Lawn mower vision return-to-station method and system

Abstract

The present invention discloses a visual return-to-station method and system for a lawn mower, in which the outer wall of the base station is tightly attached to the natural boundary on the side, and the base station exit faces parallel to the natural boundary on the side. The method includes: S10. Set the return-to-station type according to the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower, and calculate the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type; S20. Perform boundary visual recognition processing during the execution of the return-to-station route until the lawn mower travels to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit; S30. Turn the lawn mower to face the front of the base station exit, go straight along the natural boundary on the side, perform visual position calibration processing during the travel, and control the lawn mower after the calibration processing to return to the base station. Implementing the present invention can get rid of the dependence on the heading or position for returning to the station, significantly improve the success rate of returning to the station, and has high reliability, which can effectively improve the user experience.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of lawn mowers, and particularly to a visual return-to-station method and system for a lawn mower. Background Art

[0002] In the prior art, a lawn mower usually determines its heading and position coordinates based on an electronic map and then moves in a point-chasing manner. When returning to the station, the lawn mower moves to a preset distance position in front of the base station exit and then turns to face the direction of the base station exit and moves straight back to the station. When the lawn mower is moving, due to factors such as uneven road surface, obstacles, and machine vibration, the position data of the lawn mower is in error, and when the heading or position coordinates deviate greatly, the subsequent movement trajectory will also have a serious deviation, which may cause the lawn mower to be unable to reach the preset distance position or turn inaccurately towards the direction of the base station exit, so that the robot cannot align with the base station exit to return to the station, ultimately resulting in the failure of returning to the station and seriously affecting the user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a visual return-to-station method and system for a lawn mower in view of at least one defect existing in the prior art.

[0004] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve its technical problem is to construct a visual return-to-station method for a lawn mower, in which the outer wall of the base station is tightly attached to the side natural boundary, and the base station exit faces parallel to the side natural boundary. The method further includes the following steps:

[0005] S10. Set the return-to-station type of the lawn mower according to its return-to-station requirement, and calculate the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type;

[0006] S20. Perform boundary visual recognition processing during the execution of the return-to-station route until the lawn mower moves to the edge of the side natural boundary on the side of the base station exit;

[0007] S30. Turn the lawn mower to face the front of the base station exit, move straight along the side natural boundary, perform visual position calibration processing during the movement, and control the lawn mower after the calibration processing to return to the base station.

[0008] In the visual return-to-station method for a lawn mower of the present invention, in the step S10, setting the return-to-station type of the lawn mower according to its return-to-station requirement includes:

[0009] Judge whether the lawn mower is building a map. If so, set the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower as returning to the station for map building;

[0010] Also judge whether the lawn mower needs to be charged. If so, set the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower as returning to the station for charging.

[0011] In the lawn mower visual return-to-station method of the present invention, in the step S10, calculating the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type includes:

[0012] When the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower is map-building return-to-station, the return-to-station route is set as follows: after the lawn mower leaves the station, it travels along the outer circle of the map. After moving to the back of the base station, it bypasses along the inner side wall of the base station to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, and returns to the base station along the natural boundary on the side;

[0013] When the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower is return-to-station for charging, the shortest return-to-station route passing through the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit is calculated according to the real-time position of the lawn mower, and used as the return-to-station route.

[0014] In the lawn mower visual return-to-station method of the present invention, in the step S30, the visual position calibration process includes: determining whether a preset position identifier is recognized. If so, determining the position of the lawn mower relative to the preset position identifier, and calibrating the real-time position of the lawn mower in combination with the position information of the preset position identifier.

[0015] In the lawn mower visual return-to-station method of the present invention, in the step S20, the boundary visual recognition process includes: identifying the grassland and non-grass areas through a camera device, and defining the non-grass area as the natural boundary to ensure the accuracy when the lawn mower turns at the natural boundary.

[0016] The present invention also provides a lawn mower visual return-to-station system, including:

[0017] A route calculation unit, configured to set the return-to-station type of the lawn mower according to the return-to-station requirement, and calculate the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type;

[0018] A base station, the outer side wall of the base station is closely arranged against the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, and the orientation of the base station exit is parallel to the natural boundary on the side;

[0019] A return-to-station execution unit, configured to execute the return-to-station route, and perform boundary visual recognition processing during the execution until the lawn mower travels to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, so that the lawn mower turns to face the front of the base station exit, goes straight along the natural boundary on the side, and performs visual position calibration processing during the travel, and controls the lawn mower after calibration processing to return to the base station;

[0020] A boundary recognition unit, configured to execute the boundary visual recognition processing;

[0021] A position calibration unit, configured to execute the visual position calibration processing.

[0022] In the lawn mower vision return station system of the present invention, the route calculation unit is used to determine whether the lawn mower is building a map. If so, the return station requirement of the lawn mower is set as map building and returning to the station; it also determines whether the lawn mower needs to be charged. If so, the return station requirement of the lawn mower is set as returning to the station for charging.

[0023] In the lawn mower vision return station system of the present invention, the route calculation unit is further used to, when the return station requirement of the lawn mower is map building and returning to the station, set the return route as follows: after the lawn mower leaves the station, it travels along the outer circle of the map. After moving to the back of the base station, it bypasses along the inner side wall of the base station to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, and returns to the base station along the natural boundary on the side; and when the return station requirement of the lawn mower is returning to the station for charging, calculate the shortest return route passing through the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit according to the real-time position of the lawn mower as the return route.

[0024] In the lawn mower vision return station system of the present invention, the position calibration unit is used to determine the position of the lawn mower relative to the preset position identifier when the preset position identifier is recognized, and calibrate the real-time position of the lawn mower in combination with the position information of the preset position identifier.

[0025] In the lawn mower vision return station system of the present invention, the boundary recognition unit is used to recognize the grassland and non-grass areas, and define the non-grass areas as natural boundaries.

[0026] The present invention has the following beneficial effects: provides a lawn mower vision return station method, makes the outer side wall of the base station closely attached to the natural boundary on the side, and the orientation of the base station exit is parallel to the natural boundary on the side. Set the return station type according to the return station requirement of the lawn mower, calculate the return route according to the return station type, perform boundary vision recognition processing during the execution of the return route until the lawn mower travels to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, make the lawn mower turn to face the front of the base station exit, go straight along the natural boundary on the side, and perform visual position calibration processing during the travel, and control the lawn mower after calibration processing to return to the base station. Implementing the present invention can get rid of the dependence on the heading or position for returning to the station, significantly improve the success rate of returning to the station, and has high reliability, which can effectively improve the user experience. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments. In the drawings:

[0028] Figure 1 is the structural diagram of the lawn mower vision return station method provided by the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 It is an example diagram of map building and returning to the station in the lawn mower vision return-to-station method provided by the present invention;

[0030] Figure 3 It is an example diagram of returning to the station for charging in the lawn mower vision return-to-station method provided by the present invention;

[0031] Figure 4 It is a structural diagram of step S10 in the lawn mower vision return-to-station method provided by the present invention;

[0032] Figure 5 It is a structural diagram of the lawn mower vision return-to-station system provided by the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0033] For a clearer understanding of the technical features, objectives, and effects of the present invention, the detailed implementation manners of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] It should be noted that the flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are only illustrative and do not necessarily include all the contents and operations / steps, nor do they necessarily need to be executed in the described order. For example, some operations / steps can be decomposed, while some operations / steps can be combined or partially combined. Therefore, the actual execution order may change according to the actual situation.

[0035] The block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are only functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically independent entities. That is, these functional entities can be implemented in software form, or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different networks and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0036] Refer to Figure 1 , the present invention constructs a lawn mower vision return-to-station method, in which the outer wall of the base station is tightly attached to the natural boundary on the side, and the base station exit is oriented parallel to the natural boundary on the side. The method includes: step S10, step S20, and step S30.

[0037] In some embodiments, the setting of the base station can refer to Figure 2 or Figure 3 , where 10 is the base station, 101 is the outer wall of the base station, 102 is the inner wall of the base station, 103 is the base station exit, 104 is the back of the base station, 20 is the natural boundary on the side, and 30 is the lawn mower.

[0038] S10. Set the return-to-station type of the lawn mower according to the return-to-station requirement, and calculate the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type.

[0039] In some embodiments, according to its control requirements, the lawn mower needs to establish an electronic map (abbreviated as map building) as position reference information; when building the map, it is necessary to start from the base station, walk around the outer circle of the electronic map (abbreviated as the map outer circle) and return to the base station, and scan obstacles (walls, fences, etc.) during the walking process to determine the final electronic map. The electronic map provides position reference information for the movement control of the lawn mower to calculate the real-time position of the lawn mower; among them, the real-time position includes the heading and position coordinates (abbreviated as position). And the lawn mower generally relies on a mobile power supply for energy. Therefore, when performing tasks, if the power of the mobile power supply is low, it is necessary to return to the base station for charging along the shortest route to avoid power failure and shutdown of the lawn mower, which affects the user experience. Therefore, the lawn mower needs to set its return route according to different return station requirements.

[0040] Correspondingly, as Figure 4 shown, setting the return station type according to the lawn mower's return station requirements in step S10 includes: determining whether the lawn mower is building a map. If so, set the lawn mower's return station requirement as map building return; also determine whether the lawn mower needs to be charged. If so, set the lawn mower's return station requirement as return to the station for charging.

[0041] Further, as Figure 2 and Figure 4 shown, calculating the return route according to the return station type in step S10 includes: when the lawn mower's return station requirement is map building return, the return route is set as follows: after the lawn mower leaves the station, it travels along the outer circle of the map, moves to the back of the base station 104, and then bypasses along the inner side wall 102 of the base station to the side natural boundary 20 on the side of the base station exit 103, and returns to the base station 10 along the side natural boundary 20. The specific return route for map building can refer to the dashed line 40 in Figure 2 .

[0042] Further, as Figure 3 and Figure 4 shown, when the lawn mower's return station requirement is return to the station for charging, calculate the shortest return route passing through the side natural boundary 20 on the side of the base station exit 103 according to the real-time position of the lawn mower as the return route. Among them, when the lawn mower needs to return to the station for charging, even if there is an error in the real-time position, the shortest return route passing through the side natural boundary 20 can still be roughly calculated based on this real-time position, as long as it is ensured that the lawn mower can return to the side natural boundary 20, so as to perform step S20 subsequently. The specific return route for charging can refer to the dashed line 50 in Figure 3 .

[0043] S20. Perform boundary visual recognition processing during the execution of the return route until the lawn mower moves to the edge of the side natural boundary on the side of the base station exit.

[0044] In some embodiments, the boundary visual recognition process in step S20 includes: identifying the grassland and non-grass areas through a camera device, and defining the non-grass area as the natural boundary to ensure the accuracy of the mower when turning at the natural boundary. Specifically, the boundary visual recognition process is performed during the process of the mower returning to the station. When the mower moves to the natural boundary each time, instead of simply relying on the real-time position to control the mower to turn, it relies on the boundary visual recognition process to ensure that the mower turns after moving to the natural boundary, so as to ensure that the mower turns accurately every time it moves to the natural boundary, thereby avoiding the failure of the mower to return to the station due to a large real-time position error. It can be understood that the side natural boundary refers to the natural boundary that is in close contact with the outer wall of the base station. Among them, the camera device is an AI camera used to identify grassland and non-grassland.

[0045] S30. Turn the mower to face the front of the base station exit, go straight along the side natural boundary, and perform visual position calibration processing during the traveling process to control the mower after calibration processing to return to the base station. It can be understood that to ensure that the mower returns to the side natural boundary of the base station exit in the final stage of returning to the station. Since the side natural boundary is parallel to the orientation of the base station exit, as long as it goes straight along this side natural boundary, the return direction of the mower can be ensured to be accurate, thereby significantly improving the success rate of returning to the station.

[0046] In some embodiments, the visual position calibration processing in step S30 includes: determining whether a preset position identifier is recognized. If so, determining the position of the mower relative to the preset position identifier, and calibrating the real-time position of the mower in combination with the position information of the preset position identifier. Specifically, the preset position identifier is fixed on the base station, and the camera device is used to obtain the image information of the preset position identifier. When the camera device is far away, although it can also obtain the image information, due to the influence of the performance of the camera device itself, within a certain distance (this distance is basically fixed and can be determined through debugging) between the camera device and the preset position identifier, the image information can be clearly obtained. Therefore, when the preset position identifier is clearly detected, the distance from the mower to the preset position identifier can be determined, and then in combination with the position information of the preset position identifier, the real distance from the mower to the base station can be calculated to calibrate the real-time position of the mower. Among them, the preset position identifier can be a two-dimensional code identifier.

[0047] Reference Figure 5 Furthermore, the present invention also provides a mower visual return-to-station system, including: a route calculation unit, a base station, a return-to-station execution unit, a boundary recognition unit, and a position calibration unit.

[0048] The route calculation unit is used to set the return-to-station type according to the return-to-station requirement of the mower, and calculate the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type.

[0049] In some embodiments, the route calculation unit is configured to determine whether the lawn mower is mapping. If so, it sets the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower as returning to the station for mapping. It also determines whether the lawn mower needs to be charged. If so, it sets the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower as returning to the station for charging.

[0050] Further, when the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower is returning to the station for mapping, the route calculation unit is further configured to set the return route as follows: after the lawn mower leaves the station, it travels along the outer circle of the map. After moving to the back of the base station, it bypasses along the inner side wall of the base station to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, and returns to the base station along the natural boundary on the side. And when the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower is returning to the station for charging, it calculates the shortest return route passing through the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit based on the real-time position of the lawn mower as the return route.

[0051] The base station has its outer side wall closely attached to the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, and the orientation of the base station exit is parallel to the natural boundary on the side.

[0052] The return-to-station execution unit is configured to execute the return route and perform boundary visual recognition processing during the execution until the lawn mower travels to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, turns the lawn mower to face the front of the base station exit, travels straight along the natural boundary on the side, and performs visual position calibration processing during the travel to control the lawn mower after calibration processing to return to the base station.

[0053] The boundary recognition unit is configured to perform boundary visual recognition processing.

[0054] In some embodiments, the boundary recognition unit is configured to identify the grassland and non-grass areas and define the non-grass areas as natural boundaries.

[0055] The position calibration unit is configured to perform visual position calibration processing.

[0056] In some embodiments, when the position calibration unit recognizes a preset position identifier, it determines the position of the lawn mower relative to the preset position identifier and calibrates the real-time position of the lawn mower in combination with the position information of the preset position identifier.

[0057] It can be understood that in the present invention, by closely attaching the outer side wall of the base station to the natural boundary on the side and making the orientation of the base station exit parallel to the natural boundary on the side, then setting the return type of the lawn mower according to its return-to-station requirement, calculating the return route according to the return type, performing boundary visual recognition processing during the execution of the return route until the lawn mower travels to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, turning the lawn mower to face the front of the base station exit, traveling straight along the natural boundary on the side, and performing visual position calibration processing during the travel to control the lawn mower after calibration processing to return to the base station. Implementing the present invention can get rid of the dependence on the heading or position for returning to the station, significantly improve the success rate of returning to the station, and has high reliability, which can effectively improve the user experience.

[0058] It is understandable that the above embodiments only represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is relatively specific and detailed. However, it should not be construed as a limitation to the scope of the patent of the present invention. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the concept of the present invention, the above technical features can be freely combined, and several modifications and improvements can also be made, which all fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent transformations and modifications made to the scope of the claims of the present invention shall fall within the scope covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A visual return-to-station method for a lawn mower, characterized in that, the outer wall of the base station is closely attached to the natural boundary on the side, and the base station exit faces parallel to the natural boundary on the side. This method further includes the following steps: S10. Set the return-to-station type of the lawn mower according to its return-to-station requirement, and calculate the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type; among them, setting the return-to-station type of the lawn mower according to its return-to-station requirement includes: judging whether the lawn mower is building a map, if so, set the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower as returning to the station for map building; also judge whether the lawn mower needs to be charged, if so, set the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower as returning to the station for charging; calculating the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type includes: when the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower is returning to the station for map building, the return-to-station route is set as: after the lawn mower leaves the station, it travels along the outer circle of the map, moves to the back of the base station, then bypasses along the inner wall of the base station to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, and returns to the base station along the natural boundary on the side; when the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower is returning to the station for charging, calculate the shortest return-to-station route passing through the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit according to the real-time position of the lawn mower, and use it as the return-to-station route; S20. Perform boundary visual recognition processing during the execution of the return-to-station route until the lawn mower travels to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit; S30. Turn the lawn mower to face the front of the base station exit, go straight along the natural boundary on the side, and perform visual position calibration processing during the travel, and control the lawn mower after calibration processing to return to the base station; among them, the visual position calibration processing includes: judging whether a preset position identifier fixed on the base station is recognized, if so, determine the position of the lawn mower relative to the preset position identifier, and calibrate the real-time position of the lawn mower in combination with the position information of the preset position identifier; the preset position identifier is a two-dimensional code representation.

2. The visual return-to-station method for a lawn mower according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the step S20, the boundary visual recognition processing includes: identifying the grassland and non-grass areas through a camera device, and defining the non-grass areas as natural boundaries to ensure the accuracy when the lawn mower turns at the natural boundary.

3. A visual return-to-station system for a lawn mower, characterized in that, it includes: a base station, the outer wall of the base station is closely attached to the natural boundary on the side of the base station exit, and the base station exit faces parallel to the natural boundary on the side; a route calculation unit, configured to set the return-to-station type of the lawn mower according to its return-to-station requirement, and calculate the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type; The setting of the return-to-station type according to the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower includes: judging whether the lawn mower is building a map, and if so, setting the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower as returning to the station for map building; also judging whether the lawn mower needs to be charged, and if so, setting the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower as returning to the station for charging; the calculation of the return-to-station route according to the return-to-station type includes: when the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower is returning to the station for map building, setting the return-to-station route as: after the lawn mower leaves the station, it travels along the outer circle of the map, and after moving to the back of the base station, it bypasses along the inner side wall of the base station to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the exit of the base station, and returns to the base station along the natural boundary on the side; and when the return-to-station requirement of the lawn mower is returning to the station for charging, calculating the shortest return-to-station route passing through the natural boundary on the side of the exit of the base station according to the real-time position of the lawn mower as the return-to-station route; A return-to-station execution unit, configured to execute the return-to-station route, and perform boundary vision recognition processing during the execution until the lawn mower travels to the edge of the natural boundary on the side of the exit of the base station, causing the lawn mower to turn to face the front of the base station exit, go straight along the natural boundary on the side, and perform vision position calibration processing during the travel, and control the lawn mower after the calibration processing to return to the base station; A boundary recognition unit, configured to execute the boundary vision recognition processing; A position calibration unit, configured to execute the vision position calibration processing, including: when identifying a preset position identifier fixed on the base station, determining the position of the lawn mower relative to the preset position identifier, and calibrating the real-time position of the lawn mower in combination with the position information of the preset position identifier; the preset position identifier is a two-dimensional code representation.

4. The lawn mower vision return-to-station system according to claim 3, characterized in that the boundary recognition unit is used to identify the grassland and the non-grass area, and define the non-grass area as the natural boundary.

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