Pile searching method of robot

Abstract

The invention provides a pile searching method for a robot, which is applied to a self-moving equipment system, the self-moving equipment system comprises a robot and a charging pile, the robot or the charging pile is internally provided with a wireless AP module for sending out a wireless network signal, and the charging pile is in communication connection with the robot through the wireless network signal; the pile searching method for the robot comprises the following steps: acquiring the signal intensity of a wireless network in communication connection with a charging pile when the robot is located in each sub-region; according to the wireless network signal intensity when the robot is located in each sub-region, determining a search sequence of the plurality of sub-regions; and controlling the robot to sequentially enter each sub-region to search the charging pile according to the search sequence of the plurality of sub-regions. Compared with a mode of blindly searching the charging pile in the prior art, the searching efficiency of the charging pile is improved, and it is ensured that the robot can quickly find the charging pile.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of robot technology, and in particular to a robot pile-finding method. Background Art

[0002] The robot is equipped with a power storage unit, which can support the robot to work independently without the charging station. After the robot completes the task or receives the charging instruction, it needs to return to the charging station for charging or other maintenance work. Therefore, it is particularly important for the robot to find the charging station accurately and quickly.

[0003] At present, the position where the robot was last charged is generally used as the preset position of the charging pile. When it is necessary to return to the charging pile, the robot moves to the preset position to find the charging pile. However, during the operation of the robot, the charging pile may be moved away manually, which may cause the robot to fail to find the charging pile at the preset position. At this time, in the prior art, the robot generally searches blindly for the charging pile in its working area, and this search method is inefficient. When the robot is low on power, it is possible that the remaining power of the robot is not enough to support it to search for the charging pile, resulting in the robot being unable to return to the charging pile. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide a charging pile search method for a robot, which improves the search efficiency for charging piles.

[0005] The present application provides a method for finding a charging pile of a robot, which is applied to a self-moving equipment system. The self-moving equipment system includes a robot and a charging pile. The robot is equipped with a wireless AP module for sending a wireless network signal. The charging pile is connected to the robot through the wireless network signal. The method for finding a charging pile of the robot includes:

[0006] Obtain the wireless network signal strength between the robot and the charging pile when the robot is in each sub-area;

[0007] Determine the search order of multiple sub-areas according to the wireless network signal strength when the robot is in each sub-area;

[0008] According to the search order of multiple sub-areas, the robot is controlled to enter each sub-area in turn to search for charging piles.

[0009] In one embodiment, controlling the robot to traverse multiple sub-areas within the working area includes:

[0010] The first distance between the current position of the robot and each sub-area is calculated, and the robot is controlled to enter each sub-area from near to far in sequence according to the first distance.

[0011] In one embodiment, obtaining the wireless network signal strength received by the charging pile when the robot is in each sub-area includes:

[0012] Get the wireless network signal strength received by the charging pile when the robot is at the preset detection point in each sub-area.

[0013] In one embodiment, the preset detection point is the geometric center of each sub-region; or, the preset detection point is the point closest to the geometric center in each sub-region; or, the preset detection point is the center of the largest inscribed circle in each sub-region; or, the preset detection point is the midpoint of a target line segment in each sub-region; wherein the target line segment is the longest line segment formed by connecting any two points on the edge of each sub-region.

[0014] In one embodiment, the search order of the multiple sub-areas is determined according to the wireless network signal strength when the robot is in each sub-area, including:

[0015] The multiple sub-areas are sorted from high to low according to the wireless network signal strength, so as to obtain a search order of the multiple sub-areas.

[0016] In one embodiment, the search order of the multiple sub-areas is determined according to the wireless network signal strength when the robot is in each sub-area, including:

[0017] If there are two sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength among the multiple sub-areas, the search order of the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength is determined according to the wireless network signal strengths of the sub-areas adjacent to the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength.

[0018] In one embodiment, the search order of the multiple sub-areas is determined according to the wireless network signal strength when the robot is in each sub-area, including:

[0019] If there are multiple sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength among the multiple sub-areas, the search order of the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength is determined according to the spatial position relationship of the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength and the wireless network signal strength of the sub-areas adjacent to the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength.

[0020] In one embodiment, the robot's pile-finding method further includes:

[0021] Determine whether the robot is connected to the charging pile, and determine whether to control the robot to search for the pile based on the judgment result.

[0022] In one embodiment, the robot's pile-finding method further includes:

[0023] When the robot returns to the charging pile, determine whether the robot has stored the location information of the charging pile;

[0024] If the judgment result shows that the robot has not stored the location information of the charging pile, the robot is controlled to search for the charging pile;

[0025] If the judgment result shows that the robot stores the location information of the charging pile, the robot is controlled to return to the charging pile according to the location information.

[0026] In one embodiment, the robot's pile-finding method further includes:

[0027] If the robot fails to return to the charging pile successfully according to the location information, the robot is controlled to search for the charging pile.

[0028] In the present application, the cleaning robot is controlled to traverse multiple sub-areas in the working area, and the wireless network signal strength received by the charging pile when the robot is in each sub-area is obtained. After the acquisition is successful, the robot determines the search order of the multiple sub-areas according to the wireless network signal strength received by the charging pile when the robot is in each sub-area; then, according to the determined search order, the robot is controlled to enter each sub-area in turn to search for the charging pile.

[0029] From the above content, it can be seen that in this application, the robot's search priority for multiple sub-areas is first determined, and then the cleaning robot is controlled to enter each sub-area in turn according to the search priority to search for charging piles. Compared with the blind search for charging piles in the prior art, this application improves the search efficiency for charging piles and ensures that the robot can quickly find the charging piles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application are briefly introduced below.

[0031] Figure 1 A connection diagram of a self-equipment device system provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a control module provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a pile-finding method for a robot provided in the first embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a working area provided for the first embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 5 A schematic flow chart of a pile-finding method for a robot provided in the second embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a preset detection point provided in the first embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a preset detection point provided in the second embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of preset detection points provided in the third embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of preset detection points provided in the fourth embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of a working area provided for the second embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of a working area provided for the third embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Fig.12 A schematic diagram of a working area provided for a fourth embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of a working area provided for the fifth embodiment of the present application.

[0044] Reference numerals:

[0045] 1-self-equipment device system; 10-robot; 110-wireless AP module; 120-control module; 121-bus; 122-memory; 123-processor; 20-charging station. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0047] Similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following drawings, so once an item is defined in one drawing, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent drawings. At the same time, in the description of this application, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used to distinguish the description and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0048] An embodiment of the present application provides a self-equipping device system 1. Please refer to Figure 1 , which is a connection diagram of a self-equipment device system 1 provided in one embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 , which is a connection diagram of the control module 120 provided in one embodiment of the present application. Figure 1As shown, the self-equipment system 1 in this embodiment includes a robot 10 and a charging pile 20. The robot 10 is provided with a wireless AP module 110 for sending wireless network signals, and the charging pile 20 is connected to the robot 10 through the wireless network signals sent by the wireless AP module 110. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the wireless AP module 110 can also be set in the charging pile 20, and the wireless network signal is sent by the charging pile 20, and the charging pile 20 can also be connected to the robot 10 through the wireless network signal sent by the wireless AP module 110. Exemplarily, the self-equipment system 1 can be a cleaning device, the robot 10 is used to clean the ground area of ​​the user's home, and the charging pile 20 is used to charge and clean the robot 10 and other related maintenance work.

[0049] like Figure 1 As shown, in this embodiment, the robot 10 is further provided with a control module 120, which is connected to the wireless AP module 110. The control module 120 is used to control the working state of the wireless AP module 110. At the same time, the control module 120 is also used to execute the pile-finding method of the robot 10 provided in the following embodiments. Specifically, Figure 2 As shown, the control module 120 in this embodiment includes: at least one processor 123 and a memory 122, Figure 2 A processor 123 is taken as an example. The processor 123 and the memory 122 are connected via a bus 121. The memory 122 stores instructions that can be executed by the processor 123, and the instructions are executed by the processor 123.

[0050] The memory 122 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable red-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic storage, flash memory, disk or optical disk.

[0051] Please refer to Figure 3, which is a flow chart of the pile-finding method of the robot 10 provided in the first embodiment of the present application. The method is executed by the control module 120 in the above embodiment, and the method includes the following steps S310 to S340. The working principle of the method is explained in detail below:

[0052] Step S310: Obtain the wireless network signal strength between the robot 10 and the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in each sub-area.

[0053] The working area is the area where the robot 10 works, and the working area includes multiple interconnected sub-areas. For example, the working area can be the floor area of ​​the user's home, and the sub-areas can be the kitchen floor, study floor, bedroom floor, and bathroom floor of the user's home. The charging pile search operation refers to the operation of the robot 10 searching for the charging pile 20.

[0054] The following embodiments are all based on the example that the robot 10 is provided with a wireless AP module 110 for sending wireless network signals, and the charging pile 20 is connected to the robot 10 through the wireless network signal sent by the wireless AP module 110 .

[0055] In this step, when the robot 10 is performing the pile-finding operation, the control module 120 can control the robot 10 to traverse multiple sub-areas in the working area. When the robot 10 enters each sub-area, the control module 120 obtains the strength information of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 and received by the charging pile 20 from the charging pile 20, and stores the strength information of the wireless network signal after successful acquisition. When the robot 10 has traversed all sub-areas in the working area, the control module 120 can continue to execute the following step S320.

[0056] In this step, the robot 10 can also be in the process of cleaning the working area. Whenever the robot 10 enters any sub-area in the working area, the control module 120 obtains the strength information of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 and received by the charging pile 20 from the charging pile 20, and stores the strength information of the wireless network signal after successful acquisition. When the robot 10 performs the pile search operation, the control module 120 can continue to execute the following step S320.

[0057] In another embodiment, when the robot 10 enters each sub-area, the charging pile 20 records the strength information of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10; when the robot 10 has traversed all sub-areas in the working area, the charging pile 20 sends the strength information of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 when the robot 10 is in each sub-area to the control module 120, and after receiving the information, the control module 120 can continue to execute the following step S320.

[0058] Step S320: Determine the search order of the multiple sub-areas according to the wireless network signal strength when the robot 10 is in each sub-area.

[0059] Because the strength information of the wireless network signal received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in each sub-area can reflect the distance between the robot 10 and the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in each sub-area; therefore, in this step, the control module 120 can determine the distance between the robot 10 and the charging pile 20 when the robot is in each sub-area based on the strength information of the wireless network signal received by the charging pile 20 when the robot is in each sub-area, and then determine the robot 10's search for multiple sub-areas based on the distance to the charging pile 20.

[0060] Step S330 : According to the search order of the multiple sub-areas, the robot 10 is controlled to enter each sub-area in turn to search for the charging pile 20 .

[0061] In this step, after the search order of the multiple sub-areas is determined, the robot 10 can be controlled to enter each sub-area in turn according to the determined search order to search for the charging pile 20.

[0062] Below Figure 4 Take an example to explain in detail Figure 3 The pile-finding method of the robot 10 provided in the embodiment:

[0063] like Figure 4 As shown, the working area includes 4 sub-areas, namely the first sub-area A, the second sub-area B, the third sub-area C and the fourth sub-area D. When the robot 10 searches for the charging pile 20, the control module 120 can control the robot 10 to enter the above 4 sub-areas in sequence. Specifically, the control module 120 can first control the robot 10 to enter the first sub-area A. After the entry is successful, the control module 120 obtains the strength information Q1 of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in the first sub-area A. Further, the control module 120 can control the robot 10 to enter the second sub-area B. After the entry is successful, the control module 120 obtains the strength information Q2 of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in the second sub-area B. Further, the control module 120 can control the robot 10 to enter the third sub-area C. After the entry is successful, the control module 120 obtains the strength information Q3 of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in the third sub-area C. Finally, the control module 120 can control the robot 10 to enter the fourth sub-area D. After entering successfully, the control module 120 obtains the strength information Q4 of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 and received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in the fourth sub-area D.

[0064] After the strength information of the above wireless network signals are successfully acquired, the control module 120 can determine the search order of the multiple sub-areas as the second sub-area B, the fourth sub-area D, the first sub-area A and the third sub-area C according to the wireless network signal strength information Q1, the network signal strength information Q2, the network signal strength information Q3 and the network signal strength information Q4. After that, the control module 120 can first control the robot 10 to enter the second sub-area B to search for the charging pile 20; if the charging pile 20 is successfully searched in the second sub-area B, the robot 10 is controlled to return to the charging pile 20; if the charging pile 20 is not successfully searched in the second sub-area B, the robot 10 is controlled to enter the fourth sub-area D to search for the charging pile 20; if the charging pile 20 is successfully searched in the fourth sub-area D, the robot 10 is controlled to return to the charging pile 20; if the charging pile 20 is not successfully searched in the fourth sub-area D, the robot 10 is controlled to return to the charging pile 20; The robot 10 enters the first sub-area A to search for the charging pile 20; if the charging pile 20 is successfully found in the first sub-area A, the robot 10 is controlled to return to the charging pile 20; if the charging pile 20 is not successfully found in the first sub-area A, the robot 10 is controlled to enter the third sub-area C to search for the charging pile 20; if the charging pile 20 is successfully found in the third sub-area C, the robot 10 is controlled to return to the charging pile 20; if the charging pile 20 is not successfully found in the third sub-area C, the robot 10 is controlled to sound an alarm and the pile search fails.

[0065] From the above content, it can be seen that in the present application, the search priority of the robot 10 for multiple sub-areas is first determined, and then the cleaning robot 10 is controlled to enter each sub-area in turn according to the search priority to search for the charging pile 20. Compared with the blind search method of the prior art for the charging pile 20, the present application improves the search efficiency for the charging pile 20, ensuring that the robot 10 can quickly find the charging pile 20.

[0066] In one embodiment, before executing the above step S210, the control module 120 further executes the following steps: determining whether the robot 10 is connected to the charging pile 20 through a network, and determining whether to control the robot 10 to perform a pile-seeking operation according to the determination result.

[0067] In this embodiment, it is determined whether the charging pile 20 is powered on by judging whether the robot 10 is connected to the charging pile 20 network. Specifically, when the robot 10 is connected to the charging pile 20 network, it indicates that the charging pile 20 is powered on. At this time, the robot 10 is controlled to execute the above steps S210 to S240 to find the charging pile 20. When the robot 10 is not connected to the charging pile 20 network, it indicates that the charging pile 20 is not powered on. At this time, the robot 10 is controlled not to perform any operation.

[0068] In one embodiment, before executing the above step S210, the control module 120 further executes the following steps: when the robot 10 returns to the charging pile 20, determine whether the robot 10 stores the location information of the charging pile 20; and perform corresponding operations according to the determination result.

[0069] In this step, when the work task is completed or the charging instruction sent by the charging pile 20 is received, the robot 10 needs to return to the charging pile 20. At this time, the control module 120 determines whether the location information of the charging pile 20 is stored in the robot 10. If the judgment result shows that the location information of the charging pile 20 is not stored in the robot 10, the robot 10 is controlled to execute the above steps S210-S240 to find the charging pile 20.

[0070] If the judgment result shows that the location information of the charging pile 20 is stored in the robot 10, the robot 10 is controlled to return to the charging pile 20 according to the location information of the charging pile 20. Specifically, the control module 120 can plan a travel path from the current position of the robot 10 to the position of the charging pile 20, and then the robot 10 returns to the charging pile 20 according to the planned travel path.

[0071] In one embodiment, if the robot 10 fails to successfully return to the charging pile 20 according to the above-mentioned position information, it means that the charging pile 20 has been moved away manually, and the position information of the charging pile 20 stored by the robot 10 cannot reflect the actual position of the charging pile 20. At this time, the control module 120 can control the robot 10 to execute the above-mentioned steps S210-S240 to find the charging pile 20.

[0072] Please refer to Figure 5 , which is a flow chart of the pile-finding method of the robot 10 provided in the second embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, the method includes the following steps S510 to S530.

[0073] Step S510: When the robot 10 performs a charging pile search operation, the robot 10 is controlled to traverse multiple sub-areas in the working area, and obtains the wireless network signal strength received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is at a preset detection point in each sub-area.

[0074] In the first aspect, when the robot 10 can move to the geometric center of each sub-area, the preset detection point is the geometric center of each sub-area. Figure 6 The geometric center P1 of each sub-area is the preset detection point. In the second aspect, when the robot 10 cannot move to the geometric center of each sub-area, the preset detection point is the point closest to the geometric center in each sub-area. In the third aspect, the preset detection point can be the center of the largest inscribed circle of each sub-area. For example, Figure 7As shown, point P5 is the preset detection point. In the fourth aspect, the preset detection point is the midpoint of the target line segment in each sub-area, wherein the target line segment is the longest line segment formed by connecting any two points on the edge of each sub-area. For example, Figure 8 As shown, each sub-area has an exit, and the center point of the exit is used as the starting point, and all points on the edge of each sub-area are used as the end point for navigation, which can form multiple line segments. The longest line segment is selected from the multiple line segments as the target line segment. After the selection is successful, the midpoint P6 of the target line segment is used as the preset detection point. For example, Fig. 9 As shown, taking any point on the edge of each sub-area as the starting point and all points on the edge of each sub-area as the end points for navigation, multiple line segments can be formed, and the longest line segment is selected from the multiple line segments as the target line segment. After successful selection, the midpoint P7 of the target line segment is used as the preset detection point.

[0075] In this step, when the robot 10 performs a pile-finding operation, the control module 120 can calculate the first distance between the current position of the robot 10 and each sub-area, and then control the robot 10 to enter each sub-area from near to far in sequence according to the first distance. Specifically, after calculating the first distance between the current position of the robot 10 and each sub-area, the control module 120 can determine the distance between the robot 10 and each sub-area, and after successful determination, first control the robot 10 to enter a sub-area that is closer to the current position of the robot 10, and then control the robot 10 to enter a sub-area that is farther from the current position of the robot 10.

[0076] Furthermore, when the robot 10 enters each sub-area and reaches a preset detection point in each sub-area, the control module 120 can obtain the strength information of the wireless network signal sent by the robot and received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is at the predicted detection point in each sub-area. After the acquisition is successful, the following step S320 can be executed.

[0077] In this step, the distance between the current position of the robot 10 and each sub-area is calculated, and then the robot 10 is controlled to enter each sub-area from near to far in sequence according to the calculated distance. This method improves the efficiency of the robot 10 when traversing multiple sub-areas. Furthermore, because the preset detection point is approximately at the center of each sub-area and is closest to all points in the sub-area, in this step, by obtaining the wireless network signal strength received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is at the preset detection point in each sub-area, the distance between each sub-area and the charging pile 20 can be better reflected.

[0078] Step S520: sorting the multiple sub-areas according to the wireless network signal strength from high to low to obtain a search order of the multiple sub-areas.

[0079] In this step, after the control module 120 obtains the wireless network signal strength received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in each sub-area, it can sort the multiple sub-areas from high to low according to the network signal strength. After the sorting is successful, the search order of the multiple sub-areas can be obtained.

[0080] When the robot 10 is in each sub-area, the strength of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 can reflect the distance between each sub-area and the charging pile 20. If the strength of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 is strong when the robot 10 is in a certain sub-area, it means that the distance between the sub-area and the charging pile 20 is close, and the possibility that the charging pile 20 is located in the sub-area is high; if the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 is weak when the robot 10 is in each sub-area, it means that the distance between the sub-area and the charging pile 20 is far, and the possibility that the charging pile 20 is located in the sub-area is low. Therefore, after determining the order of searching for multiple sub-areas in accordance with this step, it can be ensured that when the robot 10 actually searches for the charging pile 20, it first enters the sub-area where the possibility of the charging pile 20 is high to search for the charging pile 20, and then enters the sub-area where the possibility of the charging pile 20 is low to search for the charging pile 20. The efficiency of the robot 10 in finding the pile is improved, ensuring that the robot 10 can quickly find the charging pile 20.

[0081] Step S530: According to the search order of the multiple sub-areas, the robot 10 is controlled to enter each sub-area in turn to search for the charging pile 20.

[0082] In this step, after the search order of the multiple sub-areas is determined, the robot 10 can be controlled to enter each sub-area in turn according to the determined search order to search for the charging pile 20.

[0083] Below Fig.10 Take an example to explain in detail Figure 5 The pile-finding method of the robot 10 provided in the embodiment:

[0084] For example, Fig.10As shown, the working area includes 4 sub-areas, namely the first sub-area A, the second sub-area B, the third sub-area C and the fourth sub-area D. When the robot 10 searches for the charging pile 20, the control module 120 calculates the first distance between the current position of the robot 10 and the four sub-areas. After the calculation is successful, the robot 10 is controlled to enter each sub-area from far to near in sequence according to the first distance. Specifically, the control module 120 first controls the robot 10 to enter the first sub-area A. After the robot 10 enters successfully, when the robot 10 reaches the preset detection point H1 in the first sub-area A, the control module 120 obtains the strength information Q1 of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is at the preset detection point H1 in the first sub-area A. Further, the control module 120 can control the robot 10 to enter the second sub-area B. After the robot 10 enters successfully, when the robot 10 reaches the preset detection point H2 in the second sub-area B, the control module 120 obtains the strength information Q2 of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is at the preset detection point H2 in the second sub-area B. Furthermore, the control module 120 can control the robot 10 to enter the third sub-area C. After entering successfully, when the robot 10 reaches the preset detection point H3 in the third sub-area C, the control module 120 obtains the strength information Q3 of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 and received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is at the preset detection point H3 in the third sub-area C. Finally, the control module 120 can control the robot 10 to enter the fourth sub-area D. After entering successfully, when the robot 10 reaches the preset detection point H4 in the fourth sub-area C, the control module 120 obtains the strength information Q4 of the wireless network signal sent by the robot 10 and received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is at the preset detection point H4 in the fourth sub-area D.

[0085] After the strength information of the wireless network signal is successfully obtained, the control module 120 sorts the multiple sub-areas from high to low according to the network signal strength, and obtains the search order of the multiple sub-areas after sorting. Specifically, Q3≧Q2≧Q4≧Q1, then at this time, after sorting the multiple sub-areas from high to low according to the network signal strength, the search order of the multiple sub-areas can be obtained as the third sub-area C, the second sub-area B, the fourth sub-area D and the first sub-area A.

[0086] After obtaining the search order of the multiple sub-areas, the control module 120 can first control the robot 10 to enter the third sub-area C to search for the charging pile 20. Fig.11 As shown, the robot 10 can successfully search for the charging pile 20 in the third sub-area C.

[0087] In one embodiment, when the robot 10 is in two sub-areas and the wireless network signal strength sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 is equal, the control module 120 can also determine the search order of the robot 10 for the sub-areas by executing the following steps: If there are two sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength among multiple sub-areas, the search order of the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength is determined according to the wireless network signal strength of the sub-areas adjacent to the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength.

[0088] For example, Fig.12 As shown, the working area includes 5 sub-areas, namely the first sub-area A, the second sub-area B, the third sub-area C, the fourth sub-area D and the fifth sub-area E. When the robot 10 is at the preset detection point A1 in the first sub-area A, the wireless network signal strength sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 is Q1; when the robot 10 is at the preset detection point A2 in the second sub-area B, the wireless network signal strength sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 is Q2; when the robot 10 is at the preset detection point A3 in the third sub-area C, the wireless network signal strength sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 is Q3; when the robot 10 is at the preset detection point A4 in the fourth sub-area D, the wireless network signal strength sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 is Q4; when the robot 10 is at the preset detection point A5 in the fifth sub-area E, the wireless network signal strength sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 is Q5. Among them, Q2=Q3>Q4>Q1>Q5. At this time, it can be seen that after sorting multiple sub-areas from high to low according to the network signal strength, it is impossible to determine the search order of the second sub-area B and the third sub-area C. At this time, because the first sub-area A is adjacent to the second sub-area B, and the fourth sub-area D is adjacent to the third sub-area C, the control module 120 can determine the search order of the robot 10 for the second sub-area B and the fourth sub-area C according to the wireless network signal strength Q1 sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in the first sub-area A, and according to the wireless network signal strength Q4 sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in the fourth sub-area D. Specifically, because Q4>Q1, it can be determined that the possibility of the charging pile 20 being in the third sub-area is higher. In summary, it can be determined that the search order is the third sub-area C, the second sub-area B, the fourth sub-area D, the first sub-area A, and the fifth sub-area E.

[0089] In one embodiment, when the robot 10 is in multiple sub-areas and the wireless network signal strengths sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 are equal, the control module 120 can also determine the search order of the robot 10 for the sub-areas by executing the following steps: if there are multiple sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strengths among the multiple sub-areas, the search order of the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strengths is determined according to the spatial position relationship of the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strengths and according to the wireless network signal strengths of the sub-areas adjacent to the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strengths.

[0090] For example, Fig.13 As shown, Q2=Q3>Q4>Q1>Q5; where the definitions of Q2, Q3, Q4, Q1 and Q5 are detailed in Fig.11 The description of the corresponding part is not repeated here. It can be seen at this time that after sorting the multiple sub-areas from high to low according to the network signal strength, it is impossible to determine the search order of the second sub-area B, the third sub-area C and the fourth sub-area D. At this time, from the positional relationship, the second sub-area B, the third sub-area C and the fourth sub-area D are in adjacent positions, and the charging pile 20 is more likely to be in the third sub-area C, so the third sub-area should be searched first. Afterwards, because the first sub-area A is adjacent to the second sub-area B, and the fifth sub-area E is adjacent to the fourth sub-area D, the control module 120 can determine the search order of the robot 10 for the second sub-area B and the fourth sub-area C according to the wireless network signal strength Q1 sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in the first sub-area A, and according to the wireless network signal strength Q5 sent by the robot 10 received by the charging pile 20 when the robot 10 is in the fifth sub-area E. Specifically, because Q1>Q5, it can be determined that the charging pile 20 is more likely to be in the second sub-area B. In summary, the search order can be determined to be the third sub-region C, the second sub-region B, the fourth sub-region D, the first sub-region A, and the fifth sub-region E.

[0091] In several embodiments provided in the present application, the disclosed devices and methods may also be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely schematic, for example, the flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings show the possible architecture, functions and operations of the devices, methods and computer program products according to the multiple embodiments of the present application. In this regard, each box in the flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, a program segment or a part of a code, and a module, a program segment or a part of a code contains one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. In some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the box may also occur in an order different from that marked in the accompanying drawings. For example, two consecutive boxes can actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they may sometimes be executed in the opposite order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each box in the block diagram and / or the flowchart, and the combination of boxes in the block diagram and / or the flowchart, can be implemented with a dedicated hardware-based system that performs a specified function or action, or can be implemented with a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0092] In addition, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated together to form an independent part, or each module may exist separately, or two or more modules may be integrated to form an independent part.

[0093] If the function is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or partly embodied in the form of a software product that contributes to the prior art. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes 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 various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), disk or optical disk, etc. Various media that can store program codes.

Claims

1. A robot pile-finding method, characterized in that: Applied to a self-equipment system, the self-equipment system includes a robot and a charging pile, the robot or the charging pile is built with a wireless AP module for sending a wireless network signal, the charging pile is connected to the robot through the wireless network signal, and the robot's pile-finding method includes: Obtaining the wireless network signal strength of the robot communicating with the charging pile when the robot is in each sub-area; Determining a search order of the plurality of sub-areas according to the wireless network signal strength when the robot is in each sub-area; According to the search order of the multiple sub-areas, the robot is controlled to enter each sub-area in turn to search for the charging pile.

2. The robot pile-finding method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before obtaining the wireless network signal strength of the robot in each sub-area in communication with the charging pile, the method further includes: A first distance between the current position of the robot and each sub-area is calculated, and the robot is controlled to traverse each sub-area in sequence from near to far according to the first distance.

3. The robot pile-finding method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The obtaining of the wireless network signal strength of the robot in each sub-area in communication with the charging pile includes: The wireless network signal strength between the robot and the charging pile is obtained when the robot is at a preset detection point in each sub-area.

4. The robot pile-finding method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The preset detection point is the geometric center of each sub-region; or, the preset detection point is the point in each sub-region that is closest to the geometric center; or, the preset detection point is the center of the largest inscribed circle in each sub-region; or, the preset detection point is the midpoint of a target line segment in each sub-region; wherein the target line segment is the longest line segment formed by connecting any two points on the edge of each sub-region.

5. The robot pile-finding method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Determining the search order of the multiple sub-areas according to the wireless network signal strength when the robot is in each sub-area includes: The multiple sub-areas are sorted from high to low according to the wireless network signal strength to obtain a search order of the multiple sub-areas.

6. The robot pile-finding method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: Determining the search order of the multiple sub-areas according to the wireless network signal strength when the robot is in each sub-area includes: If there are two sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strengths among the multiple sub-areas, a search order of the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strengths is determined according to wireless network signal strengths of sub-areas adjacent to the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strengths.

7. The robot pile-finding method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: Determining the search order of the multiple sub-areas according to the wireless network signal strength when the robot is in each sub-area includes: If there are multiple sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength among the multiple sub-areas, the search order of the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength is determined according to the spatial position relationship of the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength and the wireless network signal strength of the sub-areas adjacent to the sub-areas with equal wireless network signal strength.

8. The robot pile-finding method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The robot's pile-finding method also includes: It is determined whether the charging pile is connected to the robot through the wireless network signal, and whether to control the robot to perform a pile-seeking operation according to the determination result.

9. The robot pile-finding method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The robot's pile-finding method also includes: When the robot returns to the charging pile, determining whether the robot stores the location information of the charging pile; If the judgment result shows that the robot does not store the location information of the charging pile, controlling the robot to perform a pile search operation; If the judgment result shows that the robot stores the location information of the charging pile, the robot is controlled to return to the charging pile according to the location information.

10. The robot pile-finding method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The robot's pile-finding method also includes: If the robot fails to return to the charging pile successfully according to the position information, the robot is controlled to perform a pile-seeking operation.

Images