Method for precisely positioning position of charging pile by inspection robot

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for accurately positioning the position of a charging pile by an inspection robot, and the method comprises the following steps: installing a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot, installing a magnetic landmark card at or near the charging pile as a positioning point, and calibrating the coordinates of the charging pile through magnetic positioning; calibrating a normal charging current and acquiring a current charging current, and then calculating a change rate of a difference value between the current current and the calibrated current charging current; and determining a motion direction according to the change rate, and determining an optimal charging position. A magnetic card reader is installed on an inspection robot, a magnetic landmark card is installed on a charging pile or near the charging pile to serve as a positioning point, the coordinates of the charging pile are calibrated through magnetic positioning, and then the change rate of the difference value between the current current and the normal charging current is calculated in real time in the movement process of returning charging through the inspection robot. The next movement direction is determined according to the change rate, the optimal charging position can be accurately found through the closed-loop working mode, and the charging efficiency is effectively improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of inspection robots, and in particular to a method for an inspection robot to accurately locate a charging pile. Background Art

[0002] Currently, inspection robots are divided into two categories, wheeled and tracked. Wheeled and tracked inspection robots are widely used in industrial sites such as pipe corridors, tunnels, substations, steel mills, chemical plants, etc., to identify and collect on-site data. Inspection robot charging methods are generally divided into contact charging and non-contact charging. Contact charging requires metal contact between the inspection robot and the charging pile. The contact point is generally exposed to the air. Sparks may be generated at the moment of contact, which does not meet the explosion-proof requirements and is prone to aging. Therefore, in many cases, inspection robots use non-contact charging, that is, wireless charging. Wireless charging requires that the receiving end of the inspection robot be aligned with the transmitting end of the wireless charging pile. If the position deviation between the two is large, the charging efficiency will be greatly reduced, which places very high requirements on the positioning of the inspection robot.

[0003] In order to accurately and quickly locate the charging pile, the inspection robot generally needs to install a sensor device on the charging pile. When the inspection robot reaches the vicinity of the charging pile, it will reduce its running speed until it is close to the charging pile and detects the sensor signal, and the inspection robot stops moving. First of all, the inspection robot itself has a positioning error, and when the inspection robot receives the sensor signal and the inspection robot stops completely, due to the real-time detection and the appropriate deceleration distance of the robot, it has deviated from the charging pile for a distance. The farther the inspection robot is from the charging pile, the lower the charging efficiency. Therefore, this method can accurately locate the position of the charging pile in a closed-loop manner. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for an inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile, so as to solve the problem that the inspection robot is difficult to accurately locate the position of the charging pile, resulting in reduced charging efficiency.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solution: a method for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot, comprising the following steps: Install a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot, install a magnetic landmark card on or near the charging pile as a positioning point, and calibrate the coordinates of the charging pile through magnetic positioning; Calibrate the normal charging current and obtain the current charging current, and then calculate the rate of change of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current; The direction of movement is determined based on the rate of change, and the optimal charging position is determined.

[0006] Preferably, the method of installing a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot, installing a magnetic landmark card on or near the charging pile as a positioning point, and calibrating the coordinates of the charging pile by magnetic positioning includes: Install a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot; Install magnetic landmarks on the charging pile or at a suitable location near the charging pile as positioning points; Calibrate the coordinates of magnetic positioning points; Calibrate the coordinates of the charging pile.

[0007] Preferably, the calibrating the normal charging current and obtaining the current charging current, and then calculating the rate of change of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current, comprises: Calibrate normal charging current; Get the current charging current; Calculate the rate of change of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current; The smaller the difference between the current charging current and the normal charging current is, the better the charging position is.

[0008] Preferably, the inspection robot is charged by wireless charging.

[0009] Preferably, determining the movement direction and the optimal charging position according to the change rate includes: After the inspection robot reaches the magnetic positioning point, it determines the closed-loop method of the movement direction by obtaining the current current difference change rate to determine the optimal charging position; Among them, the inspection robot moves in two directions perpendicular and parallel to the charging pile to determine the optimal charging position.

[0010] Preferably, the inspection robot moves in two directions perpendicular and parallel to the charging pile to determine the optimal charging position, including: The inspection robot moves slowly along one side horizontal to the charging pile. If the difference between the current charging current and the calibrated charging current becomes larger and larger, it stops moving and then moves in the opposite direction. If the difference becomes smaller and smaller, it continues moving until it stops at the place where the difference is smallest. This position is the optimal charging position.

[0011] The present invention also provides a device for an inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile, comprising: A positioning and calibration module, which is used to calibrate the coordinates of the charging pile through magnetic positioning; A current acquisition module is used to calibrate the normal charging current and obtain the current charging current, and then calculate the change rate of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current; The position acquisition module is used to determine the movement direction according to the change rate and determine the optimal charging position.

[0012] The present invention also provides a device for an inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile. The device for an inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile is a physical device. The device for an inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile includes: A processor and a memory, wherein the memory is communicatively connected to the processor; The memory is used to store at least one executable instruction executed by the processor, and the processor is used to execute the executable instruction to implement the method for the inspection robot to accurately locate the position of the charging pile as mentioned above.

[0013] The present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by the inspection robot as described above is implemented.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: By installing a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot, installing a magnetic landmark card on the charging pile or near it as a positioning point, and calibrating the coordinates of the charging pile through magnetic positioning, the inspection robot then calculates the rate of change of the difference between the current current and the normal charging current in real time during the movement of returning to charge, and determines the next direction of movement based on the rate of change. Through this closed-loop working mode, the best charging position can be accurately found, effectively improving charging efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 A main flow chart of a method for an inspection robot to accurately locate a charging pile provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 A flowchart of the specific steps of a method for accurately locating a charging pile position by a patrol robot provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 A structural block diagram of a device for accurately locating a charging pile position by a patrol robot provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Implementation

[0016] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0017] The execution subject of the method of this embodiment is a patrol robot, and the patrol robot adopts a non-contact charging method.

[0018] See also Figures 1 to 3The present invention provides a method for an inspection robot to accurately locate a charging pile, comprising: Step 101, install a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot, install a magnetic landmark card on the charging pile or near it as a positioning point, and calibrate the coordinates of the charging pile by magnetic positioning.

[0019] The magnetic landmark card may be a magnetic stripe, magnetic tape, magnetic card or magnetic block of a specific shape, used for interacting with a magnetic card reader.

[0020] It is understandable that the magnetic landmark card can be replaced by an RFID tag card or an AGV landmark card or other surface cards with the same function.

[0021] Among them, the magnetic card reader can be a card reader with a medium and long distance (1 to 3 meters) magnetic sensor as the main body, which is used for magnetic surface card interaction.

[0022] It is understandable that the magnetic card reader can be replaced by an RFID industrial reader or an AGV landmark reader or other card readers with the same functions.

[0023] Specifically, step 101 includes: Step 1011, installing a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot; Step 1012, installing a magnetic landmark card as a positioning point on the charging pile or at a suitable location near the charging pile; Step 1013, calibrating the magnetic positioning point coordinates; Step 1014, calibrate the coordinates of the charging pile.

[0024] Step 102, calibrate the normal charging current and obtain the current charging current, and then calculate the change rate of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current.

[0025] Specifically, step 102 includes: Step 1021, calibrating a normal charging current; Step 1022, obtaining the current charging current; Step 1023, calculating the rate of change of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current.

[0026] The smaller the difference between the current charging current and the normal charging current is, the better the charging position is.

[0027] Step 103, determining the movement direction according to the rate of change and determining the optimal charging position.

[0028] Specifically, after the inspection robot reaches the magnetic positioning point, it determines the closed-loop method of the movement direction by obtaining the current current difference change rate to determine the optimal charging position.

[0029] Among them, the inspection robot moves in two directions perpendicular and parallel to the charging pile to determine the optimal charging position.

[0030] Generally speaking, the magnetic landmark positioning point stipulates the limit value in the vertical direction with respect to the charging pile, so there is no need to consider the vertical direction during movement, only the horizontal direction needs to be considered.

[0031] Therefore, when confirming the best charging position, the inspection robot first moves slowly along one side horizontal to the charging pile. If the difference between the current charging current and the calibrated charging current becomes larger and larger, the robot stops moving and then moves in the opposite direction. If the difference becomes smaller and smaller, the robot continues moving until it stops at the place where the difference is smallest. This position is the best charging position.

[0032] In this embodiment, a magnetic card reader is installed on the inspection robot, a magnetic landmark card is installed on the charging pile or near it as a positioning point, and the coordinates of the charging pile are calibrated by magnetic positioning. Then, the rate of change of the difference between the current current and the normal charging current is calculated in real time during the inspection robot's return to charge process, and the next direction of movement is determined based on the rate of change. Through this closed-loop working mode, the best charging position can be accurately found, effectively improving charging efficiency.

[0033] In order to better understand the above embodiments, Figure 2 As shown, the present invention also provides a flowchart of the specific steps of a method for an inspection robot to accurately locate a charging pile, the method at least comprising: Step 201, installing a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot; Step 202, installing a magnetic positioning point on or near the charging pile; Step 203, calibrate the coordinate position of the charging pile and the normal charging current value; Step 204, the inspection robot returns to the charging pile; Step 205, the inspection robot reaches the magnetic positioning point and temporarily stops moving; Step 206, the inspection robot first moves along one side of the charging pile in the horizontal direction; Step 207, at this time, the inspection robot obtains the current charging current value, compares it with the calibrated normal charging current value, calculates the current change rate, and if the difference becomes smaller, it continues to move forward, otherwise it moves in the opposite direction; Step 208: The inspection robot stops moving at the position where the current difference change rate is the smallest, confirms the best charging position, and performs charging.

[0034] Based on the above embodiments, Figure 3As shown, the present invention also provides a device for an inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile, which is used to support the method for the inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile in the above embodiment. The device for the inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile includes: A positioning and calibration module 31, which is used to calibrate the coordinates of the charging pile through magnetic positioning; A current acquisition module 32, which is used to calibrate the normal charging current and obtain the current charging current, and then calculate the change rate of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current; The position acquisition module 33 is used to determine the movement direction according to the change rate and determine the optimal charging position.

[0035] Furthermore, the device for accurately locating the position of the charging pile by the inspection robot can run the method for accurately locating the position of the charging pile by the inspection robot. The specific implementation can be found in the method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0036] On the basis of the above embodiments, the present invention further provides a method and device for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot, and the method and device for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot comprises: A processor and a memory, wherein the processor is communicatively connected with the memory; In this embodiment, the memory may be implemented in any appropriate manner, for example, the memory may be a read-only memory, a mechanical hard disk, a solid-state hard disk, or a USB flash drive, etc.; the memory is used to store at least one executable instruction executed by the processor; In this embodiment, the processor can be implemented in any appropriate manner. For example, the processor can take the form of a microprocessor or a processor and a computer-readable medium storing computer-readable program code (such as software or firmware) that can be executed by the (micro)processor, a logic gate, a switch, an application-specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a programmable logic controller, and an embedded microcontroller, etc.; the processor is used to execute the executable instructions to implement the method for the inspection robot to accurately locate the charging pile position as mentioned above.

[0037] Based on the above embodiments, the present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method for the inspection robot to accurately locate the position of the charging pile as described above is implemented.

[0038] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the modules and method steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of the present invention.

[0039] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described devices, equipment and modules can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0040] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices, apparatuses and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the modules is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple modules or units can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or equipment, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0041] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0042] In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present invention may be integrated into one processing module, or each module may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module.

[0043] If the functions are implemented in the form of software function modules and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program instructions, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only storage server, a random access storage server, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0044] In addition, it should be noted that the combination of the various technical features in this case is not limited to the combination described in the claims of this case or the combination described in the specific embodiments. All technical features described in this case can be freely combined or combined in any way unless there is a contradiction between them.

[0045] It should be noted that the above examples are only specific embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is obviously not limited to the above examples, and there are many similar variations. All variations directly derived or associated from the contents disclosed by the technicians in this field should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0046] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Install a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot, install a magnetic landmark card on or near the charging pile as a positioning point, and calibrate the coordinates of the charging pile through magnetic positioning; Calibrate the normal charging current and obtain the current charging current, and then calculate the rate of change of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current; The direction of movement is determined based on the rate of change, and the optimal charging position is determined.

2. The method for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method of installing a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot, installing a magnetic landmark card on or near the charging pile as a positioning point, and calibrating the coordinates of the charging pile by magnetic positioning includes: Install a magnetic card reader on the inspection robot; Install magnetic landmarks on the charging pile or at a suitable location near the charging pile as positioning points; Calibrate the coordinates of magnetic positioning points; Calibrate the coordinates of the charging pile.

3. The method for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The calibrating the normal charging current and obtaining the current charging current, and then calculating the change rate of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current, includes: Calibrate normal charging current; Get the current charging current; Calculate the rate of change of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current; The smaller the difference between the current charging current and the normal charging current is, the better the charging position is.

4. The method for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The inspection robot is charged wirelessly.

5. The method for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: Determining the movement direction and the optimal charging position according to the change rate includes: After the inspection robot reaches the magnetic positioning point, it determines the closed-loop method of the movement direction by obtaining the current current difference change rate to determine the optimal charging position; Among them, the inspection robot moves in two directions perpendicular and parallel to the charging pile to determine the optimal charging position.

6. The method for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot according to claim 5, characterized in that: The inspection robot moves in two directions perpendicular and parallel to the charging pile to determine the best charging position, including: The inspection robot moves slowly along one side horizontal to the charging pile. If the difference between the current charging current and the calibrated charging current becomes larger and larger, it stops moving and then moves in the opposite direction. If the difference becomes smaller and smaller, it continues moving until it stops at the place where the difference is smallest. This position is the optimal charging position.

7. A device for an inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile, characterized in that: include: A positioning and calibration module, which is used to calibrate the coordinates of the charging pile through magnetic positioning; A current acquisition module is used to calibrate the normal charging current and obtain the current charging current, and then calculate the change rate of the difference between the current current and the calibrated current charging current; The position acquisition module is used to determine the movement direction according to the change rate and determine the optimal charging position.

8. A device for accurately locating the position of a charging pile by a patrol robot, characterized in that: The device for accurately locating the position of the charging pile by the inspection robot includes: A processor and a memory, wherein the memory is communicatively connected to the processor; The memory is used to store at least one executable instruction executed by the processor, and the processor is used to execute the executable instruction to implement the method for the inspection robot to accurately locate the position of the charging pile as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the method for the inspection robot to accurately locate the position of a charging pile as described in any one of claims 1 to 6 is implemented.

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