Interface device, robot, charging pile and charging system

Abstract

The application is suitable for the technical field of charging control, and provides an interface device, a robot, a charging pile and a charging system. The interface device is arranged on a first equipment, and the interface device comprises: a first power interface configured to be connected to a battery of the first equipment, and the first power interface is matched with a second power interface arranged at the end of a mechanical arm of the charging pile; a first box body, two opposite sides of the first box body are respectively provided with opposite first and second openings, a second opening cover matched with the second opening and movable along a first direction is arranged on the second opening, a first identification for describing information of the first equipment is arranged on the outer wall of the second opening cover, and the first power interface is arranged on the first opening and faces the second opening cover. The information of the first equipment comprises charging configuration information of the first equipment, and the first direction is perpendicular to the two opposite sides, so that the risk of the first equipment falling over the charging pile can be avoided, and the research and development cost, manufacturing cost and deployment cost of the charging pile of each manufacturer can be saved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of charging control, and particularly relates to an interface device, a robot, a charging pile and a charging system. BACKGROUND

[0002] At present, many manufacturers have launched their own robots. In order to meet the needs of autonomous charging of the robots, each manufacturer usually configures a dedicated charging pile and a pile returning algorithm for its own robot. In this way, when the robot needs to be charged, the robot can find the charging pile through the pile returning algorithm and position the power interface on the charging pile, so that the power interface of the robot can be accurately connected to the power interface of the charging pile.

[0003] However, since the existing robot charging method needs the robot to accurately position the power interface of the charging pile based on the pile returning algorithm, so as to realize the connection between the charging interface of the robot and the power interface of the charging pile, each manufacturer needs to invest more research and development resources in the pile returning algorithm, resulting in high research and development cost. SUMMARY

[0004] Therefore, the embodiments of the application provide an interface device, a robot, a charging pile and a charging system to solve the technical problem that the conventional robot charging method needs different robot manufacturers to invest more research and development resources in the pile returning algorithm, resulting in high research and development cost.

[0005] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the application provide an interface device arranged on a first device, and the interface device comprises:

[0006] a first power interface configured to connect a battery of the first device, and the first power interface is adapted to a second power interface arranged at a distal end of a mechanical arm of a charging pile;

[0007] a first box body, two opposite sides of the first box body are respectively provided with opposite first and second openings, a opening cover matched with the second opening and movable along a first direction is installed on the second opening, a first identification for describing information of the first device is arranged on an outer wall of the opening cover, and the first power interface is installed on the first opening and faces the opening cover; the information of the first device comprises charging configuration information of the first device, and the first direction is perpendicular to the two opposite sides.

[0008] In an optional implementation manner of the first aspect, the first identification is a two-dimensional code or a bar code.

[0009] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the first opening is a rectangular opening or a circular opening, the second opening is a rectangular opening or a circular opening, and a line connecting a center point of the first opening and a center point of the second opening is parallel to the first direction.

[0010] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, in a case where the first opening and the second opening are both circular openings, a radius of the second opening is greater than a radius of the first opening; in a case where the first opening and the second opening are both rectangular openings, a width of the second opening is greater than a height of the first opening, and a height of the second opening is greater than a height of the first opening.

[0011] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the first power interface and the second power interface are both magnetic interfaces.

[0012] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the first power interface is a female taper interface, and the second power interface is a male taper interface.

[0013] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a robot, comprising a battery and an interface device as described in the first aspect or any optional implementation of the first aspect, and the robot is the first device.

[0014] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a charging pile, comprising a second box body and a mechanical arm and a camera device arranged outside the second box body; a distal end of the mechanical arm is provided with a second power interface matched with a first power interface of a first device, an inside of the second box body is provided with a charging circuit, a control circuit and a mechanical arm driving circuit; the control circuit is connected with the charging circuit, the camera device and the mechanical arm driving circuit, the charging circuit is connected with the second power interface, and the mechanical arm driving circuit is connected with the mechanical arm.

[0015] The camera device is configured to collect an environment image and send the environment image to the control circuit.

[0016] The control circuit is configured to, when identifying that the first identification is included in the environment image, determine a first position of the first identification in the environment image and a second position of the distal end of the mechanical arm currently located, and output a first driving control instruction to the mechanical arm driving circuit based on the first position and the second position; the first identification is arranged on an opening cover of a first side surface of a first box body of an interface device, the interface device is arranged on a first device, and a first power interface is arranged on a second side surface of the first box body and faces the opening cover, the first side surface is opposite to the second side surface.

[0017] The mechanical arm driving circuit is configured to control the second power interface of the mechanical arm end to align with the opening cover and extend into the first box based on the first driving control instruction, so that the second power interface is in contact with the first power interface.

[0018] The control circuit is further configured to control the charging circuit to charge the first device after the second power interface is in contact with the first power interface.

[0019] In an optional implementation of the third aspect, the control circuit is further configured to parse charging configuration information of the first device from the first identifier, and control the charging circuit to charge the first device with a charging voltage and a charging current that are adapted to the first device based on the charging configuration information.

[0020] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a charging system, which includes at least one robot as described in the second aspect and at least one charging pile as described in the third aspect.

[0021] The interface device, the robot, the charging pile and the charging system provided by the embodiments of the present application have the following advantages

[0022] Advantages:

[0023] The charging system provided by the embodiments of the present application comprises the following steps: a first opening and a second opening are arranged on two opposite sides of a first box body respectively, an opening cover matched with the second opening and movable in a first direction is arranged on the second opening, a first identification for describing information of a first device is arranged on an outer wall of the opening cover, a first power supply interface for connecting a battery of the first device is arranged on the first opening and faces the opening cover; a mechanical arm and a camera are arranged outside a second box body of the charging pile, a second power supply interface matched with the first power supply interface is arranged at the end of the mechanical arm, a mechanical arm driving circuit connected with the mechanical arm, a charging circuit connected with the second power supply interface and a control circuit connected with the charging circuit, the mechanical arm driving circuit and the camera are arranged inside the second box body, an environmental image is collected by the camera, when the control circuit identifies that the first identification exists in the environmental image, a first driving control instruction is output to the mechanical arm driving circuit based on a first position of the first identification in the environmental image and a second position of the end of the mechanical arm, the second power supply interface of the end of the mechanical arm is controlled to align with the opening cover based on the first driving control instruction, and the second power supply interface is inserted into the first box body to contact the first power supply interface. Since the charging pile can automatically position the first power supply interface of the first device based on the first identification on the interface device, and can control the mechanical arm to contact the second power supply interface of the charging pile with the first power supply interface of the first device, the first device only needs to be moved into the field of view of the camera of the charging pile, without performing accurate pile returning operation, so that the research and development investment of the pile returning algorithm of the first device can be reduced, and the research and development cost is reduced. In addition, since the first charging interface of the first device is positioned by the mechanical arm of the charging pile, the risk of the first device falling the charging pile is avoided. Moreover, different manufacturers only need to arrange the interface device provided by the embodiments of the present application on the first device developed by them, so that the charging pile provided by the embodiments of the present application can be shared, so that the research and development cost, manufacturing cost and deployment cost of the charging pile of each manufacturer can be saved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments or prior art description. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor.

[0025] Figure 1 A schematic architecture diagram of a charging system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0026] Figure 2 A circuit structure schematic diagram of a charging system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0027] Figure 3 A structural schematic diagram of an interface device provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 1.

[0028] Figure 4 A structural schematic diagram of a charging pile provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] It should be noted that the terms used in the embodiments of the present application are only used to explain the embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two, "at least one" or "one or more" means one, two or more than two. The terms "first", "second" are only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the "first", "second" features can explicitly or implicitly include one or more features.

[0030] In this specification, the phrase "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the phrases "in one embodiment", "in some embodiments", "in other some embodiments", "in other some embodiments" appearing in different places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments", unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "include", "contain", "have" and their variants mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0031] In combination with the description in the background section, when there are multiple robots of different manufacturers in a site (such as a shopping mall), multiple charging piles for robots of different manufacturers need to be set up in the site, which not only occupies space, wastes resources, but also increases the deployment cost of the charging piles. Moreover, since the existing robot charging method requires the robot to accurately position the power interface of the charging pile based on the pile returning algorithm, so that the charging interface of the robot can be connected with the power interface of the charging pile, each manufacturer needs to invest more research and development resources in the pile returning algorithm, resulting in high research and development cost. In addition, since the existing robot charging method is to find the charging pile by the robot, and the volume and weight of the robot are usually larger than those of the charging pile, the robot may knock down the charging pile when returning to the pile.

[0032] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application first provide a charging system.

[0033] Please refer to Figure 1 A schematic architecture diagram of a charging system provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the charging system includes a charging pile 300 and a robot 310.Figure 1 As shown, the charging system can include a charging pile and at least one interface device for being arranged on a first device. The first device can be a self-moving device such as a robot or an automated guided vehicle (AGV) and the like.

[0034] The interface device can include a first box body 10 and a first power interface 11.

[0035] The first power interface 11 can be used for connecting a battery of the first device, and the first power interface 11 is matched with a second power interface 211 arranged at the end of a mechanical arm 21 of the charging pile.

[0036] Two opposite sides of the first box body 10 (for example, 101 and 102 as shown) can be respectively provided with opposite first and second openings 1011 and 1021, and the second opening 1021 can be provided with an opening cover 1022 matched with the second opening 1021 and movable in a first direction, and an outer wall of the opening cover 1022 can be provided with a first mark 10221 for describing information of the first device, and the first power interface 11 can be mounted on the first opening 1011, and the first power interface 11 can face the opening cover 1022. Figure 1 The first direction can be perpendicular to the two opposite sides of the two first box bodies 10 provided with the first and second openings 1011 and 1021.

[0037] Optionally, the information of the first device can include charging configuration information of the first device. The charging configuration information of the first device can include charging voltage, charging current, and rated power of the first device and the like.

[0038] Exemplarily, the first mark 10221 can be a two-dimensional code or a bar code and the like.

[0039] The first box body 10 can be a cube. Since the cube has two sets of opposite sides, the first and second openings 1011 and 1021 can be respectively arranged on any one set of opposite sides of the first box body 10.

[0040] In some embodiments of the present application, the first opening 1011 can be a rectangular opening or a circular opening, and the second opening 1021 can also be a rectangular opening or a circular opening. A line connecting a center point of the first opening 1011 and a center point of the second opening 1021 can be parallel to the first direction, so that the first opening 1011 and the second opening 1021 are opposite to each other, and the mechanical arm 21 of the charging pile can be accurately positioned to the first power interface 11 arranged at the first opening 1011 after extending into the first box body 10 from the second opening 1021.

[0041]

[0042] ​Optionally, in the case that the first opening 1011 and the second opening 1021 are rectangular openings, the center point of the first opening 1011 can be the intersection of two diagonal lines of the first opening 1011, and the center point of the second opening 1021 can be the intersection of two diagonal lines of the second opening 1021. Optionally, in the case that the first opening 1011 and the second opening 1021 are circular openings, the center point of the first opening 1011 can be the center of the circle of the first opening 1011, and the center point of the second opening 1021 can be the center of the circle of the second opening 1021.

[0043] In the embodiment of the application, the charging pile can include a second box body 20, a mechanical arm 21 arranged outside the second box body 20, and a camera device 22 arranged outside the second box body 20. The end of the mechanical arm 21 can be provided with a second power interface 211 matched with the first power interface 11. The inside of the second box body 20 can be provided with a charging circuit, a control circuit, and a mechanical arm driving circuit.

[0044] For example, referring to Figure 2 , a circuit structure schematic diagram of a charging pile is provided in the embodiment of the application. As shown in Figure 2 , the control circuit 201 can be connected with the charging circuit 202, the camera device 22, and the mechanical arm driving circuit 203. The charging circuit 202 can be connected with the second power interface 211. The mechanical arm driving circuit 203 can be connected with the mechanical arm 21.

[0045] The camera device 22 can be used to collect an environment image and send the environment image to the control circuit 201.

[0046] The control circuit 201 can be used to identify whether the first mark 10221 exists in the environment image. For example, the control circuit 201 can identify whether the first mark 10221 exists in the environment image based on a target detection algorithm. The target detection algorithm can be any existing target detection algorithm, and the specific principle of the target detection algorithm can refer to the related description in the prior art, which will not be described here.

[0047] Optionally, when the control circuit 201 identifies that the first mark 10221 exists in the environment image, the control circuit 201 can determine the first position of the first mark 10221 in the environment image and the second position of the end of the mechanical arm currently located, and output a first driving control instruction to the mechanical arm driving circuit 203 based on the first position of the first mark 10221 in the environment and the second position of the end of the mechanical arm currently located.

[0048] The mechanical arm driving circuit 203 can control the second power supply interface 211 at the end of the mechanical arm 21 to align with the first mark 10221 on the opening cover 1022 based on the first driving control instruction, and control the mechanical arm 21 to open the opening cover 1022 to protrude into the first box 10 from the second opening 1021, so that the second power supply interface 211 is in contact with the first power supply interface 11, thereby establishing a connection between the second power supply interface 211 and the first power supply interface 11.

[0049] In addition, when the control circuit 201 identifies that the first mark 10221 exists in the environment image, the control circuit 201 can also parse the charging configuration information of the first device from the first mark 10221. For example, when the first mark 10211 is a two-dimensional code or a bar code, the control circuit 201 can identify the two-dimensional code or the bar code to obtain the charging configuration information of the first device. After obtaining the charging configuration information of the first device, the control circuit 201 can control the charging circuit 202 to charge the first device with a charging voltage and a charging current that are suitable for the first device based on the charging configuration information of the first device.

[0050] In a specific application, the charging circuit 202 can be connected with an alternating current power supply (for example, a mains power supply), and based on this, the charging circuit 202 can convert alternating current provided by the alternating current power supply into direct current required by the battery of the first device, thereby charging the first device.

[0051] The charging system provided by the embodiments of the present application can position the first power interface of the first device based on the first mark on the interface device, and can control the mechanical arm of the charging pile to contact the second power interface of the charging pile with the first power interface of the first device, so that the first device only needs to be moved into the field of view of the camera device of the charging pile, and does not need to perform accurate pile returning operation, thereby reducing the research and development investment of the pile returning algorithm of the first device and reducing the research and development cost. In addition, since the first charging interface of the first device is positioned by the mechanical arm of the charging pile, the risk of the first device falling over the charging pile is avoided. Moreover, different manufacturers only need to set the interface device provided by the embodiments of the present application on the first device developed by them, so that the charging pile provided by the embodiments of the present application can be shared, thereby saving the research and development cost, manufacturing cost and deployment cost of the charging pile of each manufacturer.

[0052] In some embodiments of the present application, the area of the second opening 1021 can be greater than the area of the first opening 1011. Optionally, in the case where the first opening 1011 and the second opening 1021 are both circular openings, the radius of the second opening 1021 can be greater than the radius of the first opening 1011. Optionally, in the case where the first opening 1011 is a rectangular opening and the second opening 1021 is a circular opening, the radius of the second opening 1021 can be greater than the length of any one side of the first opening 1011. Optionally, in the case where the first opening 1011 is a circular opening and the second opening 1021 is a rectangular opening, the length of any one side of the second opening 1021 can be greater than the diameter of the first opening 1011. Optionally, in the case where the first opening 1011 and the second opening 1021 are both rectangular openings, the width of the second opening 1021 can be greater than the width of the first opening 1011, and the height of the second opening 1021 can be greater than the height of the first opening 1011.

[0053] By setting the second opening 1021 to be larger, the mechanical arm 21 of the charging pile can more easily extend into the first box 10, thereby improving the connection efficiency of the second power interface 211 and the first power interface 11 when the first device is charging.

[0054] In some embodiments of the present application, the first power interface 11 and the second power interface 211 can both be magnetic interfaces, so that after the mechanical arm 21 of the charging pile extends into the first box 10, the second power interface 211 can automatically establish a connection with the first power interface 11.

[0055] In some embodiments of the present application, the first power interface 11 can be a female taper interface, and the second power interface 211 can be a male taper interface. By setting the first power interface 11 to be a larger taper interface, the second power interface 211 can be easily connected.

[0056] In specific applications, the first power interface 11 and the second power interface 211 can both be universal serial bus (USB) interfaces. Of course, the first power interface 11 and the second power interface 211 can also be other types of interfaces, and the specific type of the first power interface 11 and the second power interface 211 is not particularly limited in the embodiments of the present application, as long as the first power interface 11 and the second power interface 211 are compatible.

[0057] In some other embodiments of this application, the information of the first device may include, in addition to charging configuration information, the device's identifier, name, and manufacturer. The identifier of the first device may be, for example, its serial number (SN). Thus, the control circuit 201 in the charging pile can obtain the identifier, name, and manufacturer of the first device by parsing the first identifier 10221, thereby enabling the charging pile to determine which device it is currently charging.

[0058] Based on the charging system provided in the above embodiments, this application also provides an interface device. This interface device can be disposed on a first device, which may be, for example, a robot or an automated guided vehicle (AGV) or other self-moving device. Please refer to... Figure 3 This is a schematic structural diagram of an interface device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0059] like Figure 3 As shown, the interface device may include a first housing 10 and a first power interface 11.

[0060] It should be noted that for details regarding the structure and connection relationship between the first housing 10 and the first power interface 11, please refer to [reference needed]. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The relevant descriptions in the corresponding embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0061] This application also provides a robot. The robot can be equipped with, for example... Figure 3 The interface device shown can be connected to the battery in the robot.

[0062] It should be noted that for details regarding the structure and connection relationships of the interface devices, please refer to [reference needed]. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The relevant descriptions in the corresponding embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0063] This application also provides a charging pile in its embodiments. Please refer to... Figure 4 This is a schematic structural diagram of a charging pile provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 4 As shown, the charging station may include a second housing 20, a robotic arm 21 disposed outside the second housing 20, and a camera device 22 disposed outside the second housing 20. The end of the robotic arm 21 may be provided with a second power interface 211 adapted to the first power interface 11. The interior of the second housing 20 may house a charging circuit, a control circuit, and a robotic arm drive circuit.

[0064] It should be noted that the structure of each circuit inside the charging pile and the connection relationship between each circuit can be referred to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The related description in the corresponding embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0065] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis, and the parts not described or recorded in a certain embodiment can be referred to the related description of other embodiments.

[0066] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, but not to limit them; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments can still be modified, or some technical features can be replaced by equivalents; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An interface device, characterized in that The interface device is arranged on the first device, and the interface device comprises: a first power interface configured to connect a battery of the first device, and the first power interface is adapted to a second power interface arranged at a terminal end of a mechanical arm of a charging pile; a first box body, two opposite sides of the first box body are respectively provided with a first opening and a second opening, the second opening is provided with an opening cover matched with the second opening and movable in a first direction, an outer wall of the opening cover is provided with a first mark for describing information of the first device, and the first power interface is arranged on the first opening and faces the opening cover; the information of the first device comprises charging configuration information of the first device, and the first direction is perpendicular to the two opposite sides; the first mark is a two-dimensional code or a bar code; the first opening is a rectangular opening or a circular opening, the second opening is a rectangular opening or a circular opening, and a line connecting a center point of the first opening and a center point of the second opening is parallel to the first direction; in a case where the first opening and the second opening are both circular openings, a radius of the second opening is greater than a radius of the first opening; in a case where the first opening and the second opening are both rectangular openings, a width of the second opening is greater than a width of the first opening, and a height of the second opening is greater than a height of the first opening.

2. The interface device of claim 1, wherein, the first power interface and the second power interface are both magnetic interfaces.

3. The interface device of claim 2, wherein, the first power interface is a tapered female interface, and the second power interface is a tapered male joint.

4. A robot, characterized in that a robot comprising a battery and the interface device according to any one of claims 1-3.

5. A charging post, characterized in that, a second box body, a mechanical arm and a camera device arranged outside the second box body; a terminal end of the mechanical arm is provided with a second power interface adapted to a first power interface of the interface device according to any one of claims 1-3, an inside of the second box body is provided with a charging circuit, a control circuit and a mechanical arm driving circuit; the control circuit is connected with the charging circuit, the camera device and the mechanical arm driving circuit, the charging circuit is connected with the second power interface, and the mechanical arm driving circuit is connected with the mechanical arm; the camera device is configured to collect an environment image and send the environment image to the control circuit; the control circuit is configured to, when the first mark is identified in the environment image, determine a first position of the first mark in the environment image and a second position of a terminal end of the mechanical arm currently located, and output a first driving control instruction to the mechanical arm driving circuit based on the first position and the second position; the first mark is arranged on an opening cover of a first side of a first box body in an interface device, the interface device is arranged on a first device, and a first power interface is arranged on a second side of the first box body and faces the opening cover, the first side is opposite to the second side; The mechanical arm driving circuit is configured to control the second power interface of the mechanical arm end to align with the opening cover and extend into the first box based on the first driving control instruction, so that the second power interface is in contact with the first power interface. The control circuit is further configured to control the charging circuit to charge the first device after the second power interface is in contact with the first power interface.

6. The charging post of claim 5, wherein, The control circuit is further configured to parse charging configuration information of the first device from the first identification, and control the charging circuit to charge the first device with a charging voltage and a charging current adapted to the first device based on the charging configuration information.

7. A charging system characterized by comprising: A charging pile as claimed in claim 5 or 6, and at least one robot as claimed in claim 4.

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