Automatic lawn mower, control method thereof, and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

The present invention provides an automatic lawn mower, a control method thereof, and a computer-readable storage medium. The method comprises: receiving a patrol command, controlling the automatic lawn mower to autonomously move along a virtual boundary of a work area in an initial map based on first sensor information according to the patrol command; and controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along a physical boundary of the work area based on second sensor information when the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold. The physical boundary surrounds the virtual boundary. In the present invention, when the positioning accuracy of one type of sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is low, another type of sensor information is switched to control the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the work area. This prevents the automatic lawn mower from being unable to perceive the external environment and from leaving the work area due to low positioning accuracy. This also prevents the automatic lawn mower from colliding with dynamic obstacles such as people and animals outside the boundary, thereby improving the safety of the automatic lawn mower.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of lawn mowers, and in particular to an automatic lawn mower, a control method thereof, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] As people's quality of life improves, they arrange lawns in their living environments.

[0003] To maintain a more aesthetically pleasing lawn, lawns require regular mowing. Automatic lawn mowers can replace manual mowing. These machines rely on their own positioning to complete their assigned mowing tasks. However, due to factors such as fences, high walls, and treetops, the positioning accuracy of these machines decreases. This means that even in areas with poor positioning quality, the machine can easily wander outside its pre-defined boundaries, compromising safety. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention provides an automatic lawn mower, a control method thereof, and a computer-readable storage medium, so as to solve the problem of low safety of the automatic lawn mower.

[0005] In one aspect, the present invention provides a method for controlling an automatic lawn mower, comprising:

[0006] receiving a patrol instruction, and controlling the automatic lawn mower to autonomously walk along a virtual boundary of a working area in an initial map according to the patrol instruction and the first sensor information;

[0007] When the positioning accuracy of the first sensing information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move along a physical boundary of a working area according to second sensing information, and the physical boundary surrounds the virtual boundary.

[0008] In one embodiment, before the step of receiving a patrol instruction and controlling the automatic lawn mower to autonomously walk along the virtual boundary of the working area in the initial map according to the first sensor information according to the patrol instruction, the method further includes:

[0009] receiving a movement instruction, controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area for one circle according to the movement instruction, and collecting and recording a plurality of first sensor information;

[0010] A closed virtual boundary is fitted according to each of the collected and recorded first sensor information to construct the initial map.

[0011] In one embodiment, after controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the second sensor information, the method further includes:

[0012] When the positioning accuracy of the first sensing information of the automatic lawn mower is higher than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to return to the virtual boundary and walk according to the first sensing information.

[0013] In one embodiment, the step of controlling the automatic lawn mower to return to the virtual boundary and walk according to the first sensor information includes:

[0014] controlling the automatic lawn mower to move toward the virtual boundary along a first direction based on the first sensing information;

[0015] When the automatic lawn mower reaches the virtual boundary, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move along a second direction according to the first sensing information, and the second direction is tangent to the virtual boundary, and the angle between the first direction and the second direction is less than 90°.

[0016] In one embodiment, when the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, the step of controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the second sensor information includes:

[0017] When the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, controlling the automatic lawn mower to move toward the physical boundary according to the second sensor information;

[0018] When the distance between the automatic lawn mower and the physical boundary reaches a preset distance, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move along the physical boundary according to the second sensing information.

[0019] In one embodiment, after controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the second sensor information, the method further includes:

[0020] When it is determined according to the second sensing information that there is an obstacle, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move toward the virtual boundary to avoid the obstacle.

[0021] On the other hand, the present invention also provides an automatic lawn mower, comprising:

[0022] a receiving module, configured to receive a patrol instruction and control the automatic lawn mower to autonomously move along a virtual boundary of a working area in an initial map according to the patrol instruction and the first sensor information;

[0023] The second control module is configured to control the automatic lawn mower to move along a physical boundary of a working area according to second sensor information when the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, wherein the physical boundary surrounds the virtual boundary.

[0024] In one embodiment, after the control module executes the step of controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the second sensor information, the control module is further configured to execute the following steps:

[0025] When the positioning accuracy of the first sensing information of the automatic lawn mower is higher than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to return to the virtual boundary and walk according to the first sensing information.

[0026] On the other hand, the present invention also provides an automatic lawn mower, comprising: a memory and a processor;

[0027] The memory stores computer-executable instructions;

[0028] The processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so that the automatic lawn mower executes the control method of the automatic lawn mower as described above.

[0029] On the other hand, the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, they are used to implement the control method of the automatic lawn mower as described above.

[0030] The present invention provides a control method and computer-readable storage medium for an automatic lawn mower. Upon receiving a patrol command, the automatic lawn mower autonomously moves along the virtual boundary of a work area in an initial map based on first sensor information. When the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information falls below a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move along the physical boundary of the work area based on second sensor information. In the present invention, when the positioning accuracy of one type of sensor information is low, the automatic lawn mower is switched to another type of sensor information to control the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the work area. This prevents the automatic lawn mower from being unable to perceive the external environment and from exiting the work area due to low positioning accuracy. Furthermore, this prevents the automatic lawn mower from colliding with dynamic obstacles such as people and animals outside the boundary, thereby improving the safety of the automatic lawn mower. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 1 1. It is a flowchart of a first embodiment of a control method for an automatic lawn mower according to the present invention;

[0033] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a working area involved in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 3 1. It is a flow chart of a second embodiment of a control method for an automatic lawn mower according to the present invention;

[0035] Figure 4 1. It is a flow chart of a third embodiment of a control method for an automatic lawn mower according to the present invention;

[0036] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the automatic lawn mower of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 6 1. It is a flowchart of a fourth embodiment of a control method for an automatic lawn mower according to the present invention;

[0038] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of obstacle avoidance of the automatic lawn mower of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the functional modules of the automatic lawn mower of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the hardware structure of the automatic lawn mower of the present invention.

[0041] The above drawings illustrate specific embodiments of the present disclosure, which will be described in more detail below. These drawings and textual descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way, but rather to illustrate the concepts of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art by reference to specific embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, with examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, when referring to the drawings, identical numerals in different figures represent identical or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments are not intended to represent all possible embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present disclosure, as detailed in the appended claims.

[0043] The following describes in detail the technical solutions of the present invention and how the technical solutions of this application solve the above-mentioned technical problems using specific embodiments. The following specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments. The following embodiments of the present invention are described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0044] Reference Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a flow chart of a first embodiment of a control method for an automatic lawn mower according to the present invention. The control method for an automatic lawn mower includes:

[0045] Step S101: receiving a patrol instruction, and controlling the automatic lawn mower to autonomously walk along a virtual boundary of a working area in an initial map according to first sensor information according to the patrol instruction.

[0046] In this embodiment, after receiving the patrol instruction, the automatic lawn mower obtains the first sensor information and the second sensor information periodically or in real time.

[0047] In one embodiment, the first sensor device for acquiring the first sensor information and the second sensor device for acquiring the second sensor information have different operating principles. The first sensor device and the second sensor device collect different types of data. The two types of data provide different feedback on environmental information.

[0048] In one embodiment, the first sensing information includes at least one of positioning information, image information, ultrasonic information, or mileage accumulation information, and may also be fusion information of multiple types of information.

[0049] The second sensing information includes at least one of positioning information, image information, ultrasonic information or mileage accumulation information, and may also be fusion information of multiple types of information, and the first sensing information is different from the second sensing information.

[0050] The automatic lawn mower includes a first sensing device and a second sensing device. The first sensing device includes a positioning module, and the positioning module is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) module or an RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) module. The RTK module performs positioning by processing the carrier phase observations of two measuring stations in real time. In addition, the second sensing device includes an image acquisition module or an ultrasonic module. The image acquisition module can be a camera or a visual sensor, and the ultrasonic module can be an ultrasonic module or a radar. The positioning information collected by the positioning module is defined as the first sensing information, and the image information collected by the image acquisition module or the ultrasonic information collected by the ultrasonic module is defined as the second sensing information; the autonomous mobile automatic lawn mower can realize functions such as obstacle recognition, boundary recognition or path planning through image information or ultrasonic information. The automatic lawn mower will collect the first sensing information and the second sensing information periodically or in real time.

[0051] In one embodiment, the first sensing device includes an RTK positioning module and an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) module, and the first sensing information is a fusion of the RTK information and the IMU information. The first sensing device may also include other data acquisition modules capable of achieving positioning, and the first sensing information may also be fused with other types of positioning data.

[0052] The automatic lawn mower operates in three phases: the first phase is mapping, the second phase is testing after mapping, and the third phase is mowing. During both phases, patrol commands can be sent to the automatic lawn mower. If the automatic lawn mower receives a patrol command during the second phase, it autonomously follows the virtual boundary of its work area in the initial map based on the first sensor information. The initial map is the map created in the first phase, and the virtual boundary is the boundary in the initial map.

[0053] If the automatic lawn mower receives a patrol command during the third stage, the patrol command is a patrol and mowing command, meaning that the automatic lawn mower plans a path based on the virtual boundary of the work area in the initial map, and controls the automatic lawn mower to move along the planned path based on the first sensor information, mowing the lawn while moving. The automatic lawn mower may receive the patrol command after planning the path.

[0054] It should be noted that the automatic lawn mower walks along the virtual boundary, which can be the automatic lawn mower riding on the virtual boundary; or the automatic lawn mower walks along a first set path, the first set path is connected from beginning to end, and the virtual boundary surrounds the first set path. The user can send a patrol instruction to the automatic lawn mower through the control terminal. The control terminal can be a terminal device loaded with a control program, such as a mobile phone, computer, tablet, etc. The patrol instruction can also be triggered by a work schedule. For example, if the automatic lawn mower is set with a task to go to the lawn to mow the grass at 3 pm, then at 3 pm, the automatic lawn mower will automatically trigger the patrol instruction.

[0055] Step S102 : When the positioning accuracy of the first sensing information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the second sensing information, and the physical boundary surrounds the virtual boundary.

[0056] The automatic lawn mower calculates the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information. In one example, the automatic lawn mower determines the positioning accuracy based on the number of public satellite observation frequency bands at a sampling point, where the sampling point may be the current location of the automatic lawn mower. Furthermore, the positioning accuracy can be determined to be below a preset threshold by comparing the number of public satellite observation frequency bands with a preset number. For example, if the number of public satellite observation frequency bands is greater than the preset number, the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information is above the preset threshold; if the number of public satellite observation frequency bands is less than the preset number, the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information is below the preset threshold.

[0057] When the positioning accuracy of the first sensing information is lower than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower controls itself to move along the physical boundary of the working area based on the second sensing information.

[0058] The automatic lawn mower walks along the physical boundary, and the automatic lawn mower may ride on the physical boundary to walk; or the automatic lawn mower may walk along the second set path, the second set path is connected at its beginning and end, and the physical boundary surrounds the second set path.

[0059] The automatic lawn mower walking along the entity boundary may be walking along a side of the entity boundary close to the center of the mowing area.

[0060] The automatic lawn mower can determine the physical boundary of the working area through the second sensor information. It should be noted that the initial map is established based on the working area of the automatic lawn mower, and the physical boundary is the surrounding virtual boundary. For example, the working area is a rectangular lawn, and the lawn is connected to the surrounding road. Then the virtual boundary of the working area in the initial map is close to the connecting line between the lawn and the road, while the physical boundary is the connecting line or road. Figure 2 , Figure 2 The physical boundary surrounds the virtual boundary.

[0061] Physical boundaries can be concrete floors, railings, or boundary markers. Boundary markers include median strips, barriers, or lines. Physical boundaries differ from grass in appearance or detection properties.

[0062] The first sensor information can be RTK positioning information, and the second sensor information can be visual information or ultrasonic information. When controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along a virtual boundary based on RTK positioning information, if the RTK positioning is inaccurate, that is, the positioning accuracy of the RTK positioning information is lower than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move along the physical boundary based on the visual information or ultrasonic information. This can prevent the lawn mower from straying from the physical boundary, thereby preventing the automatic lawn mower from causing damage to people or moving objects outside the physical boundary. By switching between the two positioning methods, the safety of the automatic lawn mower's operation can be improved.

[0063] In this embodiment, after receiving a patrol command, the robot autonomously moves along the virtual boundary of the work area in the initial map based on the first sensor information. If the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information falls below a preset threshold, the robot is controlled to move along the physical boundary of the work area based on the second sensor information. In this embodiment, when the positioning accuracy of one type of sensor information is low, the robot switches to the other type of sensor information to control the robot to move along the physical boundary of the work area. This prevents the robot from getting stuck and from leaving the work area due to low positioning accuracy. Furthermore, it prevents the robot from colliding with dynamic obstacles such as people and animals outside the work area boundary, thereby improving the safety of the robot.

[0064] Reference Figure 3 , Figure 3This is a flow chart of a second embodiment of the control method for an automatic lawn mower according to the present invention. Based on the first embodiment, before step S101, the method further includes:

[0065] Step S301: receiving a movement instruction, controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area for one circle according to the movement instruction, and collecting and recording a plurality of first sensor information.

[0066] In this embodiment, the automatic lawn mower needs to construct an initial map before moving according to the initial map.

[0067] Specifically, a user sends a movement command to the automatic lawn mower through a control terminal. The automatic lawn mower verifies the physical boundaries of the work area based on the movement command and walks around, collecting or recording multiple first sensor information during the walk. The first sensor information can be RTK positioning information, which has a high positioning accuracy.

[0068] Step S302 : Fitting a closed virtual boundary based on each of the collected and recorded first sensing information to construct an initial map.

[0069] The automatic lawn mower receives an external command and travels along the physical boundary near the center of the mowing area. Based on the collected first sensor information, the automatic lawn mower determines each position along the travel path. By connecting these positions, a closed virtual boundary is formed. Since the automatic lawn mower travels along the physical boundary near the center of the mowing area, the physical boundary surrounds the virtual boundary. After the virtual boundary is obtained, the virtual boundary and the closed area formed by the virtual boundary form an initial map. External commands include forward commands, backward commands, delete commands, and move commands.

[0070] It should be noted that the automatic lawn mower may obtain the virtual boundary by fitting all determined positions, or may select target positions from various positions and then obtain the virtual boundary by fitting each target position.

[0071] In one example, an autonomous lawn mower can observe a certain number of public satellite frequency bands at each location. The autonomous lawn mower determines the target location as one where the number of frequency bands exceeds a preset number. Because the number of frequency bands at the target location exceeds the preset number, the autonomous lawn mower's positioning accuracy at the target location exceeds a preset threshold. Accurate virtual boundaries can be obtained by fitting each target location.

[0072] In this embodiment, when the automatic lawn mower walks one circle along the inner side of the physical boundary of the working area, multiple first sensor information is collected and recorded, so that each position on the walking path of the automatic lawn mower is determined based on each first sensor information, and then a virtual boundary is fitted based on each position. There is no need to bury magnetic boundary lines on the ground of the working area, which reduces the wiring time, improves the working efficiency of the automatic lawn mower, and saves the working cost of the automatic lawn mower.

[0073] Reference Figure 4 , Figure 4 This is a third embodiment of the control method for an automatic lawn mower according to the present invention. Based on the first or second embodiment, after step S102, the method further includes:

[0074] Step S401 : When the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is higher than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to return to the virtual boundary and walk according to the first sensor information.

[0075] In this embodiment, the automatic lawn mower will continue to collect the first sensor information while walking along the physical boundary through the second sensor information, that is, the automatic lawn mower will obtain the first sensor information periodically or in real time, and calculate the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information after each acquisition of the first sensor information.

[0076] If the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information is lower than the preset threshold, the robot continues to walk along the physical boundary. If the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information is higher than the preset threshold, the robot is controlled to return to the virtual boundary according to the first sensor information.

[0077] In this embodiment, when the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is higher than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower returns to the virtual boundary and walks. The automatic lawn mower does not need to obtain the second sensor information for positioning, which reduces the calculation amount of the automatic lawn mower and reduces the heat generation of the controller in the automatic lawn mower, thereby reducing the probability of thermal damage to the automatic lawn mower.

[0078] Furthermore, when the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is higher than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move in a first direction toward the virtual boundary based on the first sensor information. When the automatic lawn mower moves to the virtual boundary, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move in a second direction based on the first sensor information, the second direction is tangent to the virtual boundary, and the angle between the first direction and the second direction is less than 90°. Specifically, refer to Figure 5 The automatic lawn mower is in an unstable signal area, that is, the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than the preset threshold. The automatic lawn mower moves toward the entity boundary based on the second sensor information and reaches the vicinity of the entity boundary. The automatic lawn mower walks along the entity boundary based on the second sensor information. The specific walking route of the automatic lawn mower is as follows: Figure 4If the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is higher than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower moves toward the virtual boundary in a first direction, and after returning to the virtual boundary, moves in a second direction. The angle between the first direction and the second direction is α. α is, for example, 45°.

[0079] By setting the angle between the first direction and the second direction to be less than 90°, the turning angle of the automatic lawn mower when returning from the physical boundary to the virtual boundary can be reduced, that is, the turning amplitude of the automatic lawn mower is reduced, thereby increasing the turning speed of the automatic lawn mower and further improving the working efficiency of the automatic lawn mower.

[0080] In one example, when a lawn mower returns from a physical boundary to a virtual boundary, the path can be a smooth curve during the patrol switching process, further reducing the time it takes for the lawn mower to turn around on the spot, thereby improving the working efficiency of the automatic lawn mower.

[0081] Reference Figure 6 , Figure 6 2 is a flow chart of a third embodiment of a control method for an automatic lawn mower according to the present invention. Based on the first or second embodiment, step S101 includes:

[0082] Step S601: When the positioning accuracy of the first sensing information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move toward a physical boundary according to the second sensing information.

[0083] Step S602: When the distance between the automatic lawn mower and the physical boundary reaches a preset distance, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move along the physical boundary according to the second sensing information.

[0084] In this embodiment, when the positioning accuracy of the first sensing information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, the physical boundary is identified based on the second sensing information, and the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move toward the physical boundary.

[0085] When the automatic lawn mower moves toward a physical boundary, it detects the distance between the automatic lawn mower and the physical boundary. The automatic lawn mower can detect the distance between the automatic lawn mower and the physical boundary using the second sensor information. In addition, the automatic lawn mower can also detect the distance between the automatic lawn mower and the physical boundary using other distance measurement detection modules. When the distance between the automatic lawn mower and the physical boundary reaches a preset distance, the automatic lawn mower moves along the side of the physical boundary closer to the center of the mowing area based on the second sensor information. The preset distance is set based on the range of movement of the automatic lawn mower when turning. For example, when the automatic lawn mower turns, the maximum length of the turn of the head or tail is 0.5m, then the preset distance is greater than 0.5m.

[0086] In this embodiment, after the distance between the automatic lawn mower and the physical boundary reaches a preset distance, it can move along the physical boundary. That is, when the automatic lawn mower moves along the physical boundary, it is always separated from the physical boundary by a preset distance, and the preset distance is greater than the range of movement of the automatic lawn mower when turning, thereby preventing the automatic lawn mower from colliding with the physical boundary when turning, thereby ensuring the safety of the automatic lawn mower.

[0087] In one embodiment, after controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the second sensor information, the method further includes:

[0088] When it is determined according to the second sensing information that there is an obstacle, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move toward the virtual boundary to avoid the obstacle.

[0089] In an embodiment, when the automatic lawn mower walks along the physical boundary based on the second sensor information, if an obstacle is detected based on the second sensor information, for example, when the obstacle is detected based on an image or radar, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to walk toward the virtual boundary to avoid the obstacle, thereby preventing the automatic lawn mower from falling into a blind spot at the physical boundary, that is, preventing the automatic lawn mower from being unable to escape the blind spot.

[0090] Reference Figure 7 , Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the operation of an automatic lawn mower. When the automatic lawn mower is patrolling the border based on the first sensor information, that is, when the automatic lawn mower is moving along the virtual boundary, if the automatic lawn mower enters an unstable signal area, that is, the positioning accuracy of the automatic lawn mower's first sensor information in this area is lower than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower senses the physical boundary based on the second sensor information, and the automatic lawn mower moves toward the physical boundary. When the automatic lawn mower reaches the physical boundary, it continues to patrol the inside of the physical boundary based on the second sensor information. If the automatic lawn mower detects an obstacle based on the second sensor information, it moves toward the virtual boundary to avoid the obstacle, then moves along the physical boundary, and returns to the virtual boundary to patrol the border after detecting that the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information is higher than the preset threshold.

[0091] The inside of the physical boundary is the side of the physical boundary that is closer to the center of the mowing area.

[0092] The present invention also provides an automatic lawn mower, referring to Figure 8 , the Robotic Lawn Mower 800 includes:

[0093] A receiving module 810 is configured to receive a patrol instruction and control the automatic lawn mower to autonomously move along a virtual boundary of a working area in an initial map according to the patrol instruction based on the first sensor information;

[0094] The first control module 820 is configured to control the automatic lawn mower to move along a physical boundary of the working area according to second sensor information when the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, and the physical boundary surrounds the virtual boundary.

[0095] In one embodiment, the automatic lawn mower 800 further includes:

[0096] The RTK positioning module is used to generate RTK positioning information. The first sensor information also includes at least one of RTK positioning information, image information, ultrasonic information or mileage accumulation information, and can also be fusion information of multiple information.

[0097] In one embodiment, the automatic lawn mower 800 further includes a vision module and / or an ultrasonic module:

[0098] The visual module is used to generate visual information. The second sensor information includes visual information. The visual module specifically includes: a camera, a visual sensor, an image sensor, etc.

[0099] The ultrasonic module is used to generate ultrasonic information. The second sensing information includes ultrasonic information. The ultrasonic module specifically includes: an ultrasonic sensor, a radar, etc.

[0100] In one embodiment, the automatic lawn mower 800 further includes:

[0101] The mobile module is used to drive the automatic lawn mower to move.

[0102] In one embodiment, the automatic lawn mower 800 further includes:

[0103] Cutting module, used to perform mowing operations.

[0104] In one embodiment, the robotic lawn mower 800 includes:

[0105] The receiving module 810 is configured to receive a movement instruction, control the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the movement instruction, and collect and record a plurality of first sensor information;

[0106] The fitting module is used to fit the collected and recorded first sensor information into a closed virtual boundary to construct an initial map.

[0107] In one embodiment, the robotic lawn mower 800 includes:

[0108] The second control module is configured to control the automatic lawn mower to return to the virtual boundary and walk according to the first sensor information when the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is higher than a preset threshold.

[0109] In one embodiment, the second control module includes:

[0110] a first control unit, configured to control the automatic lawn mower to move in a first direction toward a virtual boundary based on the first sensing information;

[0111] The second control unit is used to control the automatic lawn mower to move in a second direction according to the first sensor information when the automatic lawn mower moves to the virtual boundary, and the second direction is tangent to the virtual boundary, and the angle between the first direction and the second direction is less than 90°.

[0112] In one embodiment, the first control module 820 includes:

[0113] a third control unit, configured to control the automatic lawn mower to move toward the physical boundary according to the second sensor information when the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold;

[0114] The fourth control unit is used to control the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary according to the second sensor information when the distance between the automatic lawn mower and the physical boundary reaches a preset distance.

[0115] In one embodiment, the robotic lawn mower 800 includes:

[0116] The third control module is used to control the automatic lawn mower to move towards the virtual boundary to avoid the obstacle when it is determined that there is an obstacle based on the second sensor information.

[0117] Figure 9 The figure is a schematic diagram showing the hardware structure of an automatic lawn mower according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0118] The automatic lawn mower 900 may include: a processor 901, such as a CPU, a memory 902, and a transceiver 903. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that Figure 9 The structure shown in the figure does not limit the autonomous mobile device / robotic lawn mower and may include more or fewer components than shown, or a combination of certain components, or a different arrangement of components. The memory 902 may be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile memory device or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0119] The processor 901 may call the computer program stored in the memory 902 to complete all or part of the steps of the above-mentioned method for controlling the automatic lawn mower.

[0120] The transceiver 903 is used to receive information sent by an external device and send information to the external device.

[0121] A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, when instructions in the storage medium are executed by a processor of an autonomous mobile device, enables the automatic lawn mower to execute the above-mentioned control method for the automatic lawn mower.

[0122] A computer program product comprises a computer program, which, when executed by a processor of an autonomous mobile device, enables an automatic lawn mower to execute the control method of the automatic lawn mower.

[0123] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein. The present invention is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure that follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The description and examples are to be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

[0124] It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the exact structures that have been described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A control method for an automatic lawn mower, characterized in that: include: receiving a patrol instruction, and controlling the automatic lawn mower to autonomously walk along a virtual boundary of a working area in an initial map according to the patrol instruction and the first sensor information; When the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move along a physical boundary of the working area based on the second sensor information, where the physical boundary surrounds the virtual boundary. The second sensor information is collected by a second sensor device on the automatic lawn mower. The second sensor information is also used for obstacle detection to control the automatic lawn mower to move toward the virtual boundary to avoid obstacles. The positioning accuracy is determined based on the number of common satellite observation frequency bands at the sampling points. The physical boundary is a boundary that is adjacent to the working area but has different appearance characteristics or detection attributes from the working area. When the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is higher than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move in a first direction toward the virtual boundary based on the first sensor information; when the automatic lawn mower moves to the virtual boundary, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move in a second direction according to the first sensor information, and the second direction is tangent to the virtual boundary, and the angle between the first direction and the second direction is less than 90°.

2. The control method of the automatic lawn mower according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before the step of receiving the patrol instruction and controlling the automatic lawn mower to autonomously walk along the virtual boundary of the working area in the initial map according to the first sensor information according to the patrol instruction, the method further includes: receiving a movement instruction, controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area for one circle according to the movement instruction, and collecting and recording a plurality of first sensor information; A closed virtual boundary is fitted according to each of the collected and recorded first sensor information to construct the initial map.

3. The control method of the automatic lawn mower according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, the step of controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the second sensor information includes: When the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, controlling the automatic lawn mower to move toward the physical boundary according to the second sensor information; When the distance between the automatic lawn mower and the physical boundary reaches a preset distance, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move along the physical boundary according to the second sensing information.

4. The control method of the automatic lawn mower according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: After controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the second sensor information, the method further includes: When it is determined according to the second sensing information that there is an obstacle, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move toward the virtual boundary to avoid the obstacle.

5. An automatic lawn mower, characterized in that: include: a receiving module, configured to receive a patrol instruction and control the automatic lawn mower to autonomously move along a virtual boundary of a working area in an initial map according to the patrol instruction and the first sensor information; a second control module configured to, when the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is lower than a preset threshold, control the automatic lawn mower to move along a physical boundary of a working area based on the second sensor information, wherein the physical boundary surrounds the virtual boundary; the second sensor information is collected by a second sensor device on the automatic lawn mower; the second sensor information is also used for obstacle detection to control the automatic lawn mower to move toward the virtual boundary to avoid obstacles; the positioning accuracy is determined based on the number of common satellite observation frequency bands at the sampling points; the physical boundary is a boundary that is adjacent to the working area but has different appearance characteristics or detection attributes from the working area; After the control module executes the step of controlling the automatic lawn mower to move along the physical boundary of the working area according to the second sensor information, the control module is further configured to execute the following steps: When the positioning accuracy of the first sensor information of the automatic lawn mower is higher than a preset threshold, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move in a first direction toward the virtual boundary based on the first sensor information; when the automatic lawn mower moves to the virtual boundary, the automatic lawn mower is controlled to move in a second direction according to the first sensor information, and the second direction is tangent to the virtual boundary, and the angle between the first direction and the second direction is less than 90°.

6. An automatic lawn mower, characterized in that: include: memory and processor; The memory stores computer-executable instructions; The processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so that the automatic lawn mower executes the control method for the automatic lawn mower according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

7. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, which are used to implement the control method of the automatic lawn mower according to any one of claims 1 to 4 when executed by a processor.

Images