KR102406552B1 - Position estimation method and cleaning route control method of autonomous hull cleaning robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for estimating the position of an autonomous hull cleaning robot and a method for controlling a cleaning path, and more particularly, to a robot position in an absolute coordinate system by fusing data estimated using signals detected from each of an encoder, an inertial measuring unit, and a water depth measuring unit. Estimating the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot, which performs cleaning work on the hull surface according to the set cleaning path, and corrects the cleaning path when the hull surface protrudes more than a set length or slopes more than a set angle It relates to a method and a cleaning path control method.

Description

POSITION ESTIMATION METHOD AND CLEANING ROUTE CONTROL METHOD OF AUTONOMOUS HULL CLEANING ROBOT

The present invention relates to a method for estimating the position of an autonomous hull cleaning robot and a method for controlling a cleaning path, and more particularly, to a robot position in an absolute coordinate system by fusing data estimated using signals detected from each of an encoder, an inertial measuring unit, and a water depth measuring unit. Estimating the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot, which performs cleaning work on the hull surface according to the set cleaning path, and corrects the cleaning path when the hull surface protrudes more than a set length or slopes more than a set angle It relates to a method and a cleaning path control method.

In general, since a vessel is operated in a state in which a significant portion of the hull is submerged in water, bio-adhesives, such as sphagnum and barnacles, may be attached to the surface of the hull located in the water. At this time, since the bio-adherent attached to the hull surface acts as a resistance during the operation of the ship, it not only causes a decrease in the operation speed but also an increase in fuel consumption. For this reason, the surface of the hull is periodically cleaned to remove bioadhesives.

The cleaning of the hull surface could be accomplished through high-pressure washing water spraying, but in order to spray the washing water on the hull surface, the hull had to be moved to a dock on land, so considerable time and manpower was inevitably required, resulting in a decrease in work efficiency.

In order to solve the above problem, a hull cleaning robot is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2015-0022540. The hull cleaning robot moves along the surface of the hull in the water and removes bio-attachments, so it can reduce the hassle of moving the hull to land, thereby reducing time and manpower requirements, thereby increasing work efficiency.

However, since the conventional hull cleaning robot was operated by the operator's remote control while connected to an external power supply device by wire, it is impossible to operate without an operator, and movement on the surface of the hull is particularly difficult due to the interference of cables for power supply. Since it was limited, there was a problem in that the efficiency of removing bioadhesives was lowered.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2015-0022540

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to autonomously perform the removal of bioadhesives attached to the surface of the hull regardless of a specific location, the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot An object of the present invention is to provide an estimation method and a cleaning path control method.

In order to achieve the above object, the method for estimating the position of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an encoder configured to measure the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot, an inertia configured to measure the posture, movement acceleration and direction of gravity of the robot a measuring unit, a depth measuring unit configured to measure the water depth of the robot, a motor configured to rotate a wheel of the robot, a steering unit configured to change a direction of the robot, and from the encoder, observation measuring unit and water depth measuring unit A method for estimating the position of an autonomous hull cleaning robot comprising a controller configured to control the driving of the motor and the steering unit by receiving a sensing signal, wherein the controller receives and analyzes the sensing signal from the encoder to confirm the position of the robot, estimating the two-dimensional and three-degree-of-freedom movement of the robot in the hull surface coordinate system by using the position information of the robot; The controller receives and analyzes the sensing signal from the inertia measurement unit to determine the movement acceleration and the direction of gravity of the robot, and estimate the three-dimensional 6-DOF movement of the robot in the hull surface coordinate system using the movement acceleration and the direction of gravity to do; confirming, by the controller, the depth of the robot by receiving and analyzing the detection signal from the depth measuring unit; and the controller fuses two-dimensional three-DOF motion data of the robot and three-dimensional six-DOF motion data of the robot in the estimated hull surface coordinate system, and water depth data of the robot to estimate the robot position in the absolute coordinate system. step; characterized in that it includes.

In order to achieve the above object, a cleaning path control method of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to another embodiment of the present invention includes an encoder configured to measure the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot, the robot's posture, movement acceleration, and gravity direction. an inertia measuring unit configured to measure the depth of the robot, a motor configured to rotate a wheel of the robot, a steering unit configured to change a direction of the robot, and the encoder, observation measuring unit and depth measurement A cleaning path control method of an autonomous hull cleaning robot comprising a controller configured to control the driving of the motor and the steering unit by receiving a detection signal from a unit, wherein the controller controls the motor and the steering unit according to a cleaning path set therein to do; determining, by the controller, a detection signal from the encoder and the inertia measurement unit, and analyzing the detection signal to determine whether the hull surface protrudes more than a set length; If the hull surface protrudes more than a set length in the protrusion determination step, the controller correcting the cleaning path; and controlling, by the controller, the motor and the steering unit according to the modified cleaning path.

In the cleaning path control method of the autonomous hull cleaning robot according to the above embodiment, if the hull surface does not protrude more than a set length in the protrusion determining step, the controller determines whether the hull surface is inclined by more than a set angle Further comprising, if the hull surface is not inclined more than the set angle in the inclination determination step, the motor and steering unit control step according to the set cleaning path proceeds to the step, while in the inclination determination step, the hull surface is more than the set angle If it is inclined, it may proceed to the cleaning path correction step.

In the cleaning path control method of the autonomous hull cleaning robot according to the embodiment, when the hull surface is inclined more than a set angle, it may be a case of moving from the hull side to the hull bottom or from the hull bottom to the hull side.

In the cleaning path control method of the autonomous hull cleaning robot according to the above embodiment, the set cleaning path may be a path moving in a zigzag form along the width direction or the length direction of the hull side surface or the hull bottom surface.

According to the method for estimating the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot and the cleaning path control method according to the embodiments of the present invention, data estimated using signals detected from each of the encoder, the inertial measurement unit and the water depth measurement unit are fused in the absolute coordinate system. It is configured to estimate the robot position of There is an excellent effect of enabling the removal of the attached bioadhesive material to be performed autonomously regardless of a specific location.

1 is a schematic side view for explaining the structure of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic bottom view for explaining the structure of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an exemplary view illustrating a state in which the distance between the wheel and the body is increased in the autonomous hull cleaning robot of FIG. 1 .
4 is an exemplary view showing a state in which the distance between the wheel and the body of the autonomous hull cleaning robot of FIG. 1 is close.
FIG. 5 is an exemplary view for explaining the adjustment of the movable range of the suspension in the autonomous hull cleaning robot of FIG. 1 .
6 is a view showing a movement path for cleaning the hull side of the autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a view showing the width direction movement path of the hull side, (b) is a hull side It is a diagram showing the longitudinal movement path of
7 is a view showing a movement path for cleaning the bottom of the hull of the autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a view showing the movement path in the width direction of the bottom of the hull, (b) is the bottom of the hull It is a diagram showing the longitudinal movement path of
8 is a control block diagram of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for estimating a position of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a flowchart for explaining a cleaning path control method of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In describing the embodiments of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a known technology related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. And, the terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, which may vary according to intentions or customs of users and operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the content throughout this specification. The terminology used in the detailed description is for the purpose of describing embodiments of the present invention only, and should in no way be construed as limiting. Unless explicitly used otherwise, expressions in the singular include the meaning of the plural. In this description, expressions such as “comprising” or “comprising” are intended to indicate certain features, numbers, steps, acts, elements, some or a combination thereof, one or more other than those described. It should not be construed as excluding the existence or possibility of other features, numbers, steps, acts, elements, or any part or combination thereof.

In each system shown in the figures, elements in some instances may each have the same reference number or different reference numbers to suggest that the represented elements may be different or similar. However, elements may have different implementations and work with some or all of the systems shown or described herein. The various elements shown in the drawings may be the same or different. Which one is referred to as the first element and which is referred to as the second element is arbitrary.

In this specification, when any one component 'transmits', 'transfers' or 'provides' data or signal to another component, one component directly transmits data or signal to another component, as well as, and transmitting data or signals to the other component via at least one further component.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a schematic side view illustrating the structure of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a bottom schematic diagram illustrating the structure of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a control block diagram of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The autonomous hull robot A according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a body 10 , a wheel 20 , a brush 30 , and a magnetic body 40 .

The body 10 has a watertight space 11 .

By mounting the rechargeable battery 12 and the controller 13 in the watertight space 11, the rotation of the wheel 20 by the power supply by the rechargeable battery 12, the operation of the steering unit 22 described below, and the brush 30 ) is rotated, and operation control of the wheel 20 , the steering device 22 , and the brush 30 is performed by the controller 13 .

Here, the controller 13 is a microprocessor that serves to control all the components of the present invention, and automatically returns the robot A when the charging amount of the rechargeable battery 12 is less than the set reference capacity, more specifically, the charger (Fig. By moving to the installed starting point), the automatic charging of the rechargeable battery 12 can be made.

Since the main body 10 includes the cover 14 , damage due to an impact applied from the outside can be prevented, and the magnetic body 40 can be stably supported.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the rechargeable battery 12 is connected to the power distributor 12a, so that the altimeter 15, the encoder 25, the inertia measurement unit 16, the water depth measurement unit 17, the controller 13 ), the stopper 24a, the motor M, and the distribution of power to the steering unit 22 may be made.

The altimeter 15 measures the distance from the lower end of the main body 10 to the surface of the hull 100 and serves to provide a corresponding sensing signal to the controller 13 .

The distance information measured by the altimeter 15 is input to the controller 13 , and the controller 13 may control the appearance/disappearance operation of the stopper 24a.

The inertia measuring unit 16 serves to measure the robot's posture, movement acceleration, and gravity direction, and provides a corresponding sensing signal to the controller 13, and may be configured as, for example, an IMU.

The depth measuring unit 17 serves to measure the depth of the robot. The depth measuring unit 17 may be configured as, for example, a pressure sensor.

The wheel 20 is disposed at the lower end of the body 10 and rotates by driving the motor 21 , and at least one of the wheels is turned by the steering unit 22 .

The steering unit 22 may have any conventional structure and method as long as it enables a direction change of at least one of the wheels 20 .

The wheel 20 is connected to the main body 10 and the prismatic joint 24 so as to be lifted or lowered.

Contact between the body 10 and the hull surface is prevented by the suspension 23 mounted on the wheels 20 .

A stopper 24a is mounted between the wheel 20 and the body 10 so that the movable range of the suspension 23 between the wheel 20 and the body 10 can be adjusted. The operation of the stopper 24a is controlled by the controller 13 .

When the operation is described in detail, when the stopper 24a descends under the control of the controller 13 , as shown in FIG. 4 , the movable range of the suspension 23 is reduced, so that the wheels 20 and the body 10 ) As the distance between them is reduced, the attractive force between the magnetic body 40 and the surface of the hull increases, so that the brush 30 is attached to the surface of the hull.

On the other hand, when the stopper 24a is raised by the control of the controller 13, as shown in FIG. 3, the movable range of the suspension 23 is increased, so that the distance between the wheel 20 and the body 10 is widened. Accordingly, the attractive force between the magnetic body 40 and the surface of the hull is reduced, so that the brush 30 is separated from the surface of the hull.

An encoder 25 is mounted on the wheel 20 to measure the position of the robot. At this time, the information measured by the encoder 25 is input to the controller 13 , so that the controller 13 can control the operation according to the measurement information of the encoder 25 .

The brush 30 is disposed on the bottom surface of the main body 10 and is rotated by the driving of the motor (M). By this rotation, the bio-adhesive material (not shown in the drawing) on the surface of the hull 100 may be removed.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the brush 30 is arranged in a plurality of rows, and the center of one of the rows is cross-arranged so as to be displaced from the center of any one of the other rows, thereby preventing the omission of removal of bioadhesives through between the brushes 30 . can be

The magnetic body 40 of the present invention is disposed on the bottom surface of the main body 10 to exert a magnetic force.

Therefore, the adhesion of the wheel 20 to the surface of the hull 100, that is, the attachment of the main body 10 to the surface of the hull 100, is made by the attraction action by the magnetic force exertion of the magnetic body 40.

On the other hand, the magnetic material 40 may be any type of normal as long as it can continuously exert magnetic force.

A method for estimating the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot A according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

9 is a flowchart for explaining a method for estimating a position of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, where S means a step.

First, when the controller 13 receives a detection signal from the encoder 25 (S10), the detection signal is analyzed to confirm the position of the robot, and the two-dimensional 3 The degree of freedom motion is estimated (S11).

Next, when the controller 13 receives the detection signal from the inertia measurement unit 16 (S12), the detection signal is analyzed to determine the movement acceleration and the direction of gravity of the robot, and the hull using the movement acceleration and the direction of gravity The three-dimensional 6-DOF motion of the robot in the surface coordinate system is estimated (S13).

Next, when the controller 13 receives a detection signal from the depth measurement unit 17 (S14), the detection signal is analyzed to confirm the depth of the robot (S15).

Next, the controller 13 provides the two-dimensional three-DOF motion estimation data of the robot estimated in step S11, the three-dimensional six-DOF motion data of the robot estimated in the step S13, and the step S15. ), by fusion of the robot's water depth data, to estimate the robot position in the absolute coordinate system (S16).

In addition, a cleaning path control method of the autonomous hull cleaning robot (A) according to an embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

10 is a flowchart for explaining a cleaning path control method of an autonomous hull cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, where S means a step.

First, the controller 13 moves the cleaning path of the robot by controlling the motor M and the steering unit 22 according to the cleaning path set therein (S20).

The cleaning path of a normal robot can be divided into a hull side cleaning path (refer to FIG. 6) and a hull bottom cleaning path (refer to FIG. 7).

The hull side cleaning path is a path moving in a zigzag form along the width direction of the side of the hull 100 (a of FIG. 6) or a path moving in a zigzag form along the longitudinal direction of the side of the hull 100 (b of FIG. 6) has

The hull bottom cleaning path is a path that moves in a zigzag form along the width direction of the bottom of the hull 100 (a of FIG. 7) or a path that moves in a zigzag form along the longitudinal direction of the bottom of the hull 100 (b of FIG. 7) has

Next, the controller 13 receives a detection signal from the encoder 25 and the inertia measurement unit 16 (S21), and analyzes this detection signal to determine whether the hull surface protrudes more than a set length (S22) ).

When the hull surface protrudes more than the set length (Y) in the step (S22), the controller 13 corrects the cleaning path (S24), and the motor M and the steering unit 22 according to the modified cleaning path control (S25).

On the other hand, if the hull surface does not protrude more than the set length in the step (S22) (N), the controller 13 determines whether the hull surface is inclined more than the set angle (S23).

Here, when the hull face is inclined more than the set angle, for example, when moving from the hull side to the hull bottom or from the hull bottom to the hull side, the inclination is abruptly changed and the system operation is unstable.

If the hull surface is not inclined more than the set angle (N) in the step (S23), on the other hand, if the hull face is inclined more than the set angle (Y), it proceeds to the step (S24).

On the other hand, in the path point correction, the overall trajectory of the robot is obtained through the robot position estimation data in the absolute coordinate system obtained in FIG. 9, and the shape of the hull surface is estimated based on the entire trajectory. In the case where the set curvature changes or more, or when the water depth sensed by the depth measuring unit 17 is above water level, the path point is changed and the curvature is moved to the stable part.

According to the method for estimating the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot and the cleaning path control method according to the embodiment of the present invention, the data estimated using the signals detected from each of the encoder, the inertial measurement unit and the water depth measurement unit are fused in the absolute coordinate system. By estimating the robot position and performing cleaning work on the hull surface according to the set cleaning path, when the hull surface protrudes more than a set length or is inclined over a set angle, the cleaning path is modified to perform cleaning work, so that it is attached to the surface of the hull It enables the removal of the bioadhesive material to be performed autonomously regardless of a specific location.

An optimal embodiment is disclosed in the drawings and specification, and specific terms are used, but these are used only for the purpose of describing the embodiments of the present invention, and are used to limit the meaning or limit the scope of the present invention described in the claims it didn't happen Therefore, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

10: body
11: watertight space
12: rechargeable battery
12a: power distributor
13: controller
14 : Cover
15: Altimeter
16: inertial measurement unit
17: depth measurement unit
20 : wheel
M: motor
22: steering unit
23 : suspension
24: Prismatic joint
24a: stopper
25 : encoder
30 : brush
30: magnetic material
100: hull
A: Autonomous hull cleaning robot

Claims (5)

An encoder configured to measure the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot, an inertial measurement unit configured to measure the posture, movement acceleration and direction of gravity of the robot, a depth measurement unit configured to measure the water depth of the robot, and to rotate the wheels of the robot Autonomous hull cleaning comprising a motor configured to change the direction of the robot, a steering unit configured to change the direction of the robot, and a controller configured to control driving of the motor and steering unit by receiving a sensing signal from the encoder, observation measurement unit, and depth measurement unit A method for estimating a position of a robot, comprising:
The controller receives and analyzes the detection signal from the encoder to confirm the position of the robot, and estimating the two-dimensional and three-degree-of-freedom movement of the robot in the hull surface coordinate system using the position information of the robot;
The controller receives and analyzes the detection signal from the inertia measurement unit to determine the movement acceleration and the direction of gravity of the robot, and estimate the three-dimensional 6-DOF movement of the robot in the hull surface coordinate system using the movement acceleration and the direction of gravity to do;
confirming, by the controller, the depth of the robot by receiving and analyzing the detection signal from the depth measuring unit; and
estimating, by the controller, the robot position in the absolute coordinate system by fusing two-dimensional three-DOF motion data of the robot and three-dimensional six-DOF motion data of the robot in the estimated hull surface coordinate system, and water depth data of the robot including;
The controller obtains the overall trajectory of the robot through the robot position estimation data in the absolute coordinate system, estimates the shape of the hull surface based on the entire trajectory, and the curvature of the hull surface shape changes to a set curvature or more. A method for estimating a position of an autonomous hull cleaning robot that changes a path point when the depth of water sensed through the depth measurement unit rises above water.
a body in which a watertight space is formed; a wheel disposed at the bottom of the body; an encoder configured to measure the position of the autonomous hull cleaning robot; an inertia measuring unit configured to measure the posture, movement acceleration, and direction of gravity of the robot; a depth measurement unit configured to measure the depth of the robot; a motor configured to rotate the wheels of the robot; a steering unit configured to change the direction of the robot; and a controller configured to control the driving of the motor and the steering unit by receiving a sensing signal from the encoder, the observation measuring unit, and the water depth measuring unit;
controlling, by the controller, the motor and the steering unit according to a cleaning path set therein;
determining, by the controller, a detection signal from the encoder and the inertia measurement unit, and analyzing the detection signal to determine whether the hull surface protrudes more than a set length;
If the hull surface protrudes more than a set length in the protrusion determining step, the controller correcting the cleaning path; and
including; by the controller, controlling the motor and the steering unit according to the modified cleaning path;
Contact between the body and the hull surface is prevented by the suspension mounted on the wheel, and a stopper is mounted between the wheel and the body, and the wheel is separated from the body as the movable range of the suspension is adjusted. A method for controlling a cleaning path of an autonomous hull cleaning robot, which is variable.
3. The method of claim 2,
If the hull face does not protrude more than a set length in the protrusion determining step, the controller further comprising the step of determining whether the hull face is inclined more than a set angle,
If the hull surface is not inclined more than the set angle in the inclination determination step, the motor and the steering unit control step are proceeded according to the set cleaning path,
If the hull surface is inclined more than a set angle in the inclination determination step, the cleaning route correction step proceeds to the cleaning route control method of the autonomous hull cleaning robot.
4. The method of claim 3,
If the hull face is inclined more than the set angle,
A method for controlling a cleaning path of an autonomous hull cleaning robot, which is a case of moving from the hull side to the hull bottom or from the hull bottom to the hull side.
3. The method of claim 2,
The set cleaning path is
A method for controlling a cleaning path of an autonomous hull cleaning robot, which is a path that moves in a zigzag form along the width or length of the hull side or the bottom of the hull.

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