Cat litter basin cleaning method and electronic equipment

Abstract

According to the cat litter basin cleaning method and the electronic equipment disclosed by the embodiment of the invention, under the condition that it is determined that the pet cat enters the cat litter basin, target identification is started for the image acquired by the image acquisition module so as to identify the excrement area formed when the pet cat enters the cat litter container; the excrement area is an area where excrement exists and an area where the pet cat excretes; under the condition that it is determined that the pet cat leaves the cat litter basin, the mechanical arm is controlled to move so as to drive the bucket to shovel objects in the excrement area into the bucket; the mechanical arm is controlled to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box. The image acquisition module is used for identifying a possibly polluted area where a pet cat excretes in the cat litter basin, and then the mechanical arm is controlled to move, so that the bucket at the front end of the mechanical arm accurately cleans the possibly polluted area, the excrement is accurately shoveled out and put into a storage box, fine cleaning of the excrement in the cat litter basin is achieved, and the cleaning efficiency of the pet cat is improved. And the whole environment in the cat litter basin can be kept in a high-level clean and sanitary state.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of pet intelligent service technology, and in particular to a cat litter box cleaning method and an electronic device. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of electronic technology, various forms of smart homes have begun to appear in people's lives, providing convenience for users in many aspects and improving the quality of life. For example, self-mobile cleaning equipment can free people from a large part of their time from housework, so that they have more time to experience other rich contents of life; smart pet equipment can significantly reduce the daily affairs of users manually handling pets.

[0003] Existing smart pet equipment, such as a cat litter box, can hold cat litter to solve the hygiene problem for pet cats. In order to keep the cat litter box hygienic, a variety of optional excrement cleaning methods have appeared in the existing cat litter box.

[0004] The inventor has experienced the use of cat litter boxes that use different excrement cleaning methods and found that the existing excrement cleaning methods cannot clean the excrement in a detailed manner, and the overall environment in the cat litter box cannot be maintained at a high level of cleanliness and hygiene. Summary of the invention

[0005] The invention provides a cat litter box cleaning method and an electronic device to solve the technical problem that the existing cat litter box cannot clean excrement in detail and the overall environment in the cat litter box cannot be maintained at a high level of cleanliness and hygiene.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a cat litter box cleaning method for cleaning a cat litter box, wherein the cat litter box comprises an image acquisition module, a cat litter container, a robotic arm, and a storage box; the image acquisition module is arranged above the cat litter box and faces the cat litter container; a bucket is arranged at the front end of the robotic arm; the cat litter box cleaning method comprises:

[0007] When it is determined that the pet cat has entered the cat litter box, target recognition is enabled for the image captured by the image acquisition module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container, where the excrement area is the area where excrement exists and the area where the pet cat defecates;

[0008] When it is determined that the pet cat has left the litter box, the robot arm is controlled to move so as to drive the bucket to shovel objects in the excrement area into the bucket. During the movement, the bucket has a minimum distance from the bottom of the cat litter container that is less than a preset threshold value, and the excrement area is within the horizontal movement coverage area of ​​the bucket.

[0009] Control the robotic arm to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box.

[0010] Among them, the target recognition is enabled for the image collected by the image acquisition module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container, including:

[0011] Performing pet cat posture recognition on the images collected by the image acquisition module to identify the buttocks coverage area of ​​the pet cat when defecating;

[0012] Performing excrement recognition on the images collected by the image acquisition module to identify the contaminated area where the pet cat excretes;

[0013] The identified buttocks covered and soiled areas were considered as the excrement areas.

[0014] Among them, the pet cat posture recognition is performed on the image collected by the image acquisition module to identify the buttocks coverage area of ​​the pet cat when defecating, including:

[0015] Extract joint points of the pet cat from the image captured by the image acquisition module, and track the joint points corresponding to the hips;

[0016] When it is determined according to the target tracking result that the pet cat's buttocks remain still for a preset time period, the area where the buttocks are located within the preset time period is used as the buttocks coverage area when the pet cat defecates.

[0017] Among them, the images collected by the image acquisition module are subjected to excrement recognition to identify the contaminated area where the pet cat excretes, including:

[0018] From the moment it is determined that the pet cat has entered the litter box, the image collected by the image collection module is identified for excrement until it is determined that the pet cat has left the litter box;

[0019] All areas with identified excrement were considered contaminated areas where the pet cat defecated.

[0020] When it is determined that the pet cat has left the litter box, the mechanical arm is controlled to move so as to drive the bucket to shovel objects in the excrement area into the bucket, including:

[0021] When it is determined that the pet cat has left the litter box, the mechanical arm is controlled to be lowered and raised at least once until all objects in the excrement area are shoveled into the bucket.

[0022] The mechanical arm is arranged on the horizontal beam and can move horizontally along the horizontal beam, and the mechanical arm includes a first joint, a second joint and a third joint which are sequentially distributed from the horizontal beam to the bucket;

[0023] Controlling the lowering and raising of the robot arm includes:

[0024] Control the robot arm to move horizontally so that the robot arm faces the excrement area to be cleaned;

[0025] Adjust the angles of the second joint and the third joint to enter the first angle combination state;

[0026] Keep the first angle combination state, lower the robot arm by adjusting the first joint, and make the bucket cut into the cat litter from the entry point;

[0027] When the front end of the opening of the bucket moves to the reference point, the angles of the first joint and the second joint are kept unchanged, and the bucket is lifted by adjusting the angle of the third joint, and the reference point is the lowest point of the bucket during the movement;

[0028] When the opening of the bucket is horizontal, the angles of the first joint, the second joint and the third joint are adjusted so that the bucket keeps the opening horizontal and moves to the top of the storage box;

[0029] By adjusting the angle of the third joint, objects in the bucket are poured into the storage box.

[0030] Among them, the distance between the entry point and the first joint is equal to the distance between the reference point and the first joint point, the reference point is located below the excrement area to be cleaned and the distance from the cat litter container is less than a preset threshold value, and the movement direction of the front end of the bucket opening at the entry point is the same as the tangent direction of the reference arc at the entry point; the reference arc has the entry point and the reference point as endpoints and the first joint point as the center.

[0031] Among them, the bucket is a mesh bucket;

[0032] Control the robotic arm to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box, including:

[0033] The robot arm is controlled to shake to filter out clean cat litter from objects scooped into the bucket.

[0034] Among them, after controlling the mechanical arm to shake to filter out clean cat litter from the object shoveled into the bucket, it also includes:

[0035] Control the movement of the robotic arm to drive the opening of the bucket into the preset acquisition range of the image acquisition module;

[0036] Performing additional excrement identification on the images collected by the image acquisition module within the preset collection range;

[0037] When the result of the excrement supplement identification is that there is excrement, the robot arm is controlled to pour the objects in the bucket into the storage box;

[0038] When the result of the excrement supplementary identification is that there is no excrement, the robot arm is controlled to be lowered and raised again until the result of the excrement supplementary identification is that there is excrement, or all objects in the excrement area have been shoveled into the bucket.

[0039] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic device, the electronic device comprising:

[0040] one or more processors;

[0041] a memory for storing one or more computer programs;

[0042] When one or more computer programs are executed by one or more processors, the electronic device implements any cat litter box cleaning method as described in the first aspect.

[0043] In the above-mentioned cat litter box cleaning method and electronic device, the cat litter box includes an image acquisition module, a cat litter container, a mechanical arm and a storage box; the image acquisition module is arranged above the cat litter box and faces the cat litter container; a bucket is arranged at the front end of the mechanical arm. When it is determined that the pet cat enters the cat litter box, target recognition is enabled for the image acquired by the image acquisition module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container, and the excrement area is the area where excrement exists and the area where the pet cat excretes; when it is determined that the pet cat leaves the cat litter box, the mechanical arm is controlled to move to drive the bucket to shovel objects in the excrement area into the bucket, and during the movement of the bucket, there is a minimum distance less than a preset threshold value from the bottom of the cat litter container, and the excrement area is located within the horizontal movement coverage area of ​​the bucket; the mechanical arm is controlled to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box. The image acquisition module is used to identify the areas in the litter box that may be contaminated by the excretion of the pet cat, and then the movement of the robotic arm is controlled so that the bucket at the front end of the robotic arm can accurately clean the possible contaminated areas, and the excrement can be accurately scooped out and placed in a storage box. The excrement is carefully cleaned in the litter box, and the overall environment in the litter box can be maintained at a high level of cleanliness and hygiene. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0045] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the cat litter box provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0046] Figure 2 A flow chart of a method for cleaning a cat litter box provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0047] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of identifying excrement areas in the cat litter box cleaning method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0048] Figure 4-Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the operation process of cleaning the excrement area.

[0049] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of the hardware architecture of a cat litter box provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is understood that the specific embodiments described herein are used to explain the present invention, rather than to limit the present invention. It should also be noted that, for the sake of ease of description, only parts related to the present invention, rather than all structures, are shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0051] It should be noted that due to space limitations, this application description does not list all optional implementation methods. After reading this application description, those skilled in the art should be able to understand that as long as the technical features do not contradict each other, any combination of technical features can constitute an optional implementation method.

[0052] Each embodiment is described in detail below.

[0053] Existing smart pet devices, such as cat litter boxes, can hold cat litter to solve hygiene problems for pet cats. Every time a cat defecates, it will cover the excrement with cat litter. The cat litter is therefore lumped or blocky, which is easy to clean and deodorize, and keeps the cat litter bin clean. There are two ways to clean the excrement covered with cat litter: manual and mechanical filtration. Among them, there are many specific schemes for mechanical methods. For example, there is a form in which the inner drum of the cat litter box is set as a drum sieve, and the cat litter is sieved out in a way similar to the dehydration of a drum washing machine, leaving the excrement. In addition, there is a shovel with a comb tooth structure inside, and its length is close to the width of the cat litter box. The shovel is translated from one end to the other end perpendicular to the width of the cat litter box to filter out the excrement.

[0054] The inventor has used cat litter boxes with different excrement cleaning methods and found that the existing excrement cleaning methods cannot clean the excrement in detail, and the overall environment in the cat litter box cannot be maintained at a high level of cleanliness and hygiene. The inventor has conducted an in-depth analysis of the structure and cleaning process of the existing cat litter box for excrement cleaning and found that when the drum screen is designed for cleaning, all cat litter and excrement roll as a whole in the inner cylinder, and the excrement is easy to spread and stick to the inner wall of the inner cylinder to cause dirt, and urine is easy to penetrate the cat litter and overflow from the small holes in the inner cylinder. Excrement remains in the cat litter and will evenly contaminate the originally clean cat litter. The design of the shovel with a comb tooth structure is that when cleaning, a shovel with a fixed comb tooth spacing will cause too much resistance to the excrement of varying sizes, and the shovel will get stuck if the comb teeth are too dense. Small pieces of excrement may be missed easily if the comb teeth are too sparse. The comb teeth are also prone to sticking to excrement. The gap formed between the two ends of the shovel and the side wall of the cat litter box is also prone to crushing the excrement due to the relative movement of the shovel and the side wall, causing the excrement to scatter and stick to the edge of the cat litter box and cannot be cleaned by the shovel, resulting in sanitary dead corners.

[0055] In view of the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application propose a cat litter box cleaning method and electronic device, wherein the cat litter box includes an image acquisition module, a cat litter container, a mechanical arm and a storage box; the image acquisition module is arranged above the cat litter box and faces the cat litter container; a bucket is arranged at the front end of the mechanical arm. When it is determined that the pet cat has entered the cat litter box, target recognition is enabled for the image acquired by the image acquisition module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container, the excrement area being the area where excrement exists and the area where the pet cat excretes; when it is determined that the pet cat has left the cat litter box, the mechanical arm is controlled to move to drive the bucket to shovel objects in the excrement area into the bucket, and during the movement, the bucket has a minimum distance from the bottom of the cat litter container that is less than a preset threshold value, and the excrement area is located within the horizontal movement coverage area of ​​the bucket; the mechanical arm is controlled to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box. The image acquisition module is used to identify the areas in the litter box that may be contaminated by the excretion of the pet cat, and then the movement of the robotic arm is controlled so that the bucket at the front end of the robotic arm can accurately clean the possible contaminated areas, and the excrement can be accurately scooped out and placed in a storage box. The excrement is carefully cleaned in the litter box, and the overall environment in the litter box can be maintained at a high level of cleanliness and hygiene.

[0056] The cat litter box cleaning method in the embodiment of the present application is implemented based on a cat litter box. A cat litter box refers to a device that can hold cat litter and is equipped with some hardware capable of data collection and can realize mechanical action-related functions according to control signals.

[0057] like Figure 1As shown, the cat litter box 10, the image acquisition module 12, the cat litter container 14, the robotic arm 13 and the storage box 11 in the embodiment of the present application; the image acquisition module 12 is arranged above the cat litter box 10 and faces the cat litter container 14, and is used for identifying the excrement in the cat litter container 14; the front end of the robotic arm 13 is provided with a bucket 131, and the robotic arm 13 is used to move the excrement to the storage box 11 by moving the bucket 131 when the image acquisition module 12 identifies the excrement.

[0058] The image acquisition module 12 is arranged above the cat litter box 10 and facing the cat litter container 14. The photosensitive device in the image acquisition module 12 can detect the ambient light and generate a corresponding electrical signal to realize image acquisition. The image acquisition module 12 is usually provided with a fill light, such as a point light source arranged at a position adjacent to the photosensitive device, or a light strip arranged around the cat litter box. The mechanical arm 13 can be a multi-axis mechanical arm, which can realize the position adjustment of the bucket 131 in various dimensions such as horizontal, vertical and directional, so that the bucket 131 can clean any position in the cat litter container 14. The mechanical arm 13 and the storage box 11 are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the cat litter box 10. The mechanical arm 13 can realize the cleaning of any position in the cat litter container 14 by the bucket 131 through more easily controlled motion changes. The bucket 131 can be selected as a mesh bucket, that is, the bucket 131 has a plurality of holes with the size of the cat litter as a reference, which can filter the cat litter when removing the excrement and leave the clean cat litter in the cat litter container 14.

[0059] The storage box 11 is used to collect the excrement removed by the bucket 131. The storage box 11 can be designed to be movable to facilitate the dumping of the collected excrement. A smell-proof structure can be set on the top of the storage box 11. For example, the top of the storage box 11 is provided with a normally closed cover that is driven upward by an elastic device.

[0060] In a specific implementation, a transparent cover 16 is disposed above the cat litter container 14 , the image acquisition module 12 and the robotic arm 13 are both disposed on the inner wall of the transparent cover 16 , and one side of the transparent cover 16 is opened as an entrance and exit. Figure 1The cat litter box 10 with a transparent cover 16 shown in the figure can be roughly regarded as an upper and lower part, wherein the lower part includes a detachable cat litter container 14 and a storage box 11 arranged side by side, and the upper part is mainly a transparent cover 16 and an image acquisition module 12 and a mechanical arm 13 arranged on the transparent cover 16. An entrance and exit are arranged on the side of the transparent cover 16, and a step 15 is arranged at the position of the entrance and exit. The bottom of the step 15 is flush with the bottom of the cat litter box 10, and the top of the step 15 is connected to the entrance and exit. Specifically, it can be directly flush with the entrance and exit, or it can be one step away from the entrance and exit. The setting of the step 15 is convenient for pet cats to enter and exit the cat litter box 10. The entrance and exit can be provided with an infrared sensor, and it can be determined whether a pet cat enters or leaves by simple signal detection. For example, two infrared sensors are arranged side by side, and it can be accurately determined whether a pet cat enters or leaves according to the trigger sequence. The fill light of the image acquisition module 12 can be integrated with the image acquisition module 12, or it can be set on the top of the top cover in the form of a light strip. It should be understood that if the present solution is implemented directly in the cat litter box 10, a processor, a communication device, etc. are also provided inside the cat litter box 10 for processing and transmitting the data required for realizing the excrement identification and cleaning.

[0061] exist Figure 1 In the cat litter box 10 shown, the image acquisition module 12 and the mechanical arm 13 are arranged on the same side of the transparent cover 16, so that the image acquisition module 12 can perform a clearer image acquisition of the objects in the bucket 131 to achieve more accurate identification.

[0062] If the storage box 11 and the cat litter container 14 are arranged side by side, the opening of the storage box 11 is higher than the opening of the cat litter container 14, or the opening of the storage box 11 is flush with the opening of the cat litter container 14, which reduces the clean cat litter entering the storage box 11 during the pet's excretion process or the cleaning process of the robotic arm 13.

[0063] It should be noted that the cat litter box is merely a name based on the functional design and does not represent a limitation on the specific product form. For example, a cat litter box with a certain depth for accommodating cat litter and an open design on the top, a cat litter bin with a certain depth for accommodating cat litter and a shielded design on the top with only an opening on the side for pet cats to enter and exit, etc., when an image acquisition module, a robotic arm and a storage box are set on the basis of these overall product forms, they all belong to the cat litter box in the embodiments of the present application.

[0064] Please refer to Figure 2 , which is a method flow chart of a cat litter box cleaning method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The cat litter box cleaning method is implemented based on any cat litter box in the previous embodiment. The cat litter box cleaning method is implemented by an electronic device. The electronic device can be a cat litter box directly, or a server or terminal device that establishes a communication connection with the cat litter box, or a comprehensive implementation of multiple devices. Figure 2As shown, the cat litter box cleaning method includes but is not limited to steps S110 to S130:

[0065] Step S110: When it is determined that the pet cat has entered the cat litter box, target recognition is enabled for the image captured by the image acquisition module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container. The excrement area is the area where excrement exists and the area where the pet cat defecates.

[0066] Identifying that a pet cat has entered a cat litter box can be directly determined by image recognition through an image acquisition module, or can be achieved through the infrared sensor described above, or can be achieved through detection by a weight sensor set at the bottom of the cat litter container. After determining that the pet cat has entered the cat litter box, target recognition is enabled for the image captured by the image acquisition module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container. The excrement area is the area where excrement exists and the area where the pet cat excretes. The specific target recognition can be the electronic device described above, or it can be directly implemented by the recognition module built into the image acquisition module. The excrement area in the embodiment of the present application does not only refer to the area with visible excrement, but also includes all areas with visible excrement, as well as areas where excrement may be hidden. For example, after excreting, pet cats usually bury the excrement in place, and because of the angle relationship between the pet cat and the image acquisition module when excreting, the excrement may not be directly captured in the image captured by the image acquisition module. At this time, the general excretion position is determined by identifying the body parts of the pet cat, and is used as part of the excrement area.

[0067] Based on the above definition of the excrement area, target recognition is enabled for the images collected by the image acquisition module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container, including: performing pet cat posture recognition on the images collected by the image acquisition module to identify the area covered by the pet cat's buttocks when defecating; performing excrement recognition on the images collected by the image acquisition module to identify the contaminated area where the pet cat defecates; and using the identified buttocks covered area and contaminated area as the excrement area. That is, the area covered by the pet cat's buttocks and the area where excrement actually exists are identified in the cat litter container to ensure the comprehensive cleaning of the cat litter box.

[0068] In the specific implementation process, the pet cat posture recognition is performed on the images captured by the image acquisition module to identify the buttocks coverage area of ​​the pet cat when defecating, including: extracting the joint points of the pet cat in the images captured by the image acquisition module, and performing target tracking on the joint points corresponding to the buttocks; when it is determined according to the result of target tracking that the pet cat's buttocks are still for a preset time, the area where the buttocks are located within the preset time is used as the buttocks coverage area of ​​the pet cat when defecating.

[0069] According to the details of the pet cat's movements and related parts during excretion, the pet cat's hip position is obtained by locating the pet cat's joints, and then the pet cat's hip position distribution heat map analysis algorithm or tracking algorithm is used to obtain the position of the pet cat's hips that remain stationary for more than a specified time (such as 15 seconds) as an estimate of the approximate position of the excrement. The joint points can be realized by methods including but not limited to YOLO-POSE, HRNet, etc., and the tracking of the pet cat's hips can be realized by methods including but not limited to deep sort, JDE, etc.

[0070] Among them, the images collected by the image acquisition module are subjected to excrement recognition to identify the contaminated area where the pet cat excretes, including: starting from determining that the pet cat enters the cat litter box, the images collected by the image acquisition module are subjected to excrement recognition until determining that the pet cat leaves the cat litter box; all areas where excrement is identified are regarded as the contaminated area where the pet cat excretes. In order to ensure the comprehensive recognition of the distribution of pet cat excrement, excrement recognition is a continuous process. Pet cats usually do not touch excrement. The location of the excrement detected at the beginning may not be detected later because the pet cat buries it in situ. The excrement is very likely to be in the original place, and it is necessary to clean it accordingly. Therefore, all areas where excrement is identified are regarded as contaminated areas. The specific implementation of excrement detection is through a pre-trained target detection algorithm, for example, by detecting wet cat litter and cat feces as the precise location estimation of cat excrement. The algorithms used include but are not limited to YOLO, SSD, and R-CNN.

[0071] The above process of performing hip position detection and contaminated area detection to obtain the excrement area can be referred to Figure 3 ,like Figure 3 As shown, area A is the area where the joint points of the pet cat's hips are detected with high density, that is, area A is the hip coverage area, and area B is the distribution area where the pet cat's excrement is detected, that is, area B is the contaminated area. Here, the union of area A and area B is taken as the excrement area. When specifically confirming the excrement area, only the joint points or the precise area corresponding to the excrement can be taken as the excrement area, or a certain degree of scheme can be made for the detected area to avoid cleaning loopholes and ensure that the locations with a high probability of excrement are cleaned.

[0072] Step S120: When it is determined that the pet cat has left the litter box, the robot arm is controlled to move to drive the bucket to shovel objects in the excrement area into the bucket. During the movement, the bucket has a minimum distance from the bottom of the cat litter container that is less than a preset threshold value, and the excrement area is located within the horizontal movement coverage area of ​​the bucket.

[0073] When it is determined that the pet cat has left the litter box, for example, the pet cat cannot be identified from the image for a certain period of time, or the infrared sensor detects that the pet cat has left the entrance and exit for a period of time, the safety of the pet cat can be guaranteed during the operation of the control robot arm, and the pet cat's excrement can be cleaned up. When the target area is determined, the robot arm is controlled to operate according to the pre-calibrated position to shovel the objects in the excrement area into the bucket. It should be understood that the bucket only needs to shovel a thin layer on the surface to reach the general burial depth of the excrement. If the excrement area is small and the bucket can cover it directly, it only needs to be shoveled once; if the excrement area is large and the bucket cannot cover it directly, it needs to be shoveled multiple times to achieve full coverage and cleaning of the excrement area. That is, when it is determined that the pet cat has left the litter box, the robot arm is controlled to be lowered and raised at least once until all objects in the excrement area are shoveled into the bucket.

[0074] In a specific implementation, Figure 1 As shown, the robot arm 13 is arranged on the horizontal beam and can move horizontally along the horizontal beam. Figure 4 As shown, the mechanical arm 13 includes a first joint J1, a second joint J2 and a third joint J3 which are sequentially distributed from the horizontal beam to the bucket 131, and the axes of the first joint J1, the second joint J2 and the third joint J3 are parallel.

[0075] Based on the structure of the above mechanical arm 13, the embodiment of the present application also proposes a method for controlling the mechanical arm 13, that is, the detailed process of controlling the lowering and lifting of the mechanical arm described above. In the embodiment of the present application, in order to ensure the thorough cleaning of excrement, on the basis of identifying the excrement area where there is excrement on the surface or suspected excrement, in the process of cleaning the excrement area by the mechanical arm, the excrement area is cleaned by shoveling the bottom, that is, when cleaning the excrement area, the shovel is controlled to cut into the cat litter from the edge of the excrement area to be processed, and after the shovel is extended to the bottom of the area where excrement is most likely to exist, it is lifted up, thereby achieving a thorough cleaning of the excrement area to be cleaned and avoiding pollution of other areas.

[0076] In the embodiment of the present application, a depth mark is set on the side of the cat litter container. The image acquisition module can detect the current depth of the cat litter while identifying the distribution state of the excrement area on the horizontal plane. On the basis of having detected the distribution state of the excrement area on the horizontal plane and the depth of the cat litter, it is equivalent to being able to accurately describe the space below the surface of the cat litter (i.e., spatial coordinates), and combine the calibration of the robotic arm to control the precise cleaning of the robotic arm at any position.

[0077] When an excrement area to be cleaned is determined, the robot arm 13 can be controlled to move horizontally on the crossbeam according to the horizontal position of the excrement area to be cleaned, so that the robot arm 23 is directly facing the excrement area to be cleaned, that is, the robot arm 13 is controlled to move horizontally on the crossbeam according to the horizontal position of the excrement area to be cleaned. Figure 1 In the embodiment of the present application, the excrement area to be cleaned refers to a suitable area determined according to the covering capacity of the bucket 131, and the suitable area is determined according to the specific detection results, and can be all excrement areas or a part of the excrement area.

[0078] While adjusting the position of the robot arm 13 on the crossbeam or after adjusting it to the right position, the angles of the second joint J2 and the third joint J3 can be adjusted to enter the first angle combination state. The first angle combination state is to determine the angle control information of the second joint J2 and the third joint J3 according to the length between each joint in the robot arm 13 and the position of the excrement area to be cleaned, that is, to obtain the first angle combination state. The first angle combination state is actually based on Figure 5 The expected effect shown is confirmed.

[0079] exist Figure 5 In the state shown, the first angle combination state is maintained, the robot arm 12 is lowered by adjusting the first joint J1, and the bucket 131 cuts into the cat litter from the entry point C; the distance between the entry point C and the first joint J1 is equal to the distance between the reference point Oˋ and the first joint point J1, the reference point Oˋ is located directly below the excrement area to be cleaned (the position of the excrement area to be cleaned is represented by point O) and the distance from the cat litter container 14 is less than the preset threshold value, the front end of the opening of the bucket 131 moves in the same direction at the entry point C as the tangent direction of the reference arc at the entry point C; the reference arc has the entry point C and the reference point Oˋ as endpoints, and the first joint point J1 as the center. Figure 5 In the scene shown, the first angle combination state is actually Figure 5 The calculation is shown as the expected state, and the angles of the second joint J2 and the third joint J3 are determined according to the angle relationship. In order to obtain the most labor-saving cutting method, the back (BC) of the bucket 131 is flat, and the cutting angle can be equal to the angle between the back (BC) of the bucket 131 and the surface of the cat litter.

[0080] The angle data corresponding to the first angle combination state can be referred to Figure 4 and Figure 5 And the angle determined by the graphic relationship constrained by the previous paragraph. Figure 4In the figure, the excrement area to be cleaned is located at point O. The position of the reference point below point O can be determined based on the preset threshold value and the position of point O. To achieve the goal of only rotating the first joint J1 to enable the bucket 131 to cut into the cat litter and directly enter the cat litter, the distance between the entry point C and the first joint J1 can be determined to be equal to the distance between the reference point Oˋ and the first joint point J1 based on the relative position relationship between the first joint J1 and the robot arm 13 while maintaining the first angle combination state. The distance between the reference point Oˋ and the first joint point J1 is because the position of J1 has been calibrated. The reference point Oˋ can also determine the spatial position based on the horizontal coordinate of point O and the depth relationship with point O, so that the distance between the reference point Oˋ and the first joint point J1 can be obtained, that is, the distance between the entry point C and the first joint point J1. It is equivalent to Figure 5 In the concave quadrilateral formed by J1, C(A), J3 and J2, three sides are the fixed lengths of the robot arm 13, and one side can be calculated, ∠J1CB=90°, ∠J3CB is a fixed parameter of the bucket 131, and the angle of ∠J1CJ3 in the concave quadrilateral can be determined accordingly. At this time, for the concave quadrilateral, the angles at the second joint J2 and the third joint J3 can be determined based on the known edge angle information. Before the first joint J1 rotates clockwise, the second joint J2 and the third joint J3 are adjusted to the determined angles, that is, the first angle combination state is entered. When the first joint J1 is subsequently rotated clockwise, the first angle combination state remains unchanged.

[0081] When the first joint J1 is rotated, the front end of the opening of the bucket 131 is determined to move to the reference point O according to the control amount. The state of the robot arm 13 and the bucket 131 on the robot arm 13 and the cat litter is as follows: Figure 6 As shown, the angles of the first joint J1 and the second joint J2 are kept unchanged, and the bucket 131 is lifted by adjusting the angle of the third joint J3 until the bucket 131 is lifted as shown in FIG. Figure 7 The opening of the bucket 131 is shown horizontally.

[0082] When the opening of the bucket 131 is horizontal, the angles of the first joint J1, the second joint J2, and the third joint J3 are adjusted to keep the opening of the bucket 131 horizontal and move it above the storage box 11. When the opening of the bucket 131 is already horizontal, the angles of the first joint J1, the second joint J2, and the third joint J3 are adjusted to keep the opening of the bucket 131 horizontal during the movement, thereby reducing the omission of objects that have entered the bucket.

[0083] When the bucket 131 has moved to the top of the storage box 11, Figure 8As shown, by adjusting the angle of the third joint J3, the objects in the bucket 131 are poured into the storage box 121. During the cleaning process, all the identified areas to be cleaned are completed according to the above rounds, that is, a round of cleaning method for the cat litter device 10 is completed. Of course, entering Figure 7 In the state shown, the shaking of the mechanical arm 13 can also drive the bucket 131 to shake, so as to filter out clean cat litter in the objects shoveled into the bucket 131, thereby improving the utilization rate of the cat litter and reducing the cost of raising pet cats.

[0084] In view of the cleaning requirements in the application scenarios of this solution, the above method of using the mechanical arm 13 to drive the bucket 131 to shovel the bottom for cleaning can reduce the multi-joint linkage during the movement of the mechanical arm 13 and reduce the control difficulty; the bucket 131 cuts in with the arc as the reference tangent, which can also reduce the resistance of shoveling cat litter, shorten the moving path, improve cleaning efficiency, and reduce energy consumption.

[0085] It should be noted that the above Figure 4-Figure 8 The single cleaning process described above can only ensure the basic operation sequence of the first joint J1, the second joint J2 and the third joint J3 in the specific implementation process, and the specific details of the bucket 131 cutting into the cat litter are not limited, that is, the mechanical arm 13 is first controlled to move horizontally so that the mechanical arm 13 is facing the excrement area to be cleaned; then the angles of the second joint J2 and the third joint J3 are adjusted to enter the first angle combination state; then the first angle combination state is maintained, the mechanical arm 13 is lowered by adjusting the first joint J1, and the bucket 131 cuts into the cat litter from the entry point; Next, when the front end of the opening of the bucket 131 moves to the reference point, the angles of the first joint J1 and the second joint J2 are kept unchanged, and the bucket is lifted by adjusting the angle of the third joint J3, and the reference point is the lowest point of the bucket 131 during the movement; when the opening of the bucket 131 is horizontal, the angles of the first joint J1, the second joint J2 and the third joint J3 are adjusted to keep the opening of the bucket 131 horizontal and move it above the storage box 11; finally, the angle of the third joint J3 is adjusted to pour the objects in the bucket 131 into the storage box 11. Through this implementation method, at least the multi-joint linkage during the movement of the robot arm 13 can be reduced, and the control difficulty can be reduced.

[0086] Step S130: Control the robot arm to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box.

[0087] In the specific process of removing the excrement, the surface layer of the excrement area can be poured into the storage box, that is, all the objects scooped by the bucket are poured into the storage box to ensure that the cat litter box is completely hygienic. A mesh bucket can also be set, and the mesh size of the mesh bucket is based on the cat litter. When the mechanical arm is controlled to pour the excrement scooped into the bucket into the storage box, the mechanical arm is controlled to shake to filter out the clean cat litter in the objects scooped into the bucket, thereby improving the utilization rate of the cat litter and reducing the cost of raising pet cats.

[0088] After each shaking, the robot arm can be controlled to move to drive the opening of the bucket into the preset collection range of the image acquisition module; the image acquired by the image acquisition module in the preset collection range is subjected to additional excrement identification; if the result of the additional excrement identification is that there is excrement, the robot arm is controlled to pour the objects in the bucket into the storage box; if the result of the additional excrement identification is that there is no excrement, the robot arm is controlled to be lowered and raised again until the result of the additional excrement identification is that there is excrement, or all objects in the excrement area have been shoveled into the bucket. This is equivalent to ensuring that excrement is poured into the storage box in the end, or confirming that there is no excrement in the excrement area, on the basis of shaking and filtering the clean cat litter.

[0089] After controlling the mechanical arm to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box, the mechanical arm can also be controlled to move to drive the bucket to smooth the cat litter in the cat litter container, thereby providing a good environment for the pet cat's next excretion.

[0090] In the above-mentioned cat litter box cleaning method, the cat litter box includes an image acquisition module, a cat litter container, a mechanical arm and a storage box; the image acquisition module is arranged above the cat litter box and faces the cat litter container; a bucket is arranged at the front end of the mechanical arm. When it is determined that the pet cat enters the cat litter box, target recognition is enabled for the image acquired by the image acquisition module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container, and the excrement area is the area where excrement exists and the area where the pet cat excretes; when it is determined that the pet cat leaves the cat litter box, the mechanical arm is controlled to move to drive the bucket to shovel objects in the excrement area into the bucket, and during the movement of the bucket, there is a minimum distance less than a preset threshold value from the bottom of the cat litter container, and the excrement area is located within the horizontal movement coverage area of ​​the bucket; the mechanical arm is controlled to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box. The image acquisition module is used to identify the areas in the litter box that may be contaminated by the excretion of the pet cat, and then the movement of the robotic arm is controlled so that the bucket at the front end of the robotic arm can accurately clean the possible contaminated areas, and the excrement can be accurately scooped out and placed in a storage box. The excrement is carefully cleaned in the litter box, and the overall environment in the litter box can be maintained at a high level of cleanliness and hygiene.

[0091] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9 As shown, the electronic device includes a processor 310 and a memory 320. The electronic device may also include an input device 330, an output device 340, and a communication device 350. The number of processors 310 in the electronic device may be one or more. Fig. 9A processor 310 is taken as an example; the processor 310, the memory 320, the input device 330, the output device 340 and the communication device 350 in the electronic device can be connected via a bus or other means. Fig. 9 The example of connecting through bus is taken in the following.

[0092] The memory 320 is a computer-readable storage medium that can be used to store software programs, computer executable programs and modules, such as program instructions / modules corresponding to the cat litter box cleaning method in the embodiment of the present application. The processor 310 executes various functional applications and data processing of the electronic device by running the software programs, instructions and modules stored in the memory 320, that is, implementing the above-mentioned cat litter box cleaning method.

[0093] The memory 320 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application required for at least one function; the data storage area may store data created according to the use of the electronic device, etc. In addition, the memory 320 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state storage device. In some instances, the memory 320 may further include a memory remotely arranged relative to the processor 310, and these remote memories may be connected to the electronic device via a network. Examples of the above-mentioned network include, but are not limited to, the Internet, an intranet, a local area network, a mobile communication network, and combinations thereof.

[0094] The input device 330 may be used to receive network configuration information. The output device 340 may include a display device such as a display screen.

[0095] The above electronic device can be used to execute any cat litter box cleaning method and has corresponding functions and beneficial effects.

[0096] An embodiment of the present invention also provides a storage medium containing computer executable instructions. When the computer executable instructions are executed by a computer processor, they are used to perform relevant operations in the cat litter box cleaning method provided in any embodiment of the present application, and have corresponding functions and beneficial effects.

[0097] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products.

[0098] Therefore, the present application may take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Moreover, the present application may take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code. The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the processes and / or boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the functions in the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can guide a computer or other programmable data processing device to work in a specific way, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device, which implements the functions specified in the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, so that a series of operation steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide for implementing the process in the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps for the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0099] In a typical configuration, a computing device includes one or more processors (CPU), input / output interfaces, network interfaces, and memory. The memory may include non-permanent memory in a computer-readable medium, random access memory (RAM) and / or non-volatile memory in the form of read-only memory (ROM) or flash RAM. The memory is an example of a computer-readable medium.

[0100] Computer readable media include permanent and non-permanent, removable and non-removable media that can be used to store information by any method or technology. Information can be computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other non-transmission media that can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device. As defined herein, computer readable media does not include temporary computer readable media (transitory media), such as modulated data signals and carrier waves.

[0101] It should also be noted that the terms "include", "comprises" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, commodity or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, commodity or device. In the absence of more restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprises a ..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, commodity or device including the elements.

[0102] Note that the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and the technical principles used. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, and that various obvious changes, readjustments and substitutions can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in more detail through the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include more other equivalent embodiments without departing from the concept of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A cat litter box cleaning method, characterized in that: Used for cleaning a cat litter box, the cat litter box comprising an image acquisition module, a cat litter container, a robotic arm and a storage box; the image acquisition module is arranged above the cat litter box and faces the cat litter container; The front end of the mechanical arm is provided with a bucket; the cat litter box cleaning method comprises: In the case of determining that the pet cat has entered the cat litter box, enabling target recognition for the image captured by the image acquisition module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container, wherein the excrement area is an area where excrement exists and an area where the pet cat defecates; When it is determined that the pet cat has left the cat litter box, the mechanical arm is controlled to move so as to drive the bucket to shovel objects in the excrement area into the bucket, and during the movement, the bucket has a minimum distance from the bottom of the cat litter container that is less than a preset threshold value, and the excrement area is located within the horizontal movement coverage area of ​​the bucket; The mechanical arm is controlled to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box.

2. The cat litter box cleaning method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method of starting target recognition on the image collected by the image collection module to identify the excrement area formed by the pet cat entering the cat litter container includes: Performing pet cat posture recognition on the image captured by the image acquisition module to identify the buttocks coverage area of ​​the pet cat when defecating; Performing excrement recognition on the images collected by the image collection module to identify the contaminated area where the pet cat excretes; The identified buttocks covered and soiled areas were considered as the excrement areas.

3. The cat litter box cleaning method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The performing pet cat posture recognition on the image captured by the image acquisition module to identify the buttocks coverage area of ​​the pet cat when defecating includes: Extracting joint points of the pet cat from the image captured by the image acquisition module, and performing target tracking on the joint points corresponding to the hips; When it is determined according to the target tracking result that the static time length of the buttocks of the pet cat reaches a preset time length, the area where the buttocks are located within the preset time length is used as the buttocks coverage area when the pet cat defecates.

4. The cat litter box cleaning method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The performing excrement recognition on the image collected by the image acquisition module to identify the contaminated area where the pet cat excretes includes: Performing excrement recognition on the image collected by the image collection module from the moment it is determined that the pet cat enters the cat litter box until it is determined that the pet cat leaves the cat litter box; All areas where excrement is identified are regarded as contaminated areas where the pet cat excretes.

5. The cat litter box cleaning method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: When it is determined that the pet cat has left the cat litter box, controlling the mechanical arm to move so as to drive the bucket to shovel objects in the excrement area into the bucket comprises: When it is determined that the pet cat has left the cat litter box, the mechanical arm is controlled to be lowered and raised at least once until all objects in the excrement area are shoveled into the bucket.

6. The cat litter box cleaning method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The mechanical arm is arranged on the horizontal beam and can move horizontally along the horizontal beam, and the mechanical arm comprises a first joint, a second joint and a third joint which are sequentially distributed from the horizontal beam to the bucket; Controlling the lowering and raising of the robotic arm includes: Controlling the mechanical arm to move horizontally so that the mechanical arm faces the excrement area to be cleaned; Adjusting the angles of the second joint and the third joint to enter a first angle combination state; Keeping the first angle combination state, lowering the mechanical arm by adjusting the first joint, and making the bucket cut into the cat litter from the entry point; When the front end of the opening of the bucket moves to a reference point, the angles of the first joint and the second joint are kept unchanged, and the bucket is lifted by adjusting the angle of the third joint, wherein the reference point is the lowest point of the bucket during the movement; When the opening of the bucket is horizontal, the angles of the first joint, the second joint and the third joint are adjusted so that the bucket keeps the opening horizontal and moves to above the storage box; By adjusting the angle of the third joint, the objects in the bucket are poured into the storage box.

7. The cat litter box cleaning method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The distance between the entry point and the first joint is equal to the distance between the reference point and the first joint point, the reference point is located below the excrement area to be cleaned and at a distance from the cat litter container that is less than a preset threshold value, and the movement direction of the front end of the opening of the bucket at the entry point is the same as the tangent direction of the reference arc at the entry point; The reference arc has the entry point and the reference point as endpoints and the first joint point as the center.

8. The cat litter box cleaning method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The bucket is a mesh bucket; The controlling the mechanical arm to pour the excrement shoveled into the bucket into the storage box comprises: The mechanical arm is controlled to shake to filter out clean cat litter from the object shoveled into the bucket.

9. The cat litter box cleaning method according to claim 8, characterized in that: After controlling the mechanical arm to vibrate to filter out clean cat litter from the object shoveled into the bucket, the method further includes: Controlling the movement of the mechanical arm to drive the opening of the bucket to enter a preset acquisition range of the image acquisition module; Performing additional excrement identification on the images collected by the image collection module within a preset collection range; When the result of the excrement supplement identification is that there is excrement, controlling the mechanical arm to pour the objects in the bucket into the storage box; When the result of the excrement supplementary identification is that there is no excrement, the robot arm is controlled to be lowered and raised again until the result of the excrement supplementary identification is that there is excrement, or all objects in the excrement area have been shoveled into the bucket.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that include: one or more processors; a memory for storing one or more computer programs; When the one or more computer programs are executed by the one or more processors, the electronic device implements the cat litter box cleaning method as described in any one of claims 1-9.

Images