Method for determining elevator waiting position of robot

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for determining the elevator waiting position of a robot, the elevator waiting position of the robot is determined according to preset conditions, and the preset conditions comprise: condition 1, the minimum distance between the robot and a first door pocket of a left door pocket and a right door pocket is greater than a safe distance required for ensuring the safety of the robot; 2, the minimum distance between the robot and the second door pocket in the left door pocket and the right door pocket is larger than the blocking distance, and the blocking distance refers to the minimum value of the gap needed by an elevator user who gets off an elevator from an elevator waiting floor where the robot is located to enter an elevator waiting hall through the gap between the second door pocket and the robot smoothly; and 3, the distance between the robot and the elevator door is not smaller than the default distance, and the default distance refers to the default value of the distance between the elevator waiting position of the robot and the elevator door. The elevator waiting robot can be prevented from stopping elevator users in the elevator car from getting off the elevator.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the fields of robots and elevators, and particularly relates to a method for determining the waiting position of a robot for an elevator. Background Art

[0002] Currently, research on robots taking elevators mainly focuses on how robots enter the elevator car and move inside the car.

[0003] Currently, robots, especially delivery robots, are increasingly widely used in reality, bringing great convenience to people. Many robot tasks involve serving across floors, which requires the robot to take the elevator from one floor to another to complete relevant tasks when performing tasks. However, in the practical application of robots, many problems have also emerged. Among them, the robot blocks the elevator users getting off the elevator (including passengers and other robots, etc.) due to an inappropriate waiting position, thus having an adverse impact on the passengers getting off the elevator.

[0004] In the prior art, the waiting position of the robot is usually set by the robot manufacturer in advance with a default distance value from the elevator door. The robot will determine a waiting position in the idle area at a distance from the elevator door equal to the default distance value and wait there for the elevator to arrive at its floor. Since the default distance value is slightly larger than the thickness of most elevator door frames, the waiting position of the robot is usually located on the wall of the waiting hall away from the elevator door, so it will not block the passengers getting off the elevator. However, in some special occasions, the elevator door frame may be relatively thick (i.e., the distance between the elevator door and the wall of the waiting hall is large). At this time, if the waiting position of the robot is still set according to the prior art, it will cause the waiting position of the robot to be located between the wall and the elevator door, that is, at a certain position within the left and right door frames, thus causing the waiting robot to block the passengers getting off the elevator.

[0005] Therefore, how to appropriately determine the waiting position of the robot and ensure that the robot does not block the passengers getting off the elevator becomes a technical problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is how to appropriately determine the waiting position of the robot and ensure that the robot does not block the passengers getting off the elevator.

[0007] To solve the above technical problem, the present invention discloses a method for determining the waiting position of a robot. The determination method determines the waiting position of the robot according to preset conditions, and the preset conditions include:

[0008] Condition 1: The minimum distance between the robot and the first door frame among the left door frame and the right door frame is greater than the safety distance required to ensure the safety of the robot.

[0009] Condition 2: The minimum distance between the robot and the second door pocket among the left door pocket and the right door pocket is greater than the blocking distance, where the blocking distance refers to the minimum value of the clearance required for an elevator user getting off the elevator from the floor where the robot is waiting to smoothly enter the waiting hall through the clearance between the second door pocket and the robot.

[0010] Condition 3: The distance between the robot and the elevator door is not less than the default distance, where the default distance refers to the default value of the distance between the robot's waiting position and the elevator door.

[0011] Preferably, when there is an elevator user who will get off the elevator on the floor where the robot is located in the car, the determination method will determine the waiting position according to preset Condition 1 and Condition 2; otherwise, it will only determine the waiting position according to Condition 3.

[0012] Preferably, the method for determining the waiting position according to the preset conditions is as follows:

[0013] Step A1: Determine a first area composed of points with a minimum distance greater than the safety distance from the first door pocket, determine a second area composed of points with a minimum distance greater than the blocking distance from the second door pocket, and take the intersection of the first area and the second area as the third area.

[0014] Step A2: Determine a fourth area composed of points with a minimum distance greater than the safety distance from the second door pocket, determine a fifth area composed of points with a minimum distance greater than the blocking distance from the first door pocket, and take the intersection of the fourth area and the fifth area as the sixth area.

[0015] Step A3: Take the intersection of the third area and the sixth area as the seventh area.

[0016] Step A4: Determine an eighth area composed of points with a distance not less than the default distance from the elevator door.

[0017] Step A5: Determine the intersection of the seventh area and the eighth area as the set of all alternative waiting positions.

[0018] Step A6: Select one from the set of alternative waiting positions as the selected waiting position of the robot.

[0019] Preferably, in Step A6, the alternative waiting position with the minimum distance from the elevator door among the alternative waiting positions is taken as the final waiting position of the robot.

[0020] Preferably, the method for determining the waiting position of the robot according to the preset conditions is as follows:

[0021] Step S1: During the process of the robot entering the waiting hall and approaching the elevator door, when the distance between the current position of the robot and the wall of the waiting hall is greater than the default distance, define the current position as the first position.

[0022] Step S2: Advance a moving amount in the direction towards the elevator door from this first position to obtain a second position.

[0023] Step S3: Check whether the second position point meets a preset condition. If it meets the preset condition, use the second position as the new first position and return to Step S2; otherwise, proceed to Step S4.

[0024] Step S4: Adjust left or right by a moving amount. If the adjusted position point meets the preset condition, use the adjusted position point as the new first position and return to Step S2; otherwise, repeat Step S4 until the number of repeated times of Step S4 reaches a threshold and stops, and use the last first position as the waiting position of the robot for the elevator.

[0025] Preferably, the distance between the first position and the first door pocket in the elevator door opening direction is greater than the safety distance.

[0026] Preferably, the first position is located on the side of a specific perpendicular line away from the first door pocket. The specific perpendicular line is: the perpendicular line on the ground of the intersection point of the intersection line of the plane where the elevator door is located and the first door pocket in the plane where the elevator door is located, or the perpendicular line on the ground of the intersection point of the intersection line of the plane where the elevator door is located and the waiting hall wall through the first door pocket.

[0027] Preferably, when adjustment is needed because the second position point does not meet the preset condition, give priority to adjusting in the direction away from the first door pocket.

[0028] Preferably, when obtaining the getting-off position of an elevator user who is about to get off the elevator in the car, in Step S2, the direction towards the elevator door is the getting-off position in the getting-off area of the elevator car that is not occupied by the elevator user who is about to get off the elevator; the getting-off area is the set of getting-off positions for elevator users near the elevator door in the car.

[0029] Beneficial technical effects

[0030] By appropriately determining the waiting position of the robot for the elevator, the robot will not block passengers from getting off the elevator. Description of the drawings

[0031] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the method for determining the waiting position of the robot for the elevator in the specific implementation manner. Specific implementation manner

[0032] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present invention and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not necessarily need to describe a specific order or sequence.

[0033] Embodiment 1

[0034] As Figure 1 shown, this embodiment provides a method for determining the waiting position of a robot. The determination method determines the waiting position of the robot 1 according to preset conditions, and the preset conditions include:

[0035] Condition 1: The minimum distance between the robot 1 and the first door pocket among the left door pocket 2 and the right door pocket 3 is greater than the safety distance required to ensure the safety of the robot.

[0036] Condition 2: The minimum distance between the robot 1 and the second door pocket among the left door pocket 2 and the right door pocket 3 is greater than the blocking distance. The blocking distance refers to the minimum value of the gap required for the elevator users getting off the elevator from the floor where the robot is waiting to pass through the gap between the second door pocket and the robot 1 smoothly and enter the waiting hall.

[0037] Condition 3: The distance between the robot 1 and the elevator door 5 is not less than the default distance. The default distance refers to the default value of the distance between the waiting position of the robot and the elevator door 5.

[0038] Considering that if there are no elevator users (such as passengers or other robots, etc.) who want to get off the elevator when the elevator car arrives at the floor where the robot is located and the door opens, then no matter where the waiting robot waits, it will not obstruct the elevator users getting off the elevator. Therefore, when there are elevator users who will get off the elevator on the floor where the robot is located in the car, the determination method of this embodiment will determine the waiting position according to preset conditions 1 and 2, otherwise, it will only determine the waiting position according to condition 3.

[0039] Generally, the default distance and the blocking distance are both much greater than the safety distance.

[0040] In addition, considering that the preset conditions actually only define a range for the waiting elevator position, that is to say, usually, there are many waiting elevator positions that meet the preset conditions. Therefore, the determination method selects the alternative waiting elevator position with the smallest distance from the elevator door among the waiting elevator positions that meet the preset conditions as the final robot waiting elevator position.

[0041] Embodiment 2

[0042] On the basis of Embodiment 1, this embodiment makes further limitations and explanations.

[0043] Embodiment 1 actually gives the conditions that the waiting elevator position determined by the determination method should meet, which is a functional limitation. This embodiment gives a specific determination method for making the waiting elevator position meet the preset conditions.

[0044] In this embodiment, after the robot 1 enters the waiting hall, it will first determine the positions and sizes of the elevator door 5, door jambs 2, 3, etc. On this basis, the following steps will be executed according to the positions and sizes of the elevator door 5, door jambs 2, 3, etc.:

[0045] Step A1: Determine the first area composed of points with the minimum distance from the first door jamb greater than the safety distance, determine the second area composed of points with the minimum distance from the second door jamb greater than the blocking distance, and take the intersection of the first area and the second area as the third area;

[0046] Step A2: Determine the fourth area composed of points with the minimum distance from the second door jamb greater than the safety distance, determine the fifth area composed of points with the minimum distance from the first door jamb greater than the blocking distance, and take the intersection of the fourth area and the fifth area as the sixth area;

[0047] Step A3: Take the intersection of the third area and the sixth area as the seventh area;

[0048] Step A4: Determine the eighth area composed of points with the distance from the elevator door not less than the default distance;

[0049] Step A5: Determine the intersection of the seventh area and the eighth area as the set of all alternative waiting elevator positions;

[0050] Step A6: Select one from the set of alternative waiting elevator positions as the selected robot waiting elevator position.

[0051] The first door jamb mentioned above can be Figure 1 either the left door jamb 2 or the right door jamb 3 in

[0052] After obtaining the set of alternative waiting elevator positions, in step A6, the alternative waiting elevator position with the smallest distance from the elevator door among the alternative waiting elevator positions is used as the final robot waiting elevator position.

[0053] Embodiment 3

[0054] This embodiment makes further limitations and explanations on the basis of Embodiment 1.

[0055] Embodiment 1 actually gives the conditions that the waiting elevator position determined by the determination method should satisfy, which is a functional limitation. This embodiment gives a specific determination method for making the waiting elevator position satisfy the preset conditions. This determination method is essentially a trial-and-error method of "feeling the way across the river by feeling the stones", specifically as follows:

[0056] Step S1, during the process of the robot entering the waiting hall and approaching the elevator door, when the distance between the current position of the robot and the wall of the waiting hall is greater than the default distance, define the current position as the first position;

[0057] Step S2, move forward a moving amount in the direction of approaching the elevator door from this first position to obtain a second position; here, the direction of approaching the elevator door is not necessarily directly facing the elevator door direction, as long as the distance between this point and the elevator door is reduced; when the getting-off position of the elevator user who is about to get off the elevator in the car can be obtained, here "in the direction of approaching the elevator door" preferably faces the getting-off position in the getting-off area of the elevator car that is not occupied by the elevator user who is about to get off the elevator, and the getting-off area is the set of positions in the car near the elevator door for the getting-off passengers to prepare to get off the elevator;

[0058] Step S3, check whether the second position point satisfies the preset conditions. If it satisfies the preset conditions, take the second position as the new first position and return to Step S2; otherwise, enter Step S4;

[0059] Step S4, adjust a moving amount to the left or right. If the adjusted position point satisfies the preset conditions, take the adjusted position point as the new first position and return to Step S2; otherwise, repeat Step S4 until the number of repeated times of Step S4 reaches the threshold and stops, and take the last first position as the waiting elevator position of the robot.

[0060] In order to reduce the probability that the second position in the above does not satisfy the preset conditions and facilitate the selection of whether to adjust to the left or right in "adjust a moving amount to the left or right", the following limitations can be made:

[0061] The distance between the first position and the first door pocket in the elevator door opening direction is greater than the safety distance. Here, "greater than" means slightly greater than, and there is no need to be much greater than the safety distance.

[0062] More specifically, the first position is defined as follows: the first position is located on the side of a specific perpendicular line away from the first door pocket, where the specific perpendicular line is: the perpendicular line on the ground passing through the intersection point on the ground of the intersection line between the plane where the elevator door is located and the first door pocket, or the perpendicular line on the ground passing through the intersection point on the ground of the intersection line between the plane where the elevator door is located and the wall of the waiting hall.

[0063] When the second position point does not meet the specific conditions and needs to be adjusted, it is preferred to adjust in the direction away from the first door pocket. The underlying reason lies in the aforementioned definition of the first position.

Claims

1. A method for determining a robot waiting position for an elevator, characterized in that: The determination method determines the robot's waiting position for the elevator according to preset conditions, and the preset conditions include: Condition 1: The minimum distance between the robot and the first door frame of the left door frame and the right door frame is greater than the safety distance required to ensure the safety of the robot; Condition 2: The minimum distance between the robot and the second door frame of the left door frame and the right door frame is greater than the blocking distance, where the blocking distance refers to the minimum value of the gap required for an elevator user who gets off the elevator from the elevator waiting floor where the robot is located to smoothly pass through the gap between the second door frame and the robot and enter the elevator waiting hall; Condition 3: The distance between the robot and the elevator door is not less than a default distance, where the default distance refers to a default value of the distance between the robot's waiting position and the elevator door.

2. The method for determining the robot waiting position for an elevator according to claim 1, characterized in that: When there is an elevator user in the car who is about to get off at the floor where the robot is located, the determination method will determine the waiting position according to preset conditions 1 and 2, otherwise the waiting position will be determined only according to condition 3.

3. The method for determining the robot waiting position for an elevator according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method for determining the elevator waiting position according to the preset conditions is: Step A1, determining a first area consisting of points whose minimum distance to the first door sleeve is greater than the safety distance, determining a second area consisting of points whose minimum distance to the second door sleeve is greater than the blocking distance, and taking the intersection of the first area and the second area as the third area; Step A2, determining a fourth area formed by points whose minimum distance to the second door sleeve is greater than the safety distance, determining a fifth area formed by points whose minimum distance to the first door sleeve is greater than the blocking distance, and taking the intersection of the fourth area and the fifth area as the sixth area; Step A3, taking the intersection of the third area and the sixth area as the seventh area; Step A4, determining an eighth area consisting of points whose distances from the elevator door are not less than a default distance; Step A5, determining the intersection of the seventh area and the eighth area as a set of all candidate elevator waiting positions; Step A6, selecting one from a set of candidate elevator waiting positions as the selected robot elevator waiting position.

4. The method for determining the robot waiting position for an elevator according to claim 3, characterized in that: In step A6, the candidate elevator waiting position with the smallest distance from the elevator door is used as the final robot elevator waiting position.

5. The method for determining the robot's elevator waiting position according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method for determining the robot's waiting position for the elevator according to the preset conditions is: Step S1, when the robot enters the elevator lobby and approaches the elevator door, when the distance between the current position of the robot and the wall of the elevator lobby is greater than the default distance, the current position is defined as the first position; Step S2, moving forward a distance from the first position toward the direction close to the elevator door to obtain a second position; Step S3, checking whether the second position point meets the preset condition, if it meets the preset condition, taking the second position as the new first position and returning to step S2, otherwise going to step S4; Step S4, adjust the movement amount to the left or right. If the adjusted position point meets the preset conditions, the adjusted position point is used as the new first position and returns to step S2. Otherwise, repeat step S4 until the number of repetitions of step S4 reaches the threshold and stops, and the last first position is used as the robot's elevator waiting position.

6. The method for determining the robot's elevator waiting position according to claim 5, characterized in that: The distance between the first position and the first door suite in the elevator door opening direction is greater than the safety distance.

7. The method for determining the robot's waiting position for an elevator according to claim 6, characterized in that: The first position is located on a side of a specific vertical line away from the first door frame, and the specific vertical line is: a vertical line of the plane where the elevator door is located through the intersection point of the intersection line of the first door frame and the plane where the elevator door is located on the ground, or a vertical line of the plane where the elevator door is located through the intersection point of the intersection line of the first door frame and the wall of the elevator lobby on the ground.

8. The method for determining the robot's elevator waiting position according to claim 6, characterized in that: When the second position point does not meet the preset conditions and needs to be adjusted, it is preferred to adjust it in a direction away from the first door frame.

9. The method for determining the robot's waiting position for an elevator according to claim 5, characterized in that: When obtaining the getting-off position of an elevator user who is about to get off the elevator in the car, in the step S2, the getting-off position in the getting-off area toward the elevator car that is not occupied by the elevator user who is about to get off the elevator is in the direction close to the elevator door; the getting-off area is a collection of getting-off positions for elevator users near the elevator door in the car.

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