Multi-robot narrow road passing method, storage medium and electronic equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses a multi-robot narrow road passing method, a storage medium and electronic equipment. The multi-robot narrow road passing method comprises a scheduling step of enabling multiple robots to enter a narrow road: judging whether an occupying point exists in the current narrow road or not; if not, the target point of the robot serves as an occupied point, and the robot enters the narrow lane; if yes, the placeholder conflict is determined; whether the robot collides in the narrow road or not is predicted, if yes, the robot waits outside the narrow road, and if not, the target point of the robot serves as a site occupying point, and the robot enters the narrow road; by the adoption of the technical scheme, dynamic allocation is carried out according to the actual situation in the narrow road, space resources of the narrow road are utilized to the maximum extent, resource waste is avoided, unnecessary waiting time is avoided, the passing efficiency is remarkably improved, and the stability and reliability of multi-robot narrow road passing are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of robotics technology, and in particular to a multi-robot narrow-lane navigation method, a storage medium, and an electronic device. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous advancement of robotics technology, mobile robots are increasingly used in many fields. They can autonomously plan and execute paths according to preset tasks, greatly improving work efficiency and automation levels. However, in specific scenarios such as hotel room corridors, kitchen passages and other narrow areas, the operation of robots faces unique challenges. In a narrow road environment, due to the limited width of the driving road, when multiple robots need to perform tasks at the same time, congestion or collision is likely to occur, which will not only reduce the operating efficiency of the robot, but may also cause damage to the robot itself or the surrounding environment. Therefore, it is particularly important to plan the robot's entry and exit of narrow roads reasonably.

[0003] The existing narrow road traffic planning scheme can avoid collisions between robots to a certain extent. Referring to the patent application publication number CN 112405529A, a robot control method, device, robot and storage medium, the method is applied to the robot, and the method discloses: when receiving a narrow road traffic waiting instruction, entering a queue waiting mode; in the queue waiting mode, if a rear robot is detected behind the direction of travel, a narrow road traffic waiting instruction is sent to the rear robot, so that the rear robot enters the queue waiting mode according to the narrow road traffic waiting instruction; if a waiting mode release instruction is detected, the queue waiting mode is released and the robot drives at a preset speed to pass through the narrow road in front of the direction of travel. Although the above technical scheme realizes that when multiple robots need to pass through the narrow road, the robots enter the queue waiting mode one by one in an orderly manner, thereby avoiding the robots grabbing each other's way and causing congestion in the narrow road. However, when multiple robots need to travel back and forth in the same narrow road, the round-trip travel of the robots is often restricted by space restrictions and traffic rules, and they need to wait in a fixed order, which will cause a waste of time and reduce efficiency, resulting in low traffic efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above problems, the present application provides a method for multiple robots to pass through narrow roads, which solves the problem of low efficiency of round-trip passage in existing narrow roads, so that multiple robots can perform tasks in narrow roads in an orderly and rapid manner.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the inventor provides a method for multiple robots to pass through a narrow road, which includes the following steps of scheduling multiple robots to enter a narrow road:

[0006] Determine whether there is an occupied spot in the current narrow passage;

[0007] If not, the target point of the robot is used as an occupation point, and the robot enters a narrow passage;

[0008] If so, there is a position conflict; predict whether the robot collides in the narrow passage, if so, the robot waits outside the narrow passage, otherwise the target point of the robot is used as the position, and the robot enters the narrow passage.

[0009] Furthermore, when the target point of the robot is used as an occupation point, the method further includes binding the robot to the narrow path.

[0010] Furthermore, a detection point is set at the entrance of the narrow passage, and before the robot enters the narrow passage, it determines at the detection point whether there is an occupied position in the current narrow passage.

[0011] Further, the robot waits at a detection point.

[0012] Furthermore, the step of predicting whether the robot collides in a narrow passage comprises the following steps:

[0013] Determine the length of the narrow passage;

[0014] Define the direction of the narrow passage, with one narrow passage as the starting point and the other narrow passage as the end point. The positive direction is a positive value, and the reverse direction is a negative value.

[0015] Calculating the driving trajectory of the robot in the narrow lane according to the current position and target point of the robot;

[0016] It is determined whether the robot's driving trajectory covers the occupied point, and if so, it is considered that there is a collision.

[0017] Furthermore, the occupied point is an area with a radius of 1 m, centered at the target point of the robot.

[0018] Furthermore, the method also includes the following steps for scheduling multiple robots to leave narrow roads:

[0019] Receive a robot about to leave the narrow path;

[0020] Determine whether there are other occupied positions in the current narrow passage;

[0021] If not, the robot is moved away from the narrow path, and the occupied position is synchronously updated during the process of leaving the narrow path;

[0022] If so, determine whether the trajectory of the robot leaving the narrow path covers other station locations; if so, the robot waits in the occupied location, otherwise the robot leaves the narrow path in a direction that does not cover other occupied locations, and the occupied location is updated synchronously during the process of leaving the narrow path.

[0023] Furthermore, after the robot leaves the narrow passage, it is untied from the narrow passage.

[0024] A storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the above-mentioned multi-robot narrow lane passage method.

[0025] An electronic device comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the multi-robot narrow lane passage method mentioned above is implemented.

[0026] Different from the existing technology, the above technical solution mainly sets the robot's target point in the narrow passage as the occupied point, and by judging whether there is an occupied point in the narrow passage, it can ensure that the robot enters the narrow passage directly without conflict; this mechanism provides a basic guarantee for the robot's initial passage planning; when an occupied point is detected in the narrow passage, the collision risk between robots is further predicted. Through this prediction, it can be ensured that the robot will not enter a state that may cause a collision, thereby greatly improving the safety of passage; to achieve dynamic allocation according to the actual situation in the narrow passage, maximize the use of the space resources of the narrow passage, and avoid resource waste. At the same time, it avoids unnecessary waiting time and significantly improves the passage efficiency; it can also reduce the failure rate and damage risk of the robot, thereby improving the stability and reliability of multi-robot narrow passage. This method can be applied in robot navigation, automated warehousing, intelligent manufacturing and other fields.

[0027] The above-mentioned records related to the invention content are only an overview of the technical solution of the present application. In order to enable ordinary technicians in the field to more clearly understand the technical solution of the present application, and then implement it according to the text of the specification and the contents recorded in the drawings, and to make the above-mentioned purposes and other purposes, features and advantages of the present application easier to understand, the following is an explanation in combination with the specific implementation methods and drawings of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The drawings are only used to illustrate the principles, implementation methods, applications, characteristics and effects of the specific embodiments of the present invention and other related contents, and shall not be considered as limiting the present application.

[0029] In the drawings of the specification:

[0030] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the process of the multi-robot narrow-lane passage method described in the specific implementation method;

[0031] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the narrow channel setting described in the specific implementation method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In order to explain in detail the possible application scenarios, technical principles, specific schemes that can be implemented, and the purposes and effects that can be achieved, the following is a detailed description of the specific embodiments listed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described herein are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and are therefore only used as examples, and cannot be used to limit the scope of protection of the present application.

[0033] Reference to "embodiment" in this document means that the specific features, structures or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The term "embodiment" appearing in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it particularly limit its independence or association with other embodiments. In principle, in this application, as long as there is no technical contradiction or conflict, the various technical features mentioned in each embodiment can be combined in any way to form a corresponding implementable technical solution.

[0034] Unless otherwise defined, the technical terms used in this document have the same meanings as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs; the use of relevant terms in this document is only for describing specific embodiments and is not intended to limit this application.

[0035] In the description of this application, the term "and / or" is an expression used to describe the logical relationship between objects, indicating that three relationships may exist, for example, A and / or B, which means: A exists, B exists, and A and B exist at the same time. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the objects before and after are in an "or" logical relationship.

[0036] In the present application, terms such as “first” and “second” are merely used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship of quantity, priority or sequence between these entities or operations.

[0037] Without further limitations, in this application, the words "include", "comprises", "has" or other similar open-ended expressions used in sentences are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. These expressions do not exclude the presence of additional elements in the process, method or product including the elements, so that the process, method or product including a series of elements may include not only those limited elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also include elements inherent to such process, method or product.

[0038] Similar to the understanding in the Examination Guidelines, in this application, expressions such as "greater than", "less than", "exceed" and the like are understood to exclude the number itself; expressions such as "above", "below", "within" and the like are understood to include the number itself. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of this application, "multiple" means more than two (including two), and similar expressions related to "multiple" are also understood in this way, such as "multiple groups", "multiple times", etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically limited.

[0039] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, space-related expressions used, such as "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "vertical", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., indicate the orientation or position relationship based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the specific embodiments or drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the specific embodiments of the present application or facilitating the reader's understanding, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or component must have a specific position, a specific orientation, or be constructed or operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0040] See also Figure 1 As shown in the figure, a multi-robot narrow passage method is designed to improve the efficiency and safety of round-trip passage in narrow passages. Its core concept is dynamic scheduling and collaborative planning, so that multiple robots can pass under the premise of ensuring safety, mainly by setting the target point of the robot in the narrow passage as the occupied point. By judging whether there is an occupied point in the narrow passage, it can ensure that the robot enters the narrow passage directly without conflict. This mechanism provides a basic guarantee for the robot's preliminary passage planning; when an occupied point is detected in the narrow passage, the collision risk between robots is further predicted. Through this prediction, it can be ensured that the robot will not enter a state that may cause a collision, thereby greatly improving the safety of passage; in order to achieve dynamic allocation according to the actual situation in the narrow passage, maximize the use of the space resources of the narrow passage, and avoid resource waste. At the same time, unnecessary waiting time is avoided, and the passage efficiency is significantly improved; it can also reduce the failure rate and damage risk of the robot, thereby improving the stability and reliability of multi-robot narrow passage. This method can be applied in robot navigation, automated warehousing, intelligent manufacturing and other fields.

[0041] The present application provides an implementation of a method for passing through a narrow passage of multiple robots, which includes a scheduling step for multiple robots to enter a narrow passage:

[0042] Determine whether there is an occupied spot in the current narrow passage;

[0043] If not, the target point of the robot is used as an occupation point, and the robot enters a narrow passage;

[0044] If so, there is a position conflict; predict whether the robot collides in the narrow passage, if so, the robot waits outside the narrow passage, otherwise the target point of the robot is used as the position, and the robot enters the narrow passage.

[0045] The above-mentioned narrow road refers to a road that does not allow two or more robots to pass side by side; the above-mentioned robot is any one of the multiple robots; the above-mentioned occupation point is the target point of the robot in the narrow road, that is, the deepest distance the robot enters the narrow road.

[0046] When the target point of the robot is used as the occupied point, the robot is also bound to the narrow lane. That is, a unique identifier (such as ID or name) is assigned to the narrow lane. Before entering the narrow lane, the robot identifies the identifier of the narrow lane through its sensor or communication. After the robot uses its target point in the narrow lane as the occupied point, it binds the robot to the identifier of the narrow lane to confirm that it has occupied the occupied point, thereby preventing the robot from being unable to determine whether it has occupied the occupied point, thereby causing self-contradictory behavior such as occupying the point but not entering the position. Multiple robots share the status of the narrow lane and the occupied point through communication. When a robot occupies the target point, other robots can obtain this information in real time to avoid entering a conflict state.

[0047] The judgment of whether there is an occupied position in the current narrow passage is performed before the robot enters the narrow passage, in order to prevent conflicts and collisions between multiple robots in the narrow passage. In order to prevent congestion among multiple robots at the narrow passage entrance, a detection point is set at the narrow passage entrance. Before the robot enters the narrow passage, it is judged at the detection point whether there is an occupied position in the current narrow passage. The detection point is usually set near the entrance of the narrow passage to ensure that the robot has enough time and space to make judgments and decisions before entering the narrow passage. Specifically, the detection point can be a fixed sensor position, at which the robot begins to obtain real-time occupancy information in the narrow passage, so as to make a decision whether to enter the narrow passage. The robot can also wait at the detection point to ensure that the narrow passage entrance has enough space for other robots to pass.

[0048] The above step of predicting whether the robots collide in a narrow passage can be performed by setting a collision detection area for each robot; and judging whether a collision occurs by predicting whether the collision detection areas of two robots overlap. The above step of predicting whether the robots collide in a narrow passage can also be performed by judging whether the robots cover the occupied points. Specifically, the following steps are included:

[0049] Determine the length of the narrow passage;

[0050] Define the direction of the narrow passage, with one narrow passage as the starting point and the other narrow passage as the end point. The positive direction is a positive value, and the reverse direction is a negative value.

[0051] Calculating the driving trajectory of the robot in the narrow lane according to the current position and target point of the robot;

[0052] It is determined whether the robot's driving trajectory covers the occupied point, and if so, it is considered that there is a collision.

[0053] See also Figure 2 As shown, the length of the narrow road is determined to be 8m, with the narrow road opening on the left side of the narrow road as the starting point and the narrow road opening on the right side as the starting point, then the current position of the occupied point is +5m or -3m. If the robot enters the narrow road from the narrow road opening on the left side of the narrow road, the target point of the robot needs to be less than +5m; if the robot enters the narrow road from the narrow road opening on the right side of the narrow road, the target point of the robot needs to be greater than -3m to ensure that the driving trajectory of the robot does not cover the occupied point and avoid collisions between multiple robots.

[0054] Furthermore, the occupied point can also be an area with a radius of 1m centered on the target point of the robot; the radius of 1 meter provides a safety buffer zone for the robot. Even if it is predicted that the robot has a slight positioning error or path deviation during driving, it can ensure that it will not directly contact other robots or obstacles, thereby greatly reducing the risk of collision.

[0055] The multi-robot narrow road passage method of the present application also provides a scheduling step for the multi-robots to leave the narrow road:

[0056] Receive a robot about to leave the narrow path;

[0057] Determine whether there are other occupied positions in the current narrow passage;

[0058] If not, the robot is moved away from the narrow path, and the occupied position is synchronously updated during the process of leaving the narrow path;

[0059] If so, determine whether the trajectory of the robot leaving the narrow path covers other station locations; if so, the robot waits in the occupied location, otherwise the robot leaves the narrow path in a direction that does not cover other occupied locations, and the occupied location is updated synchronously during the process of leaving the narrow path.

[0060] When there are no other occupied positions in the current narrow road, the robot can flexibly choose the way to leave the narrow road according to the specific situation, which increases its adaptability and survivability in complex environments. The robot can leave the narrow road by going straight from another narrow road entrance, or by turning back and leaving the narrow road from the original narrow road entrance; usually, it goes straight to leave the narrow road, which makes path planning simpler and more efficient. Of course, if the narrow road is too long, it is not set to be bidirectional. Turning back and leaving the narrow road from the original narrow road entrance can ensure that there is only one-way flow in the narrow road, thereby avoiding congestion and improving traffic efficiency. Similarly, it is judged whether the trajectory of the robot leaving the narrow road covers other station positions, that is, it can be judged that the trajectory of leaving the narrow road from another narrow road entrance can be judged, or it can be judged that the trajectory of leaving the narrow road from the original narrow road entrance can be judged; usually, it is preferred to judge the trajectory of leaving the narrow road from the straight road, which makes path planning simpler and more efficient. When the straight road covers other station positions, the robot can quickly judge the trajectory of leaving the narrow road from the original narrow road entrance to avoid deadlock or stagnation. Of course, if the narrow passage is too long, it is directly determined to turn back and leave the narrow passage from the original narrow passage entrance, so as to avoid congestion and improve traffic efficiency.

[0061] When the above-mentioned robot leaves the narrow passage, it updates the occupied position information synchronously, ensuring that other robots can obtain the latest occupied position information in the narrow passage in real time. This helps to avoid conflicts caused by multiple robots trying to leave the narrow passage at the same time, improving the efficiency and safety of passage; at the same time, it reduces the waiting time of other robots outside the narrow passage, allowing the robot to complete the task faster and return to the next work point, which helps multiple robots to better perform dynamic scheduling and collaborative operations.

[0062] Of course, after the robot leaves the narrow lane, it is unbound from the narrow lane. The unbinding operation ensures that robots do not unconsciously "occupy" the narrow lane even if they have left. This avoids occupancy conflicts caused by the failure to update the occupancy information in time and reduces the waiting time of other robots outside the narrow lane. By unbinding in time, the system can track and allocate narrow lane resources more accurately. This helps optimize resource utilization and ensure that each robot can efficiently use the available narrow lane space.

[0063] The present application also provides a storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the above-mentioned multi-robot narrow lane passage method is implemented.

[0064] The computer program involved in the embodiment can be stored in a storage medium, and the computer device readable storage medium includes but is not limited to a disk, a tape, a magnetic card, a floppy disk, a flash memory, an optical disk, an optical card, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) and an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), etc., and also includes other biological, physical or chemical structures that can achieve the same or equivalent functions as the storage media listed above, such as DNA, RNA, protein and other units with information storage capabilities. In a specific embodiment, the storage medium involved can be one of the above-mentioned media types, or a combination of the above-mentioned media types. In different embodiments, the computer program involved in the embodiment can be stored in a single medium in a centralized manner, or it can be stored in multiple media in a distributed manner. The memory containing the computer device readable storage medium can be a non-volatile memory or a random access memory. These computer device readable storage media can be built into the device, or they can be connected to the device involved in the embodiment as an external device or a part of an external device. In some embodiments, a memory with a computer device readable storage medium is deployed locally; in other embodiments, a solution of deploying the memory away from the processor may also be adopted, such as a network attached memory accessed via an RF circuit or an external port and a communication network, wherein the communication network may be the Internet, one or more intranets, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WLAN), a storage area network (SAN), etc., or a suitable combination thereof, as long as the computer device can access the memory. In addition, the computer program involved in the embodiment may be stored in plaintext / ciphertext form, or may be designed as training data, which may be integrated and reorganized through model training and implicitly stored in the parameter state of a deep neural network or other machine learning model.

[0065] The present application also provides an electronic device, which includes a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the above-mentioned multi-robot narrow lane passage method is implemented.

[0066] The processor described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware, firmware, software or a combination thereof, and can use a circuit, a single or multiple application-specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a digital signal processor (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), a digital signal processing device (Digital Signal Processing Device, DSPD), a programmable logic device (Programmable Logic Device, PLD), a field programmable gate array (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), a controller, a microcontroller, at least one of a microprocessor, and also includes other physical, biological or chemical structures that can achieve similar or equivalent functions to the processors listed above, such as biological neurons, quantum computing units, DNA computing units, etc., so that the processor can execute some or all of the steps in the computer program or method involved in the various embodiments of the present application, or any combination of the steps mentioned therein.

[0067] Finally, it should be noted that although the above embodiments have been described in the specification and drawings of this application, this does not limit the scope of patent protection of this application. All technical solutions generated by replacing or modifying equivalent structures or equivalent processes based on the essential concept of this application using the contents recorded in the specification and drawings of this application, as well as directly or indirectly implementing the technical solutions of the above embodiments in other related technical fields, are included in the scope of patent protection of this application.

Claims

1. A multi-robot narrow-lane navigation method, characterized in that: Including the scheduling steps for multiple robots entering narrow lanes: Determine whether there is an occupied spot in the current narrow passage; If not, the target point of the robot is used as an occupation point, and the robot enters a narrow passage; If so, there is a position conflict; predict whether the robot collides in the narrow passage, if so, the robot waits outside the narrow passage, otherwise the target point of the robot is used as the position, and the robot enters the narrow passage.

2. The multi-robot narrow-lane passage method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the target point of the robot is used as an occupied point, the method further includes binding the robot to the narrow path.

3. The multi-robot narrow-lane passage method according to claim 1, characterized in that: A detection point is set at the entrance of the narrow passage. Before the robot enters the narrow passage, it determines at the detection point whether there is an occupied position in the current narrow passage.

4. The multi-robot narrow-lane passage method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The robot waits at the detection point.

5. The multi-robot narrow-lane passage method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of predicting whether the robot collides in a narrow passage comprises the following steps: Determine the length of the narrow passage; Define the direction of the narrow passage, with one narrow passage as the starting point and the other narrow passage as the end point. The positive direction is a positive value, and the reverse direction is a negative value. Calculating the driving trajectory of the robot in the narrow lane according to the current position and target point of the robot; It is determined whether the robot's driving trajectory covers the occupied point, and if so, it is considered that there is a collision.

6. The multi-robot narrow-lane passage method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The occupied point is an area with a radius of 1 m, with the target point of the robot as the center.

7. The multi-robot narrow-lane navigation method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: It also includes the scheduling steps for multiple robots to leave the narrow road: Receive a robot about to leave the narrow path; Determine whether there are other occupied positions in the current narrow passage; If not, the robot is moved away from the narrow path, and the occupied position is synchronously updated during the process of leaving the narrow path; If so, determine whether the trajectory of the robot leaving the narrow path covers other station locations; if so, the robot waits in the occupied location, otherwise the robot leaves the narrow path in a direction that does not cover other occupied locations, and the occupied location is updated synchronously during the process of leaving the narrow path.

8. The multi-robot narrow-lane navigation method according to claim 7, characterized in that: After the robot leaves the narrow passage, it is untied from the narrow passage.

9. A storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the multi-robot narrow lane navigation method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that The method comprises a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, a multi-robot narrow lane passage method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8 is implemented.

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