WO2017092565A1

WO2017092565A1 - Charging system and charging method, computer storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2017092565A1
Application number: PCT/CN2016/105766
Authority: WO
Inventors: 廖方波; 陈子冲; 蒲立; 王野
Original assignee: 纳恩博（北京）科技有限公司
Priority date: 2015-12-01
Filing date: 2016-11-14
Publication date: 2017-06-08
Also published as: CN105375574A

Abstract

A charging method applied to a first electronic device, comprising: acquiring a first image by means of an image acquisition unit (S11); analysing the first image, and generating a first analysis result (S12); when the analysis result indicates that the first image includes at least a part of a second electronic device, calculating a relative position and attitude relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device (S13); according to the relative position and attitude relationship, controlling a moving unit of the first electronic device to move relative to the second electronic device, so as to enable the first electronic device to be accurately located relative to the second electronic device (S14); and controlling the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device, so as to enable the second electronic device to charge the first electronic device (S15). Also disclosed are a charging system and a computer storage medium.

Description

Charging system and charging method, computer storage medium

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of automatic charging technologies, and in particular, to an automatic charging system and an automatic charging method for a robot, and a computer storage medium.

Background technique

At present, more and more robot products have been applied in various fields. A large part of these robot products use rechargeable batteries as a power source. When the rechargeable battery is low, the user needs to connect the rechargeable battery to the external power supply to complete the charging. This will not only increase the workload of the user, but also in the work environment where the manpower is scarce, once the battery is not found in time due to insufficient battery power, the robot will stop working and affect the work efficiency.

Based on this, techniques for automatically charging robot products have appeared in the prior art. However, the traditional automatic charging technology cannot achieve accurate positioning between the robot and the charging station or the charging post, resulting in automatic charging failure, or multiple adjustments to the posture (position and attitude) of the robot to accurately locate the charging station or charging pile. It takes a long time and is inefficient.

Therefore, there is a need to improve existing charging systems and charging methods.

Summary of the invention

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a charging method and a charging system, a computer storage medium, to solve at least one of the above problems existing in the prior art.

The embodiment of the invention is implemented as follows:

In an embodiment of the invention, a charging method is provided for use in a first electronic device, the charging method comprising:

Acquiring the first image by the image acquisition unit;

Analyzing the first image to generate a first analysis result;

Calculating a relative pose relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device when the analysis result indicates that the first image includes at least a portion of the second electronic device;

Controlling, according to the relative pose relationship, a motion unit of the first electronic device to move relative to the second electronic device to accurately position the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device;

Controlling the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device such that the second electronic device charges the first electronic device.

In one embodiment, the first image comprises an invisible light image.

In an embodiment, the first image further comprises a visible light image.

In one embodiment, the relative pose relationship includes a distance, an orientation, and a vector direction of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device.

In an embodiment, the charging method further includes planning a motion path of the motion unit of the first electronic device before controlling a motion unit of the first electronic device to move relative to the second electronic device.

In an embodiment, the step of controlling the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device comprises: controlling the first electronic device to send a first signal to the second electronic device, or when The charging device of the second electronic device is triggered when the first electronic device enters a specific range of the second electronic device.

In an embodiment, the analyzing the first image to generate the first analysis result comprises: analyzing the acquired visible light image and the invisible light image to obtain at least one of the second electronic device and the second electronic device A feature set of a plurality of feature information related to the visible light feature and the at least one invisible light feature.

In an embodiment, the step of controlling the motion unit of the first electronic device to move relative to the second electronic device according to the relative pose relationship comprises:

Controlling movement of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device;

And acquiring, in the process of moving the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device, the visible light image and the invisible light image, and analyzing the visible light image and the invisible light image to update the real-time a relative pose relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the feature set includes feature information related to a desired feature error;

The current motion control command is updated in real time according to the relative pose relationship of the real-time update, so that the feature error converges until the first electronic device is accurately positioned relative to the second electronic device.

In one embodiment, the steps of analyzing the acquired visible light image and the invisible light image include:

Extracting a plurality of feature information related to at least one visible light feature and at least one invisible light feature of the second electronic device;

Merging the plurality of feature information to obtain the set of feature sets;

In one embodiment, the at least one visible light feature of the second electronic device includes visible point features, line features, pattern features, boss features, and/or hole features.

In an embodiment, the at least one invisible light feature of the second electronic device comprises an infrared feature.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a charging system is provided for charging a first electronic device, the charging system comprising:

Second electronic device;

An image acquisition unit configured to acquire the first image;

a control unit, the control unit being electrically connected to the image acquisition unit and the motion controller of the first electronic device, wherein the control unit is configured to:

Analyzing the first image to generate a first analysis result;

In one embodiment, the first image comprises an invisible light image.

In an embodiment, the first image further comprises a visible light image.

In an embodiment, the control unit is further configured to: plan motion of the motion unit of the first electronic device before controlling motion of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device path.

In an embodiment, the control unit is further configured to: control the first electronic device to send a first signal to the second electronic device or when the first electronic device enters the second electronic device The charging device of the second electronic device is triggered in a specific range to control the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device.

In an embodiment, the control unit is further configured to: analyze the acquired visible light image and the invisible light image to obtain at least one visible light feature and at least one invisible light including the second electronic device A feature set of a plurality of feature information related to the feature.

In an embodiment, the control unit is further configured to:

In an embodiment, at least one invisible light characteristic of the second electronic device includes infrared feature.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a computer storage medium is further provided, wherein the computer storage medium stores computer executable instructions configured to perform the charging method according to the embodiment of the present invention. .

In the charging method and the charging system and the computer storage medium according to the embodiment of the present invention, the visible light image feature and the invisible light image feature of the electronic device such as the charging post are collected by the image acquiring device such as the optical device and/or the non-contact sensor. A series of feature extraction and fusion techniques can effectively extract feature information, which can realize effective feature extraction under multiple illumination conditions. In the process of motion control, real-time update image feature information and update motion control commands in real time, using visual servo The method effectively adjusts the relative pose relationship between the two electronic devices, thereby enabling efficient and accurate positioning between the two electronic devices; after accurate positioning, controlling the interaction information between the two electronic devices to enable the charging operation Therefore, the success of the charging operation is effectively ensured.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the description of the appended claims.

DRAWINGS

Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a The drawings of the present embodiments are only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. In the drawing:

1 is a flow chart of a charging method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is another flow chart of a charging method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic view showing a relative positional relationship between a robot and a charging post when a charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

detailed description

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While the embodiments of the present invention have been shown in the drawings, the embodiments Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be more fully understood and the scope of the disclosure will be fully disclosed.

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth Obviously, however, one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in the drawings in the drawings.

The technical solutions of the present invention are further elaborated below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

According to an aspect of the present general inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides a charging method.

1 is a flow chart of a charging method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The charging method is applied to a first electronic device, which in an exemplary embodiment may be a robot, in particular a mobile robot. As shown in FIG. 1, the charging method includes the following steps:

S11. Acquire a first image by using an image acquiring unit. The image acquisition unit may be a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor), a DVS (Dynamic Vision Sensor), and a non-contact type. Sensors, etc.

S12. Analyze the first image to generate a first analysis result.

S13. When the analysis result indicates that the first image includes at least a portion of the second electronic device, calculating a relative pose relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device;

Wherein, in an exemplary embodiment, the second electronic device may be a charging post that can charge the robot.

S14. Control, according to the relative pose relationship, motion of the motion unit of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device to accurately position the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device.

S15. Control the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device, so that the second electronic device charges the first electronic device.

The first image acquired in step S11 includes a visible light image and an invisible light image, and the first image may be an image directly emitted by the second electronic device, or may be an image formed by the second electronic device emitting back reflection.

In step S13, the step of calculating a relative pose relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device includes calculating a distance, an orientation, and a vector direction of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device. This step will be further described below in conjunction with FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a relative positional relationship between the robot 20 and the charging post 10 when a charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 3, the relative pose relationship between the robot 20 and the charging post 10 includes the distance between the robot 20 and the charging post, as shown by "D" in FIG. 3; and the orientation of the robot 20 relative to the charging post 10. The orientation is, for example, that the robot 20 is located on the east or west side of the charging pile 10, and is, for example, an orientation indicated by coordinates (X, Y, Z) in the XYZ coordinate system; and includes a vector of the robot 20 relative to the charging pile 10. In the direction, the surface S of the robot 20 in FIG. 3 is taken as an example. In the initial posture A, the surface S is at an angle with respect to the charging post 10, and in the adjustment posture B, the surface S faces the charging pile 10. The specific steps for the robot 20 are as compared to the world coordinate system in the local coordinate system of the robot 20 as shown in FIG. Forming a pose in the direction and position in the local coordinate system, and deriving the direction with the charging pile 10, thereby further proceeding Positioning and navigation.

Returning to FIG. 1 , there is further a step of planning a motion unit of the first electronic device before controlling a motion unit of the first electronic device to move relative to the second electronic device between steps S13 and S14 Motion path P (as shown in Figure 3).

The controlling the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device includes: controlling the first electronic device to send a first signal to the second electronic device, or when the first electronic device enters The charging device of the second electronic device is triggered when it is in a specific range of the second electronic device.

In an exemplary embodiment, the robot and the charging post can be charged through the miniUSB interface. In this case, when the robot is docked with the charging post, the charging connector of the controlling robot sends a first pulse signal to the charging post. The charging operation can be turned on with an indication. Alternatively, the wireless charging technology can be used between the robot and the charging post for charging, similar to RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. When the robot enters a specific range of the charging pile (for example, the inductive range of the RFID), the charging pile The robot is identified, thereby triggering its charging device to turn on the charging operation.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include the following steps:

S101. Acquire a visible light image and an invisible light image by using an image acquiring unit.

S102. Analyze the acquired visible light image and the invisible light image to obtain at least one visible light characteristic (shown as 11 in FIG. 3) and at least one invisible light characteristic including the second electronic device (FIG. 3). The feature set of the plurality of related feature information is shown in . In an exemplary embodiment, the visible light features may include visible dot features, line features, pattern features, land features, and/or hole features, which may include infrared features, such as an infrared LED (Light Emitting Diode, led).

S103. Combine the plurality of feature information to obtain a set of features, where the feature set includes feature information related to a desired feature error.

S104. Calculate, according to the feature set, a relative pose relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device.

S105. Control, according to the relative pose relationship, a motion unit of the first electronic device to move relative to the second electronic device.

S106. Determine whether the characteristic error exceeds a predetermined value. If the feature error is greater than the predetermined value, the above steps S101 to S105 are repeatedly performed; if the feature error is smaller than the predetermined value, the following step S107 is performed.

S107. Control the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device, so that the The second electronic device charges the first electronic device.

Therefore, the step of controlling the movement of the motion unit of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device according to the relative pose relationship comprises:

And acquiring, in the process of moving the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device, the visible light image and the invisible light image, and analyzing the visible light image and the invisible light image to update the real-time Determining a relative pose relationship of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device, wherein the feature set includes feature information related to a desired feature error;

Updating a current motion control instruction in real time during movement of the motion unit of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device such that the feature error converges until the first electronic device is opposite to the The second electronic device is accurately positioned.

That is, in the charging method according to the embodiment of the present invention, an image from a charging post is automatically received and processed by a CCD, a non-contact sensor, or the like, and the robot can perform further control or perform corresponding self by image feedback information. Adapt to the adjustment to achieve precise positioning of the robot and charging pile.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a charging system, as shown in FIG. 3, for charging a first electronic device 20, such as a robot, the charging system comprising:

a second electronic device 10, such as a charging post;

An image acquisition unit configured to acquire the first image;

Analyzing the first image to generate a first analysis result;

In other embodiments of the present invention, the control unit of the charging system may also be configured to perform any of the above methods. For the sake of brevity of the specification, no further details are provided herein.

Although the above embodiment illustrates the charging method and the charging system of the present invention by taking a robot and a charging post as an example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the charging method and charging system of the present invention are not limited to application to robots and charging posts, and It is intended to be applicable to any system or device that performs automatic charging, and the scope of the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

In the several embodiments provided by the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed method and system can be In other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the unit is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be another division manner, such as: multiple units or components may be combined, or Can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling, or direct coupling, or communication connection of the components shown or discussed may be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be electrical, mechanical or other forms. of.

The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as the unit may or may not be physical units, that is, may be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units; Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may be separately used as one unit, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit; The unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

A person skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps of implementing the above method embodiments may be completed by using hardware related to the program instructions. The foregoing program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the program is executed when executed. The foregoing storage device includes the following steps: the foregoing storage medium includes: a mobile storage device, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk. A medium that can store program code.

Alternatively, the above-described integrated unit of the embodiment of the present invention may be stored in a computer readable storage medium if it is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as a stand-alone product. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product in essence or in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including a plurality of instructions. A computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) is caused to perform all or part of the methods described in various embodiments of the present invention. The foregoing storage medium includes: a removable storage device, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, and the like, which can store program codes.

In view of this, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer readable storage medium, the storage medium comprising a set of computer executable instructions for performing a charging processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The above description is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention. Variations or substitutions are intended to be covered by the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

A charging method is applied to a first electronic device, the charging method comprising:

Acquiring the first image by the image acquisition unit;

Analyzing the first image to generate a first analysis result;

Calculating a relative pose relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device when the analysis result indicates that the first image includes at least a portion of the second electronic device;

Controlling, according to the relative pose relationship, a motion unit of the first electronic device to move relative to the second electronic device to position the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device;

Controlling the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device such that the second electronic device charges the first electronic device.
The charging method of claim 1, wherein the first image comprises an invisible light image.
The charging method of claim 2, wherein the first image further comprises a visible light image.
The charging method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the relative pose relationship comprises a distance, an orientation, and a vector direction of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device.
The charging method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising planning movement of the first electronic device before controlling movement of the motion unit of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device The motion path of the unit.
The charging method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of controlling the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device comprises:

Controlling the first electronic device to transmit a first signal to the second electronic device, or triggering a charging device of the second electronic device when the first electronic device enters a specific range of the second electronic device.
The charging method according to claim 3, wherein the analyzing the first image to generate the first analysis result comprises:

The acquired visible light image and the invisible light image are analyzed to obtain a feature set including a plurality of feature information related to at least one visible light feature and at least one invisible light characteristic of the second electronic device.
The charging method according to claim 7, wherein the step of controlling the movement of the motion unit of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device according to the relative pose relationship comprises:

Controlling movement of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device;

Acquiring the visible light image and the invisible light image in real time during movement of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device, and analyzing the visible light image and the invisible light image For example, updating a relative pose relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device in real time, wherein the feature set includes feature information related to a desired feature error;

The current motion control command is updated in real time according to the relative pose relationship of the real-time update, so that the feature error converges until the first electronic device is positioned relative to the second electronic device.
The charging method according to claim 8, wherein the analyzing the acquired visible light image and the invisible light image comprises:

Extracting a plurality of feature information related to at least one visible light feature and at least one invisible light feature of the second electronic device;

The plurality of feature information is fused to obtain the set of features.
The charging method of claim 9, wherein the at least one visible light feature of the second electronic device comprises a visible dot feature, a line feature, a pattern feature, a boss feature, and/or a hole feature.
The charging method of claim 9, wherein the at least one invisible light characteristic of the second electronic device comprises an infrared characteristic.
A charging system for charging a first electronic device, the charging system comprising:

Second electronic device;

An image acquisition unit configured to acquire the first image;

a control unit, the control unit being electrically connected to the image acquisition unit and the motion controller of the first electronic device, wherein the control unit is configured to:

Analyzing the first image to generate a first analysis result;

Calculating a relative pose relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device when the analysis result indicates that the first image includes at least a portion of the second electronic device;

Controlling, according to the relative pose relationship, a motion unit of the first electronic device to move relative to the second electronic device to position the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device;

Controlling the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device such that the second electronic device charges the first electronic device.
The charging system of claim 12 wherein said first image comprises an invisible light image.
The charging system of claim 12 wherein said first image further comprises a visible light image.
A charging system according to any one of claims 12-14, wherein the relative pose relationship comprises a distance, an orientation and a vector direction of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device.
The charging system according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the control unit is further configured to: control a motion unit of the first electronic device to move relative to the second electronic device First, a motion path of the motion unit of the first electronic device is planned.
The charging system according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the control unit is further configured to: control the first electronic device to transmit a first signal to the second electronic device or when the first The charging device of the second electronic device is triggered when an electronic device enters a specific range of the second electronic device to control the first electronic device to interact with the second electronic device.
The charging system according to claim 14, wherein the control unit is further configured to: analyze the acquired visible light image and the invisible light image to obtain at least one visible light characteristic including the second electronic device A feature set of a plurality of feature information related to at least one invisible light feature.
The charging system of claim 18 wherein said control unit is further configured to:

Controlling movement of the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device;

And acquiring, in the process of moving the first electronic device relative to the second electronic device, the visible light image and the invisible light image, and analyzing the visible light image and the invisible light image to update the real-time a relative pose relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the feature set includes feature information related to a desired feature error;

The current motion control command is updated in real time according to the relative pose relationship of the real-time update, so that the feature error converges until the first electronic device is positioned relative to the second electronic device.
The charging system of claim 19, wherein the at least one visible light feature of the second electronic device comprises visible point features, line features, pattern features, boss features, and/or hole features.
The charging system of claim 19 wherein at least one invisible light feature of said second electronic device comprises an infrared feature.
A computer storage medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon, the computer executable instructions being configured to perform the charging method of any of claims 1-11.