Charging station and robotic lawnmower system

Abstract

Charging station, characterized in that the charging station comprises a charging station body (11), a marking component (2) and a charging structure (3), wherein the charging structure (3) is arranged on the charging station body (11), wherein the marking component (2) comprises a plurality of first marking components (20, 211), wherein the charging structure (3) and the plurality of first marking components (20, 211) are arranged on the same side surface of the charging station body (11), wherein at least one of the first marking components (20, 211) is arranged below the charging structure (3) and at least one of the first marking components (20, 211) is arranged above the charging structure (3).

Description

Technical FieldEmbodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of garden equipment, in particular to a charging column and a lawn mower robot system.Background ArtLawn mower robots can automatically mown lawn surfaces, etc., thus reducing the time required for manual work. Lawn mower robots can follow input instructions to perform the return to a charging pole without human intervention, thereby reducing the load on users and saving time.Most of the existing technologies for returning lawn mower robots to their charging column are based on methods such as GPS positioning, wire guidance, or virtual boundary patrol. For example, in indoor scenarios, lawn mower robots typically use infrared or ultrasonic induction technology for return to the charging column or virtual boundary guidance based on map creation to return to the charging column. When returning to the charging column using infrared or ultrasonic induction technology, there is a high possibility of false contact, and such return is severely affected by ambient noise.In outdoor deployment scenarios, lawn mower robots return exactly to the charging column based mostly on GPS positioning and the electromagnetic guide wires in front of the charging column that serve to support guidance. This GPS positioning-based return to the charging post not only places high demands on signal strength and signal accuracy, but also requires the placement of supporting electromagnetic guide wires in a bottom plate of the charging post, which also causes certain material and transport costs.In summary, it is expensive, difficult and less stable for the existing lawn mower robots to automatically return to the charging column.Content of the InventionTo solve the above-mentioned problems, embodiments of the present application provide a charging post to at least partially solve the above-mentioned problems.One or more embodiments of the present application provide a charging column. The charging post includes a charging post body, a marker component, and a charging structure. The charging structure is arranged on the charging pillar body, wherein the marking component comprises a plurality of first marking components, wherein the charging structure and the plurality of first marking components are arranged on the same side surface of the charging pillar body, wherein at least one of the first marking components is arranged below the charging structure and at least one of the first marking components is arranged above the charging structure.According to one or more embodiments of the present application, a marking pattern formed by the first marking components on a surface of the charging station body is a rectangular pattern.According to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present application, the first marking component has a width of 3 cm.According to one or more embodiments of the present application, four first marking components are provided, wherein adjacent ones of the first marking components are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance.According to one or more embodiments of the present application, the minimum distance between the marker components is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold, wherein the second preset threshold is 3 cm.According to one or more embodiments of the present application, the four first marker components are located at four vertices of a rectangular area.According to one or more embodiments of the present application, the charging structure is arranged in a rectangular area surrounded by the four first marking components.According to one or more embodiments of the present application, the marking component is a reflective component or a luminous element.According to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present application, the second marking component is arranged at an overhanging end of the loading structure, wherein the second marking component is arranged on a front end face of the loading structure.By one or more embodiments of the present application, a lawn mower robot system is provided. The lawn mower robot system includes a lawn mower robot and the above-described charging column, wherein the lawn mower robot is provided with an image capturing device used to capture available image frames in a front area of the charging column to determine a relative pose of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging column, and depending on the relative pose, drive the lawn mower robot to return to the charging column for charging.By one or more embodiments, a charging post is provided, wherein a plurality of feature marks are preset on the charging post, wherein a distribution area of at least two of the plurality of feature marks is different from a distribution area of the remaining feature marks, the feature marks being used for image recognition by the lawn mower robot, so that the lawn mower robot can dock to the charging post for charging.According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided a charging post, wherein a marker component used for indicating a position of the charging post is provided on the charging post so that the lawn mower robot can dock to the charging post for charging.According to a further aspect of the present application, a charging station system is provided, which comprises a charging station according to one of the above-mentioned aspects and a marking device, wherein a fourth marking component is provided on the marking device, wherein the fourth marking component is used to assist the position determination of the charging station.According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided a method of returning to a charging column, the method being used to return a lawn mower robot to a charging column, the lawn mower robot being equipped with an image capturing device, feature marks being distributed to the charging column, the method comprising: acquiring available image frames captured by the image capturing device of the lawn mower robot in a front region of the charging column, wherein the number of feature marks recognized in the image frame is greater than or equal to N, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3; determining a relative pose of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging post depending on two-dimensional coordinates of the recognized feature marks in the image frames, three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks in a world coordinate system, and imaging parameters of the image capturing device; and driving the lawn mower robot depending on the relative pose to return to the charging post.According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided an apparatus for returning to a charging column, the apparatus being used to return a lawn mower robot to a charging column, the lawn mower robot being equipped with an image capturing device, feature marks being distributed to the charging column, the apparatus comprising: an acquisition module used to acquire available image frames captured by the image capturing device of the lawn mower robot in a front region of the charging column, wherein the number of feature marks recognized in the image frame is greater than or equal to N and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3; a determination module used to determine a relative pose of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging post depending on two-dimensional coordinates of the recognized feature marks in the image frames, three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks in a world coordinate system, and imaging parameters of the image capturing device; and a drive module used to drive the lawn mower robot to return to the charging post depending on the relative pose.According to another aspect of the present application, a lawn mower robot is provided, wherein the lawn mower robot is equipped with an image capturing device, wherein the lawn mower robot comprises a control device, wherein the control device is used to carry out the method described above.According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided a computer storage medium, the computer storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program, when executed by a processor, implementing the method described above.In this method, by recognizing the two-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks using the available image frames acquired by the image acquisition device in the front area of the charging post and then combining them with the three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks in the world coordinate system and the imaging parameters of the image acquisition device, the relative posture between the lawn mower robot and the charging post can be accurately determined, and thus the lawn mower robot can be accurately guided back to the charging post depending on the relative posture. In this way, by using the feature marks for positioning, the positioning accuracy is secured, and the visual image cannot be disturbed by noises of other electromagnetic waves and signals in the environment, thereby securing the accuracy and reliability. There is also no need to additionally lay conductive wires. At the same time, the lack of GPS positioning errors is overcome and the accuracy of the return to the charging column is fully assured.Further, in the embodiments of the present application, it is only necessary to provide a marker component to the charging post, and the lawn mower may obtain, through its own image recognition, pose information of the feature markers distributed in the marker component, so that relative pose information between the charging post and the lawn mower may be determined to perform path planning, so that the lawn mower is allowed to return to the charging post for charging. The cost is low. Since only feature marks need to be attached to the charging post, the structure is simple and easy to assemble and disassemble.FIGURESThe following drawings are merely for schematically illustrating and explaining the present application, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. The following shows: FIG. 1A is a schematic flow diagram of steps of a method for returning to a charging column in a first embodiment of the present application; FIG. 1B is a schematic view showing a distribution of feature marks in the first embodiment of the present application; FIG. 1C is a schematic view showing another distribution of feature marks in the first embodiment of the present application; FIG. 1D is a schematic view of a front portion of a charging post in the first embodiment of the present application; FIG. 1E is a schematic flowchart of the substeps of step S 102 in the first embodiment of the present application; FIG. 2 is a structural block diagram of a device for returning to a charging column provided by a second embodiment of the present application; FIG. 3A is a schematic view of a distribution of marker components on a charging column according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application; FIG. 3B is a schematic view of a distribution of marker components on a charging column according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application; FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a distribution of marker components on a charging column according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application; FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a marker component according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application; FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a reflective element of a marker component of a charging post according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application; FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a charging station system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application.List of reference numbers:10-Charging post; 11-Charging post body; 111-Mounting slot; 12-top cover; 13-Bottom plate; 2-Marker component; 20-Feature marker; 211-First marker component; 212-Second marker component; 213-Third marker component; 214-Fourth marker component; 22-reflecting member; 221-Light-transmissive portion; 222-reflecting portion; 23-Mounting plate; 3-Charging structure; 41-First distribution surface; 42-Second distribution surface; 43-Third distribution surface; 44-Fourth distribution surface; 50-Marker device.DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTSIn order for a person skilled in the art to better understand the solution of the present application, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and fully below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the described embodiments constitute a part of the embodiments of the present application instead of all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art from the embodiments of the present application without inventive activity fall within the scope of the application.In order to facilitate explanation and understanding, before describing the method of returning to a charging column, the structure and the working scenario of a lawn mower robot will be described as follows:In the present embodiment, the lawn mower robot may be an automatic lawn mower including some main parts such as a main body, an image capturing device (also referred to as a visual capturing device), a navigation position estimation device, a visual position estimation device, and an autonomous moving device.Here, the main body includes a housing and a lawn mower blade assembly, etc. The lawn mower blade assembly is configured to mowed grass in lawn areas to an appropriate height. The autonomous moving device includes a drive wheel, a drive motor, and a motor controller, etc., the motor controller being connected to the drive motor to control the rotation of the drive motor and then drive the drive wheel to move, thereby enabling forward, backward movement, steering, and the like of the lawn mower robot.The image capturing device may include a video camera, a camera, and the like. Image capture devices having different structures may have different imaging parameters. The imaging parameters include, for example, aperture, focal length, optical axis, etc.The navigation position estimation device is used to position the lawn mower robot and then drive the lawn mower robot to move depending on a positioning result.The device for visual position estimation can be used to process the image frames captured by the image capture device and then to estimate a relative position of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging post depending on the image frames in order to navigate the lawn mower robot and drive it to move depending on the relative pose. It is to be noted that the visual position estimation device may be an independent chip with computing power or a common chip shared with other devices, which is not limited.As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, feature marks (reference numeral 20 in FIG. 1B ) are provided on a charging post (reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1B ), where Q is greater than or equal to 2 and is a positive integer. The feature marks may be any suitable pattern, shape or structure, etc., that can be used for marking, which is not limited. The feature marks may be, for example, triangular protrusions or dots, rectangular patterns, two-dimensional codes or line segments, arcs, etc. Further examples are omitted here.In order to improve the positioning accuracy of the relative pose, for each coordinate axis of the world coordinate system, preferably, the maximum distance of projection of the Q feature marks onto each of the coordinate axes is equal to or larger than a distance threshold (the distance threshold may be determined according to the required positioning detection accuracy). Thereby, the feature marks on the same distribution plane are more dispersedly distributed on a distribution plane on which these feature marks are located, and the distance between the feature marks is larger, which contributes to improving the detection efficiency and accuracy in the positioning of the relative pose. The reason is that, in a coordinate system as shown in FIG. 1B, a Z axis is a forward direction of the lawn mower robot, and in a conventional relatively flat ground environment, the docking of the lawn mower robot to a charging post relies more on the transformation of a yaw angle (i.e., a rotation angle about a Y axis); that is, the larger a lateral distance between the feature marks on the charging post is, the larger is the absolute distance of the position change of the feature marks distributed on an imaging plane when the relative pose of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging post changes, whereby the suppression capability becomes stronger. The same applies to a pitch angle (i.e., a rotation angle about an X axis).Preferably, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, a distribution plane of at least two of the Q feature marks is different from a distribution plane of the remaining feature marks. That is, the plurality of feature marks provided on the charging post are located on at least two different distribution planes, thereby realizing differentiation of the feature marks in a Z-axis direction. After comparison experiments, it was found that a charging column A in which all feature markings are located on the same distribution level has a weaker anti-noise capability than a charging column B in which at least two feature markings are located on a different distribution level than the remaining feature markings. In the same number of tests, the charging column A is either unable to calculate the relative pose or has a poorer accuracy of the calculated relative pose than that of the charging column B.By optimizing the distribution of the feature marks distributed on the charging pillar, the anti-interference capability and the anti-sensitivity capability in detecting the relative pose of the lawn mower robot can be improved. However, it should be noted that the distribution method exemplified in the embodiments of the present application is a preferred method. In further embodiments, the feature marks may use other distribution methods as long as the relative pose can be calculated.First EmbodimentAn implementation process of the method for returning to a charging post will be described below:As shown in FIG. 1A, a flow diagram of steps of a method for returning to a charging station is shown. In this exemplary embodiment, the method comprises the following steps:Step S 102: acquiring available image frames acquired by the image acquisition device of the lawn mower robot in a front area of the charging post.In this exemplary embodiment, during a movement of the lawn mower robot, the image capturing device captures the image frames of the environment, wherein a plurality of image frames form an image frame sequence at different times, which may also be referred to as video. Since the pose of the lawn mower robot is different at different times, the contents included in the image frames are also different, some image frames may include feature marks and some image frames may not include feature marks.The available image frames may be image frames captured in the front area of the charging post and include a sufficient number of feature marks. By these image frames, the relative pose of the lawn mower robot can be resolved, and therefore these image frames are regarded as the available image frames. Here, the inclusion of a sufficient number of feature marks may be considered as follows: The number of feature marks detected in the image frames is greater than or equal to N, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3.As shown in FIG. 1D, the front portion of the charging post includes a sector portion corresponding to the charging post, the sector portion being located in front of the charging post, and a radius of the sector portion taking a value greater than 0 and less than M, M being a positive integer. The value of M may be determined depending on the imaging parameters of the image capturing device, the sizes of the feature marks, etc., which is not limited.In one example, the front region of the charging post may be a sector region having a radius of 2 meters and an angle of 120°. Of course, in other examples, the shape, dimension, etc. of the front portion of the charging post may be selected accordingly, which is not limited.Optionally, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1E, step S 102 may be implemented by the following substeps to ensure that the lawn mower robot can reliably and accurately move to the charging post at any position:Substep S 1021: acquiring a navigation pose of the lawn mower robot at a current time.For example, in a scenario in the normal working mode, a navigation estimation device of the lawn mower robot may locate a navigation pose of the lawn mower robot when the lawn mower robot receives an instruction to return to the charging post.Substep S 1022: Determining whether the lawn mower robot is located in the front area of the charging post depending on the navigation pose and a preset pose of the charging post.The front area of the charging post can be determined on the basis of the pose of the charging post; it can then be determined on the basis of position information in the navigation pose whether the lawn mower robot is located in the front area of the charging post.If the lawn mower robot is located in the front area of the charging post, this indicates that a distance between the charging post and the lawn mower robot is sufficient to detect clear feature marks of an appropriate size, substep S 1023 may be performed; otherwise, the lawn mower robot first needs to be driven to move into the front area of the charging post, so substep S 1025 may be performed.Substep S 1023: Determining whether the available image frames are present in an image frame sequence captured by the image capture device when the lawn mower robot is located in the front area of the charging post.In one executable implementation, a trained robot learning model is used to perform image recognition on each image frame in the image frame sequence to recognize feature markers therefrom and determine whether the image frames are available image frames based on the number of detected feature markers.Taking N as an example, 3: When the number of detected feature marks is equal to or larger than 3, the image frames are the available image frames. Substep S1024 may be performed; otherwise substep S1026 may be performed.Substep S 1024: Using the available image frames available as acquired available image frames when available image frames are present.Step S 104 may be performed after acquiring the available image frames.Substep S 1025: driving the lawn mower robot depending on the navigation pose to move into the front area of the charging post when the lawn mower robot is not located in the front area of the charging post; and returning to the step of acquiring a navigation pose of the lawn mower robot at a current time to continue execution.When it is determined from the navigation position obtained from the navigation position estimation device that the lawn mower robot is not located in the front area of the charging post, the navigation position estimation device may instruct the lawn mower robot to move depending on the navigation pose; then, the execution returns to substep S 1021. This process is repeated until the lawn mower robot moves into the front area of the charging post. In this way, the lawn mower robot does not switch to a mode of returning to the charging post until it enters the front area of the charging post and a sufficient number of feature marks can be detected.Substep S 1026: adjusting at least one of the position and pose of the lawn mower robot and acquiring a new image frame sequence when the available image frames are not present, and returning to the step of determining whether the available image frames are present in the image frame sequence acquired by the image acquisition device to continue execution.For example, when adjusting at least one of the position and the pose of the lawn mower robot, the lawn mower robot is set to a new navigation pose, the lawn mower robot being located outside the front area of the charging post when accepting the new navigation pose; depending on the new navigation pose, the lawn mower robot is driven to move into the front area of the charging post, wherein during the movement of the lawn mower robot, the image acquisition device acquires a plurality of image frames to form the image frame sequence.For example, if the lawn mower robot enters the front area of the charging post but no image frame is available, the lawn mower robot may be driven to exit the front area of the charging post, then move back into the front area of the charging post at a different angle, then capture image frames, and return to the step of determining whether the available image frames are present in the image frame sequence captured by the image capture device.For example, if the lawn mower robot remains in the front area of the charging post for 5 seconds and does not detect sufficient feature marks on the charging post, the lawn mower robot may randomly select a direction to exit the front area of the charging post, retract into that area again at a different angle, re-detect feature marks on the charging post. This process is repeated until sufficient feature marks are detected, and then the mode of returning to the charging post is switched.Step S 104 may be performed when available image frames are obtained.Step S 104: Determine a relative pose of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging post depending on two-dimensional coordinates of the recognized feature marks in the image frames, three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks in a world coordinate system, and imaging parameters of the image capturing apparatus.When the robot is in the mode of returning to the charging post, the visual position estimation device continuously updates the relative posture of the lawn mower robot and the charging post by detecting and matching the image frames, and then instructs the lawn mower robot to arrive at the charging post and completes docking to the charging post.The image frames can be detected by recognizing the image frames by means of a trained neural network model in order to detect feature markings in the image frames, and determining two-dimensional coordinates of the feature markings in the image frames.For different feature markers, different neural network models may be trained to detect the feature markers in the image frames.Based on the two-dimensional coordinates of the detected feature marks in the image frames, the three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks in the world coordinate system, and the imaging parameters of the image capturing apparatus, a relative pose at the current time is determined. An operation for calculating the relative pose is, for example, as follows: Based on the two-dimensional coordinates and the imaging parameters of the image capturing device, the two-dimensional coordinates may be converted into three-dimensional coordinates in a coordinate system of the image capturing device; then, depending on the three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks in the coordinate system of the image capturing device and their three-dimensional coordinates in the world coordinate system, an association relationship between the coordinate system of the image capturing device and the world coordinate system may be determined, the association relationship being the relative pose.Step S 106: driving the lawn mower robot depending on the relative pose to return to the charging post.The pose of the lawn mower robot may be adjusted based on the relative pose so that the lawn mower robot faces the charging post, thereby realizing the return of the lawn mower robot to the charging post.From the above-described operation, it can be seen that the ability of the lawn mower robot to return to the charging post quickly and accurately is greatly affected by the accuracy of recognizing the two-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks in the image frames. Since the image frames are captured during the movement of the lawn mower robot, they are inevitably affected by motion blur. In order to reduce adverse effects of motion blur on the recognition of the feature marks and the accuracy of the two-dimensional coordinates, in this embodiment, in the case where the image capturing device captures the image frames and the light intensity of the ambient light is fixed, the exposure time of the image frames is positively correlated with a relative distance, the relative distance being a distance between the lawn mower robot and the charging post.Under normal circumstances, for example, the exposure time of the image capturing device is determined based on the light intensity of the ambient light. The brighter the ambient light, the shorter the exposure time; and the shorter the exposure time, the less motion blur occurs.During an actual operation of the lawn mower robot, if the feature marks are included in the image frames taken at a distance from the lawn mower robot to the charging post greater than X meters (X is a positive integer and may be determined as needed) due to blurring or other reasons in the detection, the problem of the non-detection may be solved by rotating the lawn mower robot or approaching the charging post. Since the lawn mower robot is comparatively far from the charging post at this time, missing feature marks in the image frames or low accuracy of the matched two-dimensional coordinates less affect the navigation accuracy and can be compensated by a subsequent adjustment of the image frames.If the distance from the lawn mower robot to the charging post is less than or equal to Y (Y is a positive integer and less than X), if the feature marks are overlooked due to motion blur in detection or the accuracy of the two-dimensional coordinates is insufficient, excessive motion deviation of the lawn mower robot and inaccurate return of the lawn mower robot to the charging post may easily occur due to this comparatively small distance between the two. In order to avoid this problem and at the same time to ensure that a brightness of the recorded image frames satisfies the detection requirements, the exposure time of the image capturing device is reduced with increasing distance at the same light intensity until the distance reaches a distance threshold value. This sufficiently reduces motion blur.For example, in one example, the exposure time remains constant when the light intensity and distance are the same. If the light intensity remains unchanged but the distance decreases by z, the exposure time T decreases by a*zms. Here, a can be appropriately set as needed. When the light intensity changes, the exposure time T increases or decreases accordingly. Light intensity and distance have independent effects on exposure time.Moreover, it has been found through research that, under the influence of characteristics of the image capturing apparatus, when the intensity of the ambient light remains unchanged, the shorter the exposure time, the lower the degree of restoration of the scene by the image frames, the darker the corresponding image frames as a whole. However, according to an experimental comparison, it was found that the adverse effect of reduced recovery degree by the image frames on the accuracy in returning to the charging post is much less than the adverse effect of motion blur on the accuracy in returning to the charging post, so that at a shorter distance, an appropriate reduction in exposure time contributes to improvement in accuracy.To further improve the accuracy, optionally, in image frames with a low degree of recovery, data enhancement technology may be used to enhance the accuracy of recognition of feature marks and avoid lack of detection and thus improve robustness.In this embodiment, by recognizing the two-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks by using the available image frames captured by the image capturing device in the front area of the charging post and then combining them with the three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks in the world coordinate system and the imaging parameters of the image capturing device, the relative posture between the lawn mower robot and the charging post can be accurately determined, and thus the lawn mower robot can be accurately guided back to the charging post depending on the relative posture. In this way, by using the feature marks for positioning, the positioning accuracy is secured, and the visual image cannot be disturbed by noises of other electromagnetic waves and signals in the environment, thereby securing the accuracy and reliability. There is also no need to additionally lay conductive wires. At the same time, the lack of GPS positioning errors is overcome and the accuracy of the return to the charging column is fully assured.In this way, based on the image frames captured by the image capturing device in combination with a navigation position estimation device with low accuracy requirements, it can be possible for the lawn mower robot located at each position in the work area to return from each direction precisely to the charging post and be charged there.As the charging post approaches, stable docking to the charging post and stable charging can be realized by utilizing the property that visual information such as image frames becomes more accurate as the distance decreases. In particular, in this embodiment, the distribution of the feature marks has better robustness and better resistance to the detection sensitivity, and the problem of motion blur difficult to cope with with the visual solution itself is also solved by adjusting the exposure time depending on the distance.Second EmbodimentReferring to FIG. 2, a structural block diagram of a device for returning to a charging column according to a second embodiment is illustrated.The device is used to guide a lawn mower robot back to a charging column, wherein the lawn mower robot is equipped with an image capturing device, wherein feature markings are distributed on the charging column, wherein the device comprises:an acquisition module 202 used to acquire available image frames acquired by the image acquisition device of the lawn mower robot in a front area of the charging post, wherein the number of feature marks recognized in the image frames is greater than or equal to N and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3;a determination module 204 that is used to determine a relative pose of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging post depending on two-dimensional coordinates of the detected feature marks in the image frames, three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks in a world coordinate system, and imaging parameters of the image capturing device; anda drive module 206 that is used to drive the lawn mower robot to return to the charging post depending on the relative pose.Optionally, the front portion of the charging post comprises a sector portion corresponding to the charging post, wherein the sector portion is located in front of the charging post and a radius of the sector portion takes a value greater than 0 and less than M, M being a positive integer.Optionally, the acquisition module 202 is used to acquire a navigation pose of the lawn mower robot at a current time; determine whether the lawn mower robot is located in the front area of the charging post depending on the navigation pose and a preset pose of the charging post; determine whether the available image frames are present in the image frame sequence acquired by the image acquisition device when the lawn mower robot is located in the front area of the charging post; use the available image frames as acquired available image frames when available image frames are present.Optionally, the acquisition module 202 is also used to, in the case where the available image frames are not present, adjust at least one of the position and pose of the lawn mower robot and acquire a new image frame sequence; and return to the step of determining whether the available image frames are present in the image frame sequence acquired by the image acquisition device to continue execution.Optionally, the acquisition module 202 is used to, when adjusting at least one of the position and pose of the lawn mower robot, set the lawn mower robot to a new navigation pose, wherein the lawn mower robot is located outside the front area of the charging post when accepting the new navigation pose; drive the lawn mower robot to move into the front area of the charging post depending on the new navigation pose, wherein during the movement of the lawn mower robot, the image capturing device captures a plurality of image frames to form the image frame sequence.Optionally, the acquisition module 202 is also used to, in the case where the lawn mower robot is not located in the front area of the charging post, drive the lawn mower robot to move to the front area of the charging post depending on the navigation pose; and return to the step of acquiring a navigation pose of the lawn mower robot at a current time to continue execution.Optionally, the charging pole is provided with Q feature marks, wherein Q is greater than or equal to 2 and is a positive integer, wherein for each coordinate axis of the world coordinate system, the maximum distance of the projection of the Q feature marks onto each of the coordinate axes is greater than or equal to a distance threshold.Optionally, a distribution plane of at least two of the Q feature marks is different from a distribution plane of the remaining feature marks.Optionally, in the case where the image capturing device captures the image frames and the light intensity of the ambient light is set, the exposure time of the image frames is positively correlated with a relative distance, the relative distance being a distance between the lawn mower robot and the charging post.The device can achieve corresponding effects which are achieved by the corresponding method and therefore will not be described repeatedly.Third EmbodimentAccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, a lawn mower robot is provided, wherein the lawn mower robot is equipped with an image capturing device comprising a control device, wherein the control device is used to carry out the method described above. The controller may implement the operations corresponding to the above-described method and achieve corresponding effects, which will not be described repeatedly.Optionally, the lawn mower robot further includes a charging unit. The charging unit is arranged below the image capturing device. That is, the charging unit is located closer to the ground than the image capturing device. The charging unit is used for docking to the charging structure of the charging column in order to charge the lawnmower robot.According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided a computer storage medium, the computer storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program, when executed by a processor, implementing the method described above. The program may implement the operations corresponding to the above-described method and achieve corresponding effects, which will not be described repeatedly.According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided a charging post 10, wherein the charging post 10 is provided with Q feature marks 20, a distribution plane of at least two feature marks 20 of the Q feature marks 20 is different from a distribution plane of the remaining feature marks 20, where Q is greater than or equal to 2 and is a positive integer.In the charging post according to an embodiment, Q feature marks 20 are provided on the charging post 10, wherein a distribution area of at least two feature marks 20 of the Q feature marks 20 is different from a distribution area of the remaining feature marks 20, where Q is greater than or equal to 2 and is a positive integer. In the embodiments of the present application, it is only necessary to provide feature marks 20 on the charging post, and a lawn mower robot can obtain pose information of the feature marks 20 through its own image recognition, whereby relative pose information between the charging post and the lawn mower robot can be determined to perform path planning, so that the lawn mower robot is allowed to return to the charging post for charging. The cost is low. And the structure is simple and easy to assemble and disassemble, since only the feature marks 20 need to be provided on the charging post. By having a distribution plane of at least two feature marks 20 of the plurality of feature marks 20 different from a distribution plane of the remaining feature marks 20, the accuracy of image recognition and calculation of the relative pose information of the charging post by the lawn mower robot can be improved.As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, feature marks 20 (reference numeral 20 in FIG. 1B ) are provided on a charging post (reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1B ), where Q is greater than or equal to 2 and is a positive integer. The feature marks 20 may be any suitable pattern, shape or structure, etc., that can be used for marking, which is not limited. The feature marks 20 may be, for example, triangular protrusions or dots, rectangular patterns, two-dimensional codes or line segments, arcs, etc. Further examples are omitted here.In order to improve the positioning accuracy of the relative pose, for each coordinate axis of the world coordinate system, preferably, the maximum distance of projection of the Q feature marks onto each of the coordinate axes is equal to or larger than a distance threshold (the distance threshold may be determined according to the required positioning detection accuracy). Thereby, the feature marks 20 are dispersed on the same distribution plane more dispersed on a distribution plane on which these feature marks are located, and the distance between the feature marks 20 is larger, which contributes to improving the detection efficiency and accuracy in the positioning of the relative pose. The reason is that, in a coordinate system as shown in FIG. 1B, a Z axis is a forward direction of the lawn mower robot, and in a conventional relatively flat ground environment, the docking of the lawn mower robot to a charging post relies more on the transformation of a yaw angle (i.e., a rotation angle about a Y axis); that is, the larger a lateral distance between the feature marks 20 on the charging post is, the larger the absolute distance of the position change of the feature marks 20 distributed on an imaging plane is when the relative posture of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging post changes, whereby the suppression capability becomes stronger. The same applies to a pitch angle (i.e., a rotation angle about an X axis).Preferably, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, a distribution plane of at least two feature marks 20 of the Q feature marks 20 is different from a distribution plane of the remaining feature marks 20. After comparison experiments, it was found that a charging column A with all feature marks 20 located on the same distribution level has a weaker anti-noise capability than a charging column B with at least two feature marks 20 located on a different distribution level than the remaining feature marks 20.By optimizing the distribution of the feature marks 20 distributed on the charging pillar, the anti-interference capability and the anti-sensitivity capability in detecting the relative pose of the lawn mower robot can be improved. However, it should be noted that the 20 distribution method exemplified in the embodiments of the present application is a preferred method. In further embodiments, the feature markers 20 may use other distribution methods as long as the relative pose can be calculated.According to another aspect of the present application, a charging column 10 is provided. In order to facilitate the explanation and understanding, before describing the charging column of this embodiment, the overall structure of the charging column 10 will be briefly described as follows:The charging post 10 may include a charging post main body 1 and a charging assembly 3, the charging post main body 1 includes an upper cover 12, a charging post body 11 and a bottom plate 13, the charging assembly 3 is mounted on a side of the charging post body 11, the upper cover 12 is connected to an upper end of the charging post body 11, and the bottom plate 13 is connected to a lower end of the charging post body 11.Referring to FIGS. 1A to 7, in the charging post 10 according to this embodiment, it is arranged that a plurality of feature marks 20 are preset on the charging post 10, a distribution area of at least two feature marks 20 of the plurality of feature marks 20 is different from a distribution area of the remaining feature marks 20, the feature marks 20 being used for image recognition by the lawn mower robot, so that the lawn mower robot can dock to the charging post 10 for charging.By way of example, the feature marking 20 is a marking point. The tag point refers to a point of abstract meaning. The marking point may be an explicit marking point, for example an end point of line segments, a vertex of shapes, a vertex of two-dimensional codes, etc., or an implicit marking point for semantic classes, for example a center point of the intersection line of different surfaces, semantic information of the marking itself, such as a wrist of a human-shaped marking, a center point of the most dense grass of a grass marking, etc. The marking point may be a point on a surface or a convex or concave point on this surface. The feature mark 20 in this embodiment refers to an explicit mark point on the charging column 10, which may be a mark point of the charging column 10 itself, such as end points of edges on the surface of the charging column 10, or a mark point designed depending on requirements of an image recognition algorithm of the lawn mower robot. For example, marking components 2 having different shapes are provided on the charging post 10, wherein the feature markings 20 are corner points of the shapes of the marking components 2. This is not limited in this embodiment.The image capturing device of the lawn mower robot captures available image frames in the front area of the charging post 10 and recognizes the preset feature marks 20 on the surface of the charging posts 10 from the image frames using the preset recognition algorithm, wherein the preset feature marks 20 are mark points on the charging post 10 preset using the preset recognition algorithm, wherein a relative pose of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging post 10 is determined depending on two-dimensional coordinates of the recognized feature marks 20 in the image frames, three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks 20 in the world coordinate system, and imaging parameters of the image capturing device. And, the lawn mower robot is driven to return to the charging post 10 depending on the relative posture.Referring to FIG. 1C, a plurality of feature marks 20 are provided on the charging post 10, and a distribution area of at least two feature marks 20 of the plurality of feature marks 20 is different from a distribution area of the remaining feature marks 20. That is, the plurality of feature marks 20 provided on the charging post 10 are located on at least two different distribution surfaces, thereby realizing differentiation of the feature marks 20 in a Z-axis direction. After comparison experiments, it was found that a charging post 10A in which all the feature marks 20 are located on the same distribution surface has a weaker anti-noise capability than a charging post 10B in which at least two feature marks 20 are located on a different distribution surface than the remaining feature marks 20.In this embodiment, it is only necessary to provide feature marks 20 on the charging post 10, and a lawn mower robot can obtain pose information of the feature marks 20 by its own image recognition, whereby relative pose information between the charging post 10 and the lawn mower robot can be determined to perform path planning, so that the lawn mower robot is allowed to return to the charging post for charging. The cost is low. And the structure is simple and easy to assemble and disassemble because only the feature marks 20 need to be provided on the surface of the charging post 10. By having a distribution area of at least two feature marks 20 of the plurality of feature marks 20 different from a distribution area of the remaining feature marks 20, the accuracy of the image recognition and the calculation of the relative pose of the charging post 10 by the lawn mower robot can be improved.With reference to FIG. 3, it is provided in a specific implementation that a marking component 2 is provided on the surface of the charging column 10, wherein the marking component 2 comprises a first marking component 211 and a second marking component 212, wherein the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 are located on different distribution surfaces of the charging column 10, wherein at least two feature markings 20 are distributed on the marking component 2.For example, the number of the first marking components 211 and the second marking components 212 may be greater than or equal to 1 and a positive integer. The marking component 2 can have different shapes, for example rectangular, triangular, circular or L-shaped. As the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212, marking components 2 of the same shape or marking components 2 of different shapes can be used. For example, four L-shaped marking components 2 can be used as the first marking component 211, wherein a strip-shaped marking component 2 can be used as the second marking component 212, which is not limited in this exemplary embodiment. Each marking component 2 can have a single shape or a combination of a plurality of different shapes. The marking component 2 may be flat, such as a label, or three-dimensional, such as a plastic reflective assembly.The number of feature marks 20 on each mark component 2 may be greater than or equal to 2 and is a positive integer. The distribution positions of the feature marks 20 on the mark components 2 of different shapes are different and may be preset based on the image recognition algorithm of the lawn mower robot. For example, the feature marks 20 on a rectangular mark component 2 may be provided at at least two of the four vertices, and the feature marks 20 on an L-shaped mark component 2 may be provided at at least two of the four endpoints, etc.In this specific implementation, the marking component 2 allows the feature markings 20 to have more selectable distribution locations on the charging post 10, with the number of feature markings 20 that can be provided being greater, thereby improving the accuracy of the image recognition computations by the lawn mower robot. Moreover, by providing the marking component 2, the position and the number of feature distributions can be adjusted based on the image recognition algorithm used by the lawn mower robot or the hardware specifications, thereby enabling adaptation to more robot products.In a specific implementation, the first marker component 211 is located on a first distribution surface 41 of the charging column 10, and the second marker component 212 is located on a second distribution surface 42 of the charging column 10. An angle is formed between a normal of the first distribution surface 41 and a normal of the second distribution surface 42, and the angle is not 0 degrees; alternatively, the normal of the first distribution surface 41 is parallel to the normal of the second distribution surface 42, and the first distribution surface 41 and the second distribution surface 42 are spaced apart from each other in the normal direction. For example, referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the first distribution surface 41 may be a first side surface of the charging post 10 on which a charging structure 3 is provided, the second distribution surface 42 being a side of the charging post 10 adjacent to the first side surface or a side surface, an upper surface, or a lower surface of the charging structure 3; the normals of the two (the dashed lines in the figures) form an angle A, the angle A being not 0 degrees, such that the first distribution surface 41 and the second distribution surface 42 are different distribution surfaces. Alternatively, the first distribution surface 41 may be the first side surface of the charging post 10 on which the charging structure 3 is provided, wherein the second distribution surface 42 may be a side of the charging post 10 opposite to the first side surface or a front end surface of the charging structure 3; the normals of the two (the dotted lines in the figure) are parallel to each other but are spaced apart from each other in the normal direction. The first distribution surface 41 and the second distribution surface 42 are thus different distribution surfaces. In this specific implementation, by determining a positional relationship between the distribution surfaces on which the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 are respectively located, it can be determined that the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 are located on different distribution surfaces.In a specific implementation, the first distribution surface 41 and the second distribution surface 42 may include flat surfaces and curved surfaces. For example, the first distribution surface 41 and the second distribution surface 42 may be side surfaces of the charging post 10, edges at which the two side surfaces intersect, or the like. It is to be noted that in the case where the marking component 2 is provided on a curved surface, the normal of the position of the marking component 2 serves as the normal of the distribution surface of the marking component 2. When multiple feature marks 20 on distribution surfaces having large curvature differences are detected simultaneously, the accuracy of the finally calculated relative pose information of the charging post 10 and the lawn mower robot is higher.In a specific implementation, the charging post 10 includes the charging post body 11 and the charging structure 3, the charging structure 3 is mounted on a first side surface of the charging post body 11, the second marking component 212 is provided on the charging structure 3, and the first marking component 211 is provided on the first side surface of the charging post body 11 on which the charging structure 3 is mounted.For example, one end of the charging structure 3 is mounted on the first side surface of the charging post body 11 and the other end of the charging structure 3 protrudes from the charging post body 11, wherein the charging structure 3 is used to be connected to a charging port of the lawn mower robot to charge the lawn mower robot. The second marking component 212 is provided on the charging structure 3, and the first marking component 211 is provided on the first side surface of the charging pillar body 1 on which the charging structure 3 is mounted. For example, four L-shaped marking components 2 may be used as the first marking component 211, and a strip-shaped marking component 2 may be used as the second marking component 212, the strip-shaped marking component being mounted on an end of the charging structure 3 protruding from the charging pillar body 11, the four L-shaped marking components being mounted on the first side surface of the charging pillar body 11 on which the charging structure 3 is mounted. Depending on the projection positions of the marking components 2 onto the first side surface of the charging post body 11 on which the charging structure 3 is mounted, the four L-shaped marking components 2 surround the strip-shaped marking component 2, whereby both the aesthetic and the functionality of the feature markings 20 are realized.In this specific implementation, by providing the second marking component 212 on the charging structure 3 and providing the first marking component 211 on a side of the charging post body 1 on which the charging structure 3 is mounted, the structural characteristics of the charging post 10 itself are utilized so that the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 are located on different distribution areas. There is no need to separately establish a protruding flat surface or curved surface. The construction is simple and costs can be saved.In a specific implementation, the charging post 10 includes the charging post body 11 and the charging structure 3, the charging structure 3 is mounted on a first side surface of the charging post body 11, the marking component 2 further includes a third marking component 213, the first marking component 211 is provided on the first side surface, and the third marking component 213 is provided on at least one of the other side surfaces or edges of the charging post body 11 other than the first side surface.For example, the first marking component 211 and the third marking component 213 may be respectively dispersed on the first side surface of the charging post 10 and each side surface adjacent to the first side surface; alternatively, they may be respectively dispersed on the first side surface and a side surface opposite to the first side surface; alternatively, they may be respectively dispersed on the first side surface and each edge (an edge is an intersection of two adjacent side surfaces in an outer peripheral surface); alternatively, they may be respectively dispersed on the first side surface, each edge, and each side surface adjacent to the first side surface; alternatively, they may be respectively dispersed on each surface of the outer peripheral surface and an edge, etc. It is to be understood that the edge herein may refer to a facet, where the facet may be a flat surface or a curved surface.It is to be noted that in this implementation, the surface on which the first marking component 211 is located is the aforementioned first distribution surface 41 and the surface on which the third marking component 213 is located is the aforementioned second distribution surface 42, an angle is formed between the normal of the first distribution surface 41 of the first marking component 211 and a normal of the second distribution surface 42 of the third marking component 213, and the angle is not 0 degrees.This specific implementation can ensure that the lawn mower robot detects and recognizes a larger number of feature markers 20 in all directions, which in turn leads to more robust effects of the image recognition algorithm. For example, by providing the feature mark 20 on each side surface adjacent to the first side surface, it can be made possible for the lawn mower robot to recognize the feature marks 20 even when an offset angle between the lawn mower robot and the first side surface is relatively large. Then, the posture of the lawn mower robot is adjusted, and returning to the charging post is realized to perform charging thereat.Referring to FIG. 4, in a specific implementation, the marking component 2 is projected onto a surface of the charging post body 11 on which the marking component 2 is located to form a marking pattern, wherein the minimum inner diameter in the marking pattern is greater than or equal to a first preset threshold, and wherein the first preset threshold is 3 cm. By way of example, the marking component 2 is projected onto the side surface of the charging station body 11 on which the marking component 2 is located in order to form the marking pattern, i.e. the shape of the marking component 2, wherein the minimum inner diameter in the marking pattern is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold value, which means that a width at any point in the marking pattern is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold value. For example, the width of a rectangle in a rectangular marking component 2 is the minimum inner diameter; the height of a triangle in a triangular marking component 2 is the minimum inner diameter; and the width of an L-shape in an L-shaped marking component 2 (width a in FIG. 4 ) is the minimum inner diameter. The first preset threshold may be determined depending on a size of the work area and a size of a docking area of the lawn mower robot, so that the lawn mower robot can grasp the charging post body 11 within the work area, and the first preset threshold may be set as 3 cm.In this specific implementation, by setting the minimum inner diameter of the shape of the marking component 2 to be equal to or larger than the first preset threshold, the dimension of the marking component 2 can be controlled to meet the image recognition requirements of the lawn mower robot. This prevents the feature marks 20 from being accurately recognized due to too small a dimension of the mark component 2, or increases the cost due to too large a dimension of the mark component 2 and impairs the aesthetic nature of the charging post 10.In a specific implementation, the minimum distance between the marker components 2 located on the same distribution surface on the charging station body 11 is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold, wherein the second preset threshold is 3 cm. By way of example, with reference to FIG. 4, the minimum distance between the marker components 2 located on the same surface of the charging station body 11 may be referred to as b. The second preset threshold may be determined depending on a size of the work area and a size of a docking area of the lawn mower robot, so that the lawn mower robot may detect the charging post body 11 within the work area and detect the feature marks 20 within the docking area. For example, the second preset threshold is set to 3 cm. In this specific implementation, by setting the minimum distance between adjacent marker components 2 on the same distribution area to be equal to or larger than the second preset threshold, the distance between the marker components 2 can be controlled to satisfy the image recognition requirements of the lawn mower robot, thereby improving the accuracy of the image recognition by the lawn mower robot.It is to be noted that in this specific implementation, the minimum distance between adjacent marking components 2 on the same distribution surface is controlled to be equal to or greater than the second preset threshold instead of the maximum distance, whereby the influence of the dimension of the marking component 2 on the distance between the adjacent marking components 2 can be eliminated and at the same time it can be ensured that both the dimension of the marking component 2 and the distance between the adjacent marking components 2 meet the image recognition requirements of the lawn mower robot.In a specific implementation, the marker component 2 is a reflective assembly or a luminous assembly. The lawn mower robot and the charging post 10 are usually used outdoors. In bad weather conditions or insufficient lighting due to night, etc., the image capturing device of the lawn mower robot cannot accurately capture the feature marks 20 on the charging post 10. In this specific implementation, by configuring the marker component 2 as a reflective assembly or a lighting assembly, the feature markers 20 are more conspicuous and easy to recognize at the charging post 10, thereby improving the accuracy of recognition by the lawn mower robot.In a specific implementation, the reflective assembly includes a reflective element 22 and a mounting plate 23, wherein the reflective element 22 includes a light transmissive portion 221 and a reflective portion 222. In part I of FIG. 6, an enlarged view of a subsection of the reflective portion 222 is illustrated. The surface of the subsection may consist of three squares which are perpendicular to one another and have a common apex. The reflective portion 222 includes a plurality of sub-portions. The reflecting portion 222 of the reflecting member 22 is fixedly connected to the mounting plate 23, and the reflecting assembly is connected to one side of the charging post body 11.For example, referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the connection of the reflective assembly to the charging post body 11 may be performed by ultrasonic welding, snap-fitting or bonding, etc. The reflecting portion 222 of the reflecting member 22 is joined to the mounting plate 23 by ultrasonic welding. The reflective member 22 may be made of a transparent resin, and the reflective member 22 may be integrally molded by injection molding. The surface of the charging post body 11 is provided with a mounting slot 111. When the reflective assembly is mounted in the mounting slot 111 of the charging post body 11, a surface of the reflective member 22 facing away from the charging post body 11 is the light transmissive portion 221, the light transmissive portion 221 may be a transparent glossy surface, the light incident into the reflective portion 222 through the light transmissive portion 211 to reflect the light. A surface of the reflecting member 22 facing the charging pillar body 11 is the reflecting portion 222. The reflective portion 222 may include a plurality of sub-portions, the plurality of sub-portions being evenly distributed in parallel, two adjacent sub-portions sharing one surface, wherein an edge length of the sub-portions may be set in a range of 0.5 mm to 1 mm so that the sub-portions are smaller and are arranged more densely, whereby, when illuminated, the reflected light is more uniform and it is not easy to generate glare, the outline of the marking component 2 is clearer and is easier to recognize.In this specific implementation, by providing the marker component 2 as a reflective assembly, the structure is simple and easy to assemble, and the marker component 2 is easier to recognize on the charging post body 11.In a specific implementation, the surface of the marker component 2 is different in color and / or texture from the surface of the charging post body 11. in particular, the image capturing device of the lawn mower robot can capture the feature markers 20 on the charging post 10 more quickly and accurately by setting the texture and / or the color of the surface of the surface of the marker component 2 to be different from the texture and / or color of the surface of the charging post body 11. Preferably, the greater the difference in texture and color between the surface of the marking component 2 and the surface of the charging post 10, the easier it is to recognize the feature marks 20.According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided a charging post 10, wherein a marker component 2 is provided on the charging post 10, the marker component 2 being used to indicate a position of the charging post 10, so that the lawn mower robot can dock to the charging post 10 for charging.For example, it can be one or more marking components 2. At least one feature mark 20 may be distributed on the mark component 2. The feature mark 20 may be a vertex of the shape of the mark component 2 or the like. The marking component 2 can have different shapes, for example rectangular, triangular or circular, etc. As the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212, marking components 2 of the same shape or marking components 2 of different shapes can be used. For example, four L-shaped marking components 2 can be used as the first marking component 211, wherein a strip-shaped marking component 2 can be used as the second marking component 212, which is not limited in this exemplary embodiment. Each marking component 2 can have a single shape or a combination of a plurality of different shapes. The marking component 2 can be flat, such as a label, or three-dimensional, such as plastic. The marking component 2 can be a reflective or luminous assembly, so that the feature marking 20 on the charging pillar 10 becomes more conspicuous and is more easily recognizable. Even in bad weather conditions or insufficient lighting due to night, etc., the image capturing device of the lawn mower robot can accurately capture the feature marks 20 on the charging post 10, thereby improving the accuracy of recognition by the lawn mower robot.The image capturing device of the lawn mower robot captures available image frames in the front area of the charging post 10 and recognizes the preset feature marks 20 on the surface of the charging posts 10 from the image frames using the preset recognition algorithm, wherein the preset feature marks 20 are mark points on the charging post 10 preset using the preset recognition algorithm, wherein a relative pose of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging post 10 is determined depending on two-dimensional coordinates of the recognized feature marks 20 in the image frames, three-dimensional coordinates of the feature marks 20 in the world coordinate system, and imaging parameters of the image capturing device. And, the lawn mower robot is driven to return to the charging post 10 depending on the relative posture.In this embodiment, it is only necessary to provide a marker component 2 on the charging column 10, and the lawn mower robot can obtain pose information of the feature markers 20 distributed in the marker component 2 by its own image recognition, so that relative pose information between the charging column 10 and the lawn mower robot can be determined to perform path planning, so that the lawn mower robot is allowed to return to the charging column for charging. The cost is low. Since only feature marks 20 need to be attached to the surface of the charging post 10, the structure is simple and easy to assemble and disassemble.In a specific implementation, the charging column 10 comprises a charging structure 3, wherein the marking component 2 is provided on the charging structure 3. For example, the charging structure 3 is provided on one side of the charging column 10, wherein the marking component 2 is provided on the charging structure 3. This can be done by a releasable connection, such as by snap-fitting or adhesive bonding, etc., or by ultrasonic welding, which is not limited in this embodiment.In this specific implementation, the marker component 2 may be disposed only on the charging structure 3, so that it is not necessary to take into account the disposition position of the marker component 2 in designing the dimension of the charging pillar body 11, whereby the dimension of the charging pillar body 11 may be reduced and the cost may be lowered; moreover, in designing the texture and the color of the charging pillar body 11, it is also not necessary to take into account the effects on the information of the marker component 2 acquired by the lawn mower robot.In a specific implementation, the marking component 2 comprises a first marking component 211 and a second marking component 212, wherein the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 are located on different distribution surfaces of the charging column 10. For example, the distribution surfaces of the marker component 2 on the charging post 10 may include side surfaces and edges, wherein the side surfaces and the edges may be flat surfaces and curved surfaces. Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the first marker component 211 is located on a first distribution surface 41 of the charging post 10, and the second marker component 212 is located on a second distribution surface 42 of the charging post 10. An angle is formed between a normal of the first distribution surface 41 and a normal of the second distribution surface 42, and the angle is not 0 degrees; alternatively, the normal of the first distribution surface 41 is parallel to the normal of the second distribution surface 42, and the first distribution surface 41 and the second distribution surface 42 are spaced apart from each other in the normal direction. It is to be noted that in the case where the marking component 2 is provided on a curved surface, the normal of the position of the marking component 2 serves as the normal of the distribution surface of the marking component 2.In this specific implementation, by providing the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 on different distribution areas of the charging post 10, the distribution areas of the plurality of feature marks 20 can be allowed to be different. Compared to the feature marks distributed on the same surface, this implementation can improve robustness of the image detection algorithm of the image capturing device, reduce the likelihood of misrecognition, and improve accuracy of image detection and calculation of relative pose information of the charging post 10 by the lawn mower robot.The image capturing device captures images and recognizes the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 in the images, and then extracts feature marks 20 in the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 (typically, end points and inflection points of the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 are used as feature marks 20).A specific procedure of the algorithm is as follows: n feature marks 20 are provided; first, m (m<=n) position coordinates of the feature marks 20 are detected on a two-dimensional image; then, p (p<=m<=n) valid feature marks 20 are matched depending on parameters of the image capturing apparatus and three-dimensional coordinate positions of the feature marks 20; then, the relative position of a vehicle body and a camera is calculated. With p=m=n, image recognition is considered successful. When the n feature marks 20 are arranged in the same plane, it is assumed that there are four first feature marks, and each first feature mark includes one feature mark 20 (i.e., a mark point). Four (n=4) feature marks 20 (mark dots) form a rectangle. When problems such as irradiation of sunlight, occlusion of the camera surface, or blurring result in detection on the two-dimensional image, two feature marks 20 on the left side of the rectangle are offset in the same direction (but the total of four feature marks after the offset of the two feature marks still satisfy the geometrical features of affine transformation). Therefore, there is a probability that the algorithm may still output a pose that should be erroneous after offset based on n=p=4 coordinates, which pose may normally be greatly offset. When feature marks 20 that are not on the same plane are present, it is assumed that four feature marks 20 at the end points of the rectangle are on the same distribution surface and two feature marks 20 included in the second mark component 212 are on the other distribution surface (distribution surface having four protruding points), i.e., n=6; when the feature marks on the side of the rectangle are offset and the four feature marks 20 in the same plane after the offset satisfy the geometric features of the rectangle after the affine transformation, the algorithm cannot calculate erroneous poses based on the coordinates after the offset due to the presence of the two protruding feature marks 20 (because p<n holds at this time due to the presence of the protruding points), and therefore, a highly offset pose cannot be provided. These first marking component 211 and second marking component 212 are provided on different distribution surfaces of the charging post 10, which can improve robustness of the image recognition algorithm of the image capturing device, reduce likelihood of misrecognition, and improve accuracy of image recognition and calculation of relative pose information of the charging post 10 by the lawn mower robot.In a specific implementation, the charging post 10 includes the charging post body 11 and the charging structure 3, wherein the first marking component 211 and the charging structure 3 are mounted on a first side surface of the charging post body 11, that is, the first marking component 211 is provided on a side surface on which the charging structure 3 is mounted.A lens of the image capturing device of the lawn mower robot has a limited capturing range. When the lawn mower robot moves in front of the charging post 10 and starts docking to the charging post, the sensing area of the lens of the image sensing device occupied by the first side surface is larger the closer the lawn mower robot is to the charging structure of the charging post. By providing the first marking component 211 on the first side surface, the closer the lawn mower robot is to the charging post 10, the more accurately the position of the first marking component 211 is detected, the more accurately the pose of the charging post 10 is determined, the more accurately the pose of the lawn mower robot is adjusted, and the more accurately the charging structure 3 is docked to the charging port of the lawn mower robot.In addition, the charging structure 3 is arranged protruding from the first side surface. During a process from straight contact to complete contact between the charging unit of the lawn mower robot and the charging structure 3, by providing the first marking component 211 on the first side surface, it can be ensured that the lawn mower robot can still detect the first marking component 21 and the pose of the lawn mower robot is continuously adjusted depending on the position of the first marking component 211 to ensure that the charging unit of the lawn mower robot is in full contact with the charging structure 3 and effective charging is performed.In a specific implementation, a second marking component 212 is provided on the charging structure 3. The second marking component 212 may be provided on a front end surface or a side surface of the charging structure 3.In this implementation, by providing the second marking component 212 on the charging structure 3 and providing the first marking component 211 on the first side surface of the charging post body 1 on which the charging structure 3 is mounted, the structural characteristics of the charging post 10 itself are utilized so that the first marking component 211 and the second marking component 212 are located on different distribution surfaces. There is no need to separately establish a protruding flat surface or curved surface. The construction is simple and costs can be saved.In a specific implementation, it is provided that the second marking component 212 is arranged at an overhanging end of the loading structure 3 and the second marking component 212 is arranged on the front end face. The image capturing device faces the front end surface of the overhanging end of the charging structure 3, and can completely capture the characteristics of the front end surface of the overhanging end of the charging structure 3 when the lawn mower robot moves toward the first side surface of the charging post 10 and does not yet reach the docking position. As compared with the arrangement of the marking component 2 on the side surface of the loading structure 3, the arrangement of the second marking component 212 on the front end surface of the overhanging end of the loading structure 3 ensures that the lawn mower robot can acquire all the feature markings of the second marking component 212, thereby improving the accuracy of the pose information of the loading structure 3 and enabling return to the loading post and charging there.In a specific implementation, the marking component 2 further comprises a third marking component 213, wherein the third marking component 213 is arranged on a second side surface of the charging station body, wherein the second side surface is connected to the first side. For example, the first marking component 211 and the third marking component 213 may be respectively dispersed on the first side surface of the charging post 10 and each side surface adjacent to the first side surface; alternatively, they may be respectively dispersed on the first side surface and each edge (an edge is an intersection of two adjacent side surfaces in an outer circumferential surface), etc. It is to be understood that the edge, herein, may refer to a facet, where the facet may be a flat surface or a curved surface.It is to be noted that in this implementation, the surface on which the first marking component 211 is located is the aforementioned first distribution surface 41 and the surface on which the third marking component 213 is located is the aforementioned second distribution surface 42, an angle is formed between the normal of the first distribution surface 41 of the first marking component 211 and a normal of the second distribution surface 42 of the third marking component 213, and the angle is not 0 degrees.This specific implementation can ensure that the lawn mower robot detects and recognizes a larger number of feature markings 20 in all directions of the charging pole 10, which in turn leads to more robust effects of the image recognition algorithm. For example, by providing the third marking component 213 on each side surface adjacent to the first side surface, it can be made possible for the lawn mower robot to recognize the feature marks 20 even when an offset angle between the lawn mower robot and the first side surface is relatively large. Then, the posture of the lawn mower robot is adjusted, and returning to the charging post is realized to perform charging thereat.In a specific implementation, a plurality of marker components 211 are provided, wherein the plurality of marker components 211 are distributed around the charging structure 3. The lawn mower robot may return from another location to near the charging post and then dock to the charging post for charging. If the first marking components 211 are provided only in one orientation of the charging structure 3, the first marking components 211 cannot be correctly recognized due to a concealment of the charging structure 3, which leads to pose errors.For example, when only two first marking components 211 are provided on the first side surface and both are located below the charging structure 3 (the first marking components 211 are located closer to the floor panel 13 as compared with the charging structure 3), during a process from the straight contact to the full contact between the charging unit of the lawn mower robot and the charging structure 3, the lens of the image pickup device located above the charging structure 3 (the lens of the image pickup device is located farther from the floor panel 13 as compared with the charging structure 3) and hidden by the charging structure 3, the first marking components 211 below the charging structure 3 cannot correctly recognize. By distributing the plurality of first marking components 211 around the charging structure 3, it can be ensured during the process from straight contact to complete contact between the charging unit of the lawn mower robot and the charging structure 3 that the lawn mower robot can still detect the first marking components 211 lying above the charging structure 3, thereby reducing the pose errors which are caused by the fact that the first marking components 211 cannot be correctly recognized due to a concealment of the charging structure 3.In another embodiment, the plurality of first marker components 211 may be distributed at intervals around the charging structure 3. Referring to FIG. 4, four first marking components 211 are provided spaced around the charging structure 3. The feature marks 20 recognized by the lens of the image capturing device are mainly distributed at the end points, centers, or inflection points of the mark components 2. By disposing the plurality of first marking components 211 at intervals from each other, the number of feature marks at the end points can be increased.In a specific implementation, the plurality of first marker components 211 are not distributed in a centrally symmetric manner. When the image capturing device is offset at the arrangement position of the lawn mower robot, the non-central symmetric distribution of the plurality of first marker components 211 enables the distribution of the first marker components 211 to correspond to a bias direction of the image capturing device, whereby the image capturing device can obtain more information about the marker components 2.In a specific implementation, the first marking components 211 comprise two stripe structures that are perpendicular to each other and cross each other. For example, the first marking components 211 may be L-shaped as shown in FIG. 4. By forming the shape of the first marking components 211 as two perpendicular and intersecting stripe structures, multiple dispersed feature markings can be dispersed with less consumables; second, this implementation has strong structural integrity, simple structure, and is easy to assemble compared to multiple point marking structures.According to a further aspect of the present application, a charging station system is provided, which comprises a charging station 10 according to one of the above-mentioned aspects and a marking device 50, wherein a fourth marking component 214 is provided on the marking device 50, wherein the fourth marking component 214 is used to assist the position determination of the charging station 10.Optionally, the marking component 2 is provided on a third distribution surface 43 on the charging post 10, wherein the third distribution surface 43 can comprise the first distribution surface 41 and the second distribution surface 42, wherein the fourth marking component 214 is provided on a fourth distribution surface 44 on the marking device 50, wherein an angle is formed between a normal of the third distribution surface 43 and a normal of the fourth distribution surface 44, and wherein the angle is not 0 degrees; alternatively, the normal of the third distribution surface 43 runs parallel to the normal of the fourth distribution surface 44, and the third distribution surface 43 and the fourth distribution surface 44 are spaced apart from one another in a normal direction.For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the marking device 50 may be a specially arranged marking sign, etc. The marking device 50 and the charging post 10 are provided separately in the working area of the lawn mower robot, wherein the marking component 2 such as a first marking component 211, a second marking component 212 and a third marking component 213 is provided on the charging post 10, wherein a surface on which the marking component 2 is located is the third distribution surface 43, wherein the third distribution surface 43 may include the first distribution surface 41 and the second distribution surface 42 in the above-described embodiments, wherein the fourth marking component 214 is provided on the marking device 50, wherein a surface on which the fourth marking component 214 is located is the fourth distribution surface 44, wherein an angle B is formed between a normal (the dashed line shown in the figure) of the third distribution surface 43 and a normal (the dashed line shown in the figure) of the fourth distribution surface 44, and wherein the angle B is not 0 degrees; alternatively, the normal of the third distribution surface 43 is parallel to the normal of the fourth distribution surface 44, and the third distribution surface 43 and the fourth distribution surface 44 are spaced apart from each other in a normal direction.In this embodiment, by providing the marking components 2 to the charging post 10 and the marking device 50, respectively, the distribution areas of the plurality of feature marks 20 are different, thereby improving the accuracy of the image recognition and the calculation of the relative pose information of the charging post 10 by the lawn mower robot.In a specific implementation, the marking device 50 is a position signal receiving device. For example, the position signal receiving device may be a GPS signal receiver. The fourth marking component 214 may be provided on a surface of the position signal receiving device, which may be done by a detachable connection, etc. In this implementation, by providing the marking component 2 on the position signal receiving device used together with the charging post 10, the cost for separately providing the marking device 50 can be reduced.It is to be noted that in the description of the present application, the terms "first" and "second" are used only for convenience of description of different components or terms, and cannot be understood to indicate a sequential relationship or relative importance, or to implicitly indicate a number of the technical features involved. Thus, the features defined with "first" or "second" may contain explicitly or implicitly at least one of the features.Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terms used in the description of the present application are only for describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application.It should be noted that although the specific embodiments of the present application have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present application. Within the scope described in the claims, various changes and variations that can be made by the skilled person without inventive activity still fall within the scope of protection of the present application.The examples of the embodiments of the present application are intended to illustrate only the technical peculiarities of the embodiments of the present application in a predictive manner, so that those skilled in the art can intuitively understand the technical peculiarities of the embodiments of the present application. However, they are not used as an inappropriate limitation on the embodiments of the present application.Finally, it is to be noted that the above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present application, rather than limiting it. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that they can still modify the technical solutions of the above individual embodiments or make equivalent substitutions for some technical features thereof. However, these modifications or substitutions do not lead to the spirit and scope of the respective technical solutions deviating from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the individual embodiments of the present application.

Claims

A charging post, characterized in that the charging post comprises a charging post body (11), a marking component (2) and a charging structure (3), wherein the charging structure (3) is arranged on the charging post body (11), wherein the marking component (2) comprises a plurality of first marking components (20, 211), wherein the charging structure (3) and the plurality of first marking components (20, 211) are arranged on the same side surface of the charging post body (11), wherein at least one of the first marking components (20, 211) is arranged below the charging structure (3) and at least one of the first marking components (20, 211) is arranged above the charging structure (3).The charging post according to claim 1, characterized in that a marking pattern formed by the first marking components (20, 211) on a surface of the charging post body (11) is a rectangular pattern.Charging column according to Claim 2, characterized in that the first marking component (20, 211) has a width of 3 cm.Charging column according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that four first marking components (20, 211) are provided, adjacent ones of the first marking components (20, 211) being spaced apart from one another by a predefined distance.Charging column according to claim 4, characterized in that the minimum distance between the marker components (2) is greater than or equal to a second preset threshold, said second preset threshold being 3 cm.Charging column according to claim 5, characterised in that the four first marking components (20, 211) are located at four corner points of a rectangular region.Charging column according to Claim 6, characterized in that the charging structure (3) is arranged in a rectangular region which is surrounded by the four first marking components (20, 211).Charging column according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the marking component (2) is a reflective component or a luminous element.Charging column according to one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the marking component (2) further comprises a second marking component (212), wherein the second marking component (212) is arranged on the charging structure.Charging column according to Claim 9, characterized in that the second marking component (212) is arranged at an overhanging end of the charging structure (3) and the second marking component (212) is arranged on a front end face of the charging structure (3).A lawn mower robot system comprising a lawn mower robot and a charging column (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the lawn mower robot is provided with an image capturing device used to capture available image frames in a front area of the charging column (10) to determine a relative pose of the lawn mower robot relative to the charging column (10), and depending on the relative pose, drive the lawn mower robot to return to the charging column (10) for charging.

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