Grass unloading control method and device, grass unloading equipment and computer program product

Abstract

The invention provides a grass unloading control method and device, grass unloading equipment and a computer program product.The method comprises the steps that under the condition that a grass unloading instruction is obtained, a target grass unloading point is determined from a plurality of grass unloading points, the multiple grass unloading points are located in a grass unloading area and used for dumping grass clippings for the grass unloading equipment, and the target grass unloading point is located in the grass unloading area; and then controlling the grass unloading equipment to execute grass unloading operation at the target grass unloading point. Based on the scheme, automatic grass unloading can be achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of artificial intelligence technology, and in particular to a grass unloading control method, device, grass unloading equipment and computer program product. Background Art

[0002] A lawn mower, also known as a lawnmower, lawn mower, or lawn trimmer, is a mechanical tool used to trim lawns and vegetation, which can save the time of lawn mowers and reduce a large amount of human resources. With the development of artificial intelligence technology, intelligent lawn mowing robots have gradually emerged, further improving the efficiency of outdoor operations.

[0003] When performing a weeding operation, a current lawn mower can temporarily store the trimmed grass clippings in a grass collecting device (such as a grass collecting box / basket) in the lawn mower, and then manually control the lawn mower to move to a fixed position to perform the unloading operation when the grass needs to be unloaded, thereby unloading the grass clippings stored in the grass collecting device. Since the above unloading process requires manual control of the lawn mower to which position to unload the grass, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is impossible to achieve automatic unloading. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a grass unloading control method, device, grass unloading equipment and computer program product, which can realize automatic grass unloading.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a grass unloading control method, the method comprising: upon obtaining a grass unloading instruction, determining a target grass unloading point from a plurality of grass unloading points, wherein the plurality of grass unloading points are located in a grass unloading area, and the plurality of grass unloading points are used to dump grass clippings to a grass unloading device, and then controlling the grass unloading device to perform a grass unloading operation at the target grass unloading point.

[0006] In the above scheme, when the unloading instruction is obtained, it means that the unloading operation needs to be performed. At this time, the target unloading point can be determined from multiple unloading points in the unloading area, and then the unloading equipment can be controlled to go to the target unloading point for unloading, thereby realizing automated unloading, saving manpower, and improving user experience.

[0007] Based on the first aspect, in a possible implementation, an available unloading point can be first determined from multiple unloading points as a candidate unloading point, where the available unloading point is an unloading point with an available unloading space greater than 0, and then a target unloading point is determined from the candidate unloading points. The number of candidate unloading points is greater than or equal to 1.

[0008] It should be understood that the unloading points in the unloading area may have been used (i.e., the unloading equipment has unloaded grass here and grass clippings have accumulated), or may not have been used. For unloading points that have been used, there may be no remaining unloading space, that is, the unloading space is equal to 0. In this case, this unloading point cannot be selected for unloading. For unloading points that have been used, there may also be remaining unloading space, that is, the unloading space is greater than 0. In this case, this unloading point can still be selected for unloading. Therefore, this scheme first determines the available unloading points from multiple unloading points as candidate unloading points, excludes unavailable unloading points (available unloading space is equal to 0), and then determines the target unloading point from the candidate unloading points. The method of determining the target unloading point from the candidate unloading points can be random selection or selection according to a certain rule, which is not limited here.

[0009] Based on the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the priority of each candidate unloading point can be obtained, and then the candidate unloading point with the highest priority is determined as the target unloading point. It should be understood that the higher the priority of the unloading point, the more priority it will be used, and thus it will be prioritized as the target unloading point, while the higher the priority of the unloading point, the later it will be used.

[0010] Based on the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the first distance between each candidate unloading point and the unloading equipment can be calculated, and then the calculated first distances can be sorted in descending order, and the priority of each candidate unloading point can be determined according to the sorting result, wherein the candidate unloading point with a smaller first distance has a higher priority.

[0011] That is, the priority of the candidate grass unloading point can be determined based on the distance between the candidate grass unloading point and the grass unloading equipment. The smaller the distance between the candidate grass unloading point and the grass unloading equipment (the higher the priority), the shorter the time required for the grass unloading equipment to reach the candidate grass unloading point. Therefore, selecting a high-priority candidate grass unloading point for unloading helps to reduce the travel distance of the grass unloading equipment to reduce energy consumption and shorten the overall grass unloading time.

[0012] Based on the first aspect, in a possible implementation, a second distance between each candidate unloading point and a first intersection area is calculated, wherein the unloading area is located outside the mowing area, and there is a connecting channel between the unloading area and the mowing area, and the first intersection area is the intersection area between the connecting channel and the unloading area, and then the calculated second distances are sorted in descending order, and the priority of each unloading point is determined according to the sorting results, wherein the unloading point with a larger second distance has a higher priority.

[0013] In other words, the priority of the candidate unloading point can be determined based on the distance between the candidate unloading point and the entrance of the unloading area (i.e., the first intersection area). The greater the distance between the candidate unloading point and the first intersection area, the higher the priority of the candidate unloading point. In this way, the unloading equipment can go to the unloading point far away from the first intersection area first. The grass piles produced by unloading grass at the unloading point far away from the first intersection area will not affect the unloading equipment from going to the unloading point close to the first intersection area, which helps to make full use of the unloading points in the unloading area. On the contrary, if the unloading point close to the first intersection area is selected first, the grass piles at the unloading point close to the first intersection area will affect the unloading equipment from going to the unloading point far away from the first intersection area, and it is also easy to block the first intersection area, making it difficult for the unloading equipment to enter the unloading area from the first intersection area.

[0014] Based on the first aspect, in a possible implementation, a third distance between each candidate unloading point and the boundary of the mowing area is calculated, the calculated third distances are sorted in descending order, and the priority of each candidate unloading point is determined according to the sorting result. Wherein, if the unloading area is located within the mowing area, the candidate unloading point with a smaller third distance has a higher priority.

[0015] That is to say, the priority of the candidate unloading points can be determined based on the distance between the candidate unloading points and the boundary of the mowing area. The smaller the distance between the candidate unloading points and the boundary, the higher the priority of the candidate unloading points. In this way, the unloading equipment can go to the unloading points close to the boundary first, and the grass piles produced by unloading grass at the unloading points close to the first intersection area will not affect the unloading equipment from going to the unloading points far from the boundary, which helps to make full use of the unloading points in the unloading area. On the contrary, if the unloading points far from the boundary are selected first, the grass piles at the unloading points far from the boundary will affect the unloading equipment from going to the unloading points close to the boundary, and the boundary of the mowing area may also limit the route of the unloading equipment (the boundary may be enclosed and cannot be crossed), resulting in the unloading points in the unloading area cannot be reused.

[0016] Based on the first aspect, in a possible implementation, when only one candidate unloading point has the highest priority, the candidate unloading point with the highest priority is determined as the target unloading point; when there are at least two candidate unloading points with the highest priority, any one of the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point, or the candidate unloading point with the largest unloading space among the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point.

[0017] Based on the first aspect, in a possible implementation, location information of a target grass unloading point is acquired, and then an obstacle area is marked in the grass unloading area according to the location information of the target grass unloading point, wherein the obstacle area includes the target grass unloading point.

[0018] The above scheme expands the target unloading point to mark the obstacle area in the unloading area. The obstacle area is used to instruct the unloading equipment to avoid it. The unloading equipment needs to bypass the obstacle area during the subsequent movement to avoid hitting the grass pile in the obstacle area, thereby ensuring the safety of the unloading equipment and the cleanliness of the unloading area.

[0019] Based on the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the volume of grass clippings dumped by the grass unloading equipment at the target grass unloading point can be obtained, and then the expansion distance is determined according to the grass clippings volume, and then the target grass unloading point is expanded according to the expansion distance to obtain the obstacle area.

[0020] Based on the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the distance between any two of the multiple unloading points is greater than or equal to the length of the unloading device. It should be understood that the distance between the unloading points is greater than or equal to the length of the unloading device, which can prevent the unloading device from colliding with the grass pile at an adjacent unloading point when unloading grass at one unloading point.

[0021] In a second aspect, the present application also provides a grass unloading control device, including an acquisition module, a determination module and a control module. The acquisition module is used to acquire a grass unloading instruction. The determination module is used to determine a target grass unloading point from multiple grass unloading points when the acquisition module acquires the grass unloading instruction, wherein the multiple grass unloading points are located in the grass unloading area, and the multiple grass unloading points are used to dump grass clippings to the grass unloading equipment. The control module is used to control the grass unloading equipment to perform the grass unloading operation at the target grass unloading point.

[0022] The above-mentioned grass unloading control device is specifically used to execute the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation method of the first aspect, which will not be described in detail here.

[0023] In a third aspect, the present application further provides a grass unloading device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory so that the grass unloading device executes a method as in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0024] In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a grass unloading device, enables the grass unloading device to execute the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0025] Based on the implementation methods provided in the above aspects, this application can also be further combined to provide more implementation methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for describing the embodiments.

[0027] Figure 1It is a schematic diagram of the positional relationship between a mowing area and a grass unloading area provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 2 is another schematic diagram of the positional relationship between the mowing area and the unloading area provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 3 It is a flow chart of a grass unloading control method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of available grass unloading points and unavailable grass unloading points provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of determining a priority according to a first distance between a grass unloading point and grass unloading equipment provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 6 It is another schematic diagram of determining the priority according to the first distance between the grass unloading point and the grass unloading equipment provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of determining a priority according to a second distance between a grass unloading point and a first intersection area provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of determining a priority according to a third distance between a grass unloading point and a boundary of a mowing area provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of marking an obstacle area in a grass unloading area provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Fig.10 It is a structural schematic diagram of a grass unloading control device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Fig.11 It is a structural schematic diagram of a grass unloading device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] To facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present application, the mowing area and the unloading area involved in the present application are briefly introduced below.

[0039] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the positional relationship between a mowing area and a grass unloading area provided in an embodiment of the present application, and the grass unloading area is located inside the mowing area.

[0040] Figure 1The mowing area is the operating area of ​​the unloading equipment, and the unloading equipment with a weeding function can perform weeding operations in the mowing area. It should be understood that the unloading equipment with a weeding function is sometimes also called a lawn mower, a lawn mower, a weeder, a mowing equipment, a mowing robot, etc. This application does not limit this, as long as it is a device that can achieve the weeding function.

[0041] The present application does not specifically limit the type of mowing area. For example, the mowing area may be an urban green space, a family garden, a stadium lawn, a field green space, or a garden, an agricultural and forestry area, a livestock farm, or the like.

[0042] The present application does not make any specific restrictions on the shape and size of the mowing area. For example, the mowing area can be a regular shape such as a circle, an ellipse, a sector, a triangle, a rectangle, or other polygons, or the mowing area can be an irregular shape.

[0043] Figure 1 The grass unloading area is used to dump the clippings to the grass unloading device. Specifically, when performing a weeding operation, the grass unloading device can temporarily collect the clippings through its own grass collecting device (such as a grass collecting basket / grass collecting box), and then when it is necessary to unload the grass (such as when the grass clippings stored in the grass collecting device reach a certain amount or are full, or when the grass unloading device obtains a grass unloading instruction), the grass unloading device goes to the grass unloading area to perform the unloading operation, thereby removing the grass clippings stored in the grass collecting device.

[0044] The present application does not specifically limit the shape and size of the grass unloading area. For example, the grass unloading area can be a regular shape such as a circle, an ellipse, a sector, a triangle, a rectangle, or other polygons, or the grass unloading area can be an irregular shape.

[0045] It should be understood that due to Figure 1 The unloading area is located inside the mowing area, so when the unloading equipment needs to unload grass, it can enter the unloading area from any position and in any direction in the mowing area, and this application does not limit this.

[0046] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 This is another schematic diagram of the positional relationship between a mowing area and a grass unloading area provided in an embodiment of the present application. The grass unloading area is located outside the mowing area, and the grass unloading area and the mowing area are connected by a passage.

[0047] Optionally, the grass unloading area and the grass mowing area may be connected by one channel or by multiple channels. The present application does not make any specific limitation on the starting and ending positions of the channels.

[0048] It should be understood that due to Figure 2The unloading area is located outside the mowing area. Therefore, when the unloading equipment located in the mowing area needs to unload grass, the unloading equipment must first come to the intersection area of ​​the mowing area and the channel, and then travel along the channel direction to the intersection area of ​​the unloading area and the channel, and then the unloading equipment performs the unloading operation in the unloading area.

[0049] It should be noted that the unloading device described in this application can be a device with both weeding and unloading functions, or a device with unloading functions but without weeding functions. For unloading devices with only unloading functions, the unloading device is used to collect grass clippings in the mowing area and then dump the collected grass clippings into the unloading area. It should also be noted that Figure 1 and Figure 2 The sizes, shapes and positional relationships of the mowing area and the unloading area given are only examples and do not constitute specific limitations. In actual scenarios, the mowing area and the unloading area may also be of other sizes and shapes, and the mowing area and the unloading area may also have other positional relationships, such as partial overlap between the mowing area and the unloading area.

[0050] Based on the foregoing description, an embodiment of the weed control method provided by the present application is introduced below.

[0051] See also Figure 3 , Figure 3 It is a flow chart of a grass unloading control method provided in an embodiment of the present application, comprising the following steps S301 to S303.

[0052] S301. When a grass unloading instruction is obtained, a target grass unloading point is determined from a plurality of grass unloading points, wherein the plurality of grass unloading points are located in a grass unloading area, and the plurality of grass unloading points are used to dump grass clippings to the grass unloading equipment.

[0053] The above-mentioned grass unloading instruction is used to instruct the grass unloading equipment to perform the grass unloading operation, so as to unload the grass clippings stored in the grass unloading device of the grass unloading equipment. Regarding the method of obtaining the grass unloading instruction, this application does not make any specific limitation.

[0054] For example, a user can send a grass unloading instruction to a grass unloading device (short range / long range) by remote control, and the grass unloading device receives the grass unloading instruction and then performs the grass unloading operation. The device used for remote control here can be a smart phone, a computer, a smart wearable device, a remote controller, etc., and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0055] For another example, the user may directly operate on the grass unloading device (such as clicking a button on the grass unloading device or operating a touch screen, etc.) to input grass unloading instructions to the grass unloading device.

[0056] For another example, assuming that a grass unloading strategy is pre-set on the grass unloading device, when the grass unloading time specified in the grass unloading strategy is reached, or the volume of grass clippings stored in the grass collecting device reaches the volume threshold specified in the grass unloading strategy, the grass unloading device will automatically generate an unloading instruction.

[0057] This application does not make any specific limitations on the number, location and arrangement of the grass unloading points in the grass unloading area.

[0058] For example, the number of unloading points can be set by the user, can be a default value, or can be automatically determined based on information such as the area and shape of the unloading area.

[0059] For another example, the grass unloading points may be evenly distributed in the grass unloading area, or may be randomly set in the grass unloading area.

[0060] Optionally, the distance between any two grass unloading points in the grass unloading area is greater than or equal to the length of the grass unloading equipment, so as to prevent the grass unloading equipment from hitting grass piles at other grass unloading points when unloading grass at one grass unloading point.

[0061] Optionally, the grass unloading device may first determine an available grass unloading point from a plurality of grass unloading points as a candidate grass unloading point, and then determine a target grass unloading point from the candidate grass unloading points, wherein the available grass unloading point is a grass unloading point whose grass unloading space is greater than 0. The number of available grass unloading points may be greater than or equal to 1, and accordingly, the number of candidate grass unloading points may be greater than or equal to 1.

[0062] This application does not make any specific restrictions on how to determine the available unloading space (i.e., the remaining available unloading space, or the amount of material that can be unloaded) of the unloading point. For example, the available unloading space of the unloading point can be obtained by subtracting the used unloading space of the unloading point from the total unloading space of the unloading point, wherein the total unloading space of each unloading point can be set and adjusted, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0063] Optionally, each unloading point has a corresponding status mark, which is used to indicate whether the unloading space of the corresponding unloading point is greater than 0. The unloading point whose unloading space is greater than 0 is an available unloading point, and the unloading point whose available unloading space is equal to 0 is an unavailable unloading point.

[0064] If the available unloading space of an unloading point is 0, the state of the unloading point can be marked as unavailable, which indicates that the unloading point is unavailable, so the unloading equipment cannot select the unloading point for unloading operation.

[0065] If the available unloading space of an unloading point is greater than 0, then the status of the unloading point can be marked as available. The available status indicates that the unloading point is available. The unloading point may not have dumped grass clippings, or the unloading point may have dumped grass clippings but still has remaining unloading space. Therefore, the unloading equipment can select the unloading point for unloading operations.

[0066] It should be understood that if multiple unloading points in the unloading area are all available, then all of these multiple unloading points can be used as candidate unloading points. If only some of these multiple unloading points are available unloading points, then only these some unloading points can be used as candidate unloading points.

[0067] For example, see Figure 4 , Figure 4 There are 9 unloading points in the unloading area. Among them, unloading points A and B are unavailable unloading points (indicated by triangles in the figure), and unloading points C, D, E, F, G, H, and I are available unloading points (indicated by dots in the figure), and then these 7 available unloading points can be used as candidate unloading points.

[0068] It should be noted that the drawings of this application use dots and triangles as examples to represent available unloading points and unavailable unloading points, but this does not constitute a limitation. In actual application scenarios, other different marks can also be used to represent available unloading points and unavailable unloading points, for example, 1 and 0 can be used to represent available unloading points and unavailable unloading points, respectively, or different colors can be used to mark available unloading points and unavailable unloading points, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0069] This application does not specifically limit how to determine the target unloading point from multiple candidate unloading points.

[0070] In a possible implementation, a candidate unloading point may be randomly selected from a plurality of candidate unloading points as a target unloading point.

[0071] In another possible implementation, the priority of each candidate grass unloading point may be obtained, and then the candidate grass unloading point with the highest priority may be determined as the target grass unloading point.

[0072] There are multiple implementation methods for obtaining the priority of each candidate unloading point. Method 1, method 2, and method 3 are used as examples to illustrate the implementation.

[0073] Method 1: First calculate the first distance between each candidate unloading point and the unloading equipment, then sort the calculated first distances in descending order, and determine the priority of each candidate unloading point according to the sorting result. The candidate unloading point with a smaller first distance has a higher priority.

[0074] For example, Figure 5 As shown in the figure, it is assumed that there are nine unloading points A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I in the unloading area, and the available unloading space of each unloading point is greater than 0, indicating that these 9 unloading points are all available unloading points, so they can all be used as candidate unloading points. Then, the first distance between each candidate unloading point and the unloading equipment is calculated (for simplicity, Figure 5The first distances between all candidate unloading points and the unloading equipment are not drawn), and the calculated first distances are sorted in descending order, and the following sorting results can be obtained: (A, G)→D→(B, H)→E→(C, I)→F. Among them, the first distances of different candidate unloading points in the same parentheses are the same. The priority of each candidate unloading point is determined according to the above sorting results. The higher the ranking of the candidate unloading point, the higher the corresponding priority of the candidate unloading point. Therefore, 6 priorities can be divided here. The specific values ​​of the priorities are not limited in this application. For example, they can be divided into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 priorities in order from low to high. Since the candidate unloading point F here is ranked the last (the corresponding first distance is smaller), the candidate unloading point F has the highest priority, and the candidate unloading point F can be determined as the target unloading point.

[0075] Optionally, when only one candidate unloading point has the highest priority, the candidate unloading point with the highest priority can be determined as the target unloading point; when there are at least two candidate unloading points with the highest priority, any one of the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point, or the unloading point with the largest unloading space among the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point.

[0076] For example, Figure 6 As shown in the figure, there are nine unloading points in the unloading area, namely A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I. Among them, unloading points D, F, and F are unavailable unloading points (indicated by triangles), and unloading points A, B, C, G, H, and I are available unloading points (indicated by dots). Therefore, unloading points A, B, C, G, H, and I can be used as candidate unloading points. By calculating the first distance between each candidate unloading point and the unloading equipment (for simplicity, Figure 6 The first distances between all candidate unloading points and the unloading equipment are not drawn), and then the calculated first distances are sorted in descending order, and the following sorting results can be obtained: (A, G)→(B, H)→(C, I). Among them, the higher the ranking of the candidate unloading point, the higher the corresponding priority of the candidate unloading point, and the priorities of different candidate unloading points in the same parentheses are the same. Since the candidate unloading points C and I are ranked the last here (the corresponding first distances are smaller), the candidate unloading points C and I have the highest priority. At this time, there are two candidate unloading points with the highest priority. You can randomly select one from C and I as the target unloading point, or you can combine the unloading spaces of C and I to make a judgment and determine the candidate unloading point with a larger unloading space as the target unloading point.

[0077] Method 2: first calculate the second distance between each candidate unloading point and the first intersection area, then sort the calculated second distances in descending order, and determine the priority of each unloading point according to the sorting result, wherein the unloading area is located outside the mowing area, and there is a connecting channel between the unloading area and the mowing area, and the first intersection area is the intersection area between the connecting channel and the unloading area, and the unloading point with a larger second distance has a higher priority.

[0078] Specifically, since the unloading area and the mowing area are connected by a channel, when the unloading equipment located in the mowing area needs to unload grass, the unloading equipment must first come to the first intersection area of ​​the mowing area and the channel, and then travel along the channel direction to the second intersection area of ​​the unloading area and the channel, and then the unloading equipment can select a suitable unloading point in the unloading area to perform the unloading operation.

[0079] It should be understood that in order to avoid the grass piles at the unloading points near the first intersection area blocking the unloading equipment from going to other unloading points (i.e., unloading points far away from the first intersection area) and affecting the utilization rate of the unloading points in the unloading area, and at the same time avoid the grass piles at the unloading points near the first intersection area affecting the entry and exit channels of the unloading equipment, the unloading equipment needs to give priority to using the unloading points far away from the first intersection area. The grass piles at these unloading points will not affect the unloading equipment from going to the unloading points near the first intersection area, nor will they affect the unloading equipment from passing through the entry and exit channels of the first intersection area. The unloading points near the first intersection area need to be used later.

[0080] Taking the above requirements into consideration, the second method sets the priority of each unloading point according to the second distance between each unloading point and the first intersection area. The unloading point with a larger second distance has a higher priority, and the unloading point with a smaller second distance has a lower priority. When only one candidate unloading point has the highest priority, the candidate unloading point with the highest priority is determined as the target unloading point; when at least two candidate unloading points have the highest priority, any one of the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point, or the unloading point with the largest unloading space among the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point.

[0081] Combine the following Figure 7 , the process of determining the priority of candidate unloading points based on the second method is illustrated by example.

[0082] like Figure 7As shown, both the grass unloading area and the grass mowing area are rectangular, the grass unloading area is located outside the grass mowing area, and 9 grass unloading points are set in the grass unloading area, and the grass unloading spaces of these 9 grass unloading points are all greater than 0, so these 9 grass unloading points can be used as candidate grass unloading points. By obtaining the position information of these 9 candidate grass unloading points and the position information of the first intersection area, the second distance between each candidate grass unloading point and the first intersection area can be calculated (for simplicity, Figure 7 The second distances between all candidate unloading points and the first intersection area are not drawn). The location information is used to indicate the location of the corresponding candidate unloading point in the unloading area, which can be the longitude and latitude in the geographic coordinate system, the Mercator projection coordinates or the coordinates in the plane coordinate system, etc., and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0083] Then, the calculated second distances are sorted in descending order, and the following sorting results can be obtained: (A, G) → D → (B, H) → E → (C, I) → F. Among them, the second distances corresponding to different candidate unloading points in the same parenthesis are the same. Then, the priority of each candidate unloading point is determined according to the above sorting results. The higher the ranking of the candidate unloading point, the higher the priority corresponding to the candidate unloading point. Therefore, 6 priorities can be divided here.

[0084] Since the candidate unloading points with the highest ranking here are A and G, the candidate unloading points A and G have the highest priority. One of the two candidate unloading points with the highest priority can be randomly selected as the target unloading point, or the available unloading space of A and G can be combined to determine the candidate unloading point with a larger available unloading space as the target unloading point.

[0085] Method three: first calculate the third distance between each candidate unloading point and the boundary of the mowing area, where the unloading area is located within the mowing area, and then sort the calculated third distances in descending order, and determine the priority of each candidate unloading point according to the sorting result. The candidate unloading point with a smaller third distance has a higher priority.

[0086] Specifically, the location information of each unloading point and the boundary information of the mowing area can be obtained, and then the third distance between each unloading point and the boundary of the mowing area can be determined based on the above location information and the boundary information of the mowing area. The above location information is used to indicate the position of the corresponding candidate unloading point in the unloading area, which can be the longitude and latitude in the geographic coordinate system, the Mercator projection coordinates, or the coordinates in the plane coordinate system, etc., and the present application does not make specific limitations on this. The above boundary information is used to indicate the boundary of the mowing area, and the boundary here can be any or specific one or more boundaries of the mowing area, which can be selected according to the actual application scenario, and the present application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0087] Optionally, boundary information of the mowing area is generated based on information input by a user.

[0088] For example, the user can specify that the shape of the mowing area is a circle in the user interface of the mowing device, and specify the coordinates of the center of the circle and the radius. Then, the above information specified by the user can be used as the boundary information of the mowing area, and the boundary of the mowing area can be determined based on the boundary information.

[0089] For another example, the user can specify what kind of polygon (such as a triangle, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon, etc.) the mowing area is in the user interface of the mowing device, and input the position coordinates of each vertex of the polygon in the user interface. The position coordinates can be longitude and latitude in a geographic coordinate system, Mercator projection coordinates, or coordinates in a plane coordinate system, etc., and this application does not make specific limitations on this. Then, the above information input by the user can be used as the boundary information of the mowing area, and the boundary of the mowing area can be determined based on the boundary information.

[0090] For another example, by displaying a map on the user interface of the mowing device, the user can directly draw / circle the boundary of the mowing area on the map, and then automatically generate boundary information of the mowing area according to the above operations of the user and the map information to indicate the boundary of the mowing area.

[0091] It should be noted that the user interface of the above-mentioned grass unloading device can be displayed on the grass unloading device. For example, assuming that the grass unloading device is provided with a display screen, the display screen can directly display the user interface of the grass unloading device, so that the user can operate on the user interface. The user interface of the grass unloading device can also be displayed on other devices other than the grass unloading device (such as smart phones, computers, smart large screens, etc.). For example, assuming that the user interface of the grass unloading device can be displayed through a mobile phone, the user can directly operate on the mobile phone to generate the boundary information of the mowing area.

[0092] It should be understood that in order to prevent the unloading point near the border from being blocked by the grass piles at the unloading point far from the border, resulting in the unloading point near the border being unavailable, the unloading equipment needs to give priority to the unloading point near the border, and the grass piles at the unloading point near the border will not affect the unloading equipment from going to the unloading point far from the border. As for the unloading point far from the border, it is necessary to postpone its use to prevent the grass piles at the unloading point far from the border from affecting the unloading equipment from going to the unloading point near the border.

[0093] Taking the above requirements into consideration, method 3 sets the priority of each candidate unloading point according to the third distance between each candidate unloading point and the boundary. The smaller the third distance, the higher the priority of the candidate unloading point, and the larger the third distance, the lower the priority of the unloading point. When only one candidate unloading point has the highest priority, the candidate unloading point with the highest priority is determined as the target unloading point; when at least two candidate unloading points have the highest priority, any one of the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point, or the unloading point with the largest unloading space among the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point.

[0094] Combine the following Figure 8 , the process of determining the priority of candidate unloading points based on method three is illustrated by example.

[0095] like Figure 8 As shown, both the unloading area and the mowing area are rectangular, the unloading area is located inside the mowing area, and the unloading area is located at the upper left corner of the mowing area. There are 9 unloading points evenly arranged in the unloading area, and the spacing between adjacent unloading points is 0.5m. The unloading space of these 9 unloading points is greater than 0, so they can all be used as candidate unloading points.

[0096] Since the unloading area is set near the boundary of the mowing area, the unloading equipment may not be able to reach the unloading points in the unloading area from any direction, especially the unloading points near the boundary, which may be blocked by the existing grass piles on the boundary or other unloading points and cannot be reached. In order to facilitate the unloading equipment to plan the path to the unloading points in the unloading area and make full use of the unloading points in the unloading area, it is necessary to give priority to the unloading points near the boundary. The grass piles on these unloading points will not affect the unloading equipment from going to the unloading points far from the boundary. For the unloading points far from the boundary, the unloading equipment needs to be used later to avoid affecting the unloading equipment from going to the unloading points near the boundary.

[0097] Based on the above requirements, the location information of the 9 candidate unloading points and the boundary information of the mowing area are obtained, and then the sum of the distances between each unloading point and the left and top boundaries of the rectangular mowing area is calculated as the third distance. The calculated third distances are sorted in descending order, and the following sorting results are obtained: I→(F, H)→(C, E, G)→(B, D)→A. Among them, the third distances corresponding to different candidate unloading points in parentheses are the same.

[0098] Then, the priority of each candidate grass unloading point is determined according to the above ranking results. The smaller the third distance of the candidate grass unloading point, the later the ranking of the candidate grass unloading point, and the higher the priority of the candidate grass unloading point. Different candidate grass unloading points with the same third distance have the same priority, so 5 priorities can be planned here. Since the candidate grass unloading point with the lowest ranking here is only A (indicating that the third distance of candidate grass unloading point A is the smallest), candidate grass unloading point A can be determined as the target grass unloading point.

[0099] It should be noted that Figure 8 In the example, the sum of the distances between each candidate unloading point and the two boundaries of the mowing area, the left and the top, is calculated, but this does not constitute a specific limitation. In actual application scenarios, the shape of the mowing area, the positional relationship between the unloading area and the unloading area, the distribution of the unloading points, etc., can be used to determine which one or more boundaries of the mowing area (i.e., the boundaries that affect the movement of the unloading equipment) are used to calculate the distance. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0100] Optionally, the priority of each unloading point can be pre-calculated (according to the above method 1, method 2 or method 3), and these priorities can be stored in the unloading device. For example, when the unloading device obtains an unloading instruction, it can directly determine the target unloading point according to the priority stored in the device, and then go to the target unloading point to perform the unloading operation. Alternatively, the priority of the unloading point is determined by the unloading device when the unloading operation needs to be performed, that is, the priority is not preset. For example, when the unloading device obtains an unloading instruction, it first determines the available unloading points in the unloading area as candidate unloading points, and then calculates the priority of each candidate unloading point in real time according to the above method 1, method 2 or method 3, and then selects the candidate unloading point with the highest priority as the target unloading point.

[0101] S302: Control the grass unloading equipment to perform grass unloading operations at the target grass unloading point.

[0102] The present application does not limit the specific manner in which the grass unloading equipment performs the grass unloading operation at the target grass unloading point. For example, the grass unloading equipment can rotate around the target grass unloading point so as to evenly dump the grass clippings at the target grass unloading point. Alternatively, the grass unloading equipment can remain stationary and only the grass collecting device of the grass unloading equipment needs to be controlled to align with the target grass unloading point for unloading.

[0103] S303: Mark an obstacle area in the grass unloading area, where the obstacle area includes a target grass unloading point.

[0104] It should be understood that after the target unloading point is determined, the unloading equipment will go to the target unloading point to perform the unloading operation, thereby unloading the grass clippings stored in the unloading equipment, and a grass pile will be formed at the target unloading point. The grass pile has a certain volume and may affect the movement of the unloading equipment. In order to prevent the unloading equipment from colliding with the existing grass pile at the target unloading point, an obstacle area including the target unloading point can be determined in the unloading area based on the location information of the target unloading point, and the unloading equipment marks the obstacle area. The obstacle area is used to indicate that the unloading equipment needs to avoid it during the movement, and the unloading equipment cannot enter the obstacle area, thereby ensuring that the grass pile at the target unloading point will not be hit by the unloading equipment.

[0105] The shape and size of the obstacle area are not specifically limited in this application. The shape and size of the obstacle area can be set by the user, or can be a default value, or can be determined based on the spacing between unloading points, boundary information of the unloading area, the volume of grass clippings dumped by the unloading equipment at the target unloading point, etc., and this application does not make any limitation on this.

[0106] For example, Fig. 9 As shown, assuming that the grass unloading point C in the grass unloading area is determined as the target grass unloading point, the grass unloading equipment goes to the grass unloading point C to perform the grass unloading operation, so that a grass pile is formed at the grass unloading point C. In order to prevent the grass unloading equipment from hitting the grass pile at the grass unloading point C during the subsequent movement, an obstacle area can be determined with the grass unloading point C as the center. The obstacle area can be a regular shape such as a circle, an ellipse, a rectangle or other polygons, or an irregular shape, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0107] Here, it is assumed that the shape of the obstacle area is circular, and a circular obstacle area is constructed with the unloading point C as the center and k as the radius (i.e., the expansion distance). Among them, k is the distance expanded outward from the center of the target unloading point. The value of k can be set by the user, or it can be a default value, or it can be determined based on the spacing between unloading points, the boundary information of the unloading area, etc., which is not limited in this application. In order to avoid affecting the unloading equipment from going to other unloading points, k can be set to a value smaller than the spacing d between unloading points.

[0108] Optionally, the volume of grass clippings dumped by the grass unloading equipment at the target grass unloading point can be obtained, and then the expansion distance k is determined according to the grass clippings volume, and then the target grass unloading point is expanded according to k to obtain the obstacle area. The obstacle area is used to instruct the grass unloading equipment to avoid, and the grass unloading equipment cannot enter the obstacle area to avoid colliding with the grass pile in the obstacle area.

[0109] This application does not specifically limit the method for obtaining the above-mentioned grass clippings volume.

[0110] For example, assuming that the grass unloading device performs the grass unloading operation when the grass collecting device is full, the capacity of the grass collecting device can be used to represent the volume of grass clippings dumped by the grass unloading device.

[0111] For another example, assuming that the grass unloading device performs the grass unloading operation when the grass clippings in the grass collecting device reach a set volume threshold, the volume threshold can be used to represent the volume of grass clippings dumped by the grass unloading device. The volume threshold is less than or equal to the capacity of the grass collecting device, which can be set by the user or a default value, and this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0112] For another example, assuming that the grass unloading equipment performs mowing and unloading operations periodically, such as unloading grass once every time a weeding operation is performed for a time period T (such as 2 hours), the volume V of grass clippings dumped by the grass unloading equipment can be determined according to the following formula (1):

[0113] V=D×H×E×T Formula (1)

[0114] Where D is the lawn density, that is, the volume of grass clippings produced after the grass per unit area is cut, usually in square meters. H is the mowing height of the unloading equipment. E is the mowing efficiency of the unloading equipment, that is, the lawn area that the unloading equipment can cover per unit time (such as 1 hour), usually in square meters per hour. T is the time period for the unloading equipment to perform the weeding operation.

[0115] In summary, in the grass unloading control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the grass unloading device can determine the target grass unloading point from multiple grass unloading points in the grass unloading area, and then perform the grass unloading operation at the target grass unloading point, thereby realizing grass unloading automation. The target grass unloading point is a point where the grass unloading space is greater than 0, so as to support the grass unloading device to dump grass clippings at the target grass unloading point. The grass unloading point where the grass unloading space is equal to 0 cannot be used as the target grass unloading point.

[0116] The embodiment of the present application also supports selecting the target unloading point according to the priority of the unloading point. The unloading point with a higher priority is selected earlier, and the unloading point with a lower priority is selected later, so as to ensure that the unloading points in the unloading area can be fully utilized, thereby improving the space utilization rate of the unloading area. Regarding the method of determining the priority, please refer to the method 1 to the method 3 described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0117] This embodiment can also expand the target unloading point into an obstacle area. The unloading equipment performs path planning based on the marked obstacle area to bypass the obstacle area, thereby preventing the unloading equipment from colliding with the grass pile at the target unloading point, ensuring the safety of the unloading equipment and the cleanliness of the unloading area, and improving the user experience.

[0118] See also Fig.10 , Fig.10is a schematic diagram of a grass unloading control device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The grass unloading control device 1000 can be used to execute Figure 3 The grass unloading control method includes an acquisition module 1001, a determination module 1002 and a control module 1003.

[0119] The acquisition module 1001 is used to acquire the grass unloading instruction.

[0120] The determination module 1002 is used to determine a target grass unloading point from a plurality of grass unloading points when the acquisition module 1001 acquires the grass unloading instruction, wherein the plurality of grass unloading points are located in the grass unloading area and the plurality of grass unloading points are used to dump grass clippings to the grass unloading equipment;

[0121] The control module 1003 is used to control the grass unloading equipment to perform grass unloading operations at the target grass unloading point.

[0122] Optionally, the determination module 1002 is specifically used to: determine an available unloading point from multiple unloading points as a candidate unloading point, where the available unloading point is an unloading point with an available unloading space greater than 0, and then determine a target unloading point from the candidate unloading points.

[0123] Optionally, the determination module 1002 is specifically configured to: obtain the priority of each candidate grass unloading point, and then determine the candidate grass unloading point with the highest priority as the target grass unloading point.

[0124] Optionally, the determination module 1002 is specifically used to: calculate the first distance between each candidate unloading point and the unloading equipment, then sort the calculated first distances in descending order, and determine the priority of each candidate unloading point according to the sorting result, wherein the candidate unloading point with a smaller first distance has a higher priority.

[0125] Optionally, the determination module 1002 is specifically used to: calculate the second distance between each candidate unloading point and the first intersection area, then sort the calculated second distances in descending order, and determine the priority of each unloading point according to the sorting result. The unloading area is located outside the mowing area, there is a connecting channel between the unloading area and the mowing area, the first intersection area is the intersection area of ​​the connecting channel and the unloading area, and the unloading point with a larger second distance has a higher priority.

[0126] Optionally, the determination module 1002 is specifically configured to: calculate a third distance between each candidate unloading point and the boundary of the mowing area, sort the calculated third distances in descending order, and determine the priority of each candidate unloading point according to the sorting result. Wherein, if the unloading area is located within the mowing area, the candidate unloading point with a smaller third distance has a higher priority.

[0127] Optionally, the determination module 1002 is specifically used to: when there is only one candidate unloading point with the highest priority, determine the candidate unloading point with the highest priority as the target unloading point; when there are at least two candidate unloading points with the highest priority, determine any one of the at least two candidate unloading points as the target unloading point, or, determine the candidate unloading point with the largest unloading space among the at least two candidate unloading points as the target unloading point.

[0128] Optionally, the acquisition module 1001 is further used to: acquire the position information of the target grass unloading point. The determination module 1002 is further used to: mark an obstacle area in the grass unloading area according to the position information of the target grass unloading point, wherein the obstacle area includes the target grass unloading point.

[0129] Optionally, the distance between any two of the multiple grass unloading points is greater than or equal to the length of the grass unloading equipment.

[0130] It should be noted that Fig.10 The grass unloading control device 1000 is only divided into an acquisition module 1001, a determination module 1002 and a control module 1003 according to the exemplary functions. In actual application scenarios, the grass unloading control device 1000 may also include more or fewer modules, and this application does not specifically limit this. For example, any of the above modules can be split into multiple modules, or at least two of the above modules can be combined into one module. Modules with other functions can also be added to the grass unloading control device 1000. Each functional module can be implemented by software and / or hardware, and this application does not limit this.

[0131] See also Fig.11 , Fig.11 1 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a grass unloading device 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application, including a bus 1102, a processor 1104, a memory 1106, and a communication interface 1108. The processor 1104, the memory 1106, and the communication interface 1108 communicate with each other via the bus 1102. The present application also does not limit the number of processors 1104 and memories 1106 in the grass unloading device 1100.

[0132] The bus 1102 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Fig.11The bus 1102 may include a path for transmitting information between various components of the degrassing device 1100 (eg, the memory 1106, the processor 1104, and the communication interface 1108).

[0133] The processor 1104 may include any one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor (MP), or a digital signal processor (DSP).

[0134] The memory 1106 may include a volatile memory, such as a random access memory (RAM). The processor 1104 may also include a non-volatile memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid state drive (SSD).

[0135] The memory 1106 stores executable program codes. The processor 1104 executes the executable program codes to respectively implement Fig.10 The functions of the acquisition module 1001, the determination module 1002 and the control module 1003 in the present application are implemented Figure 3 The operating steps in the weed control method.

[0136] The communication interface 1108 uses, for example but not limited to, a transceiver module such as a network interface card or a transceiver to implement communication between the grass unloading device 1100 and other devices or a communication network.

[0137] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be stored / used by the grass unloading device 1100. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state hard disk). The computer-readable storage medium includes instructions, which are specifically used to instruct the grass unloading device to execute Figure 3 The weed control method of the embodiment.

[0138] The present application also provides a computer program product including instructions. The computer program product may be a software or program product including instructions that can be run on the grass unloading device or stored in any available medium. When the computer program product is run on the grass unloading device, the grass unloading device is caused to execute Figure 3 The weed control method of the embodiment.

[0139] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify or arbitrarily combine the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the protection scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for controlling weeding, It is characterized in that The method comprises: In the case of obtaining a grass unloading instruction, determining a target grass unloading point from a plurality of grass unloading points, wherein the plurality of grass unloading points are located in a grass unloading area, and the plurality of grass unloading points are used to dump grass clippings to the grass unloading equipment; The grass unloading equipment is controlled to perform grass unloading operation at the target grass unloading point.

2. The method according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The step of determining a target grass unloading point from a plurality of grass unloading points comprises: Determine an available grass unloading point from the multiple grass unloading points as a candidate grass unloading point, wherein the available grass unloading point is a grass unloading point with a grass unloading space greater than 0; The target grass unloading point is determined from the candidate grass unloading points.

3. The method according to claim 2, It is characterized in that The step of determining the target grass unloading point from the candidate grass unloading points comprises: Get the priority of each candidate unloading point; The candidate grass unloading point with the highest priority is determined as the target grass unloading point.

4. The method according to claim 3, It is characterized in that The step of obtaining the priority of each candidate unloading point includes: Calculating a first distance between each candidate grass unloading point and the grass unloading equipment; The calculated first distances are sorted in descending order, and the priority of each candidate unloading point is determined according to the sorting result, wherein the candidate unloading point with a smaller first distance has a higher priority.

5. The method according to claim 3, It is characterized in that The step of obtaining the priority of each candidate unloading point includes: Calculating a second distance between each candidate unloading point and a first intersection area, wherein the unloading area is located outside the mowing area, a connecting passage is provided between the unloading area and the mowing area, and the first intersection area is an intersection area between the connecting passage and the unloading area; The calculated second distances are sorted in descending order, and the priority of each of the grass unloading points is determined according to the sorting result, wherein the grass unloading point with a larger second distance has a higher priority.

6. The method according to claim 3, It is characterized in that The step of obtaining the priority of each candidate unloading point includes: calculating a third distance between each candidate unloading point and a boundary of a mowing area, wherein the unloading area is located within the mowing area; The calculated third distances are sorted in descending order, and the priority of each candidate unloading point is determined according to the sorting result, wherein the candidate unloading point with a smaller third distance has a higher priority.

7. The method according to claim 4, It is characterized in that The step of determining the candidate grass unloading point with the highest priority as the target grass unloading point includes: When only one candidate grass unloading point has the highest priority, determining the candidate grass unloading point with the highest priority as the target grass unloading point; When there are at least two candidate unloading points with the highest priority, any one of the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point, or the candidate unloading point with the largest available unloading space among the at least two candidate unloading points is determined as the target unloading point.

8. The method according to claim 1, It is characterized in that After controlling the grass unloading device to perform the grass unloading operation at the target grass unloading point, the method further includes: Obtaining the location information of the target grass unloading point; An obstacle area is marked in the grass unloading area according to the position information of the target grass unloading point, wherein the obstacle area includes the target grass unloading point.

9. The method according to claim 8, It is characterized in that The step of marking an obstacle area in the grass unloading area according to the position information of the target grass unloading point includes: Obtaining the volume of grass clippings dumped by the grass unloading equipment at the target grass unloading point; determining an expansion distance according to the volume of grass clippings; The target grass unloading point is expanded according to the expansion distance to obtain the obstacle area.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, It is characterized in that The distance between any two of the plurality of grass unloading points is greater than or equal to the length of the grass unloading equipment.

11. A grass unloading control device, It is characterized in that include: An acquisition module is used to obtain an instruction for unloading grass; a determination module, configured to determine a target grass unloading point from a plurality of grass unloading points when the acquisition module acquires the grass unloading instruction, wherein the plurality of grass unloading points are located in a grass unloading area and are used to dump grass clippings to the grass unloading equipment; The control module is used to control the grass unloading equipment to perform grass unloading operations at the target grass unloading point.

12. A grass unloading device, It is characterized in that The invention comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is used to execute instructions stored in the memory, so that the grass unloading device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A computer program product comprising instructions, It is characterized in that When the instruction is executed on the grass unloading device, the grass unloading device is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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