Intelligent robot with high trafficability

Abstract

Through a computer of the intelligent robot body, after visual images are captured and analyzed, an instruction is given to control the mechanical arm and the mechanical hand to complete pressing of elevator keys, or an instruction is given to control the mechanical arm and the mechanical hand to complete opening of a door and cooperate with walking actions of the intelligent robot body at the same time; the system can automatically pass through a multi-floor area for operation or pass through a plurality of different rooms, does not depend on signal linkage with external facilities in an existing environment, actively passes through obstacles such as elevators and rooms, and has the characteristic of high trafficability in a complex environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of intelligent robots, in particular to an intelligent robot with high passability. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of intelligent robot technology, more and more intelligent robots will be widely used in various scenarios. Sometimes, intelligent robots are required to autonomously cross multiple floors to perform operations or pass through multiple different rooms. Among the current common technologies, most technical solutions are to enable robots to pass between different floors or rooms through communication between the robot and the elevator's central control system or through the machine and the access control system.

[0003] Taking the communication between the robot and the elevator's central control system as an example, first of all, the communication protocol is the key. The robot needs to exchange information with the elevator control system in real time, such as floor requests, elevator status, door control signals, etc. Common protocols may include BACnet, Modbus or CAN bus, but different elevator brands may have custom protocols, so middleware or gateways may be required for protocol conversion. Secondly, in terms of hardware interface, the robot may need to be physically connected to the elevator's control cabinet, or communicate through a wireless module (such as Zigbee, LoRa). In addition, sensors or beacons may need to be installed inside the elevator to help the robot accurately locate. In terms of data synchronization, the robot and the elevator need to share real-time data, such as the current floor of the elevator, the direction of operation, whether the door is open, etc. This requires an efficient data transmission mechanism to ensure low latency and high reliability. At the same time, the data format needs to be unified, such as using JSON or XML for information exchange.

[0004] However, this approach requires breaking down the barriers between robot suppliers, elevator suppliers and property management. Especially for existing large public buildings and large factory areas, where there are many elevators and various models, the transformation of the elevator central control system is costly and time-consuming.

[0005] Moreover, in most environments, it is not suitable and there is no condition to replace the existing traditional doors with automatic doors that can open and close automatically. Therefore, even if the elevator control system is modified to enable the robot to go up and down the elevator autonomously, the robot still cannot autonomously travel between different rooms.

[0006] The present invention relates to an intelligent robot with high passability, which can autonomously cross a multi-floor area to perform operations or pass between a plurality of different rooms without modifying existing elevators and doors.

[0007] The present invention uses the onboard computer of the intelligent robot body to capture and analyze the visual image, and then gives instructions to control the mechanical arm and the manipulator to complete the pressing of the elevator button, or gives instructions to control the mechanical arm and the manipulator to complete the opening of the door and coordinate the walking action of the intelligent robot body at the same time, so as to complete autonomous crossing to multiple floors to perform operations or pass between multiple different rooms. Summary of the invention

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an intelligent robot with high passability, which can autonomously traverse to multi-floor areas to perform operations or pass between multiple different rooms without modifying existing elevators and doors.

[0009] The intelligent robot with high passability described in the present invention is composed of a robot body, a visual sensor, a mechanical arm and a mechanical hand. The walking form of the robot body includes but is not limited to: a quadruped robot (dog), a quadruped wheeled robot (dog), a bipedal wheeled robot, a bipedal humanoid robot, a tracked robot, a wheeled robot, an unmanned all-terrain vehicle, etc. The various walking forms of the robot body do not affect the realization of the high passability technical solution described in the present invention.

[0010] The present invention uses the computer of the intelligent robot body to capture and analyze the visual image, and then gives instructions to control the mechanical arm and the manipulator to complete the pressing of the elevator button, or gives instructions to control the mechanical arm and the manipulator to complete the opening of the door and simultaneously coordinate the walking action of the intelligent robot body, so as to complete autonomous crossing to multiple floor areas to perform operations or pass between multiple different rooms. In the existing environment, the robot can actively pass through obstacles such as elevators and rooms without relying on signal linkage with external facilities, and has the characteristics of high passability in complex environments.

[0011] The intelligent robot with high passability described in the present invention, when receiving an instruction to cross a floor: (1) Use autonomous navigation to reach the elevator location on your floor; (2) After capturing and analyzing the visual image, the elevator call button is identified, and based on whether the intended floor is above or below the current floor, instructions are given to control the robot arm and manipulator to complete the pressing of the up or down elevator call button; (3) The intelligent robot controls the visual sensor to scan, captures and analyzes the elevator operation indication image, identifies the elevator that is about to arrive, and autonomously arrives in front of the elevator and waits; (4) When the elevator door opens, draw a 3D image of the interior of the elevator to determine whether the intelligent robot can enter; (5) If the answer is “yes”, the intelligent robot enters the elevator and adjusts its posture. After capturing and analyzing the visual image, it identifies the elevator floor button and gives instructions to control the robotic arm and manipulator to press the elevator floor button for the intended floor. (6) If the answer is “No”, the intelligent robot does not enter the elevator. After the elevator door closes, it repeats steps 2, 3, 4, and 5 above. (7) The intelligent robot captures and recognizes the elevator floor indication image in the elevator. When it reaches the intended floor and the elevator door opens, the intelligent robot walks out of the elevator and completes autonomous traversal of the floors.

[0012] Two fault-tolerant designs are added to the method for the intelligent robot to autonomously cross floors: (1) When the intelligent robot fails to exit the elevator in time due to various reasons and the elevator is closed again, the intelligent robot again gives instructions to control the robotic arm and the manipulator to complete pressing the elevator floor button for the floor to be reached; (2) When the intelligent robot recognizes that the elevator floor button indicator light is off for various reasons before the elevator reaches the intended floor, the intelligent robot again gives instructions to control the robotic arm and the manipulator to complete pressing the elevator floor button for the intended floor.

[0013] The robot arm and manipulator should include force feedback sensors to ensure that the appropriate pressure is applied to press the elevator button.

[0014] The intelligent robot with high passability described in the present invention, when the intelligent robot receives an instruction to pass through a door: (1) Through autonomous navigation, the robot arrives at the door it wants to pass through and identifies the direction in which the door opens after capturing and analyzing the visual image. (2) If the direction of the door opening is consistent with the direction of the intelligent robot's movement, after capturing and identifying the image of the door handle, the intelligent robot gives instructions to control the robotic arm and manipulator to grasp the door handle, and then twist the door handle downward. Then the robotic arm and manipulator push the door forward, the intelligent robot moves forward through the door, and the robotic arm and manipulator release the door handle; (3) If the door opening direction is inconsistent with the intelligent robot's moving direction, after capturing and identifying the door handle image, the intelligent robot gives instructions to control the robotic arm and manipulator to hold the door handle, and then twist the door handle downward. Then the robotic arm and manipulator retract backward to open the door. When the intelligent robot moves forward through the door, the robotic arm and manipulator hold the door handle while maintaining coordination and synchronization with the intelligent robot's walking body. As the intelligent robot gradually moves forward, the robotic arm and manipulator holding the door handle gradually retract backward to keep the door opening size unchanged, so that the intelligent robot can pass through the door position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The following description is used to disclose the present invention so that those skilled in the art can implement the present invention. The preferred embodiments described below are only examples, and those skilled in the art can think of other obvious variations. The basic principles of the present invention defined in the following description can be applied to other embodiments, variations, improvements, equivalents, and other technical solutions that do not deviate from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0017] In order to solve the above problems, the invention provides an intelligent robot with high passability. When the intelligent robot receives an instruction to cross a floor: (1) Use autonomous navigation to reach the elevator location on your floor; (2) After capturing and analyzing the visual image, the elevator call button is identified, and based on whether the intended floor is above or below the current floor, instructions are given to control the robot arm and manipulator to complete the pressing of the up or down elevator call button; (3) The intelligent robot controls the visual sensor to scan, captures and analyzes the elevator operation indication image, identifies the elevator that is about to arrive, and autonomously arrives in front of the elevator and waits; (4) When the elevator door opens, draw a 3D image of the interior of the elevator to determine whether the intelligent robot can enter; (5) If the answer is “yes”, the intelligent robot enters the elevator and adjusts its posture. After capturing and analyzing the visual image, it identifies the elevator floor button and gives instructions to control the robotic arm and manipulator to press the elevator floor button for the intended floor. (6) If the answer is “No”, the intelligent robot does not enter the elevator. After the elevator door closes, it repeats steps 2, 3, 4, and 5 above. (7) The intelligent robot captures and recognizes the elevator floor indication image in the elevator. When it reaches the intended floor and the elevator door opens, the intelligent robot walks out of the elevator and completes autonomous traversal of the floors.

[0018] Two fault-tolerant designs are added to the method for the intelligent robot to autonomously cross floors: (1) When the intelligent robot fails to exit the elevator in time due to various reasons and the elevator is closed again, the intelligent robot again gives instructions to control the robotic arm and the manipulator to complete pressing the elevator floor button for the floor to be reached; (2) When the intelligent robot recognizes that the elevator floor button indicator light is off for various reasons before the elevator reaches the intended floor, the intelligent robot again gives instructions to control the robotic arm and the manipulator to complete pressing the elevator floor button for the intended floor.

[0019] The robot arm and manipulator should include force feedback sensors to ensure that the appropriate pressure is applied to press the elevator button.

[0020] When there is a manned elevator in the usage scenario, the intelligent robot with high passability described in the present invention can also be equipped with a display screen or a speaker to tell the elevator driver the floor number to be visited through visual or voice methods.

[0021] The intelligent robot with high passability described in the present invention, when the intelligent robot receives an instruction to pass through a door: (1) Through autonomous navigation, the robot arrives at the door it wants to pass through and identifies the direction in which the door opens after capturing and analyzing the visual image. (2) If the direction of the door opening is consistent with the direction of the intelligent robot's movement, after capturing and identifying the image of the door handle, the intelligent robot gives instructions to control the robotic arm and manipulator to grasp the door handle, and then twist the door handle downward. Then the robotic arm and manipulator push the door forward, the intelligent robot moves forward through the door, and the robotic arm and manipulator release the door handle; (3) If the door opening direction is inconsistent with the intelligent robot's moving direction, after capturing and identifying the door handle image, the intelligent robot gives instructions to control the robotic arm and manipulator to hold the door handle, and then twist the door handle downward. Then the robotic arm and manipulator retract backward to open the door. When the intelligent robot moves forward through the door, the robotic arm and manipulator hold the door handle while maintaining coordination and synchronization with the intelligent robot's walking body. As the intelligent robot gradually moves forward, the robotic arm and manipulator holding the door handle gradually retract backward to keep the door opening size unchanged, so that the intelligent robot can pass through the door position.

[0022] The embodiments described above are only used to illustrate the technical ideas and features of the present invention, and their purpose is to enable technicians in this field to understand the contents of the present invention and implement them accordingly. The patent scope of the present invention cannot be limited only by this embodiment, that is, any equivalent changes or modifications made according to the spirit disclosed by the present invention still fall within the patent scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. The intelligent robot with high throughput described in the present invention is characterized in that When the intelligent robot receives the instruction to cross the floor; (1) Use autonomous navigation to reach the elevator location on your floor; (2) After capturing and analyzing the visual image, the elevator call button is identified, and based on whether the intended floor is above or below the current floor, instructions are given to control the robot arm and manipulator to complete the pressing of the up or down elevator call button; (3) After the intelligent robot captures and analyzes the elevator operation indication image, it identifies the elevator that is about to arrive and autonomously arrives in front of the elevator to wait; (4) When the elevator door opens, draw a 3D image of the interior of the elevator to determine whether the intelligent robot can enter; (5) If the answer is "yes", the intelligent robot enters the elevator and adjusts its posture. After capturing and analyzing the visual image, it identifies the elevator floor button and gives instructions to control the robot arm and manipulator to press the elevator floor button for the floor to be reached. (6) If the answer is "No", the intelligent robot does not enter the elevator. After the elevator door closes, it repeats steps 2, 3, 4, and 5 above. (7) The intelligent robot captures and recognizes the elevator floor indication image in the elevator. When it reaches the intended floor and the elevator door opens, the intelligent robot walks out of the elevator and completes autonomous traversal of the floors.

2. The intelligent robot with high throughput described in the present invention is characterized in that When the intelligent robot receives the instruction to pass through the door; (1) Through autonomous navigation, the robot arrives at the door it wants to pass through and identifies the direction in which the door opens after capturing and analyzing the visual image. (2) If the direction of the door opening is consistent with the direction of the intelligent robot's movement, after capturing and identifying the image of the door handle, the intelligent robot gives instructions to control the robotic arm and manipulator to grasp the door handle, and then twist the door handle downward. Then the robotic arm and manipulator push the door forward, the intelligent robot moves forward through the door, and the robotic arm and manipulator release the door handle; (3) If the door opening direction is inconsistent with the intelligent robot's moving direction, after capturing and identifying the door handle image, the intelligent robot gives instructions to control the robotic arm and manipulator to hold the door handle, and then twist the door handle downward. Then the robotic arm and manipulator retract backward to open the door. When the intelligent robot moves forward through the door, the robotic arm and manipulator hold the door handle while maintaining coordination and synchronization with the intelligent robot's walking body. As the intelligent robot gradually moves forward, the robotic arm and manipulator holding the door handle gradually retract backward to keep the door opening size unchanged, so that the intelligent robot can pass through the door position.