A confined space cleaning robot and a control method thereof

Abstract

The application provides a confined space cleaning robot and a control method thereof. The robot comprises a power chassis, a sewage treatment module, a cleaning module and a control module. The sewage treatment module comprises a sewage pump and a telescopic suction pipe for sucking sewage. The cleaning module comprises a liquid storage tank, a clean water pump and an electric telescopic rod. The top end of the electric telescopic rod is provided with a first cleaning mechanism. The electric telescopic rod is provided with a telescopic water supply pipe. One end of the telescopic water supply pipe is connected with the clean water pump, and the other end is connected with the first cleaning mechanism. The front side of the liquid storage tank is further provided with a second cleaning mechanism, and the water inlet of the second cleaning mechanism is connected with the clean water pump. The two cleaning mechanisms respectively comprise a jet nozzle, a direct current motor and a camera. The camera is used for real-time monitoring of the cleaning process. The application further comprises a laser radar, an RGBD camera, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) integrated module and a battery. The control module comprises an integrated circuit board and a network communication assembly. The application can improve the cleaning efficiency and avoid personnel injury.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of cleaning equipment, in particular to a confined space cleaning robot and a control method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] The confined space (limited space) refers to those closed or partially closed, not designed as a fixed workplace, but personnel can enter the space for work. These spaces are prone to accumulation of toxic and harmful, flammable and explosive substances, or insufficient oxygen, thereby posing a major safety hazard to personnel entering the work. In these environments, poor ventilation is the main cause of accidents, which is prone to accumulation of toxic gases (such as hydrogen sulfide) or flammable gases, and insufficient oxygen. In addition, the internal structure of some confined spaces is complex, and when the inherent risks inside the space cause harm, it is difficult for personnel to escape or be rescued quickly, further increasing the risk; common confined spaces such as secondary water supply facilities (water tanks), septic tanks, oil separation tanks, inspection wells, chemical storage tanks, food storage tanks, various tanks for water treatment, etc. When cleaning and dredging, relying solely on manual labor not only has low work efficiency, but it is also difficult to clean some corner positions with conventional cleaning methods. For some confined spaces with toxic, harmful, flammable and explosive substances, cleaning personnel may also be at risk.

[0003] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a confined space cleaning robot and a control method thereof, which can improve cleaning efficiency and avoid personnel injury. SUMMARY

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to provide a confined space cleaning robot and a control method thereof, which aims to solve the technical problems of low efficiency and poor safety of traditional cleaning methods.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, in a first aspect, the present application provides a confined space cleaning robot, comprising: a power chassis, a sewage treatment module and a cleaning module arranged from bottom to top on the power chassis, and a control module;

[0006] The sewage treatment module comprises a sewage pump arranged on the power chassis, and a telescopic suction pipe connected with a suction port of the sewage pump, the telescopic suction pipe being used for sucking sewage on the ground;

[0007] The cleaning module comprises a liquid storage tank for storing cleaning medium, a clean water pump arranged on the liquid storage tank and connected with the liquid storage tank, and an electric telescopic rod arranged above the liquid storage tank,

[0008] The top end of the electric telescopic rod is provided with a first cleaning mechanism, and a telescopic water conveying pipe for conveying cleaning medium is arranged in the electric telescopic rod, one end of the telescopic water conveying pipe is connected with the first water outlet of the water purifying pump, and the other end is connected with the first cleaning mechanism.

[0009] The front side of the liquid storage tank (with reference to the front direction of the power chassis) is also provided with a second cleaning mechanism, and the water inlet of the second cleaning mechanism is connected with the second water outlet of the water purifying pump.

[0010] The first cleaning mechanism and the second cleaning mechanism respectively include a jet nozzle, a direct current motor for driving the jet nozzle to rotate, and a camera arranged near the jet nozzle; the camera is used for real-time monitoring of the cleaning process and uploading to the cloud to establish a digital archive.

[0011] The power chassis is also provided with a laser radar, an RGBD camera, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) integrated module, and a battery.

[0012] The control module includes an integrated circuit board and a network communication component electrically connected with the battery.

[0013] The power source of the power chassis is electrically connected with the battery.

[0014] As a further improvement of the above scheme, the cleaning robot in the confined space further includes a laser range finder, which cooperates with the two cameras to measure and calculate the internal surface area of the space to be cleaned, and automatically establishes an environmental map model and plans a reasonable cleaning path to ensure efficient cleaning without omission.

[0015] Preferably, the cleaning path includes a walking path and a nozzle cleaning rotation path.

[0016] As a further improvement of the above scheme, the bottom of the power chassis is provided with a roller and a hub motor drivingly connected with the roller.

[0017] As a further improvement of the above scheme, a water level gauge is arranged in the liquid storage tank.

[0018] A water inlet is further arranged above the liquid storage tank, and an external water pipe interface is further arranged on the rear side or side of the liquid storage tank for supplementing the cleaning medium.

[0019] As a further improvement of the above scheme, the water outlet of the sewage pump is further provided with a sewage discharge pipe interface for connecting the corresponding pipeline to discharge sewage.

[0020] As a further improvement of the above scheme, the jet nozzle is drivingly connected with the direct current motor, and the jet direction, jet pressure and jet flow of the jet nozzle are controlled by the rotation of the direct current motor.

[0021] As a further improvement of the above-mentioned scheme, the network communication component can support one or several of 4G, 5G, and WiFi networks; through the network communication component, the confined space cleaning robot can realize remote monitoring, data uploading, and receiving instructions.

[0022] As a further improvement of the above-mentioned scheme, the integrated circuit board comprises a boost integrated circuit module, a driving module of a direct current motor, a power supply control distribution module, a network communication module, a navigation module, and an intelligent computing module.

[0023] Preferably, the boost integrated circuit module is used to regulate the supply voltage of the battery to ensure that each component obtains stable voltage supply.

[0024] As a further improvement of the above-mentioned scheme, the camera obtains real-time cleaning image information and uploads the information to a robot management big data cloud platform through software.

[0025] Preferably, the software is one or several of a remote monitoring platform, a remote deployment management platform, or a real-time data visualization platform.

[0026] In a second aspect, the present application further provides a control method of a confined space cleaning robot provided in the first aspect, and the steps of the method comprise:

[0027] S1, after entering the confined space, scanning the environment by using a camera, a radar, and a laser range finder, calculating the surface area of the confined space according to the data information obtained by scanning the environment, automatically establishing an environment map model and obtaining a reasonable cleaning path;

[0028] S2, moving the power chassis to an initial position of the cleaning path, and controlling the jet nozzle and the liquid storage tank to reach a preset distance from the wall surface to be cleaned by the control module;

[0029] S3, based on the current surface area to be cleaned, comprehensively calculating the rotating speed of the direct current motor to ensure the jet direction, jet pressure, and jet flow of the jet nozzle;

[0030] Based on the height of the current surface to be cleaned, adjusting the telescopic height of the electric telescopic rod to drive the first cleaning mechanism to be raised to an appropriate position, and together with the second cleaning mechanism, completing the cleaning of the whole wall surface; at the same time, the camera arranged near the jet nozzle obtains image information in the cleaning process;

[0031] S4, when the cleaning of the current wall surface is completed, moving to the next position for cleaning, repeating step S3 until the cleaning in the cleaning path is completed.

[0032] As a further improvement of the above scheme, in steps S3 and S4, when the sewage on the ground reaches the preset water level during the cleaning process, the sewage treatment module is started, the telescopic suction pipe sucks the sewage accumulated on the bottom surface under the drive of the sewage pump, and is transported to the outside of the restricted space through the discharge pipe connected to the water outlet of the sewage pump.

[0033] As a further improvement of the above scheme, the lower limit of the preset water level is h min , and the upper limit of the preset water level is h max , the ground / floor surface of the cleaning object is provided with a water level sensor for real-time monitoring of the current sewage depth h of the ground / floor surface thereof, and the water level sensor is in communication connection with the control module of the cleaning robot in the restricted space.

[0034] During the cleaning process, it is determined in real time whether h>h min , if yes, it is further determined whether h>h max , if yes, the sewage treatment module is started to drain water.

[0035] As a further improvement of the above scheme, in steps S3 and S4, after completing the cleaning of each wall surface and achieving the preset cleaning effect, the electric telescopic rod drives the first cleaning mechanism to return to the initial height position, and then moves to the next position.

[0036] As a further improvement of the above scheme, the method for determining whether the preset cleaning effect is achieved is specifically as follows:

[0037] The camera arranged near the jet nozzle uploads the obtained image information of the cleaned wall surface to the cloud in real time and establishes a digital archive, and the cloud stores images achieving the preset cleaning effect.

[0038] The real-time obtained image information of the cleaned wall surface is compared and analyzed with the image of the preset cleaning effect, if the image information of both reaches a preset standard, it is determined that the preset cleaning effect is achieved, otherwise it is determined that the preset cleaning effect is not achieved, and the jet cleaning is continued.

[0039] As a further improvement of the above scheme, the preset standard is specifically as follows:

[0040] The image color difference ΔE before and after cleaning is obtained by the following formula:

[0041]

[0042] wherein (H1, S1, V1) is the HSV value of any pixel point of the image before cleaning (i.e., the hue (Hue, H), saturation (Saturation, S), and lightness (Value, V) of the point), and (H2, S2, V2) is the HSV value of the corresponding point of the image after cleaning.

[0043] The gradient amplitude G(x, y) of the edge pixel of the cleaned image is obtained by the following formula:

[0044]

[0045] Wherein, G x (x, y) is the horizontal gradient value of a pixel of the cleaned image, G y (x, y) is the vertical gradient value of a pixel of the cleaned image.

[0046] If the color difference ΔE of the images before and after cleaning is greater than or equal to the preset color difference threshold, and the gradient amplitude G(x, y) of the edge pixel of the cleaned image is greater than or equal to the preset gradient amplitude threshold, it is judged that the preset cleaning effect is reached.

[0047] As a further improvement of the above scheme, in step S3, when adjusting the first cleaning mechanism to the appropriate position, according to the preset distance information obtained in step S2, the required maximum jet target distance I max , the minimum jet stripping force F min ;

[0048] The current effective jet target distance I 当 Is as follows:

[0049] I 当 =f1(D, P, ρ)

[0050] Wherein, f1 represents the functional relationship between the jet target distance I and the jet nozzle diameter D, the pressure P and the fluid density ρ;

[0051] The current jet striking force F 当 Is as follows:

[0052] F 当 =f2(D, P, v0, ρ)

[0053] Wherein, f2 represents the functional relationship between the jet striking force F and the jet nozzle diameter D, the pressure P, the jet velocity v0 and the fluid density ρ;

[0054] First, judge I 当 >=I max , if yes, further judge F 当 >F min , if yes, the current jet nozzle height and jet angle are appropriate, and the jet cleaning starts;

[0055] If it is judged that I 当 >=I max is not satisfied, or F 当 >F minIf not, the electric telescopic rod is controlled to be raised to drive the jet nozzle to be raised and / or the direct current motor is controlled to be rotated by a preset angle to adjust the jet angle of the jet nozzle until the current effective jet target distance I 当 and the current jet impact force F 当 satisfy the judgment condition.

[0056] As a further improvement of the above scheme, when the power chassis moves to the initial position or the next position of the cleaning path, firstly, it is judged whether the target position point is reached, if yes, the power chassis moves to the set cleaning position, otherwise, a robot moving strategy is generated, and it is checked whether there is an obstacle on the path;

[0057] If yes, an obstacle avoidance strategy is executed, a new robot moving strategy is generated, and the judgment of whether there is an obstacle is performed again;

[0058] If no, the power chassis is moved to the set cleaning position according to the moving strategy, and after reaching the set cleaning position, the brake function of the hub motor on the power chassis is started to fix the robot in the current position for cleaning operation.

[0059] Due to the above technical scheme, the application has the beneficial effects as follows:

[0060] 1. The application provides a kind of confined space cleaning robot, including power chassis, sewage treatment module and cleaning module from bottom to top on the power chassis, and control module;The sewage treatment module includes sewage pump arranged on the power chassis, and the telescopic suction pipe connected with the suction port of the sewage pump, the telescopic suction pipe is used to suck the sewage on the ground;The cleaning module includes liquid storage tank for storing cleaning medium, clean water pump arranged on the liquid storage tank and connected with the liquid storage tank, and electric telescopic rod arranged above the liquid storage tank, the top of the electric telescopic rod is provided with first cleaning mechanism, the electric telescopic rod is provided with telescopic water pipe for conveying cleaning medium, one end of the telescopic water pipe is connected with the first water outlet of the clean water pump, and the other end is connected with the first cleaning mechanism;The front side of the liquid storage tank is also provided with second cleaning mechanism, and the water inlet of the second cleaning mechanism is connected with the second water outlet of the clean water pump;The first cleaning mechanism and the second cleaning mechanism respectively include jet nozzle, DC motor for driving the jet nozzle to rotate, and camera arranged near the jet nozzle;The camera is used for real-time monitoring and uploading cloud to establish digital archives during cleaning process;The power chassis is also provided with laser radar, inertial measurement unit (IMU) integrated module and battery;The control module includes integrated circuit board and network communication component electrically connected with the battery;The power source of the power chassis is electrically connected with the battery;The confined space cleaning robot provided by the application stacks sewage treatment module and cleaning module up and down, and sets laser radar, inertial measurement unit (IMU) integrated module and battery on the power chassis, so that the whole confined space cleaning robot is compact and small in size, small in volume and light in weight, can directly enter the confined space from the standard manhole for cleaning operation, instead of manual cleaning, so as to avoid the injury of related personnel;In addition, the power supply of the whole confined space cleaning robot is provided by the battery, preferably, the battery is 24V battery, without additional cable, so that the confined space cleaning robot provided by the application is especially suitable for working in humid and explosive environment, so as to avoid the danger caused by improper operation of personnel.

[0061] In addition, the cleaning robot is also provided with electric telescopic rod, which drives the first cleaning mechanism to move up and down through the telescopic electric telescopic rod, and drives the jet nozzle to rotate through the rotation of DC motor, to realize the combined cleaning of wall surface.When up and down cleaning is completed, move left and right through power chassis to complete the movement of wall surface, further clean the wall surface, so as to realize three-dimensional cleaning of confined space, greatly improve the cleaning efficiency.

[0062] The confined space cleaning robot is provided with a jet nozzle, water introduced by the jet nozzle is high-pressure sprayed, the wall surface of the box to be cleaned is washed, the dirt on the wall surface can be hit, and the cleaning effect is improved; furthermore, the high-pressure water column (minimum 10 MPa) generated by the jet nozzle can effectively ensure the range and not atomize compared with the traditional spray or brush; the cleaning process can be monitored in real time through the camera arranged near the jet nozzle, the cleaning effect is visualized, and the cleaning effect is convenient to judge;

[0063] The confined space cleaning robot further comprises a laser range finder, the laser range finder and the two cameras cooperate to measure and calculate the internal surface area of the space to be cleaned, and automatically establish an environment map model and plan a reasonable cleaning path based on the obtained internal surface area of the cleaning space, preferably, the cleaning path comprises a walking path and a path of nozzle cleaning rotation; in this way, the cleaning efficiency can be improved, and each wall surface in the confined space can be cleaned to avoid omission.

[0064] 2, the application also provides a control method of the confined space cleaning robot, after entering the confined space, the environment is scanned by using the camera, radar and laser range finder, the internal surface area of the confined space is calculated according to the data information obtained by scanning the environment, an environment map model is automatically established, and a reasonable cleaning path is obtained to ensure efficient and non-missing cleaning; the rotational speed of the DC motor is calculated based on the current surface area to be cleaned to ensure the jet direction, jet pressure and jet flow of the jet nozzle, so that the cleaning effect can be ensured; then, the telescopic height of the electric telescopic rod is adjusted based on the height of the current surface to be cleaned to drive the first cleaning mechanism to be raised to a suitable position, and the second cleaning mechanism is used to complete the cleaning of the whole wall surface; at the same time, the camera arranged near the jet nozzle obtains image information in the cleaning process; the jet nozzle is moved up and down by the telescopic electric telescopic rod to clean, which can effectively cover most of the wall surface of the confined space, and the left and right movement of the power chassis and the second cleaning mechanism can realize three-dimensional cleaning of the confined space, greatly improving the cleaning efficiency and cleaning effect;

[0065] In some preferred embodiments, the confined space robot also has an obstacle avoidance function, which automatically avoids obstacles in the space by using cameras and radars and other sensors to ensure that the cleaning process proceeds smoothly;

[0066] The camera arranged near the jet nozzle obtains image information in the cleaning process, and is uploaded to a handheld device or a central management platform through a network communication component or a related platform for remote control and monitoring; the confined space cleaning robot provided by the application not only improves the cleaning efficiency, but also greatly reduces the risk of personnel injury, and provides a safe and efficient solution for confined space operation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0067] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the structures shown in these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0068] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a confined space cleaning robot disclosed in the present invention;

[0069] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the walking control flow of a confined space cleaning robot disclosed in the present invention;

[0070] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a sewage pump startup control process of a confined space cleaning robot disclosed in the present invention;

[0071] Figure 4 The present invention discloses a cleaning mechanism control flow chart of a confined space cleaning robot.

[0072] Reference numerals:

[0073] 1. Power chassis; 11. Battery; 12. Integrated circuit board; 13. Network communication components; 14. LiDAR; 15. RGBD camera; 16. Inertial measurement unit (IMU) integrated module;

[0074] 2. Sewage treatment module; 21. Sewage pump; 22. Retractable suction pipe; 23. Sewage discharge pipe interface;

[0075] 3. Cleaning module; 31. Liquid storage tank; 32. Water purification pump; 33. Electric telescopic rod; 34. Retractable water pipe; 35. Water level gauge; 36. Water inlet; 37. External water pipe interface;

[0076] 4. First cleaning mechanism; 41. Jet nozzle; 42. DC motor; 43. Camera; 5. Second cleaning mechanism.

[0077] The realization of the objectives, functional features and advantages of the present invention will be further explained in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0078] With reference to the accompanying drawings, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all the other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0079] It should be noted that all the directional indications (such as up, down, and the like) in the embodiments of the present application are only used to explain the relative position relationship, movement condition and the like between components in a certain specific posture (as shown in the drawings), and if the specific posture changes, the directional indications also change accordingly.

[0080] In addition, the descriptions such as “first”, “second” and the like in the present application are only for the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying the relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with “first”, “second” can explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features.

[0081] In addition, the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present application can be combined with each other, but it must be based on the fact that a person of ordinary skill in the art can realize it, and when the combination of technical solutions appears contradictory or unachievable, it should be considered that the combination of technical solutions does not exist, and is also not within the protection scope required by the present application.

[0082] Embodiment 1

[0083] With reference to Figure 1 The present application provides a cleaning robot for a confined space, comprising: a power chassis 1, a sewage treatment module 2 and a cleaning module 3 arranged on the power chassis 1 from bottom to top, and a control module;

[0084] In the present embodiment, the power chassis 1 comprises a chassis body, a roller arranged at the bottom of the chassis body, and a hub motor drivingly connected with the roller, the corresponding roller is powered by the hub motor, and the whole robot is braked by the hub motor after completing cleaning movement of each wall surface to the next cleaning position;

[0085] The sewage treatment module 2 comprises a sewage pump 21 arranged on the power chassis 1, and a telescopic suction pipe 22 connected with the suction port of the sewage pump 21, which is used to suck the sewage on the ground. Specifically, the telescopic suction pipe 22 is connected with the suction port of the sewage pump 21 through a rigid pipe, and the telescopic arrangement of the telescopic suction pipe 22 enables the sewage suction port to better adhere to the ground to suck the sewage at the bottom of the cleaning object. The water outlet of the sewage pump 21 is also provided with a sewage discharge pipe interface 23 for connecting a corresponding pipe to discharge the sewage.

[0086] The cleaning module 3 comprises a liquid storage tank 31 for storing cleaning medium, a clean water pump 32 arranged on and connected with the liquid storage tank 31, and an electric telescopic rod 33 arranged above the liquid storage tank 31.

[0087] The top end of the electric telescopic rod 33 is provided with a first cleaning mechanism 4, and the electric telescopic rod 33 is provided with a telescopic water conveying pipe 34 for conveying cleaning medium. One end of the telescopic water conveying pipe 34 is connected with a first water outlet of the clean water pump 32, and the other end is connected with the first cleaning mechanism 4. The telescopic arrangement of the electric telescopic rod 33 can drive the first cleaning mechanism 4 arranged at the top end to rise and fall to adjust to an appropriate height according to the height of the inner wall surface of the cleaning object, so as to complete efficient cleaning of the cleaning object. Preferably, the clean water pump 32 is a 24V high-pressure water pump, and the telescopic power voltage of the electric telescopic rod 33 is 24V.

[0088] The liquid storage tank 31 is provided with a water level meter 35, and the front side of the liquid storage tank 31 is also provided with a water inlet 36. The rear side or side of the liquid storage tank 31 is also provided with an external water pipe interface for supplementing the cleaning medium. When the water level meter 35 detects that the water level in the liquid storage tank 31 reaches the lowest water level setting height, the water level information is fed back to the clean water pump 32, and the clean water pump stops water supply, and at the same time, a corresponding valve is opened to supplement the cleaning medium in the liquid storage tank 31.

[0089] The front side of the liquid storage tank 31 (with the forward direction of the power chassis 1 as the front) is also provided with a second cleaning mechanism 5, and the water inlet of the second cleaning mechanism 5 is connected with a second water outlet of the clean water pump 32.

[0090] The first cleaning mechanism 4 and the second cleaning mechanism 5 respectively comprise a jet nozzle 41, a direct current motor 42 for driving the jet nozzle 41 to rotate, and a camera 43 arranged near the jet nozzle 41; the camera 43 is used for real-time monitoring of the cleaning process and uploading to the cloud to establish a digital archive; preferably, in the embodiment, the direct current motor 42 is a 24V brushless direct current motor, and the jet direction (jet angle), jet pressure and jet flow of the jet nozzle 41 are controlled by the rotation of the brushless direct current motor 42; the jet nozzle 41 sprays the cleaning medium flow introduced by the telescopic water pipe 34 to the wall surface that needs to be cleaned;

[0091] The power chassis 1 is further provided with a laser radar 14, an RGBD camera 15, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) integrated module, and a battery 11;

[0092] The control module comprises an integrated circuit board 12 and a network communication component 13 electrically connected with the battery 11;

[0093] The power source of the power chassis 1 is electrically connected with the battery 11;

[0094] The confined space cleaning robot provided by the application stacks the sewage treatment module 2 and the cleaning module 3 up and down, and sets the laser radar 14, the inertial measurement unit (IMU) integrated module 16 and the battery 11 on the power chassis 1, so that the whole confined space cleaning robot is compact and small in size, light in weight, can directly enter the confined space from a standard manhole for cleaning operation, instead of manual entry, so that the body of the related personnel can be prevented from being injured; in addition, the power supply of the whole confined space cleaning robot is provided by the battery 11, preferably, the battery 11 is a 24V battery, and no additional cable needs to be arranged, so that the confined space cleaning robot provided by the application is especially suitable for working in a humid and explosive environment, so that the danger caused by improper operation of personnel can be avoided;

[0095] In addition, the cleaning robot is further provided with an electric telescopic rod 33, the first cleaning mechanism 4 is driven to move up and down through the extension and retraction of the electric telescopic rod 33, and the jet nozzle 41 is driven to rotate through the rotation of the direct current motor 42, so that the wall surface is cleaned in combination; after the up and down cleaning is completed, the power chassis 1 is moved left and right to move the wall surface, so that the wall surface is further cleaned, and three-dimensional cleaning of the confined space is realized, so that the cleaning efficiency is greatly improved;

[0096] The confined space cleaning robot is provided with a jet nozzle 41, water introduced through the retractable water pipe 34 is high-pressure sprayed through the jet nozzle 41, the wall surface of the tank to be cleaned is washed, and the dirt on the wall surface can be hit to improve the cleaning effect; Furthermore, the high-pressure water column (minimum 10 MPa) generated by the jet nozzle 41, such a setting can effectively remove the dirt, algae, bacteria and other pollutants on the inner wall of the cleaning object, so as to meet the cleaning requirements of some special cleaning objects (such as life tanks with different shapes, because of long-term use, many algae and other things attached to the wall surface may grow inside), the jet nozzle 41 of the present application can realize efficient cleaning through the combination of high-pressure jet and rotation; Compared with the traditional spray or brush, the high-pressure water column generated by the jet nozzle 41 can effectively ensure the range and not atomize; The camera 43 arranged near the jet nozzle 41 can monitor the cleaning process in real time, realize the visualization of the cleaning effect, and facilitate the judgment of the cleaning effect.

[0097] As a preferred embodiment, the confined space cleaning robot further comprises a laser range finder, which cooperates with the two cameras 43 to measure and calculate the surface area of the space to be cleaned, automatically establish an environmental map model, and plan a reasonable cleaning path to ensure efficient cleaning without omission.

[0098] Preferably, the cleaning path includes a walking path and a nozzle cleaning rotation path.

[0099] Such a setting can improve the cleaning efficiency and ensure that each wall surface in the confined space is cleaned without omission.

[0100] As a preferred embodiment, the network communication component 13 can support one or several of 4G, 5G and WiFi networks; Through the network communication component 13, the confined space cleaning robot can realize remote monitoring, data uploading and receiving instructions.

[0101] As a preferred embodiment, the integrated circuit board 12 includes a boost integrated circuit module, a driving module of the direct current motor 42, a power supply control distribution module, a network communication module, a navigation module and an intelligent computing module.

[0102] Preferably, the boost integrated circuit module is used to regulate the power supply voltage of the battery 11 to ensure that each component obtains stable voltage supply.

[0103] As a preferred embodiment, the camera 43 uploads the real-time obtained cleaning image information to the robot management big data cloud platform through software;

[0104] Preferably, the software is one or several of a remote monitoring platform, a remote deployment management platform or a real-time data visualization platform.

[0105] Embodiment 2

[0106] Referring to Figures 2-4 , the application also provides a control method of a confined space cleaning robot as provided in Embodiment 1, referring to Figure 1 , the steps of which include:

[0107] S1, after entering the confined space, scanning the environment by using the camera 43, radar and laser range finder, calculating the internal surface area of the confined space according to the data information obtained by scanning the environment, automatically establishing an environmental map model and obtaining a reasonable cleaning path;

[0108] S2, moving the power chassis 1 to the initial position of the cleaning path, and controlling the jet nozzle 41 and the liquid storage tank 31 to reach a preset distance from the wall surface to be cleaned;

[0109] S3, based on the current surface area to be cleaned, comprehensively calculating the rotating speed of the direct current motor 42 to ensure the jet direction, jet pressure and jet flow of the jet nozzle 41;

[0110] Based on the height of the current surface to be cleaned, adjusting the telescopic height of the electric telescopic rod 33 to drive the first cleaning mechanism 4 to rise to an appropriate position and complete the cleaning of the whole wall surface together with the second cleaning mechanism 5; at the same time, the camera 43 arranged near the jet nozzle 41 obtains image information during the cleaning process;

[0111] S4, when the cleaning of the current wall surface is completed, moving to the next position for cleaning, repeating step S3 until the cleaning in the cleaning path is completed;

[0112] In steps S3 and S4, after completing the cleaning of one wall surface and reaching the preset cleaning effect, the electric telescopic rod 33 drives the first cleaning mechanism 4 to return to the initial height position, and then moves to the next position;

[0113] In steps S3 and S4, during the cleaning process, when the sewage on the ground reaches a preset water level, the sewage treatment module 2 is started, the telescopic suction pipe 22 is driven by the sewage pump 21 to suck the sewage accumulated on the ground, and is transported to the outside of the confined space through the discharge pipe connected to the water outlet of the sewage pump 21;

[0114] When the power chassis 1 moves to the initial position or the next position of the cleaning path: first, use the built-in positioning system to check whether the target position point is reached, if yes, the power chassis 1 moves to the set cleaning position, otherwise, generate a robot movement strategy based on real-time sensor data, and check whether there is an obstacle on the path through a path planning algorithm;

[0115] If yes, an obstacle avoidance strategy is executed, a new robot movement strategy is generated, and the judgment of whether there is an obstacle is made again;

[0116] If no, the movement strategy is used to move to the set cleaning position, and after reaching the set cleaning position, the brake function of the hub motor on the power chassis 1 is started to fix the robot in the current position for cleaning work;

[0117] Specifically, when determining whether the target position point is reached, the following formula is used to determine whether the target position point is reached,

[0118]

[0119] Where x1, y1 are the coordinate values of any point P1 in the plane rectangular coordinate system, and x2, y2 are the coordinate values of any point P2 in the plane rectangular coordinate system.

[0120] Specifically, the difference between points P1 and P2 in the x direction and the y direction is respectively:

[0121] Δx=x2-x1

[0122] Δy=y2-y1

[0123] In the plane rectangular coordinate system, the distance d0 between points P1 and P2 can be regarded as the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle:

[0124]

[0125] Substitute Δx and Δy into Obtain Through The robot can accurately determine whether it has reached the target position point, thereby improving the accuracy of navigation and positioning;

[0126] When checking whether there is an obstacle on the path, the sensor is used to detect in real time whether there is an obstacle in front, and specifically, the following formula is used to obtain the distance d1 from the robot to the obstacle:

[0127]

[0128] Where t is the time difference between the sensor emitting and receiving signals (unit: s), and v1 is the signal propagation speed (unit: m / s);

[0129] Compare the real-time obtained d1 with the information in the environment map model to determine whether the robot will collide with the obstacle on the motion path;

[0130] The present application can effectively cover most of the wall surface of the limited space by moving the jet nozzle 41 up and down through the telescopic electric rod 33, and can realize three-dimensional cleaning of the limited space by cooperating with the left and right movement of the power chassis 1 and the second cleaning mechanism 5, thereby greatly improving the cleaning efficiency and cleaning effect.

[0131] The present limited space robot also has an obstacle avoidance function, which automatically avoids obstacles in the space by using a camera 43 and a radar sensor, to ensure the smooth progress of the cleaning process.

[0132] The camera 43 arranged near the jet nozzle 41 obtains image information during cleaning, and uploads it to a handheld device or a central management platform for remote control and monitoring through a network communication component 13 or a related platform; the limited space cleaning robot provided by the present application not only improves the cleaning efficiency, but also greatly reduces the risk of personnel injury, and provides a safe and efficient solution for limited space operation.

[0133] As a preferred embodiment, the ground / floor of the cleaning object is provided with a water level sensor for real-time monitoring of the current sewage depth h (unit: m) of the ground / floor thereof, and the water level sensor is in communication connection with the control module of the limited space cleaning robot; the preset lower limit of the water level is h min (unit: m), and the preset upper limit of the water level is h max (unit: m).

[0134] The starting control process of the sewage pump 21 is as shown in Figure 3 The water level sensor obtains the current sewage depth h (unit: m) in real time, the operation time t0 (unit: s) of the sewage pump, the external water inflow Q f , the sewage pump flow Q (unit: m 3 / s), the sewage depth exceeding the lower limit h min time t e (unit: s), the detection period is T (unit: s), and the time threshold is T limit (unit: s).

[0135] When the sewage depth decreases from h max to the lower limit h min , the volume change of the sewage in the tank is:

[0136] V 污水 =A×(h-h min )

[0137] Wherein, A is the bottom area of the liquid storage tank (unit: unit m 2 ).

[0138] The external water volume is:

[0139] V注水 = Q f x t0

[0140] Then the total volume of the sewage pump drainage is equal to the sum of the sewage volume and the external water volume:

[0141] V 总 = V 污水 + V 注水

[0142] That is

[0143] V 总 = A x (h - h min ) + Q f x t0

[0144] The following formula is obtained:

[0145] Q x t0 = A x (h - h min ) + Q f x t0

[0146] Finally, the running time t0 of the sewage pump is obtained as follows:

[0147]

[0148] During the cleaning process, it is determined in real time whether h > h min , if so, it is further determined whether h > h max ,

[0149] If so, the sewage treatment module is started to drain; until the running time of the sewage treatment module reaches t0 moment;

[0150] When h > h min , if not, it is determined whether the task is completed, if it is determined that the task is completed, the sewage treatment module stops running, if it is determined that the task is not completed, the t e = 0, and stop, enter the next detection period;

[0151] When h > h max , if not, it is further determined whether t e > = T limit , if so, the sewage treatment module is started to drain, if not, enter the next detection period, and update t e , t e = t e + T.

[0152] As a preferred embodiment, in step S3, referring to Figure 4 , when adjusting the first cleaning mechanism 4 to the appropriate position, according to the preset distance information obtained in step S2, the required maximum jet target distance I max , the minimum jet stripping force Fmin ;

[0153] Current effective jet target distance I 当 As shown in the following formula:

[0154] I 当 =f1(D, P, p)

[0155] Wherein, f1 represents the functional relationship between the jet target distance I and the jet nozzle diameter D, pressure P and fluid density p;

[0156] Current jet strike force F 当 As shown in the following formula:

[0157] F 当 =f2(D, P, v0, p)

[0158] Wherein, f2 represents the functional relationship between the jet strike force F and the jet nozzle diameter D, pressure P, jet velocity v0 and fluid density p;

[0159] First, judge I 当 >=I max , if yes, further judge F 当 >F min , if yes, the current jet nozzle height and jet angle are appropriate, and the jet cleaning is started;

[0160] If the judgment I 当 >=I max is not satisfied, or F 当 >F min is not satisfied, the electric telescopic rod is controlled to be raised to drive the jet nozzle to be raised and / or the DC motor is controlled to be rotated by a preset angle to adjust the jet angle of the jet nozzle, until the current effective jet target distance I 当 And the current jet strike force F 当 Both satisfy the judgment condition;

[0161] The camera 43 arranged near the jet nozzle 41 acquires image information in real time during the cleaning process, and judges whether the cleaning effect is achieved according to the image information, if yes, the first cleaning mechanism 4 is reset, if not, the above judgment of the current effective jet target distance I 当 And the current stripping force f 当 Is repeated to see whether the height or jet angle of the first cleaning mechanism 4 needs to be adjusted until the cleaning effect is achieved; when the cleaning of the current wall surface is completed, it is further judged whether the cleaning task is completed, if yes, the task is completed, and the confined space cleaning robot returns; if not, it walks to the next cleaning position, and the above judgment of the current effective jet target distance I 当 And the current stripping force f 当 Is repeated until the cleaning task is completed; in the present application, according to the current flow target distance I当 and the current peeling force f 当 to adjust the height or the jet angle of the jet nozzle 41, and in some preferred embodiments, the jet pressure and the jet volume can also be adjusted. With such an arrangement, the jet nozzle 41 can be adjusted to a suitable position according to the actual situation of the wall surface being cleaned, so as to ensure the cleaning effect and the cleaning efficiency.

[0162] Specifically, in this process, the method for judging whether the preset cleaning effect is achieved is as follows:

[0163] The camera 43 arranged near the jet nozzle 41 uploads the obtained image information of the wall surface being cleaned to the cloud in real time and establishes a digital archive, and the cloud stores images of the preset cleaning effect,

[0164] The obtained image information of the wall surface being cleaned in real time is compared and analyzed with the image of the preset cleaning effect. If the image information of the two meets the preset standard,

[0165] The preset standard is as follows:

[0166] The image color difference ΔE before and after cleaning is obtained by the following formula:

[0167]

[0168] wherein (H1, S1, V1) is the HSV value of an arbitrary pixel point of the image before cleaning (i.e., the hue (H), the saturation (S), and the value (V) of the point), and (H2, S2, V2) is the HSV value of the corresponding point of the image after cleaning;

[0169] The gradient amplitude G(x, y) of the edge pixel point of the image after cleaning is obtained by the following formula:

[0170]

[0171] wherein G x (x, y) is the horizontal gradient value of a certain pixel point of the image after cleaning, and G y (x, y) is the vertical gradient value of a certain pixel point of the image after cleaning;

[0172] If the image color difference ΔE before and after cleaning is greater than or equal to the preset color difference threshold value, and the gradient amplitude G(x, y) of the edge pixel point of the image after cleaning is greater than or equal to the preset gradient amplitude threshold value, it is judged that the preset cleaning effect is achieved.

[0173] Otherwise, it is judged that the preset cleaning effect is not reached, and the jet flow cleaning is continuously performed; this setting can visualize the cleaning condition of the wall surface of the cleaning object, and can automatically judge the cleaning effect in time to see whether further cleaning is needed, compared with the control of setting the cleaning time, the control method provided by the application is more intelligent, and the cleaning effect can be effectively guaranteed.

[0174] As a preferred embodiment, when calculating the gradient amplitude G(x, y) of the edge pixel point of the cleaned image, a Sobel operator is used to perform edge detection on the images before and after cleaning.

[0175] Specifically, the Sobel operator calculates the gradient in the horizontal and vertical directions by using two 3x3 convolution kernels.

[0176] Since the obtained cleaned image is two-dimensional, the derivative needs to be calculated in two directions:

[0177] The edge in the vertical direction has a larger gradient partial derivative in the horizontal direction, and the edge in the horizontal direction has a larger gradient partial derivative in the vertical direction.

[0178] According to the gradient formula:

[0179]

[0180] For an image, the gradient formula is discrete, so the minimum value of h can only be 1, which means that the gradient (taking the x direction as an example) of a pixel position in the image is equal to the difference between the left and right two pixels divided by 2, and the first derivative can be written as:

[0181]

[0182] Two-dimensional horizontal direction convolution kernel:

[0183]

[0184] Two-dimensional vertical direction convolution kernel:

[0185]

[0186] Suppose that each pixel point (x, y) of the image I uses the above convolution kernel to calculate the gradient:

[0187]

[0188] The gradient amplitude of each pixel point is calculated through the horizontal and vertical gradients:

[0189]

[0190] If the gradient amplitude G(x, y) is greater than a set threshold, it is considered that the point is an edge.

[0191] The expected cleaning effect is determined by comparing the number and position changes of the edges of the images before and after cleaning;

[0192] When calculating the color difference ΔE of the images before and after cleaning, a color difference threshold is first set, and whether the color change before and after cleaning is obvious is determined by setting the color difference threshold. If it is greater than the set color difference threshold, it is determined that the expected cleaning effect is achieved.

[0193] In the present application, whether the cleaning effect is achieved is determined by the gradient amplitude change of the edges of the images before and after cleaning and the change of the color difference before and after cleaning, so that the determination of the cleaning effect is more accurate, and the expected cleaning effect can be achieved when cleaning is performed by using the cleaning robot.

[0194] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structural transformation, direct or indirect application in other related technical fields within the concept of the present application, and the contents of the present application are within the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A control method of a confined space cleaning robot, characterized by, The application relates to a confined space cleaning robot, which comprises a liquid storage tank, an electric telescopic rod above the liquid storage tank, a first cleaning mechanism arranged at the top end of the electric telescopic rod, a second cleaning mechanism arranged at the front side of the liquid storage tank, and a direct current motor for driving the jet nozzle to rotate. S1, after entering the confined space, the environment is scanned by using a camera, a radar and a laser range finder, the inner surface area of the confined space is calculated according to the data information obtained by scanning the environment, an environment map model is automatically established, and a reasonable cleaning path is obtained; S2, the power chassis is moved to the initial position of the cleaning path, and a control module controls the jet nozzle and the liquid storage tank to reach a preset distance from the wall surface to be cleaned; S3, the rotating speed of the direct current motor is calculated based on the current surface area to be cleaned, so as to ensure the jet direction, jet pressure and jet flow of the jet nozzle; The telescopic height of the electric telescopic rod is adjusted based on the height of the current surface to be cleaned, so as to drive the first cleaning mechanism to rise to a suitable position and complete the cleaning of the whole wall surface together with the second cleaning mechanism; meanwhile, the camera arranged near the jet nozzle obtains image information in the cleaning process; In adjusting the first cleaning mechanism to a suitable position, a required maximum jet target distance I is set according to the preset distance information obtained in step S2 max , a minimum jet peeling force F min ; Current effective jet target distance I 当 As shown in the following equation: I 当 = f1(D, P, p); Wherein, f1 represents the functional relationship between the jet target distance I, the jet nozzle diameter D, the pressure P and the fluid density p; Current jet strike force F 当 As shown in the following equation: F 当 = f2(D, P, v0, p); Wherein, f2 represents the functional relationship between the jet striking force F, the jet nozzle diameter D, the pressure P, the jet speed v0 and the fluid density p; Firstly, judge I 当 > = I max , if yes, further judge F 当 > F min , if yes, the current jet nozzle height and jet angle are appropriate, and start jet cleaning; If I 当 >=I max Not satisfied, or F 当 >F min If not satisfied, the electric telescopic rod is controlled to rise to drive the jet nozzle to rise and / or the DC motor is controlled to rotate a preset angle to adjust the jet angle of the jet nozzle until the current effective jet target distance I 当 and the current jet impact force F 当 All judgment conditions are met; S4, when the cleaning of the current wall surface is completed, the next position is moved for cleaning, and the step S3 is repeated until the cleaning in the cleaning path is completed.

2. The control method according to claim 1, characterized by, In the steps S3 and S4, when the ground sewage reaches a preset water level during the cleaning process, a sewage treatment module is started, the telescopic suction pipe is driven by the sewage pump to suck the sewage gathered on the bottom surface, and the sewage is transported to the outside of the confined space through the discharge pipe connected to the water outlet of the sewage pump.

3. The control method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by, In the steps S3 and S4, after completing the cleaning of one wall surface and reaching a preset cleaning effect, the electric telescopic rod drives the first cleaning mechanism to return to the initial height position, and then moves to the next position.

4. The control method according to claim 3, characterized by The judgment method of whether the preset cleaning effect is reached is as follows: The camera arranged near the jet nozzle uploads the obtained image information of the cleaned wall surface to the cloud in real time and establishes a digital file, and the cloud stores the image of the preset cleaning effect; The obtained image information of the cleaned wall surface is compared with the image of the preset cleaning effect, if the image information of both reaches a preset standard, it is judged that the preset cleaning effect is reached, otherwise, it is judged that the preset cleaning effect is not reached, and the jet cleaning is continued; The preset standard is as follows: The image color difference DE before and after cleaning is obtained by the following formula: Wherein, (H1, S1, V1) is the HSV value of any pixel point of the image before cleaning, and (H2, S2, V2) is the HSV value of the corresponding point of the image after cleaning; The gradient amplitude G(x, y) of the edge pixel point of the image after cleaning is obtained by the following formula: wherein G x (x,y) is the horizontal gradient value of a certain pixel point of the cleaned image, G y (x,y) is the vertical gradient value of a certain pixel point of the cleaned image; If the image color difference ΔE before and after cleaning is greater than or equal to the preset color difference threshold, and the gradient amplitude G(x, y) of the edge pixel point of the image after cleaning is greater than or equal to the preset gradient amplitude threshold, it is judged that the preset cleaning effect is reached.

5. The control method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by, When the power chassis moves to the initial position or the next position of the cleaning path, it is first judged whether the target position point is reached. If yes, the power chassis moves to the set cleaning position, otherwise, a robot movement strategy is generated, and whether there is an obstacle on the path is checked. If yes, an obstacle avoidance strategy is executed, a new robot movement strategy is generated, and whether there is an obstacle is judged again. If no, the movement strategy is used to move to the set cleaning position. After reaching the set cleaning position, the brake function of the hub motor on the power chassis is started to fix the robot in the limited space for cleaning work.

Images