Charging pile, method and device for autonomous charging of mobile robot

Abstract

The present application provides a charging pile, a method and a device for autonomous charging of a mobile robot. The method for autonomous charging of a mobile robot includes: obtaining point cloud data of a radar scan of a mobile robot facing the charging pile at a detection position, dividing the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle; performing straight line fitting on the point cloud data of at least one of the multiple sub-areas to obtain multiple straight lines of different lengths and directions, and if a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting the predetermined angle conditions corresponding to the charging pile is identified among the multiple straight lines, the position and direction information of the charging pile is determined according to the straight line combination; completing the docking with the charging pile according to the position and direction information, and starting charging. According to the solution of the present application, it has a wide range of applicable scenarios, low cost, accurate detection and high charging success rate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of mobile robots, and in particular to a charging pile, and a method and device for autonomous charging of a mobile robot. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous advancement of artificial intelligence-related technologies, the application scope of mobile robots is becoming more and more extensive. For example, they can be widely used in industries such as industry, agriculture, medical care, urban security, national defense, and space exploration. There are many hot issues in mobile robot technology, and how to enable mobile robots to complete autonomous charging is one of them. Taking the industrial field as an example, in recent years, mobile robot technology has played an increasingly important role in modern industry. Compared with traditional industrial production lines that rely on human transportation, production lines that rely on mobile robots for automated transportation have higher accuracy and safety, and production efficiency will be greatly improved. However, most of the existing charging technologies rely on guiding methods such as laying magnetic tracks on the ground, arranging manual markers such as QR codes in the charging environment, and installing infrared docking devices, so that mobile robots move according to set or semi-set paths to dock with charging piles. The laying of magnetic tracks and arranging QR codes require daily maintenance, and secondary transformation is required when the factory environment changes. The installation of infrared docking devices is costly and prone to failure. Summary of the invention

[0003] The purpose of this application is to provide a technical solution for autonomous charging of mobile robots with small environmental modification, low cost, and accurate and stable performance.

[0004] According to one embodiment of the present application, a charging pile for autonomous charging of a mobile robot is provided, wherein the charging pile includes a straight structure, a V-shaped structure embedded in the straight structure and having a specific angle, a charging pole and a charging pole protective shell, wherein the height of the V-shaped structure is located at the radar scanning plane of the mobile robot, and the charging pole is used to dock with a charging pole located on the body of the mobile robot.

[0005] According to another embodiment of the present application, a method for realizing autonomous charging of a mobile robot based on the charging pile proposed in the present application is also provided, wherein the method comprises:

[0006] Obtaining point cloud data of a radar scan of the mobile robot facing the charging pile at the detection position, and dividing the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle;

[0007] Performing straight line fitting on the point cloud data of at least one sub-area among the multiple sub-areas to obtain a plurality of straight lines of different lengths and directions, and if a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting a predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile is identified among the multiple straight lines, determining the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination;

[0008] The docking with the charging pile is completed according to the position and direction information, and charging begins.

[0009] According to another embodiment of the present application, a device for automatic charging in a mobile robot is also provided, wherein the device comprises:

[0010] A device for obtaining point cloud data of a radar scan of a mobile robot at a detection position facing the side of a charging pile, and dividing the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle;

[0011] A device for performing straight line fitting on the point cloud data of at least one of the multiple sub-areas to obtain a plurality of straight lines of different lengths and directions, and if a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting a predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile is identified among the multiple straight lines, determining the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination;

[0012] A device for completing docking with the charging pile according to the position and direction information and starting charging.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following advantages: the charging pile has a specific shape, which is a combination of a V-shape with a specific angle and a straight line, that is, a specific VL shape. The mobile robot can obtain the accurate position and direction of the charging pile by identifying the VL shape, and improve the charging docking efficiency and realize safe mobile docking; it has a wide range of applicable scenarios, and there is no need to modify the environment. The setting can be completed by placing the charging pile at any position. It is simple and convenient, and the use scenario is not restricted in any way; the cost is low, and the robot's own laser radar is reused. There is no need to add any auxiliary signs to the scene, and there is no need to add new sensors to the mobile robot and the charging pile, which greatly reduces the manufacturing cost and subsequent maintenance cost of the mobile robot; the detection is accurate and the charging success rate is high. Since the charging pile has a specific VL shape, it can be easily and quickly identified in most scenarios, and then the position and direction of the charging pile can be accurately determined by relying on the proposed shape detection algorithm based on straight line fitting. In addition, for possible unsuccessful detection and a few unexpected situations, it can be effectively tried again when charging fails, thereby greatly reducing the probability of charging failure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Other features, objects and advantages of the present application will become more apparent by reading the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments made with reference to the following drawings:

[0015] Figure 1 A front view of a charging pile according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0016] Figure 2 Shows Figure 1 A side view of the charging station shown;

[0017] Figure 3 A rear view of a mobile robot according to an example of the present application is shown;

[0018] Figure 4 Shows Figure 3 A side view of the mobile robot shown;

[0019] Figure 5 A schematic flow chart of a method for autonomous charging of a mobile robot according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0020] Figure 6a A schematic diagram showing real-time point cloud data of an example of the present application is shown;

[0021] Figure 6b Shown for Figure 6a The schematic diagram of the detection of shape detection based on straight line fitting of point cloud data shown;

[0022] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of an autonomous charging process of an example of the present application is shown;

[0023] Figure 8 A schematic structural diagram of a device for autonomous charging in a mobile robot according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0024] The same or similar reference numerals in the drawings represent the same or similar components. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] It should be mentioned before discussing the exemplary embodiments in more detail that some exemplary embodiments are described as processes or methods depicted as flow charts. Although the flow charts describe the operations as sequential processes, many of the operations therein can be implemented in parallel, concurrently or simultaneously. In addition, the order of the operations can be rearranged. The process can be terminated when its operation is completed, but can also have additional steps not included in the accompanying drawings. The process can correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, subprogram, etc.

[0026] The methods discussed later in this document (some of which are illustrated by flow charts) may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine or computer readable medium (such as a storage medium). (One or more) processors may perform the necessary tasks.

[0027] The specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely representative and are for the purpose of describing exemplary embodiments of the present application. However, the present application can be implemented in many alternative forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to only the embodiments set forth herein.

[0028] It should be understood that, although the terms "first", "second", etc. may be used herein to describe various units, these units should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one unit from another unit. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, the first unit may be referred to as the second unit, and similarly the second unit may be referred to as the first unit. The term "and / or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed associated items.

[0029] The terms used herein are only for describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit exemplary embodiments. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "one", "one" and "item" used herein are also intended to include plural numbers. It should also be understood that the terms "include" and / or "comprise" used herein specify the existence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, units and / or components, without excluding the existence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, units, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0030] It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions / actions mentioned may occur in a different order than that indicated in the accompanying drawings. For example, depending on the functions / actions involved, two figures shown in succession may actually be performed substantially simultaneously or may sometimes be performed in the reverse order.

[0031] The present application is described in further detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0032] The present application provides a charging pile for autonomous charging of a mobile robot, wherein the charging pile includes a straight structure, a V-shaped structure embedded in the straight structure and having a specific angle, a charging pole and a charging pole protective shell, wherein the height of the V-shaped structure is located in the radar scanning plane of the mobile robot, and the charging pole is used to dock with a charging pole piece located on the body of the mobile robot. The combination of the straight structure and the V-shaped structure constitutes a specific shape structure, that is, the charging pile includes a specific shape formed by a combination of a V-shape with a specific angle and a straight line (the specific shape is also referred to as a "VL shape" in the context). Since the height of the V-shaped structure is located in the radar scanning plane of the mobile robot, the mobile robot can emit a laser signal through its radar facing the side of the charging pile after moving to the detection position. If the specific shape is scanned, it is determined that the charging pile exists.

[0033] In some embodiments, a straight line structure refers to a structure in which a frame or surface structure presents several straight line segments. In some embodiments, a V-shaped structure refers to a structure that is V-shaped in shape, and the V-shaped structure has a specific angle, which can be designed based on actual needs. As an example, the V-shaped structure of the charging pile is at an angle of 120 degrees, so the charging pile includes a specific shape composed of a V-shape with an angle of 120° and a straight line. The mobile robot can obtain the accurate position and direction of the charging pile by identifying the VL shape of the charging pile, thereby realizing autonomous charging.

[0034] In some embodiments, the charging pile includes two charging poles, which are used to dock with the charging pole piece on the mobile robot. In some embodiments, when the charging pile and the mobile robot complete docking, the charging pile generates a voltage signal and returns the voltage signal to the mobile robot to indicate that the docking is successful. After receiving the voltage signal, the mobile robot turns on the relay for charging.

[0035] In some embodiments, the V-shaped structure is embedded in one side of the straight structure, and the charging pole can be installed at any position on the side except the embedded position of the V-shaped structure. As a preferred embodiment, the charging pole is located below the embedded position of the V-shaped structure on the straight structure. In this case, the mobile robot can directly determine the position of the charging post by identifying the specific shape structure. In some embodiments, there is a certain distance between the charging pole and the V-shaped structure. In this case, the mobile robot determines the position of the charging post by identifying the specific shape structure and combining the relative position information between the charging pole and the V-shaped structure.

[0036] In some embodiments, the charging pile further includes a base located below the linear structure. The base is used for supporting, and the present application does not limit the specific shape and structure of the base.

[0037] Figure 1 A front view of a charging pile according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 2 Shows Figure 1 The side view of the charging pile shown. The charging pile of this embodiment includes a V-shaped structure 101, two charging poles 102, a straight structure 103, a charging pole protective shell 104 and a base 105, wherein the V-shaped structure 101 has an angle of 120 degrees, the V-shaped structure 101 is embedded in the upper left side of one side of the straight structure 103, and the charging pole 102 is located below the embedded position of the V-shaped structure 101 and adjacent to the embedded position. The two charging poles 102 are used to dock with the charging poles on the body of the mobile robot to complete charging. Figure 1 It can be seen that the horizontal position of the V-shaped structure 101 is very close to the horizontal position of the charging pole 102 located above. Therefore, after the mobile robot recognizes the position of the V-shaped structure 101, it can directly regard the position of the V-shaped structure 101 as the position of the charging pile or the position of the charging pole 102. The charging pile of this embodiment has a specific VL shape, that is, it is a combination of a 120-degree V shape and a straight line. The shape is highly located in the radar scanning plane of the mobile robot, so the mobile robot can send a laser signal through the radar to detect the VL shape. It should be noted that, although the charging pole 102 in the present embodiment is located below and adjacent to the embedded position of the V-shaped structure 101, those skilled in the art should understand that the charging pole 102 may also be set at any other position on this side, such as above the embedded position of the V-shaped structure 101, or at the lower right side of this side, etc. As long as the mobile robot stores the relative position information between the charging pole 102 and the V-shaped structure 101, the mobile robot can determine the position of the charging pole 102 based on the identified VL shape position and the relative position information, and achieve docking.

[0038] Figure 3 A rear view of a mobile robot according to an example of the present application is shown; Figure 4 Shows Figure 3 The mobile robot in this example includes a robot charging pole piece 201, a front radar 202, a rear radar 203, and wheels 204. When the charging pile of the present application is used to realize autonomous charging, the charging pole piece 201 is used to dock with the charging pole of the charging pile, and the front radar 202 and the rear radar 203 are used to emit laser signals. When the mobile robot receives a charging task, it will autonomously navigate to the front of the charging pile, and read the point cloud data scanned by the radar on the side of the mobile robot facing the charging pile (which may be the front radar 202 or the rear radar 203) to detect whether there is a VL shape corresponding to the charging pile.

[0039] Figure 5 A flow chart of a method for autonomous charging of a mobile robot according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The present embodiment can realize autonomous charging of the mobile robot based on the charging pile proposed in the present application. The method of the present embodiment includes step S11, step S12 and step S13.

[0040] In step S11, the mobile robot obtains point cloud data of a radar scan of the mobile robot facing the charging pile at the detection position, and divides the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle.

[0041] Among them, when the mobile robot receives a charging task, it will autonomously navigate to the front of the charging pile. This application does not limit the navigation process of the mobile robot autonomously navigating to the front of the charging pile. Any implementation method of autonomously navigating to the front of the charging pile when receiving a charging task should be included in the protection scope of this application.

[0042] In some embodiments, after the mobile robot autonomously navigates to the front of the charging pile, the radar facing the charging pile sends a laser signal, and the mobile robot reads the point cloud data scanned by the radar, and divides the point cloud data into several sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle. In some embodiments, each sub-area corresponds to the same scanning angle, which can be recorded as the product of the radar scanning resolution and the width of the point cloud subset. As an example, the scanning angle range of the radar on the mobile robot is from -135 degrees to 135 degrees with the center of the radar as the origin. The scanning resolution of the radar is 0.25, then the scanning angle of the radar is 270 degrees (that is, the angle value from -135 degrees to 135 degrees), so the number of points can be calculated to be 270 / 0.25=1080. The read point cloud data includes the 0th to 1080th points arranged in the scanning order, that is, there are a total of 1081 points. Afterwards, the 1081 points are divided into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle. The points in each sub-area may partially overlap, and the union of the multiple sub-areas is the point cloud data.

[0043] Preferably, the mobile robot divides the point cloud data into K sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle, denoted as N i (i=0,1,2,…,K-1), the scanning angle corresponding to each sub-area is the product of the radar scanning resolution and the width of the point cloud subset, where sub-area N i Corresponding to the point interval [p*i, d+p*i] in the point cloud data, p represents the preset step size, and d represents the width of the point cloud subset. When the division operation has been performed on all point cloud data, the region division operation is completed, that is, N K=K corresponds to the point interval [p*(K-1), d+p*(K-1)] in the point cloud data, where "d+p*(K-1)" is the last point in the point cloud data (that is, the value of "d+p*(K-1)" is equal to the number of points corresponding to the point cloud data, such as "1080" in the above example). As an example, the scanning angle range of the radar on the mobile robot is based on the center of the radar as the origin, and scans from -135 degrees to 135 degrees. The scanning resolution of the radar is 0.25. The read point cloud data includes points from the 0th to the 1080th points arranged in the scanning order, that is, there are a total of 1081 points. Assuming the preset step size p=5 and the point cloud subset width d=10, the scanning step size is the product of the radar scanning resolution and the preset step size (that is, 0.25*5=1.25 degrees), each The scanning angle corresponding to the sub-region is the product of the radar scanning resolution and the width of the point cloud subset (i.e., 0.25*10=2.5 ​​degrees). According to the laser scanning angle, the point cloud data can be divided into K=215 sub-regions. The 0th to dth points constitute the first sub-region N0, the 0th+pth to d+pth points constitute the second sub-region N1, and so on, until the 215th sub-region is obtained, d+p*(K-1) takes the value of 1080, that is, the division operation has been performed on all point cloud data.

[0044] It should be noted that the above division method is only an example and not a limitation of the present application. Other implementation methods of dividing the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle should also be included in the protection scope of the present application. For example, the scanning angle corresponding to each sub-area can be defined as the product of the radar scanning resolution, the point cloud subset width and a predetermined constant, and the point cloud data can be divided into multiple sub-areas based on the scanning angle.

[0045] In step S12, the mobile robot performs straight line fitting on the point cloud data of at least one of the multiple sub-areas to obtain multiple straight lines of different lengths and directions. If a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines that meets the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile is identified among the multiple straight lines, the position and direction information of the charging pile is determined according to the straight line combination. Thus, shape detection based on straight line fitting is performed on the two-dimensional radar point cloud data. The data input of the algorithm is the radar point cloud acquired in real time on the robot. The shape combination is completed by performing straight line fitting on the two-dimensional point cloud, and the VL shape of the charging pile designed in this patent is identified, thereby accurately obtaining the accurate position and direction of the charging pile.

[0046] In some embodiments, the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile is determined based on a specific angle of the V-shaped structure of the charging pile. As an example, Figure 1The V-shaped structure 101 of the charging pile shown has a specific angle of 120 degrees, and the predetermined angle conditions corresponding to the charging pile include: the angle between two straight lines in the straight line combination is about 120, and the right side of one of the two straight lines has another straight line with an angle of about 150 degrees.

[0047] In some embodiments, the determining of the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination includes: determining the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination, wherein the position indicated by the position and direction information is the intersection position of two straight lines in the straight line combination with a specific angle, and the direction indicated by the position and direction information is the normal direction of the shape formed by the straight line combination. Continuing with the above example, if a straight line combination that meets the predetermined angle condition is detected, the position of the charging pile is identified as the intersection position of two straight lines in the straight line combination with an angle of about 120 degrees, and the direction of the charging pile is determined by the normal direction of the shape of the three straight line combination in the straight line combination. Figure 6a A schematic diagram showing real-time point cloud data of an example of the present application is shown. Figure 6b Shown for Figure 6a The schematic diagram of the detection of point cloud data based on straight line fitting is shown in the figure. Figure 1 The charging pile shown is Figure 3 The mobile robot shown in FIG. 301 represents the real-time point cloud data scanned by the mobile robot through the radar, and 302-1, 302-2, and 302-3 are three straight lines obtained by linear fitting of 301. The straight line combination formed by these three straight lines meets the requirement. Figure 1 The predetermined angle conditions corresponding to the charging piles shown in the figure, wherein the angle between 302-1 and 302-2 is 120 degrees, the angle between 302-2 and 302-3 is 150 degrees, and 303( Figure 6b The circle shown, that is, the intersection between 302 - 1 and 302 - 2 ) represents the detected position of the charging pile, and 304 represents the detected direction of the charging pile.

[0048] In some embodiments, straight line fitting can be completed for all sub-areas first to obtain multiple straight lines, and then it is detected whether there is a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile among the multiple straight lines, that is, whether there is a charging pile. In some embodiments, for each sub-area, straight line fitting can be performed on the sub-area first to obtain multiple straight lines corresponding to the sub-area, and then it is detected whether there is a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile among the multiple straight lines corresponding to the sub-area. If there is, there is no need to perform straight line fitting and detection operations on the remaining sub-areas, that is, it may be necessary to perform straight line fitting and detection operations on only some of the multiple sub-areas.

[0049] The position and direction information of the charging pile is used to indicate the detected position and direction of the charging pile. In some embodiments, the position and direction information of the charging pile is directly determined based on the straight line combination, wherein the position indicated by the position and direction information is the intersection of two straight lines in the straight line combination with a specific angle, and the direction indicated by the position and direction information is the normal direction of the shape formed by the straight line combination. For example, if using Figure 1 For the charging pile shown, since the charging pole 102 is located below and adjacent to the embedded position of the V-shaped structure 101, the intersection position of the two straight lines at 120 degrees in the identified straight line combination can be directly determined as the charging pile position, and the normal direction of the three straight lines in the straight line combination can be determined as the charging pile orientation. In some embodiments, the position and direction information of the charging pile is determined based on the straight line combination and in combination with the relative position information between the charging pole of the charging pile and the V-shaped structure. For example, the charging pile position is calculated based on the intersection position of the two straight lines at a specific angle in the identified straight line combination and the relative position information, and the normal direction of the three straight lines in the straight line combination is determined as the charging pile orientation.

[0050] In step S13, the mobile robot completes docking with the charging pile according to the position and direction information and starts charging. Specifically, the mobile robot rotates and moves according to the position and direction information to complete docking with the charging pole on the charging pile, and starts charging by starting the relay when docking is successful.

[0051] In some embodiments, the step S13 further includes: determining the target position and attitude information according to the position and direction information; rotating and moving according to the target position and attitude information so that the mobile robot moves to the target position and target attitude; moving backward at a low speed, and starting charging if the voltage signal returned by the charging pile is detected. In some embodiments, the target position and attitude information is used to indicate the target position to which the mobile robot needs to move and the target attitude of the mobile robot, the target position is a fixed distance in front of the charging pile, and the target attitude is the identification direction of the charging pile (that is, the orientation of the charging pile detected above). Among them, the mobile robot can be rotated and moved in any feasible way to move to the target position and target attitude, such as rotating and moving by code disk degrees, or rotating and moving by real-time positioning and map building technology. In some embodiments, the mobile robot determines the target position and posture information based on the position and direction information, and generates an instruction including the target position and posture information. After that, the mobile robot rotates and moves according to the instruction to move to the target position and target posture. After reaching the target position, it moves backward at a low speed until its charging electrode contacts the two charging poles of the charging pile and detects the voltage signal returned by the charging pile. This is considered to be a successful autonomous charging docking, and the mobile robot will turn on the relay to perform the charging task.

[0052] In some embodiments, if the mobile robot detects that an abnormal trigger condition is met during the backward movement, it stops moving backward and returns to the detection position to try autonomous charging again (i.e., repeating steps S11, S12, and S13). In some embodiments, the abnormal trigger condition includes but is not limited to the failure to detect a voltage signal from the charging pile (such as the failure to detect a voltage signal after a predetermined time or after moving a predetermined distance), the appearance of an obstacle, etc. Based on this fault-tolerant mechanism, the mobile robot can stop retreating in time after discovering an abnormality, return to the initial detection position, and try charging again, so the success rate of autonomous charging can be guaranteed even in some abnormal situations.

[0053] In some embodiments, if the mobile robot fails to identify a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines that meets the predetermined angle condition among the multiple straight lines obtained by fitting, the mobile robot adjusts its posture to try autonomous charging again. In some embodiments, the mobile robot can adjust its posture according to a predetermined adjustment rule (such as adjusting a predetermined angle), thereby further improving the success rate of autonomous charging.

[0054] In some embodiments, the mobile robot will read real-time radar data during the entire autonomous charging process to implement obstacle avoidance through radar data, thereby improving the safety of the entire autonomous charging process.

[0055] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of an autonomous charging process of an example of the present application is shown. In this example, the charging pile of the present application is adopted, and the mobile robot includes the device for autonomous charging of the present application. The specific process is as follows: when the charging task starts, the mobile robot first moves to the detection position in front of the charging pile; performs radar point cloud segmentation operation, reads real-time radar point cloud data, and divides the radar point cloud data into multiple sub-areas; performs sub-area point cloud straight line fitting operation to obtain multiple straight lines with different lengths and directions; detects the shape of the straight line combination, and determines whether there is a charging pile by identifying whether there is a straight line combination composed of three straight lines and meeting the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile in the multiple straight lines; if the charging pile is not detected, the mobile robot adjusts the posture and re-executes the radar point cloud segmentation operation. If the charging pile is detected, the mobile robot moves to the charging pile and starts charging after successfully docking with the charging pile. If charging is successful, the charging task ends, otherwise, the mobile robot returns to the detection position and re-executes the radar point cloud segmentation operation.

[0056] Figure 8 The schematic diagram of the structure of the device for autonomous charging in a mobile robot according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The mobile robot realizes autonomous charging through the charging pile proposed in the present application. The device for autonomous charging (referred to as "autonomous charging device") includes a first device 11, a second device 12 and a third device 13. It should be noted that those skilled in the art should understand that the mobile robot also includes other modules or units, such as Figure 3 The individual modules shown in .

[0057] The first device 11 obtains the point cloud data of the radar scan of the mobile robot facing the charging pile at the detection position, and divides the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle.

[0058] Among them, when the mobile robot receives a charging task, it will autonomously navigate to the front of the charging pile. This application does not limit the navigation process of the mobile robot autonomously navigating to the front of the charging pile. Any implementation method of autonomously navigating to the front of the charging pile when receiving a charging task should be included in the protection scope of this application.

[0059] In some embodiments, after the mobile robot autonomously navigates to the front of the charging pile, it sends a laser signal to the radar on the side of the charging pile, and the first device 11 reads the point cloud data scanned by the radar, and divides the point cloud data into regions according to the laser scanning angle, and divides all the point cloud data into several sub-regions. In some embodiments, each sub-region corresponds to the same scanning angle, which can be recorded as the product of the radar scanning resolution and the width of the point cloud subset. As an example, the scanning angle range of the radar on the mobile robot is from -135 degrees to 135 degrees with the center of the radar as the origin. The scanning resolution of the radar is 0.25, then the scanning angle of the radar is 270 degrees (that is, the angle value from -135 degrees to 135 degrees), so the number of points can be calculated to be 270 / 0.25=1080. The read point cloud data includes the 0th to 1080th points arranged in the scanning order, that is, there are a total of 1081 points. Afterwards, the 1081 points are divided into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle. The points in each sub-area may partially overlap, and the union of the multiple sub-areas is the point cloud data.

[0060] Preferably, the first device 11 divides the point cloud data into K sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle, denoted as N i (i=0,1,2,…,K-1), the scanning angle corresponding to each sub-area is the product of the radar scanning resolution and the width of the point cloud subset, where sub-area N i Corresponding to the point interval [p*i, d+p*i] in the point cloud data, p represents the preset step size, and d represents the width of the point cloud subset. When the division operation has been performed on all point cloud data, the region division operation is completed, that is, N K=K corresponds to the point interval [p*(K-1), d+p*(K-1)] in the point cloud data, where "d+p*(K-1)" is the last point in the point cloud data (that is, the value of "d+p*(K-1)" is equal to the number of points corresponding to the point cloud data, such as "1080" in the above example). As an example, the scanning angle range of the radar on the mobile robot is based on the center of the radar as the origin, and scans from -135 degrees to 135 degrees. The scanning resolution of the radar is 0.25. The read point cloud data includes points from the 0th to the 1080th points arranged in the scanning order, that is, there are a total of 1081 points. Assuming the preset step size p=5 and the point cloud subset width d=10, the scanning step size is the product of the radar scanning resolution and the preset step size (that is, 0.25*5=1.25 degrees), each The scanning angle corresponding to the sub-region is the product of the radar scanning resolution and the width of the point cloud subset (i.e., 0.25*10=2.5 ​​degrees). According to the laser scanning angle, the point cloud data can be divided into K=215 sub-regions. The 0th to dth points constitute the first sub-region N0, the 0th+pth to d+pth points constitute the second sub-region N1, and so on, until the 215th sub-region is obtained, d+p*(K-1) takes the value of 1080, that is, the division operation has been performed on all point cloud data.

[0061] It should be noted that the above division method is only an example and not a limitation of the present application. Other implementation methods of dividing the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle should also be included in the protection scope of the present application. For example, the scanning angle corresponding to each sub-area can be defined as the product of the radar scanning resolution, the point cloud subset width and a predetermined constant, and the point cloud data can be divided into multiple sub-areas based on the scanning angle.

[0062] The second device 12 performs straight line fitting on the point cloud data of at least one of the multiple sub-areas to obtain multiple straight lines of different lengths and directions. If a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines that meets the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile is identified among the multiple straight lines, the position and direction information of the charging pile is determined according to the straight line combination. Thus, shape detection based on straight line fitting is performed on the two-dimensional radar point cloud data. The data input of the algorithm is the radar point cloud acquired in real time on the robot. The shape combination is completed by performing straight line fitting on the two-dimensional point cloud, and the VL shape of the charging pile designed in this patent is identified, thereby accurately obtaining the accurate position and direction of the charging pile.

[0063] In some embodiments, the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile is determined based on a specific angle of the V-shaped structure of the charging pile. As an example, Figure 1The V-shaped structure 101 of the charging pile shown has a specific angle of 120 degrees, and the predetermined angle conditions corresponding to the charging pile include: the angle between two straight lines in the straight line combination is about 120, and the right side of one of the two straight lines has another straight line with an angle of about 150 degrees.

[0064] In some embodiments, the determining of the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination includes: determining the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination, wherein the position indicated by the position and direction information is the intersection position of two straight lines in the straight line combination with a specific angle, and the direction indicated by the position and direction information is the normal direction of the shape formed by the straight line combination. Continuing with the above example, if a straight line combination that meets the predetermined angle condition is detected, the position of the charging pile is identified as the intersection position of two straight lines in the straight line combination with an angle of about 120 degrees, and the direction of the charging pile is determined by the normal direction of the shape of the three straight line combination in the straight line combination. Figure 6a A schematic diagram showing real-time point cloud data of an example of the present application is shown. Figure 6b Shown for Figure 6a The schematic diagram of the detection of point cloud data based on straight line fitting is shown in the figure. Figure 1 The charging pile shown is Figure 3 The mobile robot shown in FIG. 301 represents the real-time point cloud data scanned by the mobile robot through the radar, and 302-1, 302-2, and 302-3 are three straight lines obtained by linear fitting of 301. The straight line combination formed by these three straight lines meets the requirement. Figure 1 The predetermined angle conditions corresponding to the charging piles shown in the figure, wherein the angle between 302-1 and 302-2 is 120 degrees, the angle between 302-2 and 302-3 is 150 degrees, and 303( Figure 6b The circle shown, that is, the intersection between 302 - 1 and 302 - 2 ) represents the detected position of the charging pile, and 304 represents the detected direction of the charging pile.

[0065] In some embodiments, straight line fitting can be completed for all sub-areas first to obtain multiple straight lines, and then it is detected whether there is a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile among the multiple straight lines, that is, whether there is a charging pile. In some embodiments, for each sub-area, straight line fitting can be performed on the sub-area first to obtain multiple straight lines corresponding to the sub-area, and then it is detected whether there is a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile among the multiple straight lines corresponding to the sub-area. If there is, there is no need to perform straight line fitting and detection operations on the remaining sub-areas, that is, it may be necessary to perform straight line fitting and detection operations on only some of the multiple sub-areas.

[0066] The position and direction information of the charging pile is used to indicate the detected position and direction of the charging pile. In some embodiments, the position and direction information of the charging pile is directly determined based on the straight line combination, wherein the position indicated by the position and direction information is the intersection of two straight lines in the straight line combination with a specific angle, and the direction indicated by the position and direction information is the normal direction of the shape formed by the straight line combination. For example, if using Figure 1 For the charging pile shown, since the charging pole 102 is located below and adjacent to the embedded position of the V-shaped structure 101, the intersection position of the two straight lines at 120 degrees in the identified straight line combination can be directly determined as the charging pile position, and the normal direction of the three straight lines in the straight line combination can be determined as the charging pile orientation. In some embodiments, the position and direction information of the charging pile is determined based on the straight line combination and in combination with the relative position information between the charging pole of the charging pile and the V-shaped structure. For example, the charging pile position is calculated based on the intersection position of the two straight lines at a specific angle in the identified straight line combination and the relative position information, and the normal direction of the three straight lines in the straight line combination is determined as the charging pile orientation.

[0067] The third device 13 completes docking with the charging pile according to the position and direction information and starts charging. Specifically, the mobile robot rotates and moves according to the position and direction information to complete docking with the charging pole on the charging pile, and starts charging by starting the relay when docking is successful.

[0068] In some embodiments, the third device 13 is further used to: determine the target position and attitude information according to the position and direction information; rotate and move according to the target position and attitude information to move the mobile robot to the target position and target attitude; move backward at a low speed, and start charging if the voltage signal returned by the charging pile is detected. In some embodiments, the target position and attitude information is used to indicate the target position to which the mobile robot needs to move and the target attitude of the mobile robot, the target position is a fixed distance in front of the charging pile, and the target attitude is the identification direction of the charging pile (that is, the direction of the charging pile detected above). Among them, the third device 13 can be rotated and moved in any feasible way to move to the target position and target attitude, such as rotating and moving by code disk degrees, or rotating and moving by real-time positioning and map building technology. In some embodiments, the third device 13 determines the target position posture information based on the position and direction information, and generates an instruction including the target position posture information. After that, it rotates and moves according to the instruction to move to the target position and target posture. After reaching the target position, it moves backward at a low speed until its charging electrode contacts the two charging poles of the charging pile and detects the voltage signal returned by the charging pile. It is then deemed that the autonomous charging docking is successful, and the mobile robot will turn on the relay to perform the charging task.

[0069] In some embodiments, the autonomous charging device further includes a fourth device (not shown), which is used to stop moving backwards and return to the detection position if an abnormal trigger condition is detected during the backward movement, so as to try autonomous charging again (that is, trigger the first device 11, the second device 12, and the third device 13 to repeat the operation). In some embodiments, the abnormal trigger condition includes but is not limited to the failure to detect a voltage signal from the charging pile (such as the voltage signal is still not detected when the predetermined time is reached or the predetermined distance is moved), the appearance of an obstacle, etc. Based on this fault-tolerant mechanism, the mobile robot can stop retreating in time after discovering the abnormality, return to the initial detection position, and retry charging, so the success rate of autonomous charging can be guaranteed even in some abnormal situations.

[0070] In some embodiments, the autonomous charging device further includes a fifth device (not shown), which is used to adjust the posture of the mobile robot to try autonomous charging again if a combination of three straight lines that meets the predetermined angle condition is not identified in the multiple straight lines obtained by fitting. In some embodiments, the fifth device can adjust its posture according to a predetermined adjustment rule (such as adjusting a predetermined angle), thereby further improving the success rate of autonomous charging.

[0071] In some embodiments, the mobile robot will read real-time radar data during the entire autonomous charging process to implement obstacle avoidance through radar data, thereby improving the safety of the entire autonomous charging process.

[0072] According to the solution of the present application, the charging pile has a specific shape, which is a combination of a V-shape with a specific angle and a straight line, that is, a specific VL shape. The mobile robot can obtain the accurate position and direction of the charging pile by identifying the VL shape, and improve the charging docking efficiency, and realize safe mobile docking; it has a wide range of applicable scenarios, and there is no need to modify the environment. The setting can be completed by placing the charging pile at any position. It is simple and convenient, and the usage scenario is not subject to any restrictions; the cost is low, and the robot's own laser radar is reused. There is no need to add any auxiliary signs to the scene, and there is no need to add new sensors to the mobile robot and the charging pile, which greatly reduces the manufacturing cost and subsequent maintenance cost of the mobile robot; the detection is accurate and the charging success rate is high. Since the charging pile has a specific VL shape, it can be easily and quickly identified in most scenarios, and then relying on the proposed shape detection algorithm based on straight line fitting, the position and direction of the charging pile can be accurately determined. In addition, for possible unsuccessful detection and a few unexpected situations, it can be effectively tried again when charging fails, thereby greatly reducing the probability of charging failure.

[0073] It should be noted that the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

[0074] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

[0075] It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present application is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and that the present application can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or basic features of the present application. Therefore, from any point of view, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-restrictive, and the scope of the present application is defined by the appended claims rather than the above description, and it is intended that all changes falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims are included in the present application. Any figure mark in the claims should not be regarded as limiting the claims involved. In addition, it is obvious that the word "comprising" does not exclude other units or steps, and the singular does not exclude the plural. Multiple units or devices stated in the system claim can also be implemented by one unit or device through software or hardware. The words first, second, etc. are used to indicate names, and do not indicate any particular order.

Claims

1. A charging station for autonomous charging of a mobile robot, wherein: The charging pile includes a straight structure, a V-shaped structure embedded in the straight structure and having a specific angle, a charging pole and a charging pole protective shell, wherein the height of the V-shaped structure is located at the radar scanning plane of the mobile robot, and the charging pole is used to dock with the charging pole piece located on the body of the mobile robot; Wherein, before the mobile robot is docked with the charging pile, the mobile robot is used to obtain the point cloud data scanned by the radar on the side of the mobile robot facing the charging pile at the detection position, and divide the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle, including: dividing the scanning angle of the radar by the scanning resolution of the radar to obtain the number of points contained in the point cloud data; determining the product of the scanning resolution of the radar and the preset step length as the scanning step length of the radar; based on the last point d+p*(k-1)=the number of points in the point cloud data, it can be known that the number of sub-areas divided by the point cloud data is k; according to the laser scanning angle, the point cloud data is divided into the sub-areas of the number k, which are recorded as Ni, i=0, 1, 2 ,…,K-1, the scanning angle corresponding to each sub-area is the product of the radar scanning resolution and the width of the point cloud subset, wherein the sub-area Ni corresponds to the point interval [p*i,d+p*i] in the point cloud data, p represents the preset step size, and d represents the width of the point cloud subset; the points in each sub-area partially overlap, and the union of multiple sub-areas is the point cloud data; a straight line fitting is performed on the point cloud data of at least one sub-area among the multiple sub-areas to obtain a plurality of straight lines of different lengths and directions. If a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting the predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile is identified among the multiple straight lines, the position and direction information of the charging pile is determined according to the straight line combination; the predetermined angle condition includes: the angle between two of the straight lines in the straight line combination is about 120 degrees, and one of the two straight lines has another straight line on the right side with an angle of about 150 degrees with it.

2. The charging pile according to claim 1, wherein: The charging pole is located below the embedded position of the V-shaped structure on the straight structure.

3. The charging pile according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The charging pile also includes a base located below the linear structure.

4. A method for realizing autonomous charging of a mobile robot based on the charging pile according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The method includes: Obtain point cloud data scanned by a radar on the side of the mobile robot facing the charging pile at the detection position, and divide the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle, including: dividing the scanning angle of the radar by the scanning resolution of the radar to obtain the number of points contained in the point cloud data; determining the product of the scanning resolution of the radar and the preset step length as the scanning step length of the radar; based on the last point d+p*(k-1)=the number of points in the point cloud data, it can be known that the number of sub-areas divided by the point cloud data is k; according to the laser scanning angle, divide the point cloud data into the k sub-areas, denoted as Ni, i=0, 1, 2, ..., K-1, the scanning angle corresponding to each sub-area is the product of the radar scanning resolution and the width of the point cloud subset, wherein the sub-area Ni corresponds to the point interval [p*i, d+p*i] in the point cloud data, p represents the preset step length, and d represents the width of the point cloud subset; the points in each sub-area partially overlap, and the union of multiple sub-areas is the point cloud data; Performing straight line fitting on the point cloud data of at least one of the multiple sub-areas to obtain multiple straight lines of different lengths and directions, if a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting a predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile is identified among the multiple straight lines, determining the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination; the predetermined angle condition includes: the angle between two straight lines in the straight line combination is about 120 degrees, and one of the two straight lines has another straight line on its right side with an angle of about 150 degrees therewith; The docking with the charging pile is completed according to the position and direction information, and charging begins.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The determining the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination includes: The position and direction information of the charging pile are determined according to the straight line combination, wherein the position indicated by the position and direction information is the intersection position of two straight lines in the straight line combination with a specific angle, and the direction indicated by the position and direction information is the normal direction of the shape formed by the straight line combination.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The step of completing the docking with the charging pile according to the position and direction information and starting charging includes: Determine the target position and orientation information according to the position and orientation information; Rotate and move according to the target position and posture information so that the mobile robot moves to the target position and target posture; Move backward at a low speed, and start charging if the voltage signal returned by the charging pile is detected.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The method further includes: If it is detected that an abnormal trigger condition is met during the backward movement, the backward movement is stopped and the battery returns to the detection position to try autonomous charging again.

8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein: The method further includes: If a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting a predetermined angle condition is not identified among the plurality of straight lines, the posture of the mobile robot is adjusted to attempt autonomous charging again.

9. A device for automatic charging in a mobile robot, wherein: The device includes: A device for obtaining point cloud data of a radar scan of a mobile robot at a detection position facing the side of a charging pile, and dividing the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle; The device for dividing the point cloud data into multiple sub-areas according to the laser scanning angle comprises: dividing the scanning angle of the radar by the scanning resolution of the radar to obtain the number of points contained in the point cloud data; determining the product of the scanning resolution of the radar and the preset step length as the scanning step length of the radar; based on the last point d+p*(k-1)=the number of points in the point cloud data, it can be known that the number of sub-areas divided by the point cloud data is k; according to the laser scanning angle, the point cloud data is divided into the k sub-areas, denoted as Ni, i=0, 1, 2, ..., K-1, and the scanning angle corresponding to each sub-area is the product of the radar scanning resolution and the width of the point cloud subset, wherein the sub-area Ni corresponds to the point interval [p*i, d+p*i] in the point cloud data, p represents the preset step length, and d represents the width of the point cloud subset; the points in each sub-area partially overlap, and the union of multiple sub-areas is the point cloud data; A device for performing straight line fitting on the point cloud data of at least one of the multiple sub-areas to obtain a plurality of straight lines of different lengths and directions, and if a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting a predetermined angle condition corresponding to the charging pile is identified among the multiple straight lines, determining the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination; the predetermined angle condition includes: the angle between two straight lines in the straight line combination is about 120 degrees, and one of the two straight lines has another straight line on its right side with an angle of about 150 degrees therewith; A device for completing docking with the charging pile according to the position and direction information and starting charging.

10. The device according to claim 9, wherein: The determining the position and direction information of the charging pile according to the straight line combination includes: The position and direction information of the charging pile are determined according to the straight line combination, wherein the position indicated by the position and direction information is the intersection position of two straight lines in the straight line combination with a specific angle, and the direction indicated by the position and direction information is the normal direction of the shape formed by the straight line combination.

11. The device according to claim 9, wherein: The completing the docking with the charging pile according to the position and direction information includes: Determine the target position and orientation information according to the position and orientation information; Rotate and move according to the target position and posture information so that the mobile robot moves to the target position and target posture; Move backward at a low speed, and if the charging electrode of the mobile robot contacts the charging pole of the charging pile and detects the voltage signal returned by the charging pile, charging starts.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein The device also includes: A device for stopping backward movement and returning to the detection position to try autonomous charging again if it is detected that an abnormal trigger condition is met during the backward movement.

13. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein: The device also includes: A device for adjusting the posture of the mobile robot to try autonomous charging again if a straight line combination consisting of three straight lines and meeting a predetermined angle condition is not identified among the plurality of straight lines.

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