Grain surface flatness active monitoring system for leveling robot

Abstract

The invention discloses a grain surface flatness active monitoring system for a leveling robot, and relates to the technical field of leveling robots and grain surface leveling. The system comprises a plurality of base stations and a leveling robot which are arranged in a granary, the system further comprises a radio frequency module and a vibration sensing module, and the leveling robot comprises a robot body, a processing unit, a posture sensing module, a flash memory module, a scraper folding and unfolding module, a driving module and a communication module. A sensor in the leveling robot can automatically sense the self inclination angle and judge whether the grain surface is flat or not, the grain surface change is judged according to the change of the self inclination angle of the robot walking on the grain surface, the leveling robot does not have a blind area through data obtained through movement, and through mutual cooperation of a posture sensing module and a vibration sensing module, the grain surface can be leveled. And the grain pile distribution condition and the grain surface leveling condition are judged before and after the leveling module carries out leveling operation.

Description

An active monitoring system for grain surface flatness used in a grain leveling robot Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of grain leveling robots and grain surface leveling technology, specifically to an active monitoring system for grain surface flatness used in grain leveling robots. Background Technology

[0002] Grain storage is a crucial component of grain circulation, and grain storage technology has a significant impact on the quality and quantity of food. In recent years, grain storage silos have become increasingly larger, with thicker grain layers inside. However, in my country's current grain storage industry, leveling work still largely relies on manual labor. This is not only slow and labor-intensive, but also involves repetitive tasks. The warehouses are dusty, and when localized grain heating or abnormalities occur, deep excavation and leveling are necessary. If this also relies on manual labor, the work is unsafe, physically demanding, and extremely inefficient. Leveling robots, on the other hand, offer high efficiency and avoid being trapped in the grain when it collapses, preventing accidents. As a replacement for manual labor, they are increasingly being widely used. Leveling robots determine the levelness of the grain surface based on their own tilt angle. Using an IMU (Initial Unit) attitude sensing sensor, the robot moves across the grain surface. Internal sensors automatically detect its tilt angle to determine the levelness. When the tilt angle exceeds a certain value, it indicates that the grain surface is not fully leveled and requires further leveling. The leveling robot's movement along its own tilt angle determines the leveling of the grain surface and whether it has achieved the desired smoothness. The actuators of leveling robots can be screw wheels, tracks, scrapers, etc. Currently, leveling robots are relatively rare and can be broadly categorized into three types: fixed, mobile, and hybrid. Fixed robots typically operate on the top of the grain silo; gantry-type leveling robots, for example, are highly efficient and produce high-quality results, but some corners are blind spots. Mobile robots are small and relatively flexible, but their efficiency is low, and they are prone to tipping over and crushing the grain. Hybrid robots combine the advantages of both types to achieve synergy, but they face challenges in task allocation, information transmission, and collaborative work.

[0003] The main challenge in grain leveling operations is the inability to comprehensively and accurately obtain the distribution of grain surface. Patent (CN202411081144.4) discloses a method and device for detecting leveling effect, which acquires point cloud data obtained by scanning the grain surface with lidar. The coordinates of each point cloud data are used to achieve the purpose of automated detection of leveling effect. However, lidar scanning is prone to blind spots, requiring additional lidar units to avoid them, which increases the construction cost of the grain warehouse. Furthermore, lidar scanning only detects the flatness of the grain surface and cannot deeply investigate the density of the grain's internal stacking, lacking a detection step for the internal distribution of the grain. Moreover, lidar is used relatively infrequently, and investing too much in construction costs at once does not align with the design goal of reducing grain warehouse management costs. It is necessary to utilize the posture sensors of the leveling robot itself to scan and detect the grain surface while ensuring comprehensive and accurate grain surface scanning, thereby reducing construction costs. Therefore, developing an active grain surface flatness monitoring system adapted to leveling operations is a technical problem that needs to be solved by those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides an active grain surface flatness monitoring system for a grain leveling robot. Relying on an IMU (Initial Unit) attitude sensing sensor, the leveling robot walks on the grain surface. Internal sensors within the robot automatically detect its own tilt angle to determine if the grain surface is flat. When the tilt angle exceeds a certain value, it indicates that the grain surface is not completely flat and needs further leveling. By judging the changes in the robot's tilt angle as it walks on the grain surface, and thus determining whether the grain surface is flat, this invention solves the problems mentioned in the background technology.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention is implemented through the following technical solution: an active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a grain leveling robot, comprising setting up several base stations and a leveling robot in the grain warehouse, wherein the number of base stations is greater than or equal to 3, and at least three base stations are required as reference points to convert the signal strength of the base stations and the leveling robot into positioning information based on UWB technology; the system also includes a radio frequency module and a vibration sensing module; the leveling robot comprises a robot body, a processing unit, an attitude sensing module, a flash memory module, a scraper deployment and retraction module, a drive module, and a communication module; a ranging device is provided on the top of the robot body; a leveling module is provided on the side of the robot body away from the direction of travel; and a scraper is provided on the side of the robot body away from the direction of travel via a bracket;

[0006] The process includes a grain leveling robot communicating with a base station inside the grain warehouse to obtain its coordinates; the leveling robot measuring the flatness of the grain surface inside the grain warehouse to obtain flatness information; based on the flatness information, the leveling robot using a scraper to perform initial leveling of the grain surface; the leveling robot analyzing the grain distribution and compaction inside the grain warehouse to obtain distribution information; and based on the distribution information, the leveling robot performing secondary leveling of any non-conforming points on the grain surface.

[0007] Furthermore, the ranging device includes a first bracket, which is fixed to the top of the robot body by screws on both sides. A second bracket is rotatably connected to the inner wall of the first bracket via a pivot, and a third bracket is rotatably connected to the inner wall of the second bracket via a pivot. A laser ranging module is fixedly connected to the top of the cross inside the third bracket, and a counterweight is fixedly connected to the bottom of the cross inside the third bracket via a connecting rod. The output end of the laser ranging module is wirelessly connected to the input end of the processing unit. The wireless connection is based on the Bluetooth 5.1 protocol. The rotation direction of the third bracket is perpendicular to the rotation direction of the second bracket. The combination of the third bracket and the second bracket can realize the free rotation of the laser ranging module in two horizontal dimensions. The counterweight uses its own gravity to drive the ranging direction of the laser ranging module to always be perpendicular to the ceiling inside the grain silo.

[0008] Furthermore, the output terminal of the vibration sensing module is electrically connected to the input terminal of the radio frequency module, the output terminal of the base station is electrically connected to the input terminal of the radio frequency module, the port of the radio frequency module establishes wireless communication with the port of the communication module, the base station establishes bidirectional communication with the leveling robot in sequence through the radio frequency module and the communication module, the port of the communication module is electrically connected to the port of the processing unit, the port of the processing unit is electrically connected to the port of the flash memory module, the output terminal of the attitude sensing module is electrically connected to the input terminal of the processing unit, the output terminal of the ranging device is wirelessly connected to the input terminal of the processing unit, the output terminal of the processing unit is electrically connected to the input terminal of the drive module, and the output terminal of the processing unit is electrically connected to the input terminals of the scraper deployment module and the leveling module respectively.

[0009] The base station is located on the edge wall of the ceiling inside the grain silo. The vibration sensing module is located directly below the base station and extends to the bottom of the grain silo. The scraper deployment module is specifically an electric actuator used to drive the bracket connected to the rear of the robot body to raise and lower the scraper. When the scraper falls, it smooths the grain surface. The ranging device is used to measure the height of the robot body from the ceiling inside the grain silo. The attitude sensing module is used to obtain the tilt of the robot body. The leveling module performs leveling operations on the grain surface where the robot body is located. The flash memory module stores computer programs or instructions for the processing unit to execute. The flash memory module is also used to store the flatness information of the grain surface inside the grain silo for subsequent processing units to read. The drive module is used to drive the spiral wheels on both sides of the robot body to rotate. The rotation of the spiral wheels drives the robot body to move on the grain surface. The rotation of the spiral wheels in the same direction realizes the left or right turn of the robot body, and the rotation in opposite directions realizes the forward or backward movement of the robot body.

[0010] Furthermore, the grain leveling robot communicates with the base station inside the grain warehouse to obtain its coordinates. This includes the base station establishing a planar coordinate system, the processing unit sending a connection request to the base station via the communication module, the radio frequency module forwarding the received connection request to the base station, and the base station feeding back its fixed position and number to the processing unit via the radio frequency module and the communication module to establish a wireless connection. The fixed position and number are written into the base station's internal register and stored in advance. Since the base station's position is fixed after installation, the fixed position of the base station can be used as a reference for the grain leveling robot's positioning after the planar coordinate system is established inside the grain warehouse. The number is used by the grain leveling robot to distinguish different base stations.

[0011] The processing unit obtains the signal connection strength p of each base station from the communication module, and then calculates the signal strength p according to the formula... The signal connection strength is converted into an estimated distance d, PA is the reference strength, which is the signal connection strength when the balancing robot is 1 meter away from the base station, and Q is the path loss index, which is used to reflect the signal attenuation in the environment where the balancing robot is located. The value of Q ranges from 2.7 to 4.2. The processing unit draws a circle with the fixed position of each base station as the center and the estimated distance d as the radius. The processing unit marks the intersection of several circles as the coordinates of the balancing robot.

[0012] Furthermore, with the leveling robot acquiring its own coordinates in real time, the leveling robot measures the flatness of the grain surface inside the grain warehouse to obtain flatness information. This includes the leveling robot predicting the height inside the empty grain warehouse to obtain a reference surface. After the grain is placed in the grain warehouse, the processing unit sends an instruction to the drive module to drive the leveling robot to move on the grain surface. The movement path of the leveling robot is planned according to the shortest route between the nodes, with the coordinates in the reference surface as nodes. Specifically, it prioritizes connecting adjacent nodes as the movement path.

[0013] As the leveling robot moves along the path, the processing unit obtains the robot's tilt angle in real time from the attitude sensing module. The laser ranging module in the ranging device obtains the height information of the robot and the ceiling inside the grain silo and transmits it to the processing unit. The processing unit compares the rate of change of the height information with the tilt angle information. Theoretically, if the height information value changes, it means that the robot encountered an uphill or downhill slope while moving on the grain surface, and the corresponding tilt angle information will also change. The processing unit can avoid false alarms by comparing the synchronization rate of the tilt angle and height information values. If the tilt angle value and the height information value change in opposite directions at the same coordinate, the processing unit will change the coordinate. The marker is marked as a flatness point. Conversely, if the tilt value and height information value change in the same coordinate, or if one of them does not change, the processing unit deletes the coordinate. Compared with the existing technology of scanning with LiDAR, there are easy to have scanning blind spots. For example, the laser cannot identify the trough behind the wave after being blocked by the wave peak. Adding LiDAR to avoid scanning blind spots will increase the construction cost of the grain warehouse. LiDAR is used less frequently, which does not meet the original design intention of reducing the management cost of grain warehouse. However, the present invention can achieve the scanning work of grain surface by simply modifying the existing leveling robot and combining reasonable path planning with algorithms, thereby reducing the cost investment while achieving the same function.

[0014] When the flattening robot completes its movement along the path, the processing unit inputs all flatness points into the planar coordinate system and merges them to obtain flatness information.

[0015] Furthermore, the leveling robot uses a scraper to perform initial leveling on the grain surface, including a processing unit that presets a first threshold, the processing unit that calculates the height difference between nodes in the flatness information, marks areas with a height difference greater than the first threshold as leveling targets, and the processing unit that plans a leveling route based on the shortest path between leveling targets.

[0016] The processing unit sends instructions to the drive module, which drives the leveling robot to move along the leveling route via the spiral wheels on both sides of the robot body. The processing unit also sends instructions to the scraper deployment module, which lowers the scraper via a bracket. As the leveling robot moves on the grain surface, the scraper levels the grain behind the robot body. During the leveling process, the ranging device measures the height information in real time. When the height difference between the leveling target and the adjacent node is lower than a first threshold, the leveling target is marked as leveled. The leveling robot then moves to the next adjacent leveling target. When the leveling robot completes its movement along the leveling route, the initial leveling operation is completed, and the scraper deployment module retracts the scraper.

[0017] Furthermore, the grain leveling robot analyzes the density of grain distribution within the grain warehouse to obtain distribution information. This includes the processing unit creating detection points in a planar coordinate system, with the spacing between detection points ranging from 1 meter to 10 meters. The specific value of the detection point spacing is determined based on the actual area of ​​the grain warehouse; the larger the area, the longer the spacing. The processing unit sends instructions to the drive module, which drives the grain leveling robot to move sequentially to the detection points. After the grain density analysis at each detection point is completed, the robot moves to the next adjacent detection point.

[0018] When analyzing the grain compactness at the detection points, the processing unit sends a command to the leveling module. The leveling module then initiates a leveling operation on the grain surface. The leveling duration ranges from 10 to 30 seconds, with the specific duration determined by the spacing between the detection points; a larger spacing results in a longer duration. The processing unit obtains the inclination before and after the leveling operation from the attitude sensing module and calculates the inclination difference. The inclination difference includes the angular difference between the two vertical latitude directions on the horizontal plane. Before the leveling operation, the processing unit uses the communication module to send an assistance request to the base station. The radio frequency module forwards the assistance request to the base station. During the leveling operation, the base station acquires vibration information from the vibration sensing module and transmits it back to the processing unit. The processing unit compares the vibration information transmitted by each base station and calculates the vibration difference, which is the amplitude difference of the vibration information before and after the leveling operation of a single base station. The processing unit determines the compactness J of each detection point based on the slope difference and the vibration difference. The processing unit inputs the compactness J of all detection points into a plane coordinate system and merges them to obtain distribution information. The compactness J marking results include qualified points and unqualified points. Unqualified points indicate that there are gaps in the grain stack under that coordinate, which may pose a risk of collapse, resulting in uneven distribution of the grain surface.

[0019] Furthermore, the leveling robot performs secondary leveling on the non-conforming points on the grain surface, including the processing unit sending instructions to the drive module, the drive module driving the leveling robot to move to the non-conforming point, the processing unit executing a grain gathering process to gather the grain around the non-conforming point, and the processing unit executing a grain compaction process to compact the gathered grain, thus completing the secondary leveling.

[0020] During the grain gathering process, the processing unit sends a command to the scraper retraction module. The scraper retraction module lowers the scraper and moves in a vortex shape from the outside to the inside, with the defective point as the center. The edge of the vortex is tangent to other adjacent nodes. After the leveling robot moves to the defective point, the grain gathering process stops, and the scraper retraction module retracts the scraper. The purpose of the grain gathering process is to gather and pile the grain around the defective point into a cone shape to facilitate subsequent leveling operations.

[0021] During the grain compaction process, the processing unit sends instructions to the leveling module, which performs leveling operations on the grain surface. At the same time, the processing unit obtains the grain height at the location of the leveling robot from the ranging device. The grain height is obtained by subtracting the distance from the current leveling robot to the inner ceiling from the total distance from the bottom of the grain silo to the inner ceiling. The leveling module continues to perform leveling operations until the grain height at the unqualified point is level with the grain height of the surrounding adjacent nodes, at which point the leveling operation stops.

[0022] Furthermore, the leveling robot obtains a reference surface by predicting the height inside the grain silo. This includes grain silo management personnel placing the leveling robot on a trolley and manually pulling it within an empty grain silo, stopping at fixed intervals. These fixed intervals are determined based on the size of the grain silo and are proportional to its size. The leveling robot communicates with a base station to obtain its coordinates. The coordinates are calculated in real-time based on the signal strength of the communication module. Simultaneously, the processing unit sends instructions to the laser ranging module in the ranging device. The laser ranging module then performs height measurement on the grain silo ceiling. Height information is obtained through measurement, and the laser ranging module wirelessly transmits the height information back to the processing unit. The processing unit inputs the measured height information of each coordinate into a plane coordinate system and merges them to obtain a point cloud map of the ceiling inside the grain silo, which is then marked as a reference surface. Due to the spiral wheel structure of the robot body, it cannot move inside the grain silo when no grain is placed inside. However, it is necessary to collect the height of the ceiling inside the grain silo in advance as a reference for calibration. If the ceiling inside the grain silo is not flat, such as an arched or conical structure, it will interfere with the ranging device's measurement of the grain surface height. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a scan and modeling of the ceiling inside the grain silo in advance as a reference to facilitate subsequent calculation of the flatness information of the grain surface.

[0023] Furthermore, the processing unit determines the compactness of each detection point based on the slope difference and vibration difference, including the processing unit using the formula... Calculate the slope difference ΔS of the leveling robot before and after the leveling operation. α1 and α0 are the tilt values ​​of the roll angle of the leveling robot before and after the leveling operation, respectively. β1 and β0 are the tilt values ​​of the pitch angle of the leveling robot before and after the leveling operation, respectively. A larger slope difference ΔS indicates a greater degree of tilt of the leveling robot and a looser grain accumulation. The processing unit then calculates the slope difference ΔS according to the formula... The amplitude difference ΔV at each base station location before and after the leveling operation is calculated. Amax is the maximum amplitude value in the vibration information of a single base station location, and Amin is the minimum amplitude value in the vibration information of a single base station location. The larger the vibration difference ΔV value, the looser the grain is before the leveling operation, and the more significant the change in grain compactness before and after the leveling operation. The processing unit averages the vibration difference ΔV at each base station location to obtain ΔVp. The processing unit then calculates the average vibration difference ΔV at each base station location according to the formula... The compaction degree J of each detection point is calculated. The smaller the compaction degree J value, the higher the compactness of the grain pile. Smax is the sum of the roll angle and pitch angle values ​​after the leveling operation. AX is the maximum amplitude value of the vibration information in all base station locations. The processing unit presets a judgment threshold and marks the detection points with compaction degree J less than or equal to the judgment threshold as qualified, and the detection points with compaction degree J greater than the judgment threshold as unqualified.

[0024] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0025] 1. Relying on the IMU attitude sensing module, the leveling robot walks on the grain surface. The internal sensors of the leveling robot can automatically sense its own tilt angle to determine whether the grain surface is flat. By measuring the changes in its own tilt angle as the robot walks on the grain surface, changes in the grain surface are determined. Combined with the ranging device to obtain the height of the grain surface in real time, the tilt angle of the leveling robot and the height of the grain surface are cross-validated. Compared with the existing LiDAR scanning technology, this invention only requires simple modification to the existing leveling robot to achieve grain surface scanning. Moreover, the data obtained by the leveling robot through real-time scanning has no blind spots, and the cross-validation of the attitude sensing module and the ranging device can ensure the authenticity and validity of the data.

[0026] 2. By coordinating the attitude sensing module and the vibration sensing module, the change in the compaction of the grain surface where the leveling robot is located can be identified before and after the leveling module performs the leveling operation. This allows for an indirect determination of the distribution of the grain pile. Compared with existing leveling detection technologies, which can only obtain distribution data of the grain surface and have a one-sided data dimension, this invention can comprehensively understand the distribution of the grain pile from the inside out, which is more conducive to targeted leveling operations.

[0027] Of course, any product implementing this invention does not necessarily need to achieve all of the advantages described above at the same time. Attached Figure Description

[0028] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0029] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a leveling robot according to the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the installation of the base station and vibration sensing module of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the flattening robot of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the distance measuring device of the present invention.

[0033] The attached diagram lists the components represented by each number as follows:

[0034] In the diagram: 1-Grain warehouse, 2-Base station, 3-Vibration sensing module, 4-Robot body, 5-Range measuring device, 6-Leveling module, 7-Scraper, 51-First support, 52-Second support, 53-Third support, 54-Laser ranging module, 55-Counterweight. Detailed Implementation

[0035] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0036] Please refer to Figures 1-4. This invention provides a technical solution: an active monitoring system for grain surface flatness of a grain leveling robot, including setting up several base stations 2 and a leveling robot in the grain warehouse 1. The number of base stations 2 is greater than or equal to 3. Based on UWB technology, at least three base stations 2 are needed as reference points to convert the signal strength of the base stations 2 and the leveling robot into positioning information. It also includes a radio frequency module and a vibration sensing module 3. As shown in Figure 3, the leveling robot includes a robot body 4, a processing unit, an attitude sensing module, a flash memory module, a scraper deployment and retraction module, a drive module, and a communication module. A ranging device 5 is set on the top of the robot body 4. A leveling module 6 is set on the side of the robot body 4 away from the forward direction. A scraper 7 is set on the side of the robot body 4 away from the forward direction through a bracket.

[0037] The process includes: the leveling robot communicating with base station 2 inside grain warehouse 1 to obtain the coordinates of the leveling robot; the leveling robot measuring the flatness of the grain surface inside grain warehouse 1 to obtain flatness information; based on the flatness information, the leveling robot using scraper 7 to perform initial leveling of the grain surface; the leveling robot analyzing the distribution and compactness of the grain inside grain warehouse 1 to obtain distribution information; and based on the distribution information, the leveling robot performing secondary leveling of the non-conforming points on the grain surface.

[0038] As shown in Figure 4, the ranging device 5 includes a first bracket 51, which is fixed to the top of the robot body 4 by screws on both sides. A second bracket 52 is rotatably connected to the inner wall of the first bracket 51 by a pivot on both sides. A third bracket 53 is rotatably connected to the inner wall of the second bracket 52 by a pivot on both sides. A laser ranging module 54 is fixedly connected to the top of the cross inside the third bracket 53. A counterweight 55 is fixedly connected to the bottom of the cross inside the third bracket 53 by a connecting rod. The output end of the laser ranging module 54 is wirelessly connected to the input end of the processing unit. The wireless connection is based on the Bluetooth 5.1 protocol. The rotation direction of the third bracket 53 is perpendicular to the rotation direction of the second bracket 52. The combination of the third bracket 53 and the second bracket 52 can realize the free rotation of the laser ranging module 54 in two horizontal dimensions. The counterweight 55 uses its own gravity to drive the ranging direction of the laser ranging module to always be perpendicular to the inner ceiling of the grain silo 1.

[0039] As shown in Figure 1, the output of the vibration sensing module 3 is electrically connected to the input of the radio frequency module, the output of the base station 2 is electrically connected to the input of the radio frequency module, the port of the radio frequency module establishes wireless communication with the port of the communication module, the base station 2 establishes bidirectional communication with the leveling robot through the radio frequency module and the communication module, the port of the communication module is electrically connected to the port of the processing unit, the port of the processing unit is electrically connected to the port of the flash memory module, the output of the attitude sensing module is electrically connected to the input of the processing unit, the output of the ranging device 5 is wirelessly connected to the input of the processing unit, the output of the processing unit is electrically connected to the input of the drive module, and the output of the processing unit is electrically connected to the input of the scraper take-up and release module and the leveling module 6 respectively. The leveling module 6 is an electric leveling machine on the market, which can realize the function of leveling operation, and the specific model is not limited here.

[0040] As shown in Figure 2, base station 2 is located on the wall at the edge of the ceiling inside grain silo 1. Vibration sensing module 3 is located directly below base station 2 and extends to the bottom of grain silo 1. The scraper deployment module is specifically an electric actuator, which drives the bracket connected to the rear of robot body 4 to rotate and raise and lower scraper 7. When scraper 7 falls, it performs a scraping operation on the grain surface. Distance measuring device 5 is used to measure the height of robot body 4 from the ceiling inside grain silo 1. Attitude sensing module is used to obtain the tilt of robot body 4. Leveling module 6 performs leveling operation on the grain surface where robot body 4 is located. Flash memory module stores computer programs or instructions for processing unit execution. Flash memory module is also used to store the flatness information of grain surface inside grain silo 1 for subsequent processing unit to read. Drive module is used to drive the spiral wheels on both sides of robot body 4 to rotate. The rotation of spiral wheels drives robot body 4 to move on grain surface. Rotation of spiral wheels in the same direction on both sides realizes left or right rotation of robot body 4, and rotation in opposite directions realizes forward or backward movement of robot body 4.

[0041] The flattening robot communicates with base station 2 within grain warehouse 1 to obtain its coordinates. This process includes base station 2 establishing a planar coordinate system, the processing unit sending a connection request to base station 2 via the communication module, the radio frequency module forwarding the received connection request to base station 2, and base station 2 feeding back its fixed position and number to the processing unit via the radio frequency module and communication module to establish a wireless connection. The fixed position and number are pre-programmed into the internal register of base station 2 for storage. Since the position of base station 2 is fixed after installation, the fixed position of base station 2 can be used as a reference for the flattening robot's positioning after the planar coordinate system is established inside grain warehouse 1. The number is used by the flattening robot to distinguish different base stations 2.

[0042] The processing unit obtains the signal connection strength p of each base station 2 from the communication module, and then calculates the signal strength p according to the formula. The signal connection strength is converted into an estimated distance d, PA is the reference strength, which is the signal connection strength when the balancing robot is 21 meters away from the base station, and Q is the path loss index, which is used to reflect the signal attenuation in the environment where the balancing robot is located. The value of Q ranges from 2.7 to 4.2. The processing unit draws a circle with the fixed position of each base station 2 as the center and the estimated distance d as the radius. The processing unit marks the intersection of several circles as the coordinates of the balancing robot.

[0043] In this process, with the flattening robot acquiring its own coordinates in real time, the flattening robot measures the flatness of the grain surface inside the grain warehouse 1 to obtain flatness information. This includes the flattening robot predicting the height inside the empty grain warehouse 1 to obtain a reference surface. After the grain is placed in the grain warehouse 1, the processing unit sends an instruction to the drive module to drive the flattening robot to move on the grain surface. The movement path of the flattening robot is planned according to the coordinates in the reference surface as nodes, based on the shortest route between nodes. Specifically, it prioritizes connecting adjacent nodes as the movement path.

[0044] When the leveling robot moves along the movement path, the processing unit obtains the tilt angle of the robot body 4 in real time from the attitude sensing module. The laser ranging module 54 in the ranging device 5 obtains the height information of the robot body 4 and the inner ceiling of the grain silo 1 and transmits it to the processing unit. The processing unit compares the rate of change of the height information and the tilt information. Theoretically, if the height information value changes, it means that the robot body 4 encountered an uphill or downhill slope when moving on the grain surface, and the corresponding tilt information will also change. The processing unit can avoid false alarms by comparing the synchronization rate of the tilt and height information values. If the tilt value and the height information value change in opposite directions at the same coordinate, for example, the tilt increases upward and the height information value decreases, it means that the tilt and height information collected by the robot body 4 at that coordinate is a real uphill slope, and the processing unit marks this coordinate as a leveling point. Conversely, if the tilt value and the height information value change in opposite directions at the same coordinate, it means that the tilt and height information collected by the robot body 4 at that coordinate is a real uphill slope. If the tilt angle and height information values ​​change in the same trend or one of them remains unchanged (e.g., the tilt angle increases and the height information value increases, or the tilt angle increases and the height information value remains unchanged), it indicates that there is a data conflict between the tilt angle and height information collected by the robot body 4 at that coordinate, resulting in a false alarm and no reference value. The processing unit will delete this coordinate. Compared with the existing technology of scanning with LiDAR, it is easy to have scanning blind spots. For example, the laser cannot identify the trough behind the wave after being blocked by the wave peak. Adding LiDAR to avoid scanning blind spots will increase the construction cost of the grain warehouse. The LiDAR is used less frequently, which does not meet the design intention of reducing the management cost of grain warehouse. However, this invention can achieve the scanning work of the grain surface by simply modifying the existing leveling robot and using reasonable path planning combined with algorithms, thereby reducing the cost investment while achieving the same function.

[0045] When the flattening robot completes its movement along the path, the processing unit inputs all flatness points into the planar coordinate system and merges them to obtain flatness information.

[0046] Among them, the leveling robot uses scraper 7 to perform initial leveling on the grain surface. The processing unit presets a first threshold of 1 meter, and the main body of the robot 4 has a structural height of 0.5 meters. Therefore, when the undulation of the grain surface is higher or lower than the first threshold of 1 meter, the leveling robot needs to perform leveling operations. The processing unit calculates the height difference between nodes in the flatness information and marks the area with a height difference greater than the first threshold as the leveling target. The processing unit plans the leveling route with the shortest distance among the leveling targets.

[0047] The processing unit sends instructions to the drive module, which drives the leveling robot to move along the leveling route via the spiral wheels on both sides of the robot body 4. The processing unit sends instructions to the scraper deployment module, which lowers the scraper 7 via the bracket. As the leveling robot moves on the grain surface, the scraper 7 scrapes the grain behind the robot body 4. During the scraping process, the ranging device 5 measures the height information in real time. When the height difference between the leveling target and the adjacent node is lower than the first threshold, the leveling target is marked as leveling completed, and the leveling robot moves to the next adjacent leveling target. When the leveling robot completes the movement along the leveling route, the initial leveling operation of the leveling robot is completed, and the scraper deployment module retracts the scraper 7.

[0048] The flattening robot analyzes the density of grain distribution within grain warehouse 1 to obtain distribution information. This includes the processing unit creating detection points in a planar coordinate system. The spacing between detection points ranges from 1 meter to 10 meters. The specific value of the spacing between detection points is determined based on the actual area of ​​grain warehouse 1. The larger the area, the longer the spacing. Here, the intermediate value of 5 meters is selected. The processing unit sends instructions to the drive module, which drives the flattening robot to move sequentially to the detection points. After the density of grain at each detection point is analyzed, the robot moves to the next adjacent detection point.

[0049] When analyzing the grain compactness at the detection points, the processing unit sends a command to the leveling module 6. The leveling module 6 starts and performs leveling operations on the grain surface. The leveling duration ranges from 10 to 30 seconds, with the specific value determined by the spacing between the detection points; the larger the spacing, the longer the duration. Here, a midpoint of 20 seconds is selected. The processing unit obtains the inclination before and after the leveling operation from the attitude sensing module and calculates the inclination difference. The inclination difference includes the angle difference between the two vertical latitude directions on the horizontal plane. Before the leveling operation, the processing unit uses the communication module to send an assistance request to base station 2. Specifically, the radio frequency module sends the assistance request... The request is forwarded to base station 2. During the leveling operation, base station 2 obtains vibration information from vibration sensing module 3 and transmits it back to the processing unit. The processing unit compares the vibration information transmitted back by each base station 2 and calculates the vibration difference. The vibration difference is the difference in amplitude of the vibration information before and after the leveling operation of a single base station 2. The processing unit determines the compactness J of each detection point based on the slope difference and the vibration difference. The processing unit inputs the compactness J of all detection points into the plane coordinate system and merges them to obtain the distribution information. The compactness J marking results include qualified points and unqualified points. Unqualified points indicate that there are gaps in the grain pile under that coordinate, which may pose a risk of collapse, resulting in uneven distribution of the grain surface.

[0050] The flattening robot performs secondary flattening on the non-conforming points on the grain surface. This includes the processing unit sending instructions to the drive module, the drive module driving the flattening robot to move to the non-conforming point, the processing unit executing the grain gathering process to gather the grain around the non-conforming point, and the processing unit executing the grain compaction process to compact the gathered grain, thus completing the secondary flattening.

[0051] During the grain gathering process, the processing unit sends instructions to the scraper retraction module. The scraper retraction module lowers the scraper 7 and moves in a vortex shape from the outside to the inside with the non-conforming point as the center. The edge of the vortex is tangent to other adjacent nodes. After the flattening robot moves to the non-conforming point, the grain gathering process stops, and the scraper retraction module retracts the scraper 7. The purpose of the grain gathering process is to gather and pile the grain around the non-conforming point into a cone shape to facilitate subsequent flattening operations.

[0052] During the grain compaction process, the processing unit sends instructions to the leveling module 6. The leveling module 6 performs leveling operations on the grain surface. At the same time, the processing unit obtains the grain height at the location of the leveling robot from the ranging device 5. The grain height is obtained by subtracting the distance from the current leveling robot to the inner ceiling from the total distance from the bottom surface of the grain bin 1 to the inner ceiling. The leveling module 6 continues to perform leveling operations until the grain height at the unqualified point is level with the grain height of the surrounding adjacent nodes, at which point the leveling operation stops.

[0053] The process involves a leveling robot using a trolley to predict the height of the grain silo 1 and obtain a reference surface. This includes the silo manager placing the robot on a small cart and manually pulling it within the empty silo 1, stopping at fixed intervals of 1.5 meters. These fixed intervals are determined based on the size of the grain silo 1 and are proportional to its dimensions. The robot communicates with base station 2 to obtain its coordinates, which are calculated in real-time based on the signal strength of the communication module. Simultaneously, the processing unit sends instructions to the laser ranging module 54 in the ranging device 5. The laser ranging module 54 then measures the height of the ceiling inside the grain silo 1. Height information is obtained through height measurement. The laser ranging module 54 wirelessly transmits the height information back to the processing unit. The processing unit inputs the measured height information of each coordinate into the plane coordinate system and merges them to obtain the point cloud map of the inner ceiling of the grain silo 1 and marks it as the reference surface. Due to the spiral wheel structure of the robot body 4, it cannot move when there is no grain inside the grain silo 1. However, it is necessary to collect the height of the inner ceiling of the grain silo 1 in advance as a reference for calibration. If the inner ceiling of the grain silo 1 is not flat, such as an arched or conical structure, it will interfere with the measurement of the grain surface height by the ranging device 5. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a scan and modeling of the inner ceiling of the grain silo 1 in advance as a reference to facilitate the subsequent calculation of the flatness information of the grain surface.

[0054] The processing unit determines the compactness of each detection point based on the slope difference and vibration difference, including the processing unit's determination of the compactness based on the formula. Calculate the slope difference ΔS of the leveling robot before and after the leveling operation. α1 and α0 are the tilt values ​​of the roll angle of the leveling robot before and after the leveling operation, respectively. β1 and β0 are the tilt values ​​of the pitch angle of the leveling robot before and after the leveling operation, respectively. A larger slope difference ΔS indicates a greater degree of tilt of the leveling robot and a looser grain accumulation. The processing unit then calculates the slope difference ΔS according to the formula... The amplitude difference ΔV at each base station 2 location before and after the leveling operation is calculated. Amax is the maximum amplitude value in the vibration information of a single base station 2 location, and Amin is the minimum amplitude value in the vibration information of a single base station 2 location. The larger the vibration difference ΔV value, the looser the grain is before the leveling operation, and the more obvious the change in grain compactness before and after the leveling operation. The processing unit averages the vibration difference ΔV at each base station 2 location to obtain ΔVp. The processing unit then calculates the average vibration difference ΔVp according to the formula... The compaction degree J of each detection point is calculated. The smaller the compaction degree J value, the higher the compactness of the grain pile. Smax is the sum of the roll angle and pitch angle values ​​after the leveling operation. AX is the maximum amplitude value of the vibration information in all locations of base station 2. The processing unit presets the judgment threshold to 0.2. Detection points with compaction degree J less than or equal to the judgment threshold are marked as qualified, and detection points with compaction degree J greater than the judgment threshold are marked as unqualified.

[0055] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any equivalent substitutions or modifications made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present invention, based on the technical solution and inventive concept of the present invention, should be covered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An active monitoring system for grain surface flatness in a grain leveling robot, characterized in that: The system includes setting up several base stations (2) and leveling robots in a grain warehouse (1), with the number of base stations (2) being greater than or equal to 3. It also includes a radio frequency module and a vibration sensing module (3). The leveling robot includes a robot body (4), a processing unit, an attitude sensing module, a flash memory module, a scraper deployment and retraction module, a drive module, and a communication module. A ranging device (5) is set on the top of the robot body (4). A leveling module (6) is set on the side of the robot body (4) away from the forward direction. A scraper (7) is set on the side of the robot body (4) away from the forward direction via a bracket. The system includes the leveling robot communicating with the base stations (2) in the grain warehouse (1) to obtain the coordinates of the leveling robot. The leveling robot measures the flatness of the grain surface in the grain warehouse (1) to obtain flatness information. The leveling robot uses the scraper (7) to perform the initial leveling of the grain surface. The leveling robot analyzes the density of the grain distribution to obtain distribution information. The leveling robot performs a secondary leveling of the unqualified points on the grain surface.

2. The active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a grain leveling robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The ranging device (5) includes a first bracket (51), which is fixed to the top of the robot body (4) by screws on both sides. The inner walls of the first bracket (51) are rotatably connected to the second bracket (52) by a rotating shaft. The inner walls of the second bracket (52) are rotatably connected to the third bracket (53) by a rotating shaft. The top of the cross inside the third bracket (53) is fixedly connected to a laser ranging module (54). The bottom of the cross inside the third bracket (53) is fixedly connected to a counterweight (55) by a connecting rod. The output end of the laser ranging module (54) is wirelessly connected to the input end of the processing unit. The rotation direction of the third bracket (53) is perpendicular to the rotation direction of the second bracket (52).

3. The active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a grain leveling robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The output of the vibration sensing module (3) is electrically connected to the input of the radio frequency module. The output of the base station (2) is electrically connected to the input of the radio frequency module. The port of the radio frequency module establishes wireless communication with the port of the communication module. The base station (2) establishes bidirectional communication with the leveling robot through the radio frequency module and the communication module. The port of the communication module is electrically connected to the port of the processing unit. The port of the processing unit is electrically connected to the port of the flash memory module. The output of the attitude sensing module is electrically connected to the input of the processing unit. The output of the ranging device (5) is wirelessly connected to the input of the processing unit. The output of the processing unit is electrically connected to the input of the drive module. The output of the processing unit is electrically connected to the input of the scraper deployment module and the leveling module (6). (2) Located on the edge wall of the ceiling inside the grain warehouse (1), the vibration sensing module (3) is located directly below the base station (2) and extends to the bottom surface of the grain warehouse (1). The scraper release module is used to drive the scraper (7) to lift and fall. When the scraper (7) falls, it performs a scraping operation on the grain surface. The ranging device (5) is used to measure the height of the robot body (4) from the ceiling inside the grain warehouse (1). The attitude sensing module is used to obtain the tilt of the robot body (4). The leveling module (6) performs a leveling operation on the grain surface where the robot body (4) is located. The flash memory module stores computer programs or instructions. The flash memory module is also used to store the flatness information of the grain surface inside the grain warehouse (1). The drive module is used to drive the spiral wheels on both sides of the robot body (4) to rotate.

4. The active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a grain leveling robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The leveling robot communicates with the base station (2) within the grain warehouse (1) to obtain the coordinates of the leveling robot. This includes the base station (2) establishing a planar coordinate system. The processing unit sends a connection request to the base station (2) through the communication module. The radio frequency module forwards the received connection request to the base station (2). The base station (2) feeds back its fixed position and number to the processing unit through the radio frequency module and the communication module in sequence to establish a wireless connection. The fixed position and number are written into the internal register of the base station (2) and stored in advance. The processing unit obtains the signal connection strength p of each base station (2) from the communication module and calculates the signal strength p according to the formula. The signal connection strength is converted into the estimated distance d, PA is the reference strength, Q is the path loss index, and the value of Q is 2.7-4.

2. A circle is drawn with the fixed position of each base station (2) as the center and the estimated distance d as the radius. The intersection of several circles is marked as the coordinates of the flat warehouse robot.

5. The active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a grain leveling robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The leveling robot measures the flatness of the grain surface inside the grain warehouse (1) to obtain flatness information. This includes the leveling robot predicting the height inside the empty grain warehouse (1) to obtain a reference surface. After the grain is placed in the grain warehouse (1), the processing unit sends an instruction to the drive module to drive the leveling robot to move on the grain surface. The movement path of the leveling robot is planned according to the shortest route between the nodes, with the coordinates in the reference surface as nodes. When the leveling robot moves along the movement path, it obtains the tilt of the robot body (4) in real time from the attitude sensing module. The ranging device (5) obtains the height information of the robot body (4) and the ceiling inside the grain warehouse (1) and transmits it to the processing unit. The change rate of the height information and the tilt information are compared. If the tilt value and the height information value change in opposite directions under the same coordinate, the coordinate is marked as a flatness point. Conversely, if the tilt value and the height information value change in the same coordinate or one of them does not change, the coordinate is deleted. When the leveling robot completes the movement according to the movement path, all flatness points are merged to obtain flatness information.

6. The active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a grain leveling robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The leveling robot uses a scraper (7) to perform initial leveling on the grain surface. This includes the processing unit setting a first threshold, calculating the height difference of the flatness information, marking areas with a height difference greater than the first threshold as leveling targets, and planning a leveling route based on the shortest path between leveling targets. The processing unit sends instructions to the drive module, which drives the leveling robot to move along the leveling route. The processing unit also sends instructions to the scraper retraction module, which lowers the scraper (7) through a bracket. As the leveling robot moves on the grain surface, the scraper (7) scrapes the grain from behind the robot body (4). During the scraping process, the distance measuring device (5) measures the height information in real time. When the height difference of the leveling targets in the height information is lower than the first threshold, the leveling target is marked as leveling completed. The leveling robot moves to the next adjacent leveling target. When the leveling robot completes its movement along the leveling route, the initial leveling operation of the leveling robot is completed, and the scraper retraction module retracts the scraper (7).

7. The active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a grain leveling robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The leveling robot analyzes the grain distribution and compactness to obtain distribution information. This includes the processing unit creating detection points in a planar coordinate system, with the spacing between detection points ranging from 1 meter to 10 meters. The processing unit sends instructions to the drive module, which drives the leveling robot to move sequentially to the detection points. After the grain compactness analysis at each detection point is completed, the robot moves to the next adjacent detection point. When analyzing the grain compactness at the detection points, the processing unit sends instructions to the leveling module (6), which starts and performs leveling operations on the grain surface. The leveling duration ranges from 10 seconds to 3 seconds. At 0 seconds, the processing unit obtains the inclination before and after the leveling operation from the attitude sensing module and calculates the inclination difference. Before the leveling operation, the processing unit sends an assistance request to the base station (2) using the communication module. During the leveling operation, the base station (2) obtains vibration information from the vibration sensing module (3) and sends it back to the processing unit. The vibration information sent back by each base station (2) is compared and the vibration difference is calculated. The compactness J of each detection point is judged according to the inclination difference and the vibration difference. The compactness J of all detection points is merged to obtain the distribution information. The compactness J marking result includes qualified points and unqualified points.

8. The active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a grain leveling robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The leveling robot performs secondary leveling on the non-conforming points on the grain surface. This includes the processing unit sending an instruction to the drive module, which drives the leveling robot to move to the non-conforming point. The processing unit then performs a grain gathering process to gather the grain around the non-conforming point and a grain compaction process to compact the gathered grain, thus completing the secondary leveling. During the grain gathering process, the processing unit sends an instruction to the scraper retraction module, which lowers the scraper (7) and moves it in a vortex shape from the outside to the inside with the non-conforming point as the center. After the leveling robot moves to the non-conforming point, the grain gathering process stops, and the scraper retraction module retracts the scraper (7). During the grain compaction process, the processing unit sends an instruction to the leveling module (6), which performs leveling operations on the grain surface. At the same time, the leveling module obtains the grain height at the location of the leveling robot from the ranging device (5). The leveling module (6) continues to perform leveling operations until the grain height at the non-conforming point is level with the surrounding grain height, at which point the leveling operation stops.

9. The active monitoring system for grain surface flatness for a grain leveling robot according to claim 5, characterized in that, The leveling robot predicts the height of the grain warehouse (1) to obtain a reference surface. The grain warehouse manager places the leveling robot on a trolley and manually pulls the leveling robot in the empty grain warehouse (1), stopping at a fixed distance each time. The leveling robot communicates with the base station (2) to obtain the coordinates of the leveling robot. The coordinates of the leveling robot are calculated in real time according to the signal connection strength of the communication module. At the same time, the processing unit sends instructions to the ranging device (5). The laser ranging module (54) measures the height of the ceiling inside the grain warehouse (1) to obtain the height information. The laser ranging module (54) wirelessly transmits the height information back to the processing unit. The height information measured for each coordinate is merged to obtain the point cloud map of the ceiling inside the grain warehouse (1) and marked as the reference surface.

10. The active monitoring system for grain surface flatness of a grain storage robot according to claim 7, characterized in that, The processing unit determines the compactness of each detection point based on the slope difference and vibration difference, including the processing unit's calculation of the formula. Calculate the tilt difference ΔS of the robot before and after the leveling operation, where α1 and α0 are the tilt values ​​of the roll angle of the robot before and after the leveling operation, and β1 and β0 are the tilt values ​​of the pitch angle of the robot before and after the leveling operation, according to the formula... Calculate the amplitude difference ΔV before and after the leveling operation at each base station (2). Amax is the maximum amplitude value in the vibration information of a single base station (2), and Amin is the minimum amplitude value in the vibration information of a single base station (2). Average the vibration difference ΔV at each base station (2) to obtain ΔVp. According to the formula... Calculate the compactness J of each detection point, Smax is the sum of the roll angle and pitch angle values ​​after the flattening operation, AX is the maximum amplitude value among all vibration information, preset the judgment threshold, mark the detection points with compactness J less than or equal to the judgment threshold as qualified, and mark the detection points with compactness J greater than the judgment threshold as unqualified.

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