An obstacle avoidance radar processing device and method adapted to heterogeneous robots

Abstract

The present invention discloses an obstacle avoidance radar processing device and method suitable for heterogeneous robots, belonging to the technical field of obstacle avoidance radar. It includes an industrial control computer, the output end of the industrial control computer is connected to an embedded control board, and the embedded control board is connected to several groups of obstacle avoidance lidar; in the traffic map of the industrial control computer. The obstacle avoidance radar processing device and method suitable for heterogeneous robots proposed by the present invention, by setting the lidar and layers, regardless of whether the lidar is installed at the rear or the front, only need to judge whether the current AGV is moving forward, backward, turning left or turning right to switch the layers of all corresponding obstacle avoidance radars. As long as an obstacle is detected in the corresponding layer, it will immediately decelerate or stop. Therefore, no matter how many lidars are installed, and regardless of their installation positions, a unified processing strategy can be carried out. This method can adapt to different types of robots with different installation positions of different lidars, achieving the effect of safe obstacle avoidance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of obstacle avoidance radar, and particularly relates to an obstacle avoidance radar processing device and method suitable for heterogeneous robots. Background Art

[0002] For an autonomous guided vehicle or an autonomous mobile robot, it is a basic requirement to be able to avoid obstacles in an unknown environment and successfully reach a predetermined destination. Currently, the robots AGV on the market are all installed with obstacle avoidance lidar in the front and rear for obstacle detection. If the robot is small in size, only one lidar may be installed. If the robot is large in size, one lidar may be installed on each side of the front of the robot. The existing lidar obstacle avoidance solutions are to process deceleration or stop corresponding to the detected obstacles according to the installation positions of different lidars. For example, when moving forward, if the front lidar detects an obstacle, it decelerates and stops; but when moving forward, if the rear lidar detects an obstacle, it does not stop and continues to move forward; and vice versa when the AGV moves backward. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an obstacle avoidance radar processing device and method suitable for heterogeneous robots to solve the problems raised in the above background art.

[0004] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides the following technical solution: An obstacle avoidance radar processing device suitable for heterogeneous robots includes an industrial control computer, the output end of the industrial control computer is connected to an embedded control board, and the embedded control board is connected to several groups of obstacle avoidance lidars;

[0005] In the traffic map of the industrial control computer, different obstacle avoidance strategy instructions are set, and the strategy instructions are transmitted to the embedded control board through network signals;

[0006] The embedded control board analyzes the obstacle avoidance strategy instructions issued by the industrial control computer and switches the layers of the obstacle avoidance radar through the IO signals of the embedded control;

[0007] The layers connected to several groups of the obstacle avoidance lidars are geometrically spliced around the AGV vehicle body to form an overall obstacle avoidance layer of the AGV vehicle.

[0008] Further, an STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3, an EEPROM circuit and an RTC power supply circuit are soldered on the embedded control board. Pins 10 and 11 of the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 are connected to pins 5 and 6 of the AT24C04 chip U15 of the EEPROM circuit;

[0009] Pin 6 of the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 is connected to the RTC power supply circuit.

[0010] Further, the network signal is transmitted through the network communication circuit, where the W5500 chip U8 of the network communication circuit serves as the network communication hardware TCP / IP protocol stack. Through the network communication interface circuit, the embedded control board can receive the obstacle avoidance strategy instructions sent by the industrial control computer and can quickly feedback the current obstacle avoidance detection results to the industrial control computer.

[0011] Further, a power supply circuit, a layer IO drive circuit, and a layer trigger IO detection circuit are provided in the obstacle avoidance lidar. In the power supply circuit, the TPS5450D is used to convert the battery voltage into a stable 12V voltage to supply power to the obstacle avoidance lidar.

[0012] Further, the optocoupler isolation drive circuit in the layer IO drive circuit uses the TLP293-4 optocoupler isolation chip U21 for the layer switching of the obstacle avoidance lidar. After the embedded control board receives the obstacle avoidance strategy instruction, it corresponds to the manually set layer, and the layer of the obstacle avoidance lidar is determined according to the level signal of the input IO;

[0013] The pin OUT-28 of the TLP293-4 optocoupler isolation chip U21 is connected to the pin of the embedded control board. When the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 outputs a high level of 3.3V, the pin OUT-28 is connected to the layer input IO pin of the obstacle avoidance lidar, and at this time, the pin OUT-28 is at a high level of 12V;

[0014] If the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 outputs a low level of 0V, then the pin OUT-28 is also at a low level of 0V;

[0015] The high and low level combinations of the four pins OUT-28 to OUT-31 form 16 layer strategies, driving the embedded control board through the TLP293-4 optocoupler isolation chip U21 to control the layer switching effect of the obstacle avoidance lidar.

[0016] Further, the obstacle avoidance radar of the layer trigger IO detection circuit has three output IOs, corresponding to the far, middle, and near regions respectively. If an obstacle is detected in the region, the corresponding IO outputs a low level, otherwise it is a high level; in the trigger detection circuit, the pin GPIO_IN26 is connected to the output IO of the nearest region of the obstacle avoidance radar. If an obstacle is detected at this time, the pin GPIO_IN26 is at a low level;

[0017] The opto-isolation drive circuit of the layer trigger IO detection circuit passes through the TLP293-4 opto-isolation chip U11. At this time, the pin GPIO_IN26 is also at a low level, and the pin GPIO_IN26 is connected to the pin of the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3. When this pin detects a low-level signal, the embedded control board controls the motor to stop immediately and uploads it to the industrial control computer through the network interface for obstacle detection by the obstacle avoidance lidar.

[0018] Another technology of the present invention includes a method for adapting an obstacle avoidance radar processing device for heterogeneous robots, comprising the following steps:

[0019] S1: Before each task execution, a self-check program is started. If the self-check PASS, the task is started; otherwise, the motor driving the robot stops rotating.

[0020] S2: Input: The detection angle of the obstacle avoidance lidar is 270 degrees, and the maximum detection distance is 4m.

[0021] S3: Logic: The obstacle avoidance lidar rapidly collects the distances of obstacles in the surrounding environment in real time and reports them to the embedded control board through the IO. If the measured obstacle distance is not within the set area, the task is executed; otherwise, the industrial control computer controls the embedded control board to send an instruction to stop the motor driving the movement.

[0022] S4: Output: The embedded control board controls the motor of the driver to start or stop through the CAN bus.

[0023] S5: Monitoring: The industrial control computer monitors in real time whether the detection result of the obstacle avoidance lidar is working properly. The monitoring frequency is 10Hz. If an obstacle is detected in the communication data of the obstacle avoidance lidar, the motor driver is controlled to stop running.

[0024] S6: Monitoring output: The industrial control board sends an instruction to the embedded control board through the local area network, and the embedded control board controls the motor of the driver to start or stop.

[0025] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0026] The obstacle avoidance radar processing device and method for heterogeneous robots proposed by the present invention, by setting the lidar and layers, regardless of whether the lidar is installed at the rear or the front, only need to judge whether the current AGV is moving forward, backward, turning left or turning right to switch the corresponding layers of all obstacle avoidance radars. As long as an obstacle is detected in the corresponding layer, the vehicle will immediately decelerate or stop. Therefore, no matter how many lidars are installed and regardless of their installation positions, a unified processing strategy can be carried out. This method can adapt to different types of robots with different installation positions of different lidars and achieve the effect of safe obstacle avoidance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 This is the control block diagram for the obstacle avoidance radar layer switching of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 This is the schematic diagram of the circuit chip of the embedded control board of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 This is the schematic diagram of the RC power supply circuit of the embedded control board of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 This is the schematic diagram of the network communication circuit of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 5 This is the power supply circuit of the obstacle avoidance radar of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 6 This is the IO drive circuit for the lidar switching layer of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 7 This is the trigger IO detection circuit for the lidar obstacle avoidance layer of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 8 This is the setting of the obstacle avoidance lidar layer of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 9 This is the circular area setting diagram of the obstacle avoidance lidar of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 10 This is the square area setting diagram of the obstacle avoidance lidar of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 11 This is the polygon area setting diagram of the obstacle avoidance lidar of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 12 This is the functional logic block diagram of the obstacle avoidance lidar of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 13 This is the 360-degree safety obstacle avoidance radar protection of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 14 This is the forward obstacle avoidance radar protection layer of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 15 This is the processing flow chart of the obstacle avoidance lidar of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0042] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0043] Please refer to Figures 1-15 , an obstacle avoidance radar processing device adapted to heterogeneous robots, including an industrial control computer, the output end of the industrial control computer is connected to an embedded control board, and the embedded control board is connected to several groups of obstacle avoidance lidars;

[0044] In the traffic map of the industrial control computer, different obstacle avoidance strategy instructions are set, and the strategy instructions are transmitted to the embedded control board through network signals;

[0045] The embedded control board analyzes the obstacle avoidance strategy instructions issued by the industrial control computer and switches the layers of the obstacle avoidance radar through the IO signals of the embedded control;

[0046] The layers connected by several groups of obstacle avoidance lidars are geometrically spliced around the AGV vehicle body to form an overall obstacle avoidance layer for the AGV vehicle.

[0047] An STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3, an EEPROM circuit and an RTC power supply circuit are soldered on the embedded control board. Pins 10 and 11 of the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 are connected to pins 5 and 6 of the AT24C04 chip U15 of the EEPROM circuit;

[0048] Pin 6 of the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 is connected to the RTC power supply circuit.

[0049] The network signal is transmitted through a network communication circuit. The W5500 chip U8 in the network communication circuit is a network communication hardware TCP / IP protocol stack. Through the network communication interface circuit, the embedded control board can receive the obstacle avoidance strategy instructions sent by the industrial control computer and can quickly feedback the current obstacle avoidance detection result to the industrial control computer.

[0050] A power supply circuit, a layer IO drive circuit and a layer trigger IO detection circuit are provided in the obstacle avoidance lidar. The TPS5450D is used in the power supply circuit to convert the battery voltage into a stable 12V voltage to supply power to the obstacle avoidance lidar.

[0051] The optocoupler isolation drive circuit in the layer IO drive circuit uses a TLP293-4 optocoupler isolation chip U21 for layer switching of the obstacle avoidance lidar. After the embedded control board receives the obstacle avoidance strategy instructions, it corresponds to the artificially set layer, and the layer of the obstacle avoidance lidar is determined according to the level signal of the input IO;

[0052] The pin OUT-28 of the optocoupler isolation chip U21 of TLP293-4 is connected to the pin of the embedded control board. When the control chip U3 of STM32F407ZGT6 outputs a high level of 3.3V, the pin OUT-28 is connected to the layer input IO pin of the obstacle avoidance lidar. At this time, the pin OUT-28 is at a high level of 12V;

[0053] If the control chip U3 of STM32F407ZGT6 outputs a low level of 0V, then the pin OUT-28 is also at a low level of 0V;

[0054] The high and low level combinations of the four pins from OUT-28 to OUT-31 form 16 layer strategies, driving the embedded control board through the optocoupler isolation chip U21 of TLP293-4 to control the effect of the layer switching of the obstacle avoidance lidar.

[0055] The obstacle avoidance radar of the layer trigger IO detection circuit has three output IOs, corresponding to the far, middle, and near regions respectively. If an obstacle is detected in the region, the corresponding IO outputs a low level, otherwise it is a high level; in the trigger detection circuit, the pin GPIO_IN26 is connected to the output IO of the nearest region of the obstacle avoidance radar. If an obstacle is detected at this time, the pin GPIO_IN26 is at a low level;

[0056] The optocoupler isolation drive circuit of the layer trigger IO detection circuit passes through the optocoupler isolation chip U11 of TLP293-4. At this time, the pin GPIO_IN26 is also at a low level, and the pin GPIO_IN26 is connected to the pin of the control chip U3 of STM32F407ZGT6. When this pin detects a low level signal, the embedded control board controls the motor to stop immediately and uploads it to the industrial control computer through the network interface for obstacle detection of the obstacle avoidance lidar.

[0057] Principle of the obstacle avoidance lidar:

[0058] Use a laser beam to perform two-dimensional scanning on the surrounding area to obtain an environmental contour graph. Establish the protection area range through software configuration. Once an object is in the set area, the sensor will output a corresponding output port signal, and the upper computer will make further judgments and processing after obtaining the signal.

[0059] The laser beam emitted by the lidar is fan-shaped, but the detection area set by the lidar is an arbitrary polygon. According to the installation position of the lidar, the detection area of the lidar can be set to form a rectangle or an arbitrary shape around the AGV vehicle.

[0060] Specifically, the obstacle avoidance lidar has 6 input IOs and 3 output IOs. The 6 input IOs can configure which detection layer the current obstacle avoidance lidar is in, and a total of 64 obstacle avoidance layers can be set.

[0061] Regardless of the type of layer, the three regions correspond to three output IOs. As long as an obstacle is detected within the corresponding detection region, the signal level of the corresponding IO changes. When the industrial control computer collects the corresponding IO signal, it can control the vehicle to decelerate or stop suddenly. For example, when the signal level of an obstacle detected in the innermost layer is detected, the industrial control computer immediately issues an emergency stop command to stop the AGV vehicle.

[0062] Another technology of the present invention includes a method for an obstacle avoidance radar processing device adapted to heterogeneous robots, comprising the following steps:

[0063] Step 1: Before each task execution, a self-check program is started. If the self-check passes, the task is started; otherwise, the motor driving the robot stops rotating.

[0064] Step 2: Input: The detection angle of the obstacle avoidance lidar is 270 degrees, and the maximum detection distance is 4m.

[0065] Step 3: Logic: The obstacle avoidance lidar rapidly and real-time collects the distances of obstacles in the surrounding environment and reports them to the embedded control board through the IO. If the measured obstacle distance is not within the set region, the task is executed; otherwise, the industrial control computer controls the embedded control board to send an instruction to stop the motor driving the movement.

[0066] Step 4: Output: The embedded control board controls the motor of the driver to start or stop through the CAN bus.

[0067] Step 5: Monitoring: The industrial control computer monitors in real-time whether the detection result of the obstacle avoidance lidar is working properly. The monitoring frequency is 10Hz. If an obstacle is detected in the communication data of the obstacle avoidance lidar, the motor driver is controlled to stop running.

[0068] Step 6: Monitoring output: The industrial control board sends an instruction to the embedded control board through the local area network, and the embedded control board controls the motor of the driver to start or stop.

[0069] The processing method for the safety obstacle avoidance lidar of the robot can adapt to different types of lidars. And it doesn't need to care about the installation position of the lidar, and it also has good scalability. One set of technical solutions can adapt to various robot systems.

[0070] The present invention switches the layers of all corresponding obstacle avoidance lidars by setting up obstacle avoidance lidars and layers. Regardless of whether the obstacle avoidance lidar is installed at the rear or the front, as long as it is determined whether the current AGV is moving forward, backward, turning left or turning right, the layer switching of all obstacle avoidance lidars can be carried out. Once an obstacle is detected in the corresponding layer, the AGV will immediately decelerate or stop. By formulating obstacle avoidance layers for different robot motion states, the layers of all lidars are pieced together to form a complete overall obstacle avoidance layer for the robot to respond to the obstacle avoidance strategy of the lidar.

[0071] In summary, for the obstacle avoidance radar processing device and method for heterogeneous robots of the present invention, by setting up lidars and layers, regardless of whether the lidar is installed at the rear or the front, as long as it is determined whether the current AGV is moving forward, backward, turning left or turning right, the layer switching of all corresponding obstacle avoidance radars can be carried out. Once an obstacle is detected in the corresponding layer, the AGV will immediately decelerate or stop. Therefore, no matter how many lidars are installed and regardless of their installation positions, the unified processing strategy can be carried out. This method can adapt to different types of robots with different installation positions of lidars and achieve the effect of safe obstacle avoidance.

[0072] The above are only the preferred specific embodiments of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, according to the technical solution and inventive concept of the present invention, making equivalent substitutions or changes, shall be covered by the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An obstacle avoidance radar processing device adapted to heterogeneous robots, characterized in that, It includes an industrial control computer, the output end of the industrial control computer is connected to an embedded control board, and the embedded control board is connected to several groups of obstacle avoidance lidars; in the traffic map of the industrial control computer, different obstacle avoidance strategy instructions are set, and the strategy instructions are transmitted to the embedded control board through network signals; the embedded control board analyzes the obstacle avoidance strategy instructions issued by the industrial control computer and switches the layers of the obstacle avoidance lidar through the IO signals of the embedded control; the layers connected by several groups of the obstacle avoidance lidars are geometrically spliced around the AGV vehicle body to form the overall obstacle avoidance layer of the AGV vehicle. The obstacle avoidance lidar is provided with a power supply circuit, a layer IO drive circuit and a layer trigger IO detection circuit. The optocoupler isolation drive circuit in the layer IO drive circuit is used for layer switching of the obstacle avoidance lidar through the TLP293-4 optocoupler isolation chip U21. After the embedded control board receives the obstacle avoidance strategy instruction, it corresponds to the manually set layer, and the layer of the obstacle avoidance lidar is determined according to the level signal of the input IO. The obstacle avoidance lidar of the layer trigger IO detection circuit has three output IOs, corresponding to the far, middle and near regions respectively. If an obstacle is detected in the region, the corresponding IO outputs a low level, otherwise it is a high level; in the trigger detection circuit, the pin GPIO_IN26 is connected to the output IO of the nearest region of the obstacle avoidance lidar. If an obstacle is detected at this time, the pin GPIO_IN26 is at a low level.

2. The obstacle avoidance radar processing device for heterogeneous robots according to claim 1, characterized in that The STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3, the EEPROM circuit and the RTC power supply circuit are soldered on the embedded control board. The pins 10 and 11 of the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 are connected to the pins 5 and 6 of the AT24C04 chip U15 of the EEPROM circuit. The pin 6 of the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 is connected to the RTC power supply circuit.

3. The obstacle avoidance radar processing device for heterogeneous robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The network signal is transmitted through the network communication circuit. Among them, the W5500 chip U8 of the network communication circuit is the network communication hardware TCP / IP protocol stack. Through the network communication interface circuit, the embedded control board can receive the obstacle avoidance strategy instructions sent by the industrial control computer and can quickly feedback the current obstacle avoidance detection result to the industrial control computer.

4. An obstacle avoidance radar processing device adapted to heterogeneous robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, In the power supply circuit, the TPS5450D is used to convert the battery voltage into a stable 12V voltage to supply power to the obstacle avoidance lidar.

5. An obstacle avoidance radar processing device adapted to heterogeneous robots according to claim 1, characterized in that The pin OUT-28 of the TLP293-4 optocoupler isolation chip U21 is connected to the pin of the embedded control board. When the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 outputs a high level of 3.3V, the pin OUT-28 is connected to the layer input IO pin of the obstacle avoidance lidar, and at this time the pin OUT-28 is at a high level of 12V. If the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3 outputs a low level of 0V, then the pin OUT-28 is also at a low level of 0V. The high and low level combinations of the four pins OUT-28 to OUT-31 form 16 layer strategies, and the effect of layer switching of the obstacle avoidance lidar is controlled by driving the embedded control board through the opto-isolation chip U21 of TLP293-4.

6. The obstacle avoidance radar processing device for heterogeneous robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The opto-isolation drive circuit of the layer trigger IO detection circuit passes through the opto-isolation chip U11 of TLP293-4. At this time, the pin GPIO_IN26 is also at a low level, and the pin GPIO_IN26 is connected to the pin of the STM32F407ZGT6 control chip U3. When this pin detects a low level signal, the embedded control board controls the motor to stop immediately and uploads it to the industrial control computer through the network interface for obstacle detection of the obstacle avoidance lidar.

7. A method for an obstacle avoidance radar processing device adapted to heterogeneous robots according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, It includes the following steps: S1: Before each task is executed, a self-check program is started. If the self-check PASS, the task is started; otherwise, the motor driving the robot stops rotating. S2: Input: The detection angle of the obstacle avoidance lidar is 270 degrees, and the maximum detection distance is 4m. S3: Logic: The obstacle avoidance lidar quickly and real-time collects the distances of obstacles in the surrounding environment and reports them to the embedded control board through the IO. If the measured obstacle distance is not within the set area, the task is executed; otherwise, the industrial control computer controls the embedded control board to send an instruction to stop the motor driving the movement. S4: Output: The embedded control board controls the motor of the driver to start or stop through the CAN bus. S5: Monitoring: The industrial control computer monitors in real-time whether the detection result of the obstacle avoidance lidar is working properly, and the monitoring frequency is 10Hz. If an obstacle is detected in the communication data of the obstacle avoidance lidar, the motor driver is controlled to stop running. S6: Monitoring output: The industrial control board sends an instruction to the embedded control board through the local area network, and the embedded control board controls the motor of the driver to start or stop.

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