A micro-cluster robot positioning and identification device for motion capture systems

Abstract

The application provides a micro cluster robot positioning and identifying device for an action capture system, which comprises a positioning plate body, a stand and a reflective marker point; the surface of the positioning plate body is divided into multiple point area categories according to a set rule, and a plurality of points are arranged in each point area category according to the set rule; the top of the stand or a stand combination is provided with the reflective marker point, and the stand or the stand combination can be installed in the point according to the set rule; and the stand has different lengths; the robot positioning and identifying code can be determined according to the point where the stand or the stand combination is installed and the length of the stand. The reflective marker point position code is realized by setting four types of resident point area and setting the height of the stand, and then the code is used as the individual code of the robot; in large-scale desktop cluster robot tests, the arrangement mode of the reflective marker point is not easy to be blocked, the code capacity is huge, and the robot positioning requirement of the large-scale desktop cluster robot test can be met.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of robotics, and in particular to a micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for motion capture systems. Background Technology

[0002] Due to their capabilities such as distributed collaboration, efficient task completion, and strong fault tolerance, swarm robots have gradually become a hot research topic internationally in recent years. Obtaining accurate position and orientation information of individual swarm robots is a prerequisite for conducting swarm robot experiments and validating swarm algorithms.

[0003] Currently, methods for achieving swarm robot localization include: positioning methods based on satellite positioning systems, inertial navigation positioning systems, lidar, and other positioning devices. However, these methods require significant hardware support and cannot be applied to desktop micro swarm robots used for swarm robot experiments and swarm algorithm verification.

[0004] Currently, methods for achieving robot localization for desktop micro swarm robots include: projecting specific optical beacons upwards onto the navigation robot, allowing the working robot to autonomously locate itself by observing the beacons (CN116718187A); mounting an Aruco positioning QR code on the top of the robot, using an industrial camera to acquire image information of the experimental site, and then identifying the robot's QR code and performing localization based on the image information (CN114019963A); capturing images of the swarm robots using a fisheye camera, and using LED light rings for robot orientation detection and optical imaging communication (CN116079704A); and achieving relative localization of neighboring robots based on an acoustic perception processing system (CN115972231A).

[0005] The methods described above—projecting optical beacons onto navigation robots, capturing images of swarm robots using fisheye cameras, and positioning based on acoustic perception processing systems—all achieve local positioning and cannot realize the global position perception of desktop micro-swarm robots in a unified coordinate system. Furthermore, the method of mounting Aruco positioning QR codes on the top of the robot and using industrial cameras to identify the QR codes and perform positioning is prone to errors in large-scale micro-swarm robot experiments due to the small amount of data from a single Aruco code and the instability of the data from the industrial camera's Aruco positioning QR code.

[0006] Motion capture systems, through high-precision real-time data acquisition, enable accurate capture and analysis of motion, offering advantages such as non-invasiveness and strong real-time performance. Utilizing motion capture systems in swarm robot experiments allows researchers to more accurately observe and analyze robot movement behavior, thereby improving the intelligence and adaptability of swarm robots.

[0007] Chinese patent applications CN112653987A and CN110567460A both disclose the use of a reflective motion capture system, utilizing motion capture lenses to identify reflective marker points for indoor positioning of swarm robots. When conducting large-scale experiments with micro-swarm robots, especially those with groups exceeding 100 robots, it is necessary to design 100 different reflective marker point layouts to ensure accurate recognition by the motion capture system for each layout. However, the limited surface space of micro-swarm robots makes it easy to encounter misidentification due to high repetition in the placement of reflective marker points. How to enable the motion capture system to recognize more individual robots within a limited space, and how to optimize the layout of reflective marker points for individual robots to improve the recognition accuracy of the motion capture system, are urgent problems to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0008] To address the problem of motion capture system errors caused by the limited surface space of micro swarm robots, the difficulty in marker point layout, and the high degree of repetition during large-scale micro swarm robot experiments, this invention proposes a micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for motion capture systems.

[0009] The technical solution of this invention is as follows:

[0010] The aforementioned micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for motion capture system includes a positioning plate body, a column, and reflective markers.

[0011] The main surface of the positioning plate is divided into multiple types of point areas according to a set rule, and several points are arranged in each type of point area according to the set rule.

[0012] The top of the column or column assembly is equipped with the reflective marker point, and the column or column assembly can be installed at the point according to the set rules; and the column has different lengths.

[0013] Based on the location of the column or column combination installation and the length of the column, the robot positioning and identification code can be determined.

[0014] In a further preferred embodiment, the reflective marker is a sphere with a reflective material coated on its surface, which can reflect the infrared light emitted by the infrared camera of the motion capture system.

[0015] A further preferred embodiment is that the setting rule is:

[0016] The main surface of the positioning plate is divided into four types of permanent location areas, including:

[0017] Area 1: It has 1 point, and the center of the point is located at the projection position of the robot's motion center on the main surface of the positioning plate.

[0018] Area 2: It has at least one point, and the center of the point in Area 2 is on the line connecting the center of Point 1 and the center of the main body of the positioning plate, and is close to the robot's head;

[0019] Areas 3 and 4 are located on the left and right sides of the line connecting the center of point 1 and the center of the main body of the positioning plate, respectively. Area 3 has M rows and N columns of intersections, with points set within a certain range near each intersection. Area 4 has M' rows and N' columns of intersections, with points set within a certain range near each intersection.

[0020] All four types of locations are permanent locations, and each robot has a reflective marker in each type of location.

[0021] A further optimized scheme, based on the installation points of the columns or column combinations and the length of the columns, determines the robot positioning and identification code as: "Point 1 high / low, Point 2 high / low, Point 2 position, Point 3 high / low, Point 3 position, Point 4 high / low, Point 4 position".

[0022] A further preferred embodiment is that a spare point area is also divided on the surface of the positioning plate body, and the spare point area is outside the four types of permanent point areas; in the robot positioning and identification coding, the code "spare point high and low spare point position" is added according to the usage of the spare points.

[0023] In a further optimized scheme, the column length adopts 3 types, the column combination method adopts 3 combination methods, and the position height code is represented by a 4-digit binary number. Among them, the 2-digit binary number represents the column combination method: 00 is meaningless, 01 represents 1 column, 10 represents 2 columns coaxially combined, and 11 represents 3 columns coaxially combined; the other 2-digit binary number represents the column length type used: 00 is meaningless, 01 represents using the first length column, 10 represents using the second length column, and 11 represents using the third length column.

[0024] A further optimized scheme is that the No. 2 location area has 3 locations, which are encoded using binary numbers 01, 10, and 11 from the head to the tail of the robot.

[0025] In a further optimized scheme, the location of points in areas 3 and 4 is encoded using the coordinates of the intersection points of the corresponding points.

[0026] In a further optimized scheme, the positions of points 3 and 4 are asymmetrical relative to the line connecting the center of point 1 and the center of the positioning plate.

[0027] In a further preferred embodiment, the main surface of the positioning plate has an isosceles triangular hole with unequal waist and base lengths, and after the positioning plate is installed on the robot, the apex of the isosceles triangle points towards the robot's head.

[0028] Beneficial effects

[0029] This invention addresses the challenges of limited surface space in micro-swarm robots, the difficulty of conventional marker placement methods, and the resulting high repetition rates leading to errors in motion capture systems. It achieves positional encoding of reflective markers by setting four types of permanent marker areas and varying the height of the pillars, thus serving as the individual robot's code. This reflective marker placement method is less prone to obstruction during large-scale desktop swarm robot trials and offers a large encoding capacity, meeting the robot localization requirements of such trials.

[0030] Compared to random and manual placement, the layout of reflective markers based on coding rules can reduce the repetition of the layout and subsequent maintenance costs, thereby improving the recognition stability of the motion capture system.

[0031] Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Attached Figure Description

[0032] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and readily understood from the description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0033] Figure 1 Diagram of a micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device;

[0034] Figure 2 Diagram of the main opening of the positioning plate for a miniature swarm robot;

[0035] Figure 3 Location zoning diagram of a micro swarm robot positioning board;

[0036] Figure 4 Location coding diagram of the positioning board for a miniature swarm robot;

[0037] Figure 5 Location coding diagram of points 3 and 4 on the positioning board of the miniature swarm robot. Detailed Implementation

[0038] The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below. These embodiments are exemplary and intended to explain the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0039] This embodiment provides a micro-cluster robot positioning and recognition device for motion capture systems, which is applied to the positioning of large-scale micro-cluster robots in motion capture systems.

[0040] like Figure 1 As shown, this positioning and identification device mainly consists of three parts: a positioning plate body, columns, and reflective markers. Different positioning points on the positioning plate body, combined with columns of varying lengths, create a variety of reflective marker layouts.

[0041] The positioning plate is a circular plate with a radius of 40mm and a thickness of 2mm. Its surface is divided into multiple types of point areas according to a set rule, and several point holes with a diameter of 2mm are arranged in each type of point area according to the same rule. The specific hole locations are shown in the attached figure. Figure 2 As shown; in addition, the main surface of the positioning plate also has isosceles triangular holes with unequal waist and base lengths as arrows. When the main body of the positioning plate is installed on the robot, the apex of the isosceles triangular arrow points to the robot's head, which is used to indicate the positive direction of the robot's movement.

[0042] The pillars are made of copper and are installed at the designated locations according to a set rule. They are used to connect the positioning plate body and the reflective markers. By using copper pillars of different lengths and by combining multiple copper pillars, reflective markers of various heights can be arranged.

[0043] The reflective marker is a small ball with a reflective material on its surface. It has no connecting wires, does not require a power source, and has no internal electronic components. It can reflect the infrared light emitted by the infrared camera of the motion capture system, which is then received by a sensor matrix on multiple lenses to obtain the three-dimensional coordinates of its center.

[0044] Since at least three reflective markers are required to construct an individual robot in a motion capture system, each individual robot must have at least three reflective markers. This embodiment uses 4+1 reflective markers to construct the individual robot, with four markers being permanent and one as a backup. If four markers are insufficient, the backup marker is activated. The specific configuration rules are as follows:

[0045] The main surface of the positioning plate is divided into 4 types of permanent location areas + 1 spare location area, as shown in the following diagram. Figure 3 As shown. Includes:

[0046] Area 1: It has 1 point, and the center of the point is located at the projection position of the robot's motion center on the main surface of the positioning plate.

[0047] Area 2: It has at least one point, and the center of the point in Area 2 is located on the line connecting the center of Point 1 and the center of the positioning plate body, and is close to the robot head; in this embodiment, Area 2 has three points.

[0048] Areas 3 and 4 are located on the left and right sides of the line connecting the center of point 1 and the center of the positioning plate body, respectively. Area 3 has M rows and N columns of intersection points, with points set within a defined range around each intersection point. Area 4 has M' rows and N' columns of intersection points, with points set within a defined range around each intersection point. In this embodiment, both areas 3 and 4 have 7 rows and 2 columns, totaling 14 intersection points, and thus 14 points.

[0049] The backup point area is outside the four types of permanent point areas. In this embodiment, the backup point area has three points, all located on the edge of the positioning plate body. One point is located on the line connecting the center of point 1 and the center of the positioning plate body, and is located at the tail of the robot. The other two points are located on both sides of the line connecting the center of point 1 and the center of the positioning plate body, and are symmetrical with respect to the center of the positioning plate body.

[0050] All four types of location areas are permanent locations. Each robot has a reflective marker in each type of location area, and a separate reflective marker is placed in the backup location area as needed. Based on the location of the column or column combination installation and the length of the column, the unique positioning and identification code for the robot is determined as follows: [Point 1 height / low; Point 2 height / low, Point 2 position; Point 3 height / low, Point 3 position; Point 4 height / low, Point 4 position; Backup point height / low, Backup point position].

[0051] The specific encoding in this embodiment is as follows:

[0052] The area of ​​point 1 has only one fixed location, so no location coding is required;

[0053] Area 2 has 3 locations, which are encoded using binary numbers 01, 10, and 11 from the head to the tail of the robot.

[0054] Since there are many points in areas 3 and 4, the coordinates of the intersection points of these points are used as the position codes. Furthermore, because symmetrically distributed points are prone to misidentification in motion capture systems, the positions of points in areas 3 and 4 are asymmetrical relative to the line connecting the center of point 1 and the center of the positioning plate. Therefore, we use a near-Cartesian coordinate method to encode the points in areas 3 and 4. Area 3 is the area to the left of the center line of the positioning board, including all 14 positions in rows 1-7 of the horizontal coordinate and columns 1-2 of the vertical coordinate, denoted as (1,1), (1,2), (2,1), (2,2), (3,1), (3,2), (4,1), (4,2), (5,1), (5,2), (6,1), (6,2), (7,1), (7,2); Area 4 is the area to the right of the center line of the positioning board, including all 14 positions in rows 1-7 of the horizontal coordinate and columns 3-4 of the vertical coordinate, denoted as (1,3), (1,4), (2,3), (2,4), (3,3), (3,4), (4,3), (4,4), (5,3), (5,4), (6,3), (6,4), (7,3), (7,4).

[0055] The backup point area has 3 point locations, which are also encoded using binary numbers 01, 10, and 11 respectively.

[0056] In addition to the location encoding, the elevation of the point also needs to be encoded. In this embodiment, the length of the column adopts 3 types, the column combination method adopts 3 combination methods, and the elevation encoding is represented by a 4-digit binary number. Among them, the 2-digit binary number represents the column combination method: 00 is meaningless, 01 represents 1 column, 10 represents 2 columns coaxially combined, and 11 represents 3 columns coaxially combined; the other 2-digit binary number represents the column length type used: 00 is meaningless, 01 represents using the first length column, 10 represents using the second length column, and 11 represents using the third length column.

[0057] For example, if an individual activates a backup location, the location identification code is [1011; 0111 01; 0101(1,1); 0101(2,3); 0101 01]. 1011 represents point 1, 0111 01 represents point 2, 0101(1,1) represents point 3, 0101(2,3) represents point 4, and 0101 01 represents point 5. Point 1 has a unique location; 1011 indicates that two posts of the third length are used to install a reflective marker at this location. Point 2 has a variable location; 0111 indicates that one post of the third length is used to install a reflective marker at this location, and the last two digits 01 indicate that point 2 is located at position 01 of area 2. Point 3 has a variable location; 0101 indicates that one post of the first length is used to install a reflective marker at this location, and the last two digits (1,1) indicate that point 3 is located at the intersection of area 3 with coordinates (1,1). Point 4 has a variable location; 0101 indicates that one post of the first length is used to install a reflective marker at this location, and the last two digits (2,3) indicate that point 4 is located at the intersection of area 4 with coordinates (2,3). The spare point has a variable location; 0101 indicates that one post of the first length is used to install a reflective marker at this location, and the last two digits 01 indicate that the spare point is located at position 01 of the spare point area.

[0058] Specifically, in this embodiment, copper pillars with lengths of 1mm, 3mm, and 5mm are used. The 1mm copper pillar is defined as the first type of copper pillar length, the 3mm copper pillar as the second type of copper pillar length, and the 5mm copper pillar as the third type of copper pillar length. Reflective markers with a diameter of 10mm are used.

[0059] In conducting large-scale micro-swarm robot experiments, the first 10 individual micro-swarm robots were coded as follows:

[0060] Car #1: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(2,3)

[0061] Car #2: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(2,4)

[0062] Car #3: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(3,3)

[0063] Car #4: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(3,4)

[0064] Car #5: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(4,3)

[0065] Car #6: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(4,4)

[0066] Car #7: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(5,3)

[0067] Car #8: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(5,4)

[0068] Car #9: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(6,3)

[0069] Car #10: 1011 0111 01 0101(1,1)0101(6,4)

[0070] The reflective marker layout for vehicle #1 is as follows: Reflective marker #1 (1011) indicates that two 5mm copper posts are used to install the reflective marker at position #1; Reflective marker #2 (0111 01) indicates that one 5mm copper post is used to install the reflective marker at position #1 in area #2; Reflective marker #3 (0101(1,1)) indicates that one 1mm copper post is used to install the reflective marker at position #3 (1,1); Reflective marker #4 (0101(2,3)) indicates that one 1mm copper post is used to install the reflective marker at position #4 (2,3); Point #5 is not in use. Vehicles #2-10 are explained in the same way as vehicle #1.

[0071] Compared to random and manual placement, the reflective marker placement method based on coding rules can reduce the repetitiveness of the placement and subsequent maintenance costs, thereby improving the recognition stability of the motion capture system.

[0072] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make changes, modifications, substitutions and variations to the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for a motion capture system, comprising a positioning plate body, a column, and reflective markers; Its features are: The main surface of the positioning plate is divided into multiple types of point areas according to a set rule, and several points are arranged in each type of point area according to the set rule. The top of the column or column assembly is equipped with the reflective marker point, and the column or column assembly can be installed at the point according to the set rules; and the column has different lengths. Based on the location of the column or column combination installation and the length of the column, the robot positioning and identification code can be determined; The setting rules are as follows: The main surface of the positioning plate is divided into four types of permanent location areas, including: Area 1: It has 1 point, and the center of the point is located at the projection position of the robot's motion center on the main surface of the positioning plate. Area 2: It has at least one point, and the center of the point in Area 2 is on the line connecting the center of Point 1 and the center of the main body of the positioning plate, and is close to the robot's head; Areas 3 and 4 are located on the left and right sides of the line connecting the center of point 1 and the center of the main body of the positioning plate, respectively. Area 3 has M rows and N columns of intersections, with points set within a certain range near each intersection. Area 4 has M' rows and N' columns of intersections, with points set within a certain range near each intersection. All four types of locations are permanent locations, and each robot has a reflective marker in each type of location.

2. The micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for a motion capture system according to claim 1, characterized in that... The reflective marker is a sphere with a reflective material on its surface, which can reflect the infrared light emitted by the infrared camera of the motion capture system.

3. The micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for a motion capture system according to claim 1, characterized in that... Based on the installation points of the columns or column combinations and the length of the columns, the robot positioning and identification code is determined as: "Point 1 height / low, Point 2 height / low, Point 2 position, Point 3 height / low, Point 3 position, Point 4 height / low, Point 4 position".

4. A micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for a motion capture system according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that... The main surface of the positioning plate is also divided into a spare point area, which is outside the four types of permanent point areas; in the robot positioning and identification coding, the code "spare point high and low spare point position" is added according to the usage of the spare points.

5. The micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for a motion capture system according to claim 3, characterized in that... There are three types of column lengths and three types of column combination methods. The position height code is represented by a 4-digit binary number. Two binary digits represent the column combination method: 00 is meaningless, 01 represents 1 column, 10 represents 2 columns coaxially combined, and 11 represents 3 columns coaxially combined. The other two binary digits represent the column length type used: 00 is meaningless, 01 represents the first type of column length, 10 represents the second type of column length, and 11 represents the third type of column length.

6. The micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for a motion capture system according to claim 3, characterized in that... Area 2 has 3 points, which are encoded using binary numbers 01, 10, and 11 from the head to the tail of the robot.

7. The micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for a motion capture system according to claim 3, characterized in that... The location of points in areas 3 and 4 is encoded using the coordinates of the intersection of the points.

8. A micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for a motion capture system according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that... The positions of points 3 and 4 are asymmetrical relative to the line connecting the center of point 1 and the center of the positioning plate.

9. A micro swarm robot positioning and recognition device for a motion capture system according to claim 1, characterized in that... The positioning plate body has isosceles triangular holes with unequal waist and base lengths on its surface, and after the positioning plate body is installed on the robot, the apex of the isosceles triangle points to the robot's head.

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