Self-adaptive snow-melting agent spreading device, snow removal engineering vehicle, snow-melting agent spreading vehicle and intelligent snow-melting agent spreading robot

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of snow-melting agent sowing, in particular to a self-adaptive snow-melting agent sowing device, a snow removal engineering vehicle and a snow-melting agent sowing vehicle, the self-adaptive snow-melting agent sowing device comprises a vehicle body frame, and a control unit, a camera, a snowfall sensor and a horizontal sowing throwing wheel which are respectively mounted on the vehicle body frame; the snowfall sensor is used for monitoring the snow depth in real time; the camera is used for collecting pavement images; the control unit is used for identifying an accumulated snow coverage area of the road surface image and generating control instructions of different sowing amounts according to the accumulated snow depth; and the horizontal sowing throwing wheel is used for adaptively adjusting the sowing amount of the snow-melting agent according to the control instruction and sowing the snow-melting agent to the identified accumulated snow coverage area. According to the invention, artificial intelligence is combined, the road surface accumulated snow condition is automatically identified, the sowing amount is adaptively adjusted, intelligent sowing is realized, the sowing amount and the sowing area are accurately controlled, excessive use of a snow melting agent is avoided, and the potential influence on the environment is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of snow melting agent spreading, and particularly relates to an adaptive snow melting agent spreading device, a snow removal engineering vehicle, a snow melting agent spreading vehicle, and a snow melting agent intelligent spreading robot. Background Art

[0002] A snow melting agent is a chemical substance that can quickly lower the melting point of snow. Its working principle is to lower the freezing point of water so that the snow can melt at a lower temperature. This characteristic makes the snow melting agent play an important role in winter snow removal operations, especially in areas with cold climates and frequent heavy snow.

[0003] There are usually two ways to spread snow melting agent in winter in the northern region. One is direct manual spreading, and the other is spreading through a snow melting agent spreader. The common disadvantages of these two spreading methods are as follows: (1) The spreading amount of the snow melting agent cannot be accurately controlled The usage amount of the snow melting agent is often difficult to accurately control, which may lead to overuse of the snow melting agent. This will not only waste resources and increase costs, but also cause more serious damage to the environment and ecology. For example, the sewage containing the snow melting agent will enter the sewage pipeline and treatment system, corroding the sewage treatment equipment. Another example is that the brine formed after the snow melting agent and the snow melt will damage the reinforced concrete pavement (bridge) and the sewer pipeline. Salt freeze-thaw erosion and chemical erosion are the main damage forms of the snow melting agent to the pavement and the bridge, which will cause the surface of the pavement and the bridge to be eroded, uneven, and even cracked. Another example is that the snow melting agent will corrode the chassis and tires of the car, reducing their service life. Especially when the snow melting agent makes the tires hard and brittle, it will pose a safety hazard during driving. Another example is that the salt in the snow melting agent will seep into the soil after the snow melts, resulting in soil salinization and hardening, changing the soil composition, affecting plant growth, and thus causing unnecessary damage to the plants and soil in these areas.

[0004] (2) The coverage area of the snow melting agent is relatively random In actual operation, the spreading area of the snow melting agent is often relatively random and lacks precise control. This may cause the snow melting agent to be spread to unnecessary areas, such as green belts, sidewalks, etc., thus causing unnecessary damage to the plants and soil in these areas. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the present invention aims to provide an adaptive snow melting agent spreading device, a snow removal engineering vehicle, a snow melting agent spreading vehicle, and a snow melting agent intelligent spreading robot to solve the technical problem that the traditional snow melting agent spreading method is not combined with artificial intelligence and cannot achieve intelligent spreading.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the technical solution of the present invention is implemented as follows: An adaptive snowmelt agent spreading device includes a vehicle body frame, as well as a control unit, a camera, a snow depth sensor, and a horizontal spreading impeller respectively installed on the vehicle body frame; among them, the snow depth sensor is used to monitor the snow depth in real time; the camera is used to collect road surface images; the control unit is used to identify the snow-covered area in the road surface images collected by the camera, and at the same time generate control instructions for different spreading amounts according to the snow depth monitored by the snow depth sensor; the horizontal spreading impeller is used to adaptively adjust the spreading amount of the snowmelt agent according to the control instructions and spread the snowmelt agent on the identified snow-covered area.

[0007] Further, the control unit realizes the identification of the snow-covered area based on OpenCV, and the identification process includes the following steps: S1: Use the cv::imread function to read the road surface image containing the snow-covered area; S2: Use the cv::cvtColor function to convert the road surface image into a grayscale image; S3: Use the cv::GaussianBlur function to perform Gaussian blur processing on the grayscale image to achieve noise reduction of the grayscale image; S4: Use the cv::threshold function combined with the Otsu method to automatically calculate the threshold, and perform binary processing on the denoised grayscale image according to the calculated threshold to obtain a binary image, realizing the separation of the snow-covered area and the background; S5: Use the cv::morphologyEx function to perform morphological closing operation on the binary image to fill the small holes in the snow-covered area and connect adjacent snow-covered areas; S6: Use the cv::findContours function to find the contours of all snow-covered areas in the binary image; S7: Traverse the contours of each snow-covered area in the binary image, use the cv::contourArea function to calculate the area of the contour of each snow-covered area, and accumulate to obtain the total area of the snow-covered area; S8: Use the cv::drawContours function to draw the contours of the identified snow-covered area on the road surface image.

[0008] Further, the adaptive snowmelt agent spreading device further includes a display screen, and the control unit uses the cv::imshow function to display the road surface image with the contours of the snow-covered area drawn on the display screen.

[0009] Further, when the snow depth monitored by the snow amount sensor is less than 5 cm, the control unit generates a first control instruction to control the spreading amount per square meter of the horizontal spreading impeller not to exceed 50 g; when the snow depth is greater than 5 cm, the control unit generates a second control instruction to control the spreading amount per square meter of the horizontal spreading impeller not to exceed 80 g.

[0010] 5. The adaptive snow melting agent spreading device according to claim 4, wherein the display screen is a touch screen, and the touch screen is provided with two operation buttons, namely the light snow working mode and the heavy snow working mode. The light snow working mode corresponds to the first control instruction, and the heavy snow working mode corresponds to the second control instruction.

[0011] Further, the horizontal spreading impeller includes a storage bin, a feeding pipeline, an electric valve, and an impeller assembly. Among them, the storage bin stores the snow melting agent, one end of the feeding pipeline is connected to the discharge port of the storage bin, one end of the feeding pipeline is connected to the feeding port of the impeller assembly, and the electric valve is installed on the feeding pipeline to control the opening degree of the feeding pipeline. The impeller assembly includes an upper housing, a lower housing, an impeller, and an impeller driving motor. The upper housing is rotatably connected to the lower housing. A material spreading port is provided on the side surface of the upper housing, and a feeding joint serving as a feeding port is installed on the top surface of the upper housing. The impeller is installed inside the upper housing, and the impeller driving motor is installed inside the lower housing. The output shaft of the impeller driving motor is connected to the shaft hole of the impeller.

[0012] Further, the impeller assembly further includes an angle adjustment mechanism. The angle adjustment mechanism includes an angle adjustment motor, an annular rack, and a gear. The angle adjustment motor is installed inside the lower housing, the annular rack is installed on the inner side surface of the upper housing, the gear is installed on the output shaft of the angle adjustment motor and meshes with the annular rack. By driving the upper housing to rotate through the angle adjustment motor, the angle adjustment of the material spreading port is realized.

[0013] Further, the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device further includes a temperature and humidity sensor connected to the control unit. The temperature and humidity sensor is used to monitor the environmental temperature and humidity in real time and send the monitoring data to the control unit. The control unit combines the monitoring data of the temperature and humidity sensor with the driving speed of the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device to adjust the rotation speed and spreading angle of the horizontal spreading impeller and the angle of the electric valve in a timely manner, so as to change the spreading range and spreading speed of the snow melting agent and the opening degree of the feeding pipeline.

[0014] A snow removal engineering vehicle includes a snow removal vehicle and the above-mentioned adaptive snow melting agent spreading device. A universal wheel is installed at the bottom of the vehicle body frame, and the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device is towed by the snow removal vehicle for driving.

[0015] A snow melting agent spreading truck includes a truck and the above-mentioned adaptive snow melting agent spreading device. The adaptive snow melting agent spreading device is installed at the tail or bottom of the cargo box of the truck.

[0016] A snow melting agent intelligent spreading robot includes an automatic guided vehicle and the above-mentioned adaptive snow melting agent spreading device, and the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device is installed on the loading platform of the automatic guided vehicle.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the present invention can achieve the following beneficial effects: 1. Real-time monitoring and recognition: Through cameras and advanced visual recognition algorithms, the snow accumulation situation on the road surface is monitored in real time, and the snow-covered area is accurately recognized, providing data support for intelligent spreading.

[0018] 2. Adaptive spreading strategy: Multiple factors are integrated to automatically adjust the spreading amount of the snow melting agent, avoiding overuse of the snow melting agent and reducing the potential impact on the environment.

[0019] 3. Improve operation efficiency: Manual intervention is reduced through automated operations, improving the spreading efficiency.

[0020] 4. Reduce costs: Through precise spreading, the usage amount of the snow melting agent is reduced, reducing maintenance costs. Automated operations reduce the need for manpower, reducing labor costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The drawings forming a part of the present invention are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention. The schematic embodiments and descriptions thereof of the present invention are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute an improper limitation to the present invention. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a front view structural schematic diagram of the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of the impeller assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of the impeller assembly with the upper housing removed according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an operation mode of the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of another operation mode of the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Description of the reference numerals: Vehicle body frame 1, control unit 2, camera 3, snow amount sensor 4, storage bin 501, material conveying pipeline 502, electric valve 503, throwing wheel assembly 504, upper housing 505, lower housing 506, impeller 507, impeller drive motor 508, spreading opening 509, feeding joint 510, angle adjustment motor 511, annular rack 512, gear 513, display screen 6, universal wheel 7. Detailed implementation manners

[0023] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the following further details the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention, rather than limiting the present invention.

[0024] It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments in the present invention and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0025] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus cannot be understood as a limitation to the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first", "second", etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more.

[0026] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installation", "connection", "connection" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it may be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood through specific situations.

[0027] The following will detail the present invention with reference to the drawings and in conjunction with the embodiments.

[0028] As Figures 1 - 4As shown in the figure, the adaptive snowmelt agent spreading device provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes a vehicle body frame 1, and a control unit 2, a camera 3, a snow amount sensor 4 and a horizontal spreading impeller respectively installed on the vehicle body frame; among them, the snow amount sensor 4 uses an ultrasonic snow depth sensor to real-time monitor the snow depth on the road surface and send it to the control unit 2; the camera 3 uses a high-resolution camera or video camera to collect road surface images and send them to the control unit 2; the control unit 2 is used to identify the snow-covered area in the road surface images collected by the camera 3, and at the same time generate control instructions for different spreading amounts according to the snow depth monitored by the snow amount sensor 4; the horizontal spreading impeller is used to adaptively adjust the spreading amount of the snowmelt agent according to the control instructions and spread the snowmelt agent on the identified snow-covered area.

[0029] The control unit 2 uses image processing technology based on OpenCV to real-time analyze the coverage area and distribution of the snow, that is, accurately identify the snow-covered area, mainly including the following steps: S1: Use the cv::imread function to read the road surface image containing the snow-covered area.

[0030] S2: Use the cv::cvtColor function to convert the road surface image into a grayscale image.

[0031] S3: Use the cv::GaussianBlur function to perform Gaussian blur processing on the grayscale image to reduce the noise of the grayscale image.

[0032] S4: Use the cv::threshold function combined with the Otsu method to automatically calculate the threshold, and perform binaryzation processing on the denoised grayscale image according to the calculated threshold to obtain a binary image, realizing the separation of the snow-covered area and the background.

[0033] S5: Use the cv::morphologyEx function to perform morphological closing operation on the binary image to fill the small holes in the snow-covered area and connect adjacent snow-covered areas.

[0034] S6: Use the cv::findContours function to find the contours of all snow-covered areas in the binary image.

[0035] S7: Traverse the contours of each snow-covered area in the binary image, use the cv::contourArea function to calculate the area of the contour of each snow-covered area, and accumulate to obtain the total area of the snow-covered area.

[0036] Determine the snow coverage range according to the total area of the snow-covered area.

[0037] S8: Use the cv::drawContours function to draw the contours of the recognized snow-covered area on the original road surface image for visualization.

[0038] Due to the differences in image content and environmental conditions, in actual applications, some parameters need to be adjusted (such as the size of Gaussian blur, the threshold of binarization, the size of the structural element for morphological operations, and the area threshold) to obtain the best results.

[0039] The control unit 2 can use hardware such as FPGA to implement the development of OpenCV.

[0040] In the present invention, a display screen 6 can be installed on the vehicle body frame 1. The control unit 2 uses the cv::imshow function to display the original road surface image and the snow-covered area drawn on the original road surface image on the display screen 6 for snow removal personnel to view. Of course, the present invention can also separately display the recognized snow-covered area. Preferably, the display screen 6 is a touch screen that can interact. When the snow removal personnel press a button, the control unit 2 uses the cv::waitKey function to close all windows.

[0041] Since the spreading amount is affected by various factors, including snowfall, temperature, road surface type, de-icing agent type, and environmental protection requirements, the spreading amount standard is formulated according to general principles and guidelines: (1) Light to moderate snow: When the snow depth monitored by the snow depth sensor 4 is less than 5 cm, the control unit 2 determines it as light to moderate snow, generates a first control instruction, and controls the spreading amount per square meter of the horizontal spreading spinner to not exceed 50 g.

[0042] (2) Heavy snow: When the snow depth is greater than 5 cm, the control unit 2 determines it as heavy snow, generates a second control instruction, and controls the horizontal spreading spinner to appropriately increase the spreading amount, but the spreading amount per square meter does not exceed 80 g.

[0043] Under the above two dosages, the de-icing agent can play a more effective role to ensure the smoothness of the road surface.

[0044] In the present invention, the snow removal personnel can also judge whether the current snowfall is light to moderate snow or heavy snow. There are two operation buttons, namely the light to moderate snow working mode button and the heavy snow working mode button, on the touch screen. When the snow removal personnel press the light to moderate snow working mode button, the control unit 2 generates a first control instruction. When the snow removal personnel press the heavy snow working mode button, the control unit 2 generates a second control instruction.

[0045] The horizontal spreading throwing wheel includes a storage bin 501, a material conveying pipeline 502, an electric valve 503 and a throwing wheel assembly 504. Among them, the storage bin 501 stores snow melting agent. One end of the material conveying pipeline 502 is communicated with the discharge port of the storage bin 501, and one end of the material conveying pipeline 502 is communicated with the feed port of the throwing wheel assembly 504. The electric valve 503 is installed on the material conveying pipeline 502 to control the opening degree of the material conveying pipeline 502.

[0046] The cross-sectional area of the material conveying pipeline 502 at the electric valve 503 is fixed, and the amount of the same snow melting agent flowing through this cross-section per unit time is fixed. The electric valve 503 is designed with a minimum opening degree and a maximum opening degree. The flow rate of the snow melting agent per unit time under different opening degree states for snow melting agents with different average particle diameters is calculated in advance and the results are recorded in the storage area of the control unit 2. The control unit 2 controls the angle and working time of the electric valve 503, refers to and automatically calculates and controls the spreading amount of the snow melting agent flowing through the material conveying pipeline 502 where the electric valve 503 is located, so as to realize the control of the spreading amount at different opening degrees.

[0047] The electric valve 503 can be an electric control device that can adjust the angle, such as an electric butterfly valve or an electric actuator. Taking the electric actuator as an example, the electric actuator includes three leads, namely power supply +, power supply -, and signal line. The signal line is connected to the control unit 2, and the control unit 2 sends a PWM signal to this signal line. The rotation angle of the electric actuator is determined by the duration of the PWM signal pulse, that is, pulse code modulation (PCM). The control of the electric actuator usually requires a time base pulse of about 20 ms. The high level part of the time base pulse is generally in the range of 0.5 ms - 2.5 ms, and the total interval is 2 ms. The width of the high level part will determine the rotation angle of the electric actuator. For example: with a high level width of 1.5 milliseconds, the electric actuator will turn to a position of 90 degrees (usually called the neutral position, for an 180-degree electric actuator, it is the 90-degree position). If the width of the high level is less than 1.5 milliseconds, the axial direction of the electric actuator faces the 0-degree direction. If the width of the high level is greater than 1.5 milliseconds, the axial direction of the electric actuator faces the 180-degree direction.

[0048] The throwing wheel assembly 504 includes an upper housing 505, a lower housing 506, an impeller 507 and an impeller drive motor 508. The upper housing 505 is rotatably connected to the lower housing 506. A material spreading port 509 is provided on the side of the upper housing 505. The lower housing 506 is fixed, and the upper housing 505 can rotate relative to the lower housing 506 to adjust the angle of the material spreading port 509.

[0049] On the top surface of the upper housing 505, a feed joint 510 is installed as the feed port of the impeller assembly 504. One end of the material conveying pipe 502 is docked with the feed joint 510. The impeller 507 is installed inside the upper housing 505, and the impeller drive motor 508 is installed inside the lower housing 506. The output shaft of the impeller drive motor 508 is connected to the shaft hole of the impeller 507. By driving the impeller 507 to rotate with the impeller drive motor 508, the snow melting agent entering the upper housing 505 from the feed joint 510 is scattered outward from the spreading port 509 under the action of the centrifugal force generated by the impeller 507.

[0050] To achieve the angle adjustment of the spreading port 509, the impeller assembly further includes an angle adjustment mechanism. The angle adjustment mechanism includes an angle adjustment motor 511, an annular rack 512, and a gear 513. The angle adjustment motor 511 is installed inside the lower housing 506, the annular rack 512 is installed on the inner side surface of the upper housing 505, and the gear 513 is installed on the output shaft of the angle adjustment motor 511 and meshes with the annular rack 512. The torque output by the angle adjustment motor 511 is transmitted to the upper housing 505 through the gear 513 and the annular rack 512, driving the upper housing 505 to rotate, and achieving the angle adjustment of the spreading port 509.

[0051] The number of impeller assemblies 504 is at least one set. Figure 1 and Figure 2 Three sets of impeller assemblies 504 are shown in [reference], and three sets of impeller assemblies 504 are used to spread the snow melting agent on the current lane in a fan-shaped spreading mode.

[0052] The adaptive snow melting agent spreading device further includes an environmental temperature and humidity sensor installed on the vehicle body frame 1. The environmental temperature and humidity sensor is connected to the control unit 2 (the connection method is pin connection) and conducts data communication. The environmental temperature and humidity sensor is used to monitor the environmental temperature and humidity in real time and send the monitoring data to the control unit 2. The control unit 2 adjusts the spreading amount of the snow melting agent in a timely manner by combining the monitoring data of the temperature and humidity sensor with the driving speed of the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device. Specifically, the control unit 2 adjusts the rotation speed of the impeller 507 and the angle of the spreading port 509 according to the monitored environmental temperature and humidity data, changes the spreading range and spreading speed of the snow melting agent, and the control unit 2 also adjusts the angle of the electric valve 503 according to the monitored environmental temperature and humidity data, controls the opening degree of the material conveying pipe 502, and increases or decreases the conveying flow rate of the snow melting agent.

[0053] The above content details the structure and working principle of the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device provided by the present invention. The present invention also provides three flexible operating modes for the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device to meet the usage requirements in different scenarios. The following is a detailed analysis of these three operating modes: (1) Towing operation mode Cooperative operation: Such asFigure 1 As shown, in this mode, the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device has universal wheels 7, which are installed at the bottom of the vehicle body frame 1, enabling the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device to have the ability to move. Taking the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device as an auxiliary device, it is towed by a snowplow in front and jointly forms a snow removal engineering vehicle with the snowplow. The snow removal engineering vehicle is suitable for large-scale and high-intensity snow removal operations, such as areas like highways and main roads. First, the snowplow clears the snow, and then the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device follows closely behind and immediately spreads the snow melting agent, effectively preventing the road surface from icing again and improving the operation efficiency.

[0054] Resource sharing: By utilizing the power source of the snowplow, the power demand of the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device itself is reduced, and energy consumption and costs are lowered. At the same time, the coordinated operation between the snowplow and the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device can achieve more precise snow removal and snow melting effects.

[0055] Space optimization: The towing design saves human resources without the need for an additional driver, and at the same time reduces the space occupied on the road, facilitating operations in narrow or busy traffic sections.

[0056] (2) Autonomous operation mode Independent operation ability: The adaptive snow melting agent spreading device is installed at the tail or bottom of the cargo box of a truck. Figure 5 The situation of being installed at the bottom of the cargo box is shown in. The truck can be a pickup truck, a flatbed truck, etc., and jointly forms a snow melting agent spreading vehicle with the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device. This design endows the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device with the ability to move independently without relying on other snow removal equipment, and is very suitable for small and medium-scale snow removal tasks, such as areas like residential areas, alleys, and parking lots, or as a supplementary force in large-scale snow removal operations.

[0057] Flexibility and adaptability: The adaptive snow melting agent spreading device with independent power can freely adjust the driving speed and spreading amount according to the actual road conditions and weather conditions, achieving more refined snow melting operations. In addition, the adaptive snow melting agent spreading device can also quickly respond to emergencies, such as sudden icing of a local section of the road, and carry out immediate treatment.

[0058] Intelligent control: Combining artificial intelligence technology, this vehicle model can automatically identify the snow accumulation situation on the road surface, collect data through sensors, analyze and determine the best spreading strategy, such as spreading amount, spreading frequency, etc., to achieve intelligent and automated snow melting operations.

[0059] The first two operating modes have their own advantages and together they form the core of the innovative invention of "Adaptive Snow Melting Agent Spreader for Snowy Roads Based on Artificial Intelligence". Whether it is large-scale snow clearing operations or daily road maintenance, this equipment can provide efficient and intelligent solutions, significantly improving the safety and traffic capacity of winter roads.

[0060] (3) AI operation mode Integration: The adaptive deicing agent spreading device is installed on the loading platform of the Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV). The AGV and the adaptive deicing agent spreading device form an intelligent deicing agent spreading robot. Figure 6 As shown, the snow-melting agent intelligent spreading robot can be used for snow-melting agent spreading in semi-enclosed or enclosed areas such as schools, factories, logistics parks, parking lots, and yards. In order to achieve further integration, the mounting frame of the adaptive snow-melting agent spreading device is abandoned, and a barrel is installed on the loading platform of the automatic guided vehicle through a support plate as a storage bin. The height of the support plate needs to meet the gap between the bottom of the barrel and the loading platform of the automatic guided vehicle to accommodate the wheel assembly. The wheel assembly is installed on the loading platform of the automatic guided vehicle and is connected to the storage bin above. The control unit is installed on the top of the barrel, and the camera and snow amount sensor are installed on the barrel wall of the barrel. The design of the barrel makes the structure of the snow-melting agent intelligent spreading robot compact, the storage bin has a large capacity, and can support long-term continuous operation.

[0061] Autonomous operation: The deicing agent intelligent spreading robot can autonomously plan its path, avoid obstacles, and automatically return to the charging station for charging after completing the task. It has the ability to operate completely autonomously. The autonomous operation feature enables the deicing agent intelligent spreading robot to complete the deicing agent spreading task without human supervision, which is particularly suitable for working at night or in severe weather conditions.

[0062] AI intelligent decision-making: The control unit is connected to the Internet and uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to analyze and judge the current environmental conditions in real time. The AI ​​algorithm automatically adjusts operating parameters (including scattering speed, spreading amount, walking speed, etc.) based on environmental data (such as snow thickness, snow area, etc.) to ensure that snow clearing tasks can be completed efficiently and accurately under different environmental conditions.

[0063] It should be understood that the various forms of processes shown above can be used to reorder, add or delete steps. For example, the steps described in the disclosure of the present invention can be performed in parallel, sequentially or in different orders, as long as the desired results of the technical solution disclosed in the present invention can be achieved, and this document does not limit this.

[0064] The above specific embodiments do not constitute a limitation to the protection scope of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that various modifications, combinations, sub - combinations and substitutions can be made according to design requirements and other factors. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An adaptive deicing agent spreading device, characterized in that: It includes a body frame and a control unit, a camera, a snow sensor and a horizontal spreading wheel respectively installed on the body frame; wherein the snow sensor is used to monitor the snow depth in real time; the camera is used to collect road surface images; the control unit is used to identify the snow-covered area of ​​the road surface images collected by the camera, and generate control instructions for different spreading amounts according to the snow depth monitored by the snow sensor; the horizontal spreading wheel is used to adaptively adjust the spreading amount of the snow-melting agent according to the control instructions, and spread the snow-melting agent to the identified snow-covered area.

2. The adaptive deicing agent spreading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control unit recognizes the snow-covered area based on OpenCV. The recognition process includes the following steps: S1: Use the cv::imread function to read the road image containing the snow-covered area; S2: Use the cv::cvtColor function to convert the road surface image into a grayscale image; S3: Use cv::GaussianBlur function to perform Gaussian blur processing on the grayscale image to achieve noise reduction of the grayscale image; S4: Use cv::threshold function combined with Otsu method to automatically calculate the threshold, and perform binarization on the denoised grayscale image according to the calculated threshold to obtain a binary image, so as to separate the snow-covered area from the background; S5: Use the cv::morphologyEx function to perform morphological closing on the binary image to fill the holes in the snow-covered areas and connect adjacent snow-covered areas; S6: Use the cv::findContours function to find the contours of all snow-covered areas in the binary image; S7: traverse the contour of each snow-covered area in the binary image, use the cv::contourArea function to calculate the area of ​​the contour of each snow-covered area, and accumulate to obtain the total area of ​​the snow-covered area; S8: Use the cv::drawContours function to draw the contours of the identified snow-covered area on the road surface image.

3. The adaptive deicing agent spreading device according to claim 2, characterized in that: A display screen is also included, and the control unit uses the cv::imshow function to display the road surface image with the outline of the snow-covered area drawn on the display screen.

4. The adaptive deicing agent spreading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the snow depth monitored by the snow sensor is less than 5 cm, the control unit generates a first control instruction to control the horizontal spreading wheel to spread no more than 50 grams per square meter; when the snow depth is greater than 5 cm, the control unit generates a second control instruction to control the horizontal spreading wheel to spread no more than 80 grams per square meter.

5. The adaptive snow-melting agent spreading device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The display screen is a touch screen, which is provided with two operation buttons, namely, a light snow working mode and a heavy snow working mode. The light snow working mode corresponds to a first control instruction, and the heavy snow working mode corresponds to a second control instruction.

6. The adaptive deicing agent spreading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The horizontal spreading wheel includes a storage bin, a feed pipe, an electric valve and a wheel assembly; wherein, snow melting agent is stored in the storage bin, one end of the feed pipe is connected with the discharge port of the storage bin, one end of the feed pipe is connected with the feed port of the wheel assembly, and the electric valve is installed on the feed pipe to control the opening of the feed pipe; the wheel assembly includes an upper shell, a lower shell, an impeller, and an impeller drive motor, the upper shell is rotatably connected to the lower shell, a spreading port is opened on the side of the upper shell, and a feed joint as a feed port is installed on the top surface of the upper shell, the impeller is installed in the upper shell, the impeller drive motor is installed in the lower shell, and the output shaft of the impeller drive motor is connected to the shaft hole of the impeller.

7. The adaptive deicing agent spreading device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The impeller assembly also includes an angle adjustment mechanism, which includes an angle adjustment motor, an annular rack and a gear. The angle adjustment motor is installed in the lower shell, the annular rack is installed on the inner side of the upper shell, and the gear is installed on the output shaft of the angle adjustment motor and meshes with the annular rack. The upper shell is driven to rotate by the angle adjustment motor to achieve angle adjustment of the spreading port.

8. The adaptive deicing agent spreading device according to claim 7, characterized in that: It also includes a temperature and humidity sensor connected to the control unit. The temperature and humidity sensor is used to monitor the ambient temperature and humidity in real time and send the monitoring data to the control unit. The control unit combines the monitoring data of the temperature and humidity sensor with the driving speed of the adaptive snow-melting agent spreading device to timely adjust the rotation speed and spreading angle of the horizontal spreading wheel and the angle of the electric valve, thereby changing the spreading range and spreading speed of the snow-melting agent and the opening of the feed pipeline.

9. A snow removal engineering vehicle, comprising a snow removal vehicle, characterized in that: It also includes the adaptive snow-melting agent spreading device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, and a universal wheel is installed at the bottom of the vehicle body frame, and the adaptive snow-melting agent spreading device is towed by the snowplow.

10. A deicing agent spreading vehicle, comprising a truck, characterized in that: It also includes the adaptive snow-melting agent spreading device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, and the adaptive snow-melting agent spreading device is installed at the rear of the cargo box or at the bottom of the cargo box of the truck.

11. A snow-melting agent intelligent spreading robot, comprising an automatic guided vehicle, characterized in that: It also includes the adaptive deicing agent spreading device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, and the adaptive deicing agent spreading device is installed on the loading platform of the automatic guided vehicle.

Images