Surveying device

Abstract

Surveying device (1), in particular a staking robot, which is designed to survey and mark staking points (2, 13, 15-17) in an environment (3), wherein the surveying device (1) has a positioning device (4) which is designed to position the surveying device (1) in the environment (3) and a marking device (6) which is designed to mark at least one staking point (2, 13, 15-17) approached by the positioning device (4), wherein the positioning device (4) is designed to position the surveying device (1) at at least one staking point (2, 13, 15-17) within the environment (3) based on a point cloud comprising a plurality of spatial points (9) of the environment (3).

Description

The invention relates to a surveying device, in particular a drop-off robot, which is designed for surveying and marking drop-off points in an environment, wherein the surveying device has a positioning device which is designed to position the surveying device in the environment and a marking device which is designed to mark at least one drop-off point approached by the positioning device.Measuring devices, for example, drop-off robots, which are designed for measuring and, if necessary, for marking drop-off points in an environment, are known in principle from the prior art. For example, it is possible with such drop-off robots to approach various drop-off points in the environment to be measured and marked, and to subsequently color-mark these points. In this case, a tachymeter is usually used which is in direct visual contact with the surveying device, such that the surveying device can be positioned on the correct detachment point on the basis of the absolute position of the tachymeter, in order to detach or mark it.As described, such positioning of the surveying device always requires stable visual contact with the tachymeter in order to be able to carry out the positioning of the surveying device. However, such a visual connection or such a visual contact can be difficult to produce or maintain, in particular in certain environments. On the one hand, structures can be present within the environment itself, for example walls, columns, devices and the like, which do not permit visual contact with an initial position of the tacheometer. In this case, the tachymeter must be constructed and remeasured in different positions in order to be able to measure and unplug all the plug-off points by means of the measurement device.Furthermore, movable obstacles can be present within the environment, for example persons, forklifts, trucks, temporarily parked obstacles, temporarily constructed frameworks and the like, which block the visual contact with the tacheometer at least temporarily. In this case, the duration of the blocking of the visual contact must usually be matched and allowed to wait, or a new positioning of the tacheometer must also be found in this case, with respect to which the surveying device can establish visual contact from as many drop-off points as possible within the environment.Furthermore, positioning or movement of the surveying device in the environment without the tachymeter contact is usually not possible, since the surveying device is dependent on the communication with the tachymeter for position determination and route guidance. Although other positioning mechanisms, for example GPS positioning, are also known in principle, these positioning mechanisms usually not being precise enough within the environment, for example a factory hall, to be able to perform a millimeter-accurate positioning, which is required in particular for installation construction.In other words, the surveying device will usually stop operation as soon as the contact to the tachymeter breaks off. The surveying device therefore cannot continue to carry out the surveying process at least until the contact to the tachymeter is restored or the tachymeter has been set up at a new position to which visual contact exists. This represents a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, since blockings of the visual contact by mobile obstacles that usually occur temporarily cannot be predicted sufficiently well.The object of the invention is to specify an improved surveying device for surveying and marking dropping points in an environment.The object is achieved by a surveying device according to claim 1. The claims dependent thereon relate to possible embodiments.As described, the invention relates to a surveying device, in particular a drop-off robot. The surveying device is designed for surveying and marking dropping points in an environment. The surrounding area can be understood to mean in principle any desired surrounding area or any desired space, for example a hall, a factory, a production plant, in particular an environment in which plants, for example robot plants, are to be constructed and for this purpose, drop-off points in the surrounding area are to be measured and marked by means of the measuring device. At or based on the marked drop-off points, the construction of the robot systems or generally a system construction can subsequently be carried out. The measurement accuracy of the measurement device is therefore to be understood as being of typical orders of magnitude in installation construction; for example, the dropping points must be able to be measured and marked accurately to at least one millimeter.For this purpose, the surveying device has a positioning device which is designed to position the surveying device in the environment and a marking device which is designed to mark at least one dropping point approached by the positioning device. In other words, the positioning device must be designed to approach the inserted drop-off point with the required accuracy or the required comparatively high precision. The marking device must likewise be designed to mark the detachment point with high precision. In particular, devices known from the prior art which apply a colored marking in the form of a sprayed-on point or band cannot be suitable for satisfying such precision requirements.The invention is based on the finding that the positioning device is designed to position the surveying device within the environment in at least one drop-off point based on a point cloud comprising a plurality of spatial points of the environment. According to the invention, it is thus proposed that the positioning device is not dependent on external positioning, for example tachymeter positioning, but rather can position the surveying device on the basis of a point cloud. The point cloud comprises a plurality of spatial points of the environment, so that a positioning relative to these spatial points is possible by the positioning device. The positioning device can be designed, for example, for positioning by means of SLAM ("simultaneous localization and mapping"). Based on the spatial points of the point cloud, the positioning device can thus determine the position of the surveying device within the environment and position the surveying device into the at least one drop-off point, in which the drop-off point can be marked by means of the marking device.The described spatial points can thus represent two-dimensional or three-dimensional representations of structures in the environment, for example points on the surface of objects in the environment. It is likewise possible that targets or "targets" in the environment can be understood as spatial points. In particular, in addition to a detection of previously described spatial points, in particular by means of SLAM, physical targets can also be directly detected in order to carry out a position determination. For example, the surveying device can have a tachymeter, in particular as a component of the positioning device, which is designed to detect targets in the environment and to carry out a position determination based on its defined position, which position determination can be used for positioning the surveying device. For example, the position determination carried out on the point cloud can also be used as "proximity position" for the detection of the targets.Furthermore, the surveying device can have a target element for a tachymeter, in particular a 360° prism, a round prism or a mini prism. The target element can be attached to the surveying device, for example movable, by means of an alignment unit or centering unit, such that position and / or alignment can be changed. The alignment unit can in particular have a forced centering with a rotating unit, in particular a rotary plate.Advantageously, the surveying device can thus be moved through the environment, in particular moved to the at least one disconnection point, without a direct visual contact to a tachymeter being necessary for such a movement. For example, it can be achieved in that although position data can be received by a tachymeter or a positioning can be carried out via the tachymeter, the point cloud is used when the visual contact is broken off or, for example, pure transit tasks can be carried out based on the point cloud. If the cloud of points is measured exactly enough or even georeferenced, the tachymeter can also be completely dispensed with.In the case of the surveying device described, it can furthermore be provided that the positioning device is designed to position the surveying device autonomously within the environment. In other words, the surveying device can be moved autonomously within the environment on the basis of the positioning determined by the positioning device, for example to a next drop-off point. By means of the autonomous movement or positioning, it is also possible to bypass obstacles occurring in the environment in order to reach the next drop-off point. Obstacles present in the environment, for example walls, columns and the like, and obstacles that occur only temporarily, can thus be bypassed or deviated in order to reach the disconnection point. As a result of the autonomous movement of the surveying device within the environment, frequent repositioning of a tachymeter required for the positioning can thus be dispensed with. Instead, the positioning device can perform at least one coarse positioning of the surveying device autonomously, in particular the transit movement by which the surveying device is moved from one drop-off point to a next drop-off point, so that no connection to the tachymeter is required there. A subsequent fine positioning in the immediate vicinity of the drop-off point can likewise be carried out on the basis of the point cloud or on the basis of absolute position information, in particular from a tachymeter.In principle, the positioning device can have corresponding means which are required for the positioning or the movement of the surveying device. Such moving means or positioning means can comprise, for example, a drive device and wheels, chains or the like. The positioning device is therefore designed to determine the current position within the environment and to position the surveying device, in particular by actuating the previously described movement means or positioning means, into the desired position, in particular to move the surveying device to the next drop-off point.According to a further embodiment of the surveying device, it can be provided that the positioning device is designed to position the surveying device based on at least one piece of absolute position information, in particular from a tachymeter, or to verify a positioning. As described, the positioning device is basically designed for positioning the surveying apparatus based on the point cloud. However, the surveying device can also process absolute position information by means of the positioning device, for example also in order to position the surveying device or to verify an assumed positioning. For this purpose, the absolute position information can be obtained in particular from an external source, for example from a tachymeter which is embodied separately from the surveying device. For example, the positioning device can perform the rough positioning of the surveying device in the environment autonomously on the basis of the point cloud. If the accuracy of the spatial points within the point cloud is not sufficient for the positioning of the positioning device or the surveying device, the fine positioning can be carried out, for example already in the vicinity of the drop-off point, on the basis of the absolute position information.The positioning device can likewise position or move the surveying device to a next disconnection point and then verify the assumed position when there is visual contact to a tachymeter or when there is otherwise acquired absolute position information. For example, the positioning device can also decide whether a drop-off point is currently to be plugged out or whether such a drop-off point is to be skipped, for example on account of the lack of accuracy of the spatial points in the point cloud currently present, until absolute position information about this drop-off point is present, for example until a tachymeter is visible again from this drop-off point. Knowing a current position of a tachymeter or a source for the absolute position information, the positioning device can therefore select drop-off points which have visual contact with the tachymeter and which currently skip all further drop-off points.According to a further embodiment, the surveying device can be designed to determine, in particular by means of ray tracing, at least one drop-off point at which absolute position information is present and / or to determine at least one drop-off point at which no absolute position information is present. As described, it is possible in principle to divide the drop-off points still to be dropped into drop-off points at which there is absolute position information, for example visual contact to a currently constructed tachymeter exists, and drop-off points at which there is no such absolute position information. The lack of absolute position information can be due, for example, to the fact that the tachymeter is currently not visible when the surveying device is positioned in the drop-off point. The determination or group assignment can be repeated at specific time intervals, so that temporarily existing blockages of the visual contact can be taken into account.Thus, a sequence of the drop-off points can be determined, wherein, for example, those drop-off points for which absolute position information is present can first be drop-off. Knowing the current position of the tachymeter, it can be determined by ray tracing from which points of the environment, in particular from which drop-off points, the tachymeter is visible, so that these can be dropped off in a prioritized manner. In this case, it is possible for the environment to change, for example for temporarily present obstacles to be moved out of the environment or into the latter, with the result that further plug-off points can be plugged out with visual contact to the tachymeter or other plug-off points cannot currently be plugged out. As a result, a new construction and a new calibration of the tacheometer in different spatial points can be minimized or completely dispensed with.As already described, the surveying device is positioned based on the point cloud. In one embodiment, the surveying device can be configured to initially read in and / or update the point cloud and / or to capture the point cloud within the environment. In the variants described, it is thus possible to initially provide a cloud of points to the surveying device, in particular to the positioning device, such that said cloud can be read in by means of the surveying device. The spatial points within the point cloud can then be updated or verified and matched, for example, during a movement of the surveying device through the environment. This makes it possible to react in particular to temporarily occurring obstacles or moving obstacles in the environment. In addition, it is possible for the surveying device to autonomously travel around the environment itself and in the process to capture or generate the point cloud within the environment.Combinations of the described variants are possible accordingly, such that, for example, a point cloud can be provided initially, it can be updated during the operation of the surveying device, or point cloud can be detected or supplemented by means of the surveying device in at least one region of the environment. The point cloud can be generated in principle by means of a laser scanner, for example a 3D scanner. In this case, the drop-off points can be provided within the point cloud, so that they are present, for example, as spatial points within the point cloud and the surveying device can therefore be positioned in the drop-off points. The positioning device can likewise compare a self-detected point cloud with a reference point cloud, for example on the basis of detected reference geometries within the environment.The surveying device can furthermore be designed for communication with at least one further positioning system, in particular GPS positioning or radio positioning. The further locating systems can improve or supplement a currently carried out or present locating of the surveying device by the positioning device or can be used for the verification or plausibility checking of a currently present positioning.As described, the surveying device has a marking device, by means of which the dropping point is marked. According to one embodiment of the surveying device, the marking device can be designed specifically for mechanical marking, in particular by means of a scribing device, and / or for color marking of at least one detachment point. Since the marking of the plug-off points must be sufficient for an accuracy required in installation construction, the mechanical marking of the plug-off points is preferred. This can be effected, for example, by means of a scribing device, i.e. a tip, for example a nail or a needle, is used to mechanically process the substrate at the dropping point, in particular the nail or the needle is driven into the substrate in sections, in order to produce a mechanical marking. Additionally or alternatively, a color marking of the plug-off point can be effected, for example in order to increase the visibility of the plug-off point, so that the plug-off point can be understood more quickly. In addition to determining the position of the clip-off point, the marking can also enable identification of the clip-off point, for example by numbering or applying identification information uniquely identified as the clip-off point.According to a further embodiment of the surveying device, it can be provided that the positioning device is designed to position the surveying device based on a placing point lying ahead. If the positioning device has positioned the surveying device in a drop-off point, for example based on the point cloud and / or an absolute position information item, this drop-off point can be used for positioning the surveying device in the next drop-off point. In other words, an assumed disconnection point, which has been measured and marked with the required accuracy, can be used for the further positioning of the surveying device in the environment. In this case, in particular autonomous navigation of the surveying apparatus through the environment can be carried out by means of the positioning device. This allows at least the transit process between two drop-off points to be carried out autonomously by the positioning device, so that no absolute position information is required for this purpose.The positioning device can furthermore be designed for object recognition of at least one object in the environment and / or can be designed to generate a trajectory through the environment based on at least one detected object in the environment. As a result, the positioning device can detect objects in the environment, for example in order to be able to drive around them. For this purpose, the positioning device can specifically plan a trajectory through the environment, by means of which trajectory the surveying apparatus can be moved to the next drop-off point without colliding with objects or obstacles in the environment.In addition to the surveying device, the invention relates to a method for surveying and marking drop-off points in an environment, in particular by means of a surveying device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the surveying device is positioned in the environment by means of a positioning device and at least one drop-off point approached by the positioning device is marked by means of a marking device, wherein the surveying device is positioned in at least one drop-off point within the environment on the basis of a point cloud comprising a plurality of spatial points of the environment.All advantages, details, embodiments and / or features described with respect to the surveying device can be completely transferred to the method. To carry out the method for measuring and marking dropping points in the environment, the described measurement device can be operated in particular. The method is therefore designed to operate the described surveying device.The invention is explained on the basis of exemplary embodiments with reference to the figures. The figures are schematic representations and show: FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a surveying device according to an exemplary embodiment in side view; and FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a surveying device in different positions in an environment to be measured according to an exemplary embodiment in plan view.FIG. 1 shows a surveying device 1, which can also be referred to or considered as a "drop-off robot". The surveying device 1 is basically designed for surveying and marking dropping points 2 in an environment 3. The surveying device 1 has a positioning device 4, which is designed to position the surveying device 1 within the environment 3. This means that the positioning device 4 is coupled to movement means 5, for example a drive device, in particular an electric motor, which is coupled to the wheels of the surveying apparatus 1. By appropriate control of the movement means 5, the surveying device 1 is movable in the environment 3.As is illustrated by way of example in FIG. 1, the surveying device 1 is positioned in a dropping point 2, such that the dropping point 2 can be marked by means of a marking device 6 of the surveying device 1. The marking device 6 is designed here in particular for the mechanical marking of the plug-off point 2. For this purpose, the marking device 6 has a scribing device 7, with which a subgrade 8 of the environment 3 can be mechanically processed. In other words, the scribing device 7 has a tip which is movable (cf. double arrow) by means of an actuator, not shown in detail, and which is driven into the substrate 8 for the mechanical marking of the dropping point 2. In addition to the mechanical scribing device 7 shown, the marking device 6 can have a color marking device which additionally color marks the drop-off point 2, for example in order to increase its detectability in the environment 3. The marking device is coupled by way of example to a fine positioning device 19, for example to a linear axis or a plurality of linear axes, which is designed to position the marking device 6 relative to the base body or a center point of the surveying device, to be precise than is possible by means of the wheels of the surveying device 1. In particular, a rough positioning can thus be carried out on the basis of the movement means 5, the fine positioning being carried out by the fine positioning device 19.The positioning device 4 is designed to position the surveying device 1 on the basis of a point cloud which comprises a multiplicity of spatial points 9 of the environment 3. Purely by way of example, a spatial point 9 is shown in FIG. 1. The spatial points 9 can represent, for example, the surface of the structures in the environment 3, so that the positioning device 4 can perform navigation and positioning of the surveying apparatus 1 on the basis of the spatial points 9 of the environment 3 or the point cloud representing the environment 3. For this purpose, the positioning device 4 can have, in particular, a scanner, for example a laser scanner, and can be designed specifically for executing the known SLAM algorithm. Furthermore, the surveying device 1 can have a superordinate control device 10 which is designed to control the individual components, in particular the positioning device 4, the movement means 5, the marking device 6, in particular the scribing device 7, and the like.The surveying apparatus 1 additionally has a detection device 20 which is designed to detect the position of the surveying apparatus 1. For example, the detection device 20 can comprise a tachymeter which is designed for detecting targets, e.g. spatial points 9, in particular laser targets, in the environment 3. Alternatively, the detection device 20 itself has a target which can be detected, for example, by means of a separate tacheometer, as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 2. This can be arranged on an alignment device, in particular comprising a rotary plate. The alignment device can comprise a forced centering in which a round prism or a mini prism is accommodated.Advantageously, the surveying device 1 can thus be moved autonomously in the environment 3 by the positioning device 4, since navigation is possible on the basis of the detected spatial points 9, in particular on the basis of a map of the environment 3. Each drop-off point 2 is contained within the environment 3 or within the point cloud, so that navigation of the surveying device 1 can take place based on the point cloud to the individual drop-off points 2, in particular without external positioning, for example by means of a tachymeter. Nevertheless, such absolute position information can be used, as described below with reference to an exemplary embodiment in FIG. 2.FIG. 2 shows a surveying device 1 in different positions within the environment 3. In other words, the surveying device 1 in FIG. 2 is likewise designed to be moved autonomously within the environment 3, namely by the navigation based on the point cloud, which is carried out by the positioning device 4.It is therefore possible to carry out a positioning of the surveying device 1 to a second plug-off point 13 from a starting position 11 in which there is a direct visual connection between the positioning device 4 and a tachymeter 12 illustrated by way of example, in which position the plug-off point 2 shown in FIG. 1 is cut off. As can be seen, between the second disconnection point 13 and the tachymeter 12 there is an obstacle 14, for example a wall or a temporary obstacle, for example a vehicle. As described, the surveying device 1 is designed to be moved autonomously on the basis of the point cloud to the dropping point 13 and to mark it, as illustrated in FIG. 1, by means of the marking device 6.The approach of the dropping point 13 by the surveying device 1 is also referred to as "surveying" within the scope of this application, i.e. that the dropping point 2, 13 is approached and the surveying device 1 is positioned therein, so that said surveying device can be marked by means of the marking device 6. The, in particular mechanical, marking by the marking device 6 is understood as "marking" of the plug-off point 2, 13. Purely by way of example, the surveying device 1 can therefore measure and mark the plug-off point 13 even without direct visual contact to the tachymeter 12, since, for example, the position accuracy based on the point cloud is sufficiently high in this part of the environment 3.Subsequently, for example, a further drop-off point 15 can be approached by the drop-off point 13 as the starting point. Knowing the absolute position of the tachymeter 12 or the relative position of the tachymeter 12 in the environment 3, the positioning device 4 can determine, in particular by means of ray tracing, which of the drop-off points 15, 16, 17 still to be approached have a visual connection to the tachymeter 12 and thus an absolute position information item is present.The positioning device 4 therefore determines that the disconnection points 15, 17 enable a direct visual connection to the tachymeter 12, so that there is absolute position information. Due to the obstacle 18 which is located between the tachymeter 12 and the drop-off point 16, there is no visual connection to the tachymeter 12 in the drop-off point 16. For example, the obstacle 18 may be a temporarily present obstacle. The positioning device 4 therefore calculates the trajectory through the environment 3, in particular from the plug-off point 13 to the plug-off point 15 and subsequently to the plug-off point 17 and finally to the plug-off point 16, since in this case the plug-off points 2, 13, 15-17 can be plugged off, i.e. measured and marked, by the measurement apparatus 1. This can be advantageously carried out without having to change the position of the tacheometer 12 in space. The route planning or the movement of the surveying device 1 is based here on the determination of the spatial points 9 in the environment 3 by the positioning device 4, which is thereby also configured for detecting objects and thus for bypassing obstacles in the environment 3.Thus, it is not necessary to reposition and measure the tachymeter 12 for different drop-off points 2, 13, 15-17. Instead, particularly when the accuracy of the positioning inherent to the surveying device 1 is sufficient, absolute position information about the tachymeter 12 may be dispensed with. The absolute position information provided by the tachymeter 12 can nevertheless be exploited, for example to improve the positioning, to verify or, if sufficiently precise positioning via the positioning device 4 is not possible in the part of the environment 3, to enable the more precise positioning and thus the measurement and marking of the plug-off point 2, 13, 15-17.The method in Fig. 2 is also reversible, especially in the case where the detection device 19 itself comprises a tachymeter. In this case, targets in the environment 3 can be detected by the detection device 19 in order to determine the position of the surveying apparatus 1.The advantages, details and features shown in the individual exemplary embodiments can be combined with one another as desired, interchanged and transferred to one another. The method described herein can be carried out in all details by means of the surveying device 1, as has been described, for example, with reference to FIG. 2.List of reference characters1 Surveying device 2 Drop-off point 3 Environment 4 Positioning device 5 Movement means 6 Marking device 7 Scribing device 8 Background 9 Spatial point 10 Control device 11 Starting position 12 Tachymeter 13 Drop-off point 14 Obstacle 15-17 Drop-off point 18 Obstacle 19 Fine positioning device 20 Detection device

Claims

Surveying device (1), in particular a dropping robot, which is designed for surveying and marking dropping points (2, 13, 15-17) in an environment (3), wherein the surveying device (1) has a positioning device (4) which is designed for positioning the surveying device (1) in the environment (3) and a marking device (6) which is designed for marking at least one dropping point (2, 13, 15-17) approached by the positioning device (4), characterized in that the positioning device (4) is designed for positioning the surveying device (1) in at least one dropping point (2, 13, 15-17) within the environment (3) on the basis of a point cloud comprising a plurality of spatial points (9) of the environment (3).Surveying device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the positioning device (4) is configured to position the surveying device (1) autonomously within the environment (3).Surveying device (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the positioning device (4) is configured to position the surveying device (1) based on at least one absolute position information, in particular from a tachymeter (12), or to verify a positioning.Surveying device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the surveying device (1) is designed to determine, in particular by means of ray tracing, at least one drop-off point (2, 13, 15-17) at which absolute position information is present and / or to determine at least one drop-off point (2, 13, 15-17) at which no absolute position information is present.Surveying device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the surveying device (1) is designed to initially read in and / or update the point cloud and / or to capture the point cloud within the environment (3).Surveying device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the surveying device (1) is designed for communication with at least one further locating system, in particular GPS locating or radio locating.Surveying device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the marking device (6) is designed for mechanical marking, in particular by means of a scribing device (7), and / or for color marking of at least one drop-off point (2, 13, 15-17).Surveying device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the positioning device (4) is designed to position the surveying device (1) on the basis of a drop-off point (2, 13, 15-17) lying ahead.Surveying device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the positioning device (4) is designed for object recognition of at least one object in the environment (3) and / or is designed to generate a trajectory through the environment (3) based on at least one detected object in the environment (3).Method for measuring and marking drop-off points (2, 13, 15-17) in an environment (3), in particular by means of a surveying device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the surveying device (1) is positioned in the environment (3) by means of a positioning device (4) and at least one drop-off point (2, 13, 15-17) approached by the positioning device (4) is marked by means of a marking device (6), characterized in that the surveying device (1) is positioned in at least one drop-off point (2, 13, 15-17) on the basis of a point cloud comprising a plurality of spatial points (9) of the environment (3).

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