KR102565250B1 - Robot cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

In an embodiment, when a sensor module and a composite landmark generated from point cloud data for each first and second distance input from the sensor module for a set time are matched with a specific composite landmark among the composite landmarks for each stored location, the cleaning map Provided is a robot cleaner including a control module for correcting the current position of the image to a specific position according to the specific composite landmark.

Description

Robot cleaner {Robot cleaner}

The embodiment relates to a robot cleaner.

In general, robots have been developed for industrial use and have been in charge of a part of factory automation. In recent years, the field of application of robots has been further expanded, and medical robots, space robots, etc. have been developed, and household robots that can be used at home are also being made.

A representative example of a household robot is a robot vacuum cleaner, which is a type of home appliance that cleans by sucking in dust or foreign substances while traveling in a certain area by itself. Such robot cleaners generally have a rechargeable battery and can avoid obstacles while driving. It is equipped with an obstacle sensor, so it can drive and clean itself.

In recent years, application technologies using mobile robots, particularly robot cleaners, have been developed.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1697857 (registration date 2017.01.18), a prior invention, discloses a mobile robot and its location recognition method.

1 is a diagram illustrating a movement process and a position correction process of a mobile robot according to the related art.

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the mobile robot 1 can travel parallel to the straight line of the wall.

After that, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the mobile robot 1 may change its posture by sliding with the floor. Thereafter, the mobile robot 1 recognizes a straight line in the form of FIG. 1(c), and the expected movement direction of the mobile robot 1 is converted so that position recognition errors may be accumulated.

The mobile robot according to the related art can recognize the current position of the mobile robot by matching the extracted straight line with the previously extracted straight line and correcting the angle, thereby correcting the current position as shown in FIG.

However, since the conventional invention recognizes the location by matching between straight lines, there is a problem in that the accuracy of location recognition in the corner or edge area is low.

An object of the embodiment is to form a complex landmark corresponding to the shape of a wall and an obstacle adjacent to the wall based on the point cloud data for each first and second distance input from the sensor module to form a robot cleaner that can easily recognize and correct the location. is in providing

Another object of the embodiments is to provide a robot cleaner that can increase the accuracy of location recognition even in a corner or an edge area by using a complex landmark.

Objects of the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned purposes, and other objects and advantages of the embodiments not mentioned above can be understood by the following description and will be more clearly understood by the embodiments. In addition, it will be readily appreciated that the objects and advantages of the embodiments can be realized by means and combinations thereof set forth in the claims.

The control module of the robot cleaner according to the embodiment generates first and second landmarks based on point cloud data for each first and second distance input from the sensor module, and merges the first and second landmarks into a composite. A landmark may be created, and a specific location of a specific composite landmark matched to the composite landmark among composite landmarks for each location may be corrected to a current location on the cleaning map.

In addition, the control module of the robot cleaner according to the embodiment may generate a new cleaning map by connecting a complex landmark to a previous complex landmark if a specific complex landmark matching the complex landmark is not registered.

The robot cleaner according to the embodiment forms a complex landmark corresponding to the shape of a wall surface and an obstacle adjacent to the wall surface based on the first and second distance point cloud data input from the sensor module, so that the position is easily recognized and corrected. There is an advantage.

In addition, the robot cleaner according to the embodiment has an advantage of increasing accuracy in recognizing a location even in a corner or edge area by using a complex landmark.

1 is a diagram illustrating a movement process and a position correction process of a mobile robot according to the related art.
2 is a perspective view illustrating a robot cleaner according to an embodiment.
3 is a control block diagram showing a control configuration of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment.
4 is an operation diagram illustrating an operation of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment.
5 is an operation diagram illustrating an internal operation of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment.
6 is a flowchart illustrating an operating method of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to indicate the same or similar components.

Hereinafter, a robot cleaner according to an embodiment will be described.

2 is a perspective view illustrating a robot cleaner according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the robot cleaner 10 may include a main body 11, a dust collector 14, and a display unit 19.

The main body 11 may form the exterior of the robot cleaner 10 .

That is, the body 11 may have a relatively low cylindrical height compared to its diameter, that is, a flat cylindrical shape.

In addition, a suction device (not shown), a suction nozzle (not shown), and a dust collector 14 communicating with the suction nozzle (not shown) may be provided inside the main body 11 .

The suction device may generate air suction power, and may be inclinedly installed between a battery (not shown) and the dust collector 14 when the dust collector 14 is disposed at the rear.

The suction device may include a motor (not shown) electrically connected to the battery and a fan (not shown) connected to a rotating shaft of the motor to force flow of air, but is not limited thereto.

The suction nozzle may suck dust from the floor by driving the suction device.

Specifically, the suction nozzle is exposed to the lower side of the body 11 through an opening (not shown) formed in the bottom of the body 11, so that it comes in contact with the floor of the room and sucks foreign substances on the floor together with air.

The dust collecting device 14 may include a suction nozzle at a lower side to collect foreign substances in the air sucked from the suction nozzle.

In addition, a display unit 19 displaying information may be disposed above the body 11, but is not limited thereto.

On the outer circumferential surface of the main body 11, a sensor (not shown) detects the distance to an indoor wall or an obstacle, a bumper (not shown) that absorbs shock in case of a collision, and driving wheels (not shown) for moving the robot cleaner 10. ) may be provided.

The driving wheels may be installed on the lower part of the main body 11, and may be provided on both lower parts, that is, on the left and right sides, respectively.

Each of the driving wheels may be configured to be rotated by a motor (not shown).

At this time, the motors may be provided on both lower portions, that is, on the left and right sides, corresponding to the driving wheels, and the motors provided on the left and right sides may operate independently.

Therefore, the robot cleaner 10 can move left or right as well as forward and backward, so that the robot cleaner 10 can perform indoor cleaning while changing direction by itself according to driving of the motor.

At least one auxiliary wheel (not shown) may be provided on the bottom of the main body 11, and may minimize friction between the robot cleaner 10 and the floor and guide the movement of the robot cleaner 10.

3 is a control block diagram showing a control configuration of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the robot cleaner 10 may include a sensor module 110, a driving module 120, a driving information detection module 130, and a control module 140.

The sensor module 110 is disposed inside the main body 11 mentioned in FIG. 1, and can detect a wall or an obstacle through the outside of the main body 11.

In this case, the sensor module 110 may include first and second sensors 112 and 114 .

In an embodiment, the first and second sensors 112 and 114 may be an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or a position sensitive device (PSD sensor), but are not limited thereto.

Here, the first and second sensors 112 and 114 may measure distances to walls and obstacles with different sensing angles.

The first sensor 112 may output point cloud data d1 for each first distance measured in real time to the control module 140 .

In addition, the second sensor 114 may output point cloud data d2 for each second distance measured in real time to the control module 140 .

The first and second point cloud data (d1, d2) for each distance is data obtained by the first and second sensors 112 and 114 detecting a wall or an obstacle, and a reflected signal for a signal emitted at a predetermined time interval is obtained. It may be data expressed as dots.

The driving module 120 may move the main body 11 by autonomous driving by driving the driving wheels and the motor mentioned in FIG. 1 .

The driving information detection module 130 may include an acceleration sensor (not shown).

The acceleration sensor may detect a change in speed during driving of the robot cleaner 10, for example, a change in moving speed due to start, stop, change of direction, collision with an object, and the like, and output the result to the control module 140.

The control module 140 may include a landmark generation unit 142 , a landmark determination unit 144 and a location correction unit 146 .

The landmark generator 142 may generate a first clustering group by applying the point cloud data a1 for each first distance input from the first sensor 112 at set time intervals to a clustering algorithm.

Thereafter, the landmark generator 142 may generate a first landmark by comparing a first gradient deviation between adjacent points from the first first point to the first end point of the first clustering group with a set threshold.

The landmark generation unit 142 generates the first landmark representing a straight line when the first tilt deviation is less than the threshold and remains constant, or represents a curve when the first tilt deviation is greater than or equal to the threshold. The first landmark may be created.

In addition, the landmark generator 142 may generate a second clustering group by applying the point cloud data a2 for each second distance input from the second sensor 114 at set time intervals to a clustering algorithm.

The landmark generator 142 may generate a second landmark by comparing a second gradient deviation between adjacent points from a second first point to a second end point of the second clustering group with the threshold value.

The landmark generation unit 142 generates the second landmark representing a straight line when the second tilt deviation is less than the threshold and remains constant, or represents a curve when the second tilt deviation is greater than or equal to the threshold. The second landmark may be created.

Thereafter, the landmark generator 142 may generate a composite landmark fm by merging the first and second landmarks.

In an embodiment, the landmark generation unit 142 receives first and second point cloud data d1 and d2 for each different first and second distances from the two first and second sensors 112 and 114 and receives first and second point cloud data d1 and d2 from the two first and second sensors 112 and 114. Although it is explained that a composite landmark is created after the landmark is created, one landmark can be created according to point cloud data for each distance inputted from one sensor, but is not limited thereto.

Here, the landmark generation unit 142 determines that the first and second landmarks represent straight lines and the included angle between the first and second landmarks falls within a set threshold value range to form an “L”-shaped composite land. marks can be created.

When the first and second landmarks represent straight lines and the included angle between the first and second landmarks does not fall within the threshold value range, the landmark generation unit 142 generates the first and second landmarks. A compound landmark may be created by not generating a compound landmark that is not related to each other, or by merging a first previous landmark and a previously generated second previous landmark.

Also, if the first landmark represents a curve and the second landmark represents a straight line, the landmark generation unit 142 may generate a composite landmark in which a straight line and a curve are mixed, but is not limited thereto.

The landmark determining unit 144 may determine whether the complex landmark generated by the landmark generating unit 142 is registered.

That is, the landmark determining unit 144 may determine whether or not a specific complex landmark matching the complex landmark is registered among the registered complex landmarks for each location, and output the result to the location correcting unit 146 .

If the landmark determining unit 144 determines that the specific composite landmark is registered, the location correction unit 146 may correct the current location on the cleaning map to a specific location according to the specific complex landmark. .

In addition, if the location correction unit 146 determines that the specific complex landmark is not registered as a result of the determination of the landmark determination unit 144, the complex landmark is stored and registered, and the complex landmark is stored in the previous complex landmark. A new cleaning map can be created by connecting the marks.

The robot cleaner 10 according to the embodiment moves to a specific location according to the specific complex landmark when the complex landmark generated based on the point cloud data for each distance detected by the sensor module 110 is matched with the registered specific complex landmark. By correcting the current location, there is an advantage of improving the location correction performance.

4 is an operation diagram illustrating an operation of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an operation diagram illustrating an internal operation of the robot cleaner according to an embodiment.

4(a) shows that the robot cleaner 10 autonomously travels in an indoor space to perform cleaning.

Here, the robot cleaner 10 is shown as moving along the wall surface, but is not limited thereto.

That is, the robot cleaner 10 may move from point ① to point ② to perform cleaning, detect a wall surface, and correct a current location on a set cleaning map.

4(b) and 4(c) enlarge the original block of FIG. 4(a).

FIG. 4(b) shows the range in which the sensor module 110 senses the wall surface when the robot cleaner 10 moves from point ① to point ②.

In addition, FIG. 4(c) shows a range in which the robot cleaner 10 senses the wall surface in the sensor module 110 at point ②.

Here, referring to FIG. 5 (a), when the sensor module 110 of the robot cleaner 10 moves from point ① to point ②, it outputs point cloud data for each distance from the wall to the control module 140 at set time intervals. can do.

At this time, according to the number of sensors included in the sensor module 110, part of the point cloud data for each distance may overlap or point cloud data for each different distance may be mixed, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 5(b), the landmark generation unit 142 included in the control module 140 generates first to fifth clustering groups g1 to g5 by applying the point cloud data for each distance to a clustering algorithm. can do.

In the embodiment, the landmark generation unit 142 is described as generating five first to fifth clustering groups g1 to g5, but one clustering group may be generated, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 5(c) , the landmark generator 142 generates first to fifth landmarks corresponding to the first to fifth clustering groups g1 to g5, respectively, and the first to fifth landmarks are generated. A composite landmark (gs) may be created by merging the landmarks.

In the embodiment, the process of generating the composite landmark gs is omitted as it has been described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 .

The landmark generator 142 may indicate the current location of the robot cleaner 10 in a plane (2D) type.

Thereafter, the landmark determination unit 144 may determine whether to register a specific composite landmark (L-gs) matching the composite landmark (gs) among the composite landmarks for each location.

5(c) shows that a specific complex landmark (L-gs) matching the complex landmark (gs) is registered.

Referring to FIG. 5(d), the location correction unit 146 included in the control module 140 registers a specific complex landmark L-gs that matches the complex landmark gs, and registers a specific complex landmark. The current position can be corrected with a specific position on the mark (L-gs).

6 is a flowchart illustrating an operating method of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the control module 140 of the robot cleaner 10 may generate clustering groups by applying a clustering algorithm to point cloud data for each distance input from the sensor module 110 (S110).

The control module 140 may generate landmarks for each of the clustering groups (S120).

The control module 140 may generate a composite landmark by merging landmarks with each other (S130).

The control module 140 may determine whether to register a specific composite landmark that matches the composite landmark among composite landmarks for each location (S140).

If it is determined that a specific composite landmark is registered, the control module 140 may correct the current location on the cleaning map to a specific location according to the specific composite landmark (S150).

In addition, if it is determined that a specific composite landmark is not registered, the control module 140 may register the composite landmark and create a new cleaning map in which the composite landmark is connected to the previous composite landmark (S160).

The foregoing embodiment is limited by the foregoing embodiment and the accompanying drawings, since various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible to those skilled in the art within the scope of the technical idea to which the embodiment belongs. It is not.

Claims (6)

A sensor module that outputs point cloud data for each distance from a wall at set time intervals based on the movement of the robot cleaner; and
It includes a control module,
The control module,
clustering the point cloud data into a plurality of groups and generating landmarks for each of the plurality of groups;
Creating a composite landmark by merging landmarks for each of the plurality of groups;
Determining whether to register a specific complex landmark matching the generated complex landmark among the previously stored complex landmarks for each location;
correcting the current position on the cleaning map to a specific position according to the specific composite landmark;
The control module,
Obtaining point cloud data for each first distance and point cloud data for each second distance output from the sensor module;
generating a first clustering group and a second clustering group respectively using the obtained point cloud data for each first distance and the obtained point cloud data for each second distance;
Creating a first landmark and a second landmark, respectively, using the generated first clustering group and the generated second clustering group;
Generating the composite landmark by merging the generated first landmark and the generated second landmark with each other,
robotic vacuum.
According to claim 1,
The sensor module,
a first sensor outputting point cloud data for each first distance; and
A second sensor having a different sensing angle from the first sensor and outputting point cloud data for each second distance,
robotic vacuum.
According to claim 2,
The control module,
a landmark generator configured to generate the composite landmark based on a first clustering group and a second clustering group generated by applying a clustering algorithm to the point cloud data by the first distance and the point cloud data by the second distance;
a landmark determination unit determining whether to register the specific composite landmark matching the composite landmark among the composite landmarks for each location; and
When it is determined that the specific composite landmark is registered, including a position correction unit for correcting the current position to the specific position,
robotic vacuum.
According to claim 3,
The landmark generator,
The first landmark is generated by comparing a first gradient deviation between adjacent points from the first first point to the first end point of the first clustering group with a set threshold value, and Generating the second landmark by comparing a second gradient deviation between adjacent points to two end points and the threshold value,
robotic vacuum.
According to claim 4,
The landmark generator,
When each of the first gradient deviation and the second gradient deviation is less than the threshold and maintained constant, the first landmark and the second landmark representing a straight line are generated, or the first gradient deviation and the second landmark are generated. Generating the first landmark and the second landmark representing a curve when the gradient deviation is greater than or equal to the threshold value;
robotic vacuum.
According to claim 3,
The position correction unit,
If the specific composite landmark is not registered, storing and registering the composite landmark and generating a new cleaning map connecting the composite landmark to a previous composite landmark,
robotic vacuum.

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