Laser weeding robot and operation method thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of mechanical automation technology, and specifically to a laser weeding robot and an operation method thereof. The present invention proposes a laser weeding robot based on Beidou satellite navigation, wherein the robot body is a high-ground clearance four-wheel four-turn walking platform, the laser optical path is controlled by a laser galvanometer, and the laser uses a CO2 laser with a wavelength of 10600nm. Based on Beidou satellite navigation, the present invention can realize full-path automatic planning and full-automatic execution of walking from a hangar to a field and operations inside a farmland without the need for additional manual operations.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of mechanical automation, and in particular to a laser weeding robot and an operation method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Existing weed control methods and their shortcomings: Modern weed control methods mainly include spraying and machine weed control. Spraying refers to the use of chemical agents to spray on the field to kill weeds through the action of the agent. This method can improve the efficiency of weed control, but it also has an impact on the environment and ecology, because chemical agents may pollute the soil and water sources, and over time will cause weeds to develop resistance, which greatly reduces the weed control effect. Another modern weed control method is machine weeding, which mainly uses rotating blades to weed, which can quickly and efficiently clear the weeds in the field, but it is easy to cause mechanical damage to the crop seedlings.

[0003] Laser weeding is gradually gaining attention as a new environmentally friendly weeding method. Laser weeding uses laser beams to directly irradiate weeds, burning the leaves of weeds at high temperatures to achieve the weeding effect. This method does not require chemical agents, does not generate noise and air pollution, has little impact on soil and water sources, and is highly environmentally friendly and sustainable.

[0004] Existing laser weeders and their disadvantages:

[0005] The laser weeding robot of the patent (CN117652480A) mainly controls the position of the laser and the direction of the laser emission by mechanical structure. The laser emitter contains a glass laser tube. Frequent movement of the laser can easily cause damage to the laser tube. In addition, the speed and direction of the laser beam are not easy to control accurately, which seriously affects the normal use of the robot.

[0006] The laser weeding robot in the patent (CN220384097U) uses a crawler chassis. Since laser weeding robots are currently mainly used for high-value crops such as organic vegetables, the crawler structure has a large contact area with the ground, which will cause a lot of crushing on crops and land, affecting crop yields and subsequent land preparation. The patent only supports remote control walking and touch screen operation walking, and the degree of intelligence is very low, which can only be regarded as a laser weeding machine.

[0007] The laser weeding robot of the patent (CN101589705A) uses a mechanical moving focusing lens to control the laser light path. The significant shortcomings of this solution are low control accuracy and slow control speed, and it is unable to improve weeding efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0008] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: a laser weeding robot and an operating method thereof.

[0009] A laser weeding robot, comprising a robot body, a positioning device, a computing unit, an image acquisition component, a laser emission and light path control component;

[0010] The robot body is a four-wheel four-rotor structure, including four motors for controlling walking and four motors for controlling steering, each motor is equipped with a separate motor driver, and the operation of each motor can be independently controlled. The robot body is provided with a carrying platform, a battery is installed on the carrying platform, and the motor driver is connected to the battery;

[0011] The positioning device comprises two GNSS antennas, a Beidou satellite navigation receiver, an IMU, and a binocular camera. The two GNSS antennas are respectively installed at the front and rear positions of the robot body, the IMU is installed on the bearing platform, and the binocular camera is installed in front of the robot's walking direction, and is used to dynamically adjust the operation path according to the crop arrangement extracted from the crop row. The two GNSS antennas are respectively connected to the Beidou satellite navigation receiver;

[0012] The computing unit is a small computer used for positioning calculation, walking control, image recognition, laser control, and network communication. The computing unit is connected to the battery, and the motor driver, Beidou satellite navigation receiver, IMU, and binocular camera are respectively connected to the computing unit;

[0013] The image acquisition component includes a high-speed industrial camera, which is installed under the carrying platform, and the high-speed industrial camera is connected to the computing unit;

[0014] The laser emission and optical path control components include a laser, a laser galvanometer, a flat-field focusing lens, a laser driving board, and a galvanometer driving board. The flat-field focusing lens is installed at the light outlet of the laser galvanometer. The laser is connected to the laser driving board, the laser galvanometer is connected to the galvanometer driving board, the laser driving board and the galvanometer driving board are respectively connected to the battery, and the laser driving board and the galvanometer driving board are respectively connected to the computing power unit.

[0015] Preferably, the left and right, up and down, front and back of the robot body are all retractable structures.

[0016] Preferably, it also includes a task issuing platform, and the computing power unit is connected to the task issuing platform via a wireless network.

[0017] Preferably, the battery is provided with a battery management system.

[0018] Preferably, the positioning device also includes a laser radar, which is installed above the supporting platform and connected to the computing unit.

[0019] Preferably, the two GNSS antennas are respectively connected to the Beidou satellite navigation receiver via GNSS coaxial cables.

[0020] Preferably, shading cloth is installed around the robot body.

[0021] Preferably, the image acquisition component also includes two LED fill lights and an LED driver board. The two LED fill lights are respectively installed on the left and right sides of the high-speed industrial camera to assist in weed image acquisition. The two LED fill lights are connected to the LED driver board, and the LED driver board is connected to the battery.

[0022] Preferably, the laser is a CO2 laser with a wavelength of 10600 nm.

[0023] A method for operating a laser weeding robot, wherein the laser weeding robot comprises any of the aforementioned laser weeding robots, and the method comprises the following steps:

[0024] S1. Manually adjust the telescopic structure of the robot body according to the row spacing and crop height of the farmland crops, and turn on the power of the robot to be in a ready state after adjusting it to meet the requirements of the task;

[0025] S2. The task issuing platform issues the operation task to the robot, and the computing unit automatically plans the outbound path, the operation path, and the inbound path according to the farmland location in the task, and controls the motor driver according to the planned path, thereby controlling the robot to walk;

[0026] S3. The robot walks and works according to the planned working path, and dynamically adjusts the working path according to the crop arrangement pattern extracted from the crop row by the binocular camera during the working process;

[0027] S4. During the operation, the computing unit automatically identifies the weeds in the crops according to the image information provided by the high-speed industrial camera, and quickly calculates the three-dimensional relative coordinates of the weeds. At the same time, the computing unit sends a control instruction to the laser galvanometer driver board to control the laser galvanometer to rotate to the direction corresponding to the weeds. After the rotation is completed, the computing unit sends a control instruction to the laser driver board to make the laser emit laser to irradiate the weeds. After the entire farmland is operated, the robot returns to the hangar according to the storage path, thus completing a complete weeding operation.

[0028] A computer device comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor implements the steps of the aforementioned method when executing the computer program.

[0029] A computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, which implements the steps of the method described above when executed by a processor.

[0030] The invention proposes a Beidou satellite navigation-based laser weeding robot, wherein the robot body is a high-ground clearance four-wheel four-turn walking platform, the laser optical path is controlled by a laser galvanometer, and the laser uses a CO2 laser with a wavelength of 10600nm.

[0031] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects achieved by the present invention are:

[0032] 1. Based on Beidou satellite navigation, full-path automatic planning and full-path execution from the hangar to the field and internal operations in the farmland can be achieved without the need for additional manual operations.

[0033] 2. The robot is equipped with a machine vision system in front, which enables precise row-by-row walking based on the crop planting arrangement. Even if the sowing accuracy is low, the crops will not be damaged.

[0034] 3. The robot body is a high-ground clearance four-wheel four-rotation structure, which can realize the operation of crops at different heights, avoiding damage to crops with higher plants due to the robot being too low to the ground. The four-wheel four-rotation structure can achieve parallel movement in the field, combined with machine vision precise row alignment, it can achieve zero damage to crops.

[0035] 4. The four-wheel four-turn structure of the robot body can achieve telescopic changes in front and back, left and right, and up and down, so that users can meet the needs of operations with different crop row spacing and different crop heights.

[0036] 5. The laser uses a CO2 laser with a wavelength of 10600nm. The laser in this frequency band belongs to the far-infrared band in the spectrum and is most easily absorbed by organic tissues in large quantities, thereby improving the energy efficiency of the laser action and further reducing the energy consumption of the operation.

[0037] 6. The laser optical path control is completed by the laser galvanometer. The laser remains fixed during the weeding process to avoid damage caused by moving the laser. The laser galvanometer can quickly and accurately control the laser optical path, reducing the additional costs caused by laser damage. At the same time, the high-precision control of the galvanometer can reduce accidental damage to major crops.

[0038] 7. A flat-field focusing lens (F-theta lens) is configured at the light outlet of the laser galvanometer. After the laser passes through the lens, a focused light spot of uniform size will be formed, solving the problem of off-axis deflection of the laser beam, making the laser energy more focused, improving the operating effect and reducing energy consumption.

[0039] 8. A high-speed industrial camera is installed under the robot body carrying platform. The angle between the camera lens axis and the robot body can be adjusted and preset according to the height of the weeds to achieve rapid identification of weeds of different heights.

[0040] 9. A high-brightness LED fill light is installed on each side of the industrial camera to assist the industrial camera in capturing high-definition images of crops and weeds.

[0041] 10. Opaque shading cloth is arranged around the robot body to prevent possible harm to the human body caused by reflected laser beams.

[0042] 11. The present invention uses laser to expose weeds to high-intensity, high-density, and high-energy irradiation in a short period of time, causing the weeds to heat up and shrink, thereby killing the weeds. The entire weeding process is efficient, fast, and pollution-free. The dead weeds left in the farmland can be used as fertilizers to provide value for crops, saving a lot of manual labor, protecting the health of farmers, and reducing the use of pesticides while protecting the environment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present invention, they are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute a limitation of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings:

[0044] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the robot body structure of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a robot body with four wheels and four rotations that can be adjusted forward, backward, left, right, up and down according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 3 is a system connection method of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of visual alignment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of global automatic operation path planning according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0049] Among them, 1 GNSS antenna; 2 laser radar; 3 binocular camera; 4 left and right telescopic structure; 5 up and down telescopic structure; 6 front and back telescopic structure; 7 walking motor; 8 steering motor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0051] This embodiment provides a laser weeding robot.

[0052] The laser weeding robot comprises a robot body, a positioning device, a computing unit, an image acquisition component, a laser emission and light path control component (such as Figure 1 ).

[0053] The robot body is a four-wheel four-rotor structure, including four motors for controlling walking (walking motors 7) and four motors for controlling steering (steering motors 8). Each motor is equipped with a separate motor driver, and the operation of each motor can be independently controlled.

[0054] The robot body has a carrying platform, on which a battery, a battery management system, a motor driver (such as Figure 1 ).

[0055] The motor is connected to the motor driver, and the motor driver is connected to the battery.

[0056] The left and right, up and down, front and back of the robot body are designed to be retractable structures, specifically including: left and right retractable structure 4; up and down retractable structure 5; front and back retractable structure 6, which are used to meet the needs of operations with different crop row spacing and different crop heights (such as Figure 2 ).

[0057] Shading cloth is installed around the robot body to prevent the reflected laser beam from causing harm to the human body.

[0058] The positioning device includes two GNSS antennas 1, a Beidou satellite navigation receiver, an IMU, a binocular camera 3, and an optional laser radar 2. The two GNSS antennas are installed at the front and rear positions of the robot body, the IMU is installed at any position of the robot's carrying platform, the binocular camera is installed in front of the robot's walking direction, and the laser radar is installed above the carrying platform (such as Figure 1 ).

[0059] The two GNSS antennas are connected to the Beidou satellite navigation receiver via GNSS coaxial cables respectively.

[0060] The computing unit is a small computer used for positioning calculation, walking control, image recognition, laser control, and network communication. Figure 3 The computing unit is connected to the battery installed on the carrier platform. The computing unit is connected to the task issuing platform via a wireless network.

[0061] The Beidou satellite navigation receiver, the IMU, the binocular camera, and the laser radar are respectively connected to the computing unit.

[0062] The image acquisition component includes a high-speed industrial camera, two LED fill lights, and an LED driver board.

[0063] The high-speed industrial camera is connected to the computing unit, the LED fill light is connected to the LED driving board, and the LED driving board is connected to the battery installed on the carrying platform.

[0064] The high-speed industrial camera is installed under the carrying platform. By adjusting the mounting structure, the angle between the camera lens axis and the robot body can be adjusted to achieve the recognition of weeds of different heights.

[0065] The two LED fill lights are respectively installed on the left and right sides of the high-speed industrial camera to assist in weed image acquisition.

[0066] The laser emission and light path control components include a laser, a laser galvanometer, a flat-field focusing lens, a laser driving board, and a galvanometer driving board.

[0067] The laser is a CO2 laser with a wavelength of 10600nm.

[0068] The laser galvanometer and the laser can be installed in combination.

[0069] The flat-field focusing lens is installed at the light outlet of the laser galvanometer.

[0070] The laser is connected to the laser driving board, the laser galvanometer is connected to the galvanometer driving board, the laser driving board and the galvanometer driving board are respectively connected to the battery installed on the carrying platform. The laser driving board and the galvanometer driving board are respectively connected to the computing power unit.

[0071] Work flow:

[0072] First, manually adjust the telescopic structure of the robot body according to the row spacing and crop height of the farmland crops. After adjusting to meet the requirements of the task, turn on the power of the robot and it will be in a ready state.

[0073] After receiving the task from the task issuing platform, the weeding robot parked in the hangar automatically plans the outbound path, operation path, and inbound path according to the farmland location in the task (such as Figure 5 ), and controls the motor driver according to the planned path, thereby controlling the robot to walk. If it is a non-open-air hangar, the robot calculates its own position in the hangar based on the lidar, and after leaving the hangar, the robot automatically walks according to the position provided by the Beidou navigation receiver. If it is an open-air hangar, the robot's position is always provided by the Beidou navigation receiver.

[0074] After arriving at the farmland, the robot walks and works according to the planned operation path. At the same time, during the operation, the robot dynamically adjusts the operation path according to the crop arrangement extracted from the crop row by the binocular camera (such as Figure 4 ) to avoid crushing crops.

[0075] During the operation, the computing unit automatically identifies weeds in crops based on the image information provided by the high-speed industrial camera, and quickly calculates the three-dimensional relative coordinates of the weeds. At the same time, the computing unit sends control instructions to the galvanometer driver board to control the galvanometer to rotate to the direction corresponding to the weeds. After the rotation is completed, the computing unit sends control instructions to the laser driver board to make the laser emit laser to irradiate the weeds. After the entire farmland is completed, the robot returns to the hangar according to the storage path, thus completing a complete weeding operation. After the task is issued, the whole process is automatic, without the need for remote control and manual intervention.

[0076] It should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device.

[0077] Finally, it should be noted that the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments or replace some of the technical features therein by equivalents. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A laser weeding robot, characterized in that: It includes robot body, positioning equipment, computing unit, image acquisition components, laser emission and optical path control components; The robot body is a four-wheel four-rotor structure, including four motors for controlling walking and four motors for controlling steering, each motor is equipped with a separate motor driver, and the operation of each motor is independently controlled. The robot body is provided with a carrying platform, a battery is installed on the carrying platform, and the motor driver is connected to the battery; The positioning device comprises two GNSS antennas, a Beidou satellite navigation receiver, an IMU, and a binocular camera. The two GNSS antennas are respectively installed at the front and rear positions of the robot body, the IMU is installed on the bearing platform, and the binocular camera is installed in front of the robot's walking direction, and is used to dynamically adjust the operation path according to the crop arrangement extracted from the crop row. The two GNSS antennas are respectively connected to the Beidou satellite navigation receiver; The computing unit is a small computer used for positioning calculation, walking control, image recognition, laser control, and network communication. The computing unit is connected to the battery, and the motor driver, Beidou satellite navigation receiver, IMU, and binocular camera are respectively connected to the computing unit; The image acquisition component includes a high-speed industrial camera, which is installed under the carrying platform, and the high-speed industrial camera is connected to the computing unit; The laser emission and optical path control component comprises a laser, a laser galvanometer, a flat-field focusing lens, a laser driving board, and a galvanometer driving board. The flat-field focusing lens is installed at the light outlet of the laser galvanometer. The laser is connected to the laser driving board, the laser galvanometer is connected to the galvanometer driving board, the laser driving board and the galvanometer driving board are respectively connected to the battery, and the laser driving board and the galvanometer driving board are respectively connected to the computing power unit. The left and right, up and down, front and back of the robot body are all telescopic structures; Shading cloth is installed around the robot body.

2. A laser weeding robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a task issuing platform, and the computing power unit is connected to the task issuing platform via a wireless network.

3. A laser weeding robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The battery is provided with a battery management system.

4. The laser weeding robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The positioning device also includes a laser radar, which is installed above the supporting platform and connected to the computing unit.

5. The laser weeding robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The two GNSS antennas are respectively connected to the Beidou satellite navigation receiver via GNSS coaxial cables.

6. The laser weeding robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The image acquisition component also includes two LED fill lights and an LED driver board. The two LED fill lights are respectively installed on the left and right sides of the high-speed industrial camera to assist in weed image acquisition. The two LED fill lights are connected to the LED driver board, and the LED driver board is connected to the battery.

7. The laser weeding robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The laser is a CO2 laser with a wavelength of 10600nm.

8. A method for operating a laser weeding robot, characterized in that: The laser weeding robot comprises the laser weeding robot according to any one of claims 2 to 7, and the method comprises the following steps: S1. Manually adjust the telescopic structure of the robot body according to the row spacing and crop height of the farmland crops, and turn on the power of the robot to be in a ready state after adjusting it to meet the requirements of the task; S2. The task issuing platform issues the operation task to the robot, and the computing unit automatically plans the outbound path, the operation path, and the inbound path according to the farmland location in the task, and controls the motor driver according to the planned path, thereby controlling the robot to walk; S3. The robot walks and works according to the planned working path, and dynamically adjusts the working path according to the crop arrangement pattern extracted from the crop row by the binocular camera during the working process; S4. During the operation, the computing unit automatically identifies the weeds in the crops according to the image information provided by the high-speed industrial camera, and quickly calculates the three-dimensional relative coordinates of the weeds. At the same time, the computing unit sends a control instruction to the laser galvanometer driver board to control the laser galvanometer to rotate to the direction corresponding to the weeds. After the rotation is completed, the computing unit sends a control instruction to the laser driver board to make the laser emit laser to irradiate the weeds. After the entire farmland is operated, the robot returns to the hangar according to the storage path, thus completing a complete weeding operation.

9. A computer device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, wherein: When the processor executes the computer program, the steps of the method according to claim 8 are implemented.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to claim 8 are implemented.

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