System for picking up and delivering objects

Abstract

System for collecting objects (22) with a user unit (10), wherein the user unit (10) has a position determining device (26) for determining the position of the user unit (10) and a detection device for detecting the object (22) or a marking (20) attached thereto, a server (12) connectable to the user unit (10), which receives the position of the user unit (10) and forwards it to a mobile robot (32), wherein the mobile robot (32) is movable to the position of the object (22) and has a detection device (34) for detecting the object (22) or a marking (20) attached thereto and a receiving device for manipulating the object (22), characterized in that the receiving device can receive the object (22) magnetically or mechanically, in particular by gripping, and the mobile robot (32) is an aerial drone.

Description

The invention relates to a system and a method for delivering objects at a location and to a system and a method for picking up objects from a location.Mobile robots are characterized by a substantial freedom of movement as opposed to stationary mounted systems and can be used to pick objects from a particular position or deliver objects to the particular position. The greatest challenge here is to determine the position of the object and to identify the object, and to provide a suitable position for manipulation, i.e. for picking up or gripping. When delivering objects, the challenge is to determine the position at which the object is to be delivered.Mobile robots are being used in industrial production and other processes. Their ability to overcome larger distances independently is used. Classic examples of the use of mobile robots are the supply of material in production and the fulfilment of logistics tasks. Other applications are also known such as automatic cars or parcel deliveries with flying drones.However, it is disadvantageous here that current systems rely on the mobile robot either being supplied manually with the object to be distributed or being supplied via a permanently installed supply system. For these, the exact position and condition are known so that the process can be preprogrammed. Changing the sequence of object recording requires complex new programming.When an object is delivered, the position of the delivery is usually specified for the mobile robot. If this position is not exactly determined or deviations occur, these cannot be compensated for in previous systems.U.S. Pat. No. 8,948,935 B1 describes a system and a method in which a person can request a mobile robot and in which the approximate position of the person is passed on to the mobile robot. The mobile robot then controls the approximate position and, starting from this approximate position, determines the exact position of the person, for example by image recognition. This creates the problem that the requesting person cannot be identified if a large number of other persons are located in the area of the approximate position. Thus, the system is unable to determine the exact delivery location. Autonomous delivery to the correct delivery location is not possible.It is also to be assumed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,948,935 B1 that the object to be delivered is transferred to the mobile robot manually or with the aid of a delivery system. When picking up an object from any location, manual feeding is not possible or no permanently installed feeding system is present.WO 2015 / 177760 A2 describes a system and method for delivering letter ends and goods with the aid of unmanned drones. The drone has a compartment for which objects are placed in and removed.It is an object of the invention to provide a system and a method for delivering an object to an exact position and for autonomously picking up an object from any position.The object is achieved by the systems of claims 1 and 2 and by the methods of claims 10 and 12.The system according to the invention for picking up objects, in particular from arbitrary positions, has a user unit, wherein the user unit has a position determination device for determining the position of the user unit and a detection device for detecting the object or a marking attached thereto. The user unit can be, for example, a telephone, a smartphone, a tablet or a special device for this use. The user unit is used by the person who provides the object to be fetched. The object itself or a marking attached thereto is detected by the detection device in such a way that these detected data can be used for identifying the object by a mobile robot.According to the invention, a server can be connected to the user unit, which receives the position of the user unit and forwards it to a mobile robot. In this case, in particular the user unit and the server can be identical, so that the position of the user unit is forwarded directly from the user unit to the mobile robot.According to the invention, the mobile robot is movable to the position of the object forwarded to it. Furthermore, the mobile robot has a detection device for detecting the object or a marking attached thereto. The detection device of the mobile robot allows the object to be picked up to be identified unambiguously.The marking can be provided by the server, for example, so that the marking for identification is likewise forwarded to the mobile robot, so that the latter can identify the object on the basis of the marking. Alternatively, if the object itself is detected by the detection device of the user unit, the data thus detected is transmitted from the user unit to the server and from the server to the mobile robot. The external appearance of the object to be picked up is thus already known to the mobile robot and can therefore unambiguously identify it also among a plurality of further objects.The mobile robot of the system described above is a flying drone. The receiving device of the system described above is designed to receive the object mechanically, in particular in a gripping manner, or magnetically.The invention furthermore relates to a system for delivering objects to freely determinable positions, wherein the system according to the invention has a user unit. The user unit can be connected to a marking device for creating a marking. Furthermore, the user unit has a position determination device for determining the position of the marking. According to the invention, a server can be connected to the user unit, wherein the server provides the user unit with a marking which can be forwarded from the user unit to the marking device. In addition, the detected position of the marking is received by the server and forwarded to a mobile robot.According to the invention, the mobile robot is movable to the position of the created marking. Furthermore, the mobile robot has a detection device for detecting the produced marking. In this case, the control of the mobile robot takes place as a function of the created marking. As soon as the mobile robot detects the produced marking by the detection device, an exact positioning of the mobile robot can take place depending on the position of the produced marking.According to the invention, the robot has a receiving device which can receive an object and delivers it at the location of the marking. This results in exact positioning of the mobile robot on the basis of the position of the produced marking. The marking serves for the unique identification of the delivery location. Autonomous control of the delivery location can thus take place.Deviations of the delivery location can be compensated autonomously by the mobile robot without these deviations having to be known and having to be explicitly provided in the program sequence. Reprogramming is therefore not necessary. This differs from U.S. Pat. No. 8,948,935 B1, since the marking provides a clear identification of the delivery location and this location is also not conterked by the multiple occurrence of possible reference points.The system for picking up objects and / or the system for supplying objects preferably has an optical marking as marking, in particular a QR code or a bar code. Alternatively or additionally, the marking is designed as an electronic marking, in particular as an RFID. In particular, the optical markers such as a QR code can be easily transmitted and can be identified unambiguously. Electronic markers such as RFID have the advantage that even with poor or no visibility, an unambiguous identification and detection of the object can take place.In an optional development of the system described above, the mobile robot is a flying drone.In an optional development of the system described above, the receiving device is designed to mechanically or magnetically receive the object.In an optional development of the systems described above, the position determination device is designed as a GPS module. This is a relatively widely used known and easily available module for position determination. However, some imprecision is inherent in the GPS system, which can be compensated for precisely by the detection of the object or the marking by the mobile robot. Other systems for position determination can alternatively or additionally also be provided. Thus, the position determination of the user unit can be effected, for example, by radio locating, triangulation from the network operator cells or other satellite-based systems.In a further optional development of the systems described above, the user unit can be connected to the server via a radio connection, wherein the radio connection can preferably take place via GSM, 3G, 4G, LTE, WLAN, Bluetooth or the like. Further developments of these systems are of course included. In addition, the compounds can likewise be effected optically, for example by infrared transmission.In a further optional development of the systems described above, the user unit has sensors for detecting the environment. In particular, the detection device of the user unit can be designed as a sensor for detecting the environment. However, it is preferred that the user unit has additional sensors, wherein particularly preferably the sensors are oriented in the direction opposite to the detection device. Thus, for example, at the time when the detection device of the user unit detects the marking or the object, the air space above the object or the marking can be checked for obstacles simultaneously by the sensor oriented in the opposite direction, which is particularly advantageous if the mobile robot is designed as an aerial drone and a pickup of the object or a delivery of the object by obstacles could be prevented.The mobile robot preferably has a sensor for detecting the environment. In this case, the detection device of the mobile robot can be designed as a sensor, so that both the object or the marking is detected by the mobile robot and at the same time the environment is detected by the detection device. In particular, however, further sensors for detecting the environment can be provided on the mobile robot.The sensors of the user unit and / or the sensors of the mobile robot are in particular a camera, a 3D camera or a laser scanner.Moreover, the invention relates as an independent and independent invention to a method for delivering an object by a mobile robot. The method comprises the steps of: creating a marking, positioning the marking at the intended location of delivery, detecting the marking and detecting the approximate position, controlling the robot, which has picked up the object to be delivered, to the detected approximate position, and depositing the object by the robot. Thus, the object is delivered at the detected approximate position.In a development of the method, after the robot has been controlled to the detected approximate position, the marking is first detected by the mobile robot. From this detection, the exact position of the marking is determined. Based on the determined position, the mobile robot is controlled to the exact position. Thus, an initially rough navigation of the mobile robot to the approximate detected position takes place. Deviations or changes in the delivery location can be compensated autonomously by the mobile robot by controlling the mobile robot as a function of the determined exact position of the marking.In addition, as a stand-alone and independent invention, the invention relates to a method for capturing an object from a mobile robot, wherein the method comprises the steps of first capturing the object and controlling the approximate position of the object, controlling a mobile robot to the captured approximate position, capturing the object by the mobile robot and capturing the object by the mobile robot. Thus, this method no longer requires manual feeding of the object or a permanently installed delivery system.The mobile robot of the method described above is a flying drone. The object is picked up mechanically, in particular grippingly, or magnetically, within the scope of the method described above.In a development of the method described above, after the detection of the object by the mobile robot, the method has the steps of ascertaining the exact position of the object and then controlling the mobile robot to this ascertained position. Thus, first a rough positioning is carried out on the basis of the approximate position detected by the user unit and subsequently a fine positioning of the mobile robot is carried out on the basis of the object detected by the mobile robot. This fine positioning of the mobile robot takes place autonomously.In a further development of the method described above, a marking is first produced. This mark is attached to the object and the approximate position of the mark is detected and transmitted to the mobile robot. The robot then detects the marking and determines the determined position of the object from this. The use of a marking substantially reduces the effort for identifying the object, since the marking can have previously known unique features. These unique features of the marking are detected by the mobile robot.In a development of the method for supplying an object and / or of the method for recording an object, the marking is preferably provided by a server.In a development of the method for supplying an object and / or recording an object, the size of the object is determined from the ratio between the size of the marking and the object during the detection. In particular, if the marking is provided by a server, the latter can have a known size, so that the size of the object can be determined easily therefrom. This can be of interest in particular when using an aerial drone as a mobile robot, since the recording device of the mobile robot has to be adapted to the size of the object.In a development of the method for supplying an object and / or recording an object, the environment of the location of the supply or of the object to be picked up is detected by the user unit. This can ensure, for example, that delivery or collection of the object is not made more difficult or impossible by obstacles.In a development of the method for supplying an object and / or receiving an object, the environment of the approximate position is detected by the mobile robot, so that obstacles can be detected by the mobile robot and autonomously bypassed. Preferably, the mobile robot also takes into account the environmental data recorded by the user unit.Preferably, the method for delivering an object and the method for capturing an object are carried out using one of the systems described above.In particular, the described methods can be further developed on the basis of features of the systems described above. The systems can likewise also be further developed by features of the methods.The method for supplying an object can preferably be further developed by features of the method for recording an object and likewise the method for recording an object can be further developed by features of the method for supplying an object.The method for picking up objects can be further developed in particular by the features of the system for picking up objects and likewise the system for picking up objects can preferably be further developed by features of the system for picking up objects.The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of a preferred embodiment with reference to the attached drawings.The following are shown: FIG. 1 shows the system according to the invention for creating a marking, FIG. 2 shows a system according to the invention for detecting an approximate position, FIG. 3 shows a system according to the invention for autonomously controlling the exact position of an object, FIG. 4 shows a system according to the invention for detecting a marking of the delivery location, FIG. 5 shows a system according to the invention for autonomously controlling a mobile robot of a predefined marked delivery location, FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram for picking up an object according to the method according to the invention, and FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of a delivery according to the method according to the invention.The system according to the invention for picking up an object has a user unit 10. This can preferably be connected to a server 12 via a radio connection. Via the user unit 10, a user requests a marking from the server 12. As an alternative to the embodiment shown, the request 14 can also be made, for example, postal, via e-mail or via another communication system. In the exemplary embodiment shown, data 16 are provided by the server 12 for a marking to the user unit 10. This transmits the data to a marking unit 18, which creates the marking 20. The transmission from the user unit 10 to the marking unit 18 takes place in a conventional manner by USB or radio connection. The marking unit 18 is, for example, a conventional printer. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the marking 20 is a QR code which serves as a unique identification. Thus, the marking can also be transmitted postalally.The marking 20 is applied to an object 22, as shown in FIG. 2. The object 22 is brought to the location of the pick-up. The QR code 20 is acquired via the user unit 10. The user unit 10 has a position determination device 26. In the exemplary embodiment, this is a GPS module which acquires the radio signals 28 from satellites 30 and from this determines the position of the user unit 10 at the time of the acquisition 24 of the marking 20. The approximate position of the object 22 thus determined is transmitted to the server 12.Preferably, when detecting the marking 20, the user unit 10 detects the environment of the location of the collection and thereby identifies any obstacles. For example, if the user unit 10 is a smartphone that has two cameras having opposite directions, a camera of the user unit 10 can capture the QR code 20, whereas the camera facing in opposite directions captures the air space above the object to be picked up at the location of the pickup in order to detect obstacles. Possible obstacles can be transmitted together with the detected position to the server 12 and from this particularly preferably to the mobile robot 32, so that the mobile robot 32 already knows before controlling the approximate position whether any obstacles are located in the movement space.In the exemplary embodiment, the server 12 is the same server which has likewise provided the marking. In an alternative exemplary embodiment, this can also be another server.In this case, not only the position but also the detected mark 20 is transmitted from the user unit 10.In the exemplary embodiment, the transmitted position data 35 are transmitted to a mobile robot 32. Likewise, the data of the marking 36 are transmitted to the mobile robot 32. In the present exemplary embodiment, the mobile robot 32 is a flying drone. The flying drone 32 is controlled to the approximate location detected by the user unit 10. The marking 20 of the object 22 is detected via a detection device 34 of the flying drone 32. From this, the flying drone 32 determines in particular autonomously the exact position of the object 22, which can deviate from the approximate position determined by the user unit 10. According to the arrow 38, the flying drone 32 controls the exact position of the object 22 and receives the object. Subsequently, the aerial drone 32 transports the object 22 to its intended location.The aerial drone 32 preferably has a sensor for detecting the environment of the approximate position. By means of this sensor, which can be identical to the detection device 34 of the flying drone 32, possible obstacles, which make it difficult or prevent the object 22 from being picked up, can be detected at an early stage. It is particularly preferred here that the sensor for detecting the environment is a 3D camera or a laser scanner.In the case of delivery, a marking is produced, for example, as described with reference to FIG. 1. The marking 20 is applied at the intended place of delivery, as shown in FIG. 4. The marking 20 is detected via a user unit 10. Simultaneously or subsequently, the approximate position of the user unit is determined via satellites 30 via a position determination device 26 of the user unit 10 when detecting the marking 20. Other alternatives to providing are also possible.Immediately for detecting the position of the marking 20, the environment of the intended place of delivery can be detected by the user unit 10. Any obstacles can be detected and passed on to the mobile robot 32.The approximate position is transmitted from the user unit 10 to the server 12. This is likewise the server which has provided the marking 20. In an alternative exemplary embodiment, however, the server can also be another server. In this case, both the marker 20 and the approximate position are transmitted from the user unit 10.From the server 12, the data of the marking 36 and the approximate position 35 are transmitted to a robot 32 which is designed as an aerial drone. The flying drone 32 has a recording device which has recorded an object 22.Referring to Fig. 5, the flying drone 32 is controlled to the approximate position. The designed marking 20 is detected by a detection device 34 of the flying drone 32 and from this detection the exact position of the marking 20, i.e. the exact position of the delivery location, is determined in particular autonomously. From this determined exact position, the aerial drone 32 is autonomously controlled to the exact position according to the arrow 38. The flying drone 32 delivers the object 22 at the exact delivery position marked by the marking 20.The aerial drone 32 preferably has a sensor for detecting the environment of the approximate position. By means of this sensor, which can be identical to the detection device 34 of the flying drone 32, possible obstacles, which make it difficult or prevent the delivery of the object 22, can be detected at an early stage. It is particularly preferred here that the sensor for detecting the environment is a 3D camera or a laser scanner.Referring to FIG. 6, when an object 22 is picked up, if a mark is present, the mark 20 is detected (S 011). If no mark is present, the object 22 is detected as such (S 012). Subsequently, the position is determined by the user unit 10 (S 02). This can be done simultaneously with the mark / object detection or sequentially, wherein the order of steps (S011 / S012) and (S02) is not essential. The immediate temporal relationship merely ensures that the position determined by the user unit 10 corresponds to the approximate position of the marking 20 of the object 22. In the same temporal context, it is additionally possible for the user unit 10 to capture the environment of the marking 20 or of the object 22, so that possible obstacles are detected early and are likewise transmitted to the server 12 and can be transmitted from the latter to the flying drone 32.The determined position is then transmitted to the server 12 (S 03) and from the server 12 likewise to the aerial drone 23 (S 04).The flying drone 32 controls the approximate position determined by the user unit 10 (S 05). At the approximate position, the marking 20 or the object 22 is detected by the aerial drone 32 (S 06), and from this the exact position of the object 22 or the marking 20 is determined, in particular autonomously, by the aerial drone 32 (S 07). The flying drone 32 controls the exact position in particular autonomously (S 08) and picks up the object (S 09). In particular, the aerial drone 32 has a sensor for detecting the environment, so that possible obstacles in the environment of the marking 20 or of the object 22 can be detected by the aerial drone 32 and can be reliably bypassed.The method for delivering an object 22 is described below with reference to FIG. 7. First, a mark 20 is made (S 10), and the mark 20 is subsequently discharged at the delivery location (S 11). The marking 20 is detected with an operating unit 10 (S 12) and the position of the marking 20 is detected (S 13). The steps of detecting the marking 20 (S 12) and detecting the position of the marking 20 (S 13) can be carried out successively in any desired sequence or simultaneously. It merely has to be ensured in this case that the detected position reproduces the approximate position of the marking 20. When detecting the approximate position of the marking 20, the environment of the place for delivery can be detected at the same time by the user unit 10, so that possible obstacles are detected at an early stage. The acquired environmental data are transmitted to the server 12 and transmitted from the latter to the mobile robot 32, so that obstacles which can make delivery difficult or prevent are known at an early stage and can be taken into account in the control of the mobile robot 32.The detected position is transmitted to the server 12 (S 14) and from the server 12 to the mobile robot 32 (S 15), wherein the mobile robot 32 can be a flying drone.The mobile robot 32 controls the approximate position detected by the user unit 10 (S 16). Once the mobile robot 32 has reached the approximate position, it detects the mark 20 (S 17). From the detected marking 20, the mobile robot 32 determines the exact position of the marking 20 in particular autonomously (S 18). The position thus determined is controlled by the mobile robot 32 (S 19). The mobile robot 32 preferably has a sensor for detecting the environment, so that obstacles can be detected in good time by the mobile robot 32 and bypassed. As soon as the latter has reached the determined exact position the delivery location, the mobile robot 32 delivers the object 22 (S 20).

Claims

A system for picking up objects (22), comprising a user unit (10), wherein the user unit (10) comprises a position determination device (26) for determining the position of the user unit (10) and comprises a detection device for detecting the object (22) or a marking (20) attached thereto, a server (12), which can be connected to the user unit (10) and receives the position of the user unit (10) and forwards it to a mobile robot (32), wherein the mobile robot (32) is movable to the position of the object (22) and comprises a detection device (34) for detecting the object (22) or a marking (20) attached thereto and a receiving device for manipulating the object (22), characterized in that the receiving device magnetically or mechanically, in particular grippingly, the object (22), The mobile robot (32) can be picked up by a flying drone.System for the delivery of objects (22) at freely determinable positions, comprising a user unit (10), a marking device (18), connectable to the user unit (10), for creating a marking (20), wherein the user unit (10) comprises a position determination device (26) for determining the position of the marking (20), a server (12), connectable to the user unit (10), which provides the user unit (10) with a marking (20) and receives the position of the marking and forwards it to a mobile robot (32), wherein the mobile robot (32) is movable to the position of the created marking (20) and comprises a detection device (34) for detecting the created marking (20), wherein the control of the mobile robot (32) is effected as a function of the detected produced marking (20) and wherein the mobile robot (32) has a recording device for recording and delivering the object (22).System according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the marking (20) is designed as an optical marking, in particular as a QR code (registered word mark of the Denso Ware Incorporated) or as a bar code, and / or in that the marking (20) is designed as an electronic marking (20), in particular as an RFID.System according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the position determination device (26) is designed as a GPS module.System according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the user unit (10) can be connected to the server (12) via a radio connection, in particular via GSM, 3G, 4G, LTE, WLAN, Bluetooth (registered word mark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.) and the like.System according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the user unit (10) has at least one sensor for detecting the environment.The system according to claim 6, characterized in that the sensors are oriented in the direction opposite to the detection device.System according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the mobile robot (32) has at least one sensor for detecting the environment.The system according to claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the sensor is a camera, a 3D camera or a laser scanner.Method for supplying an object (22) by a mobile robot (32), comprising the steps: a) creating a marking (20) (S10), b) positioning the marking (20) at the intended location of the supply (S11), c) detecting the marking (20) and detecting the approximate position (S12, S13), d) controlling the mobile robot (32), which has received the object (22) to be supplied, to the detected approximate position (S16), and e) depositing the object (22) by the mobile robot (32) (S20).Method according to claim 10, wherein the following steps are carried out between steps d) and e): d1) detection of the marking (20) by the mobile robot (32) (S12), d2) determination of the exact position of the marking (20) by the mobile robot (32), and d3) control of the mobile robot (32) to the determined position.Method for picking up an object (22) from a mobile robot (32), wherein the mobile robot (32) is a flying drone, comprising the steps: a) detecting the object (22) and detecting the approximate position (S12, S02), b) controlling the mobile robot (32) to the detected approximate position (S05), c) detecting the object (22) by the mobile robot (32) (S06), and d) magnetically or mechanically, in particular gripping, picking up the object (22) by the mobile robot (32) (S09).Method according to claim 12, wherein the following steps are carried out between steps c) and d): c1) the mobile robot (32) determines the exact position of the object (22) on the basis of the detection of the object (22) (S07) and c2) the mobile robot (32) is controlled to the determined position (S08).Method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein a marking (20) is created, this marking (20) is attached to the object (22), the approximate position of the marking (20) is detected and the marking (20) is detected by the mobile robot (32) in order to determine (S07) the exact position of the object (22).Method according to claim 10, 11 or 14, wherein the marking (20) is provided by a server (12).Method according to claim 10, 11, 14 or 15, in which the size of the object (22) is determined from the relationship between the marking (20) and the object (22) during the detection.Method according to one of Claims 10 to 16, in which the user unit (10) detects the environment of the location of the delivery or of the object (22) to be delivered.Method according to one of Claims 10 to 17, in which the environment of the approximate position is detected by the mobile robot (32).A method according to any one of claims 10 to 18 using a system according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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