generating a distribution map of golf balls when a golf ball is detected by the ball searching step S20 and a distribution map generating step S40 for determining whether or not a golf ball exists in the distribution map, When it is determined that a golf ball does not exist on the map, when it is determined by the first determination step (S40) and the first determination step (S40) that the golf ball exists in the distribution map, After registering the region S 'as a peak node, the node P' is determined as an optimal path for the nodes A golf ball collection step S60 of traveling to nodes according to a collection movement path P 'determined by a collection movement path determination step S50 and a collection movement path determination step S50 to collect golf balls, When the golf ball is collected by the golf ball collection step S60, it is determined whether there is a visiting node. When all the nodes are visited, the flow returns to the path point returning step S90. If it is determined that the amount of golf balls stored in the storage unit has reached the limit range, the amount of stored golf balls is within the limit range A third determination step (S80) for proceeding to the golf ball recovery step (S60) when the amount of golf balls is less than the limit range, proceeding to the path point returning step (S90) when reaching the path point (S80) A path point returning step S90 for homing, And moving the robot to the next path point (S100).

1: golf ball recovery robot 2: main processor
3: control unit 5:
7: return travel path determining unit 11: travel distance measuring module
12: INS module 13: USN module
14: GPS module 15: RFID module
16: Visual sensor module 17: Ultrasonic sensor module
18: PSD sensor module

Claims (7)

1. A golf ball recovery robot for searching a field (S) of a golf driving range and collecting golf balls scattered in the field (S), the golf ball recovery robot comprising:
A running section;
A recovery unit for recovering the golf ball;
A sensor base module for detecting a position and a direction of the recovery robot by detecting a motion vector of the recovery robot through a sensor and a signal base module for detecting a position coordinate of the recovery robot through data transmission / A plurality of modules;
A position estimator for estimating position information detected by the signal-based module as position information of the recovery robot when the position information detected by the sensor-based module and the position information detected by the signal-based module are different;
(P), which is a travel path of the predetermined traveling section, and the position information detected by the position estimating section, and controls the traveling section to travel along the basic traveling route (P), and the position information A control unit for generating a control signal for driving the collecting unit to drive the collecting unit when the collecting unit is one of path points that are predetermined positions via the basic movement path (P);
And a control unit for receiving the control signal from the control unit to discriminate golf balls located in a predetermined sensing area S ', to retrieve golf balls to be discriminated from the current route point, And a recovery movement path determination unit for detecting a recovery movement path (P '),
Wherein the control unit drives the recovered movement route determining unit when the position information is any one of the route points, and when the recovered movement route (P ') is not detected in the recovered movement route determining unit, (P ') is detected in the recovery movement path determination unit, and moves to the next path point after traveling along the recovery movement path (P') so as to move to the next path point And controls the traveling part. [2] The apparatus according to claim 1,
A visual sensor for discriminating golf balls positioned within a predetermined sensing area S ';
A distribution map generating unit for generating a distribution map of the golf ball using the position information of the golf balls determined by the visual sensor;
And a recovered movement path detecting module for detecting a recovered movement path (P ') as a movement path for recovering the golf balls based on the distribution map. delete delete delete delete delete

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