Electrical control system, method and apparatus for a humanoid robot

Abstract

The present invention provides an electric control system for a humanoid robot, wherein the humanoid robot includes a robot body and a drive mechanism for driving the motion of the robot, and the electric control system includes a positioning fusion module, an understanding and decision-making module, a motion control module, and a joint drive module. Through a heterogeneous multi-core processing method and a private 5G network, efficient multi-task data processing between modules is realized, high-performance computing and analysis capabilities with low power consumption are realized, reliable execution of non-real-time scene understanding and real-time motion control tasks is realized, and it is ensured that the robot body can work efficiently in multiple scenes with low computing power and low power consumption, reducing costs and system complexity. The present invention further provides an electric control system method and device for a humanoid robot. The device provided by the present invention is used to achieve high-reliability and high-real-time motion control in multiple scenes of a humanoid robot.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of robot control technology, and more particularly to an electrical control system, method and apparatus for a humanoid robot. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, industrial robots play a major role in various fields. With the continuous development of computer technology and continuous progress in artificial intelligence, robots are gradually penetrating from the industrial sector into fields such as services, entertainment, and education. Because humanoid robots have high intelligence characteristics, it is believed that there is a large potential market in fields such as services and entertainment. Currently, research and development of humanoid robots is being actively carried out in various countries, and many research institutions and companies at home and abroad have launched related research products. It is expected that in a few years, humanoid robots will be applied to various areas of human life.

[0003] The working environment of a humanoid robot is characterized by multiple scenes, diversity, dynamics, uncertainty, and complexity, placing higher requirements on the robot's performance in terms of scene understanding, positioning accuracy, interaction capabilities, and stability. To meet these requirements, humanoid robots must be equipped with a variety of sensing sensors, including positioning, vision, audio, and tactile sensors. They also require high real-time motion control capabilities to complete more complex tasks. Therefore, to achieve stable and reliable control of the robot, a robot electrical control system must be developed that features high intelligence, powerful computing power, excellent stability, fast response, strong real-time performance, and high data bandwidth. Currently, most humanoid robots use general-purpose CPU architectures to create their entire electrical systems, but this is insufficient to handle the large-scale computational tasks associated with sensing sensors such as vision, audio, positioning, and navigation. Furthermore, most electrical control systems combine the robot's non-real-time and real-time tasks into a single system, preventing them from effectively meeting the high real-time control requirements of the robot.

[0004] Patent document CN110666820A discloses a high-performance industrial robot controller including a processor board, a machine vision unit, a teaching pendant, an external IO unit, a gripper unit, external sensors, and a motor driver. The processor board includes an ARM processor unit, an FPGA unit, a power module, Ethernet interface A, Ethernet interface B, Ethernet interface C, Ethernet interface D, an IO interface, and a CAN interface. The system uses the FPGA unit to process all sensor data, but to complete data processing tasks for sensing sensors such as vision, sound, positioning, and navigation, it is necessary to create a large-scale and complex system with a separate FPGA unit. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Patent document CN115599024A discloses a high-precision turntable control system based on an EtherCAT bus, including a high-performance motion controller, high-precision servo drivers, a touch screen, a filter, and a control power supply. The high-performance motion controller is communicatively connected to multiple high-precision servo drivers via the EtherCAT bus, the high-precision servo drivers are connected to a filter, the touch screen is connected to the high-performance motion controller, and the control power supply is connected to the high-performance motion controller and the multiple high-precision servo drivers, respectively. Although the device connects multiple servo drivers via the EtherCAT bus, the specification does not propose specific implementation methods for implementing this method in a humanoid robot control system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical control system, method and device for a humanoid robot that realizes multi-scene, highly reliable and highly real-time motion control of the humanoid robot.

[0007] To achieve the first objective, the present invention provides an electrical control system for a humanoid robot, the humanoid robot including a robot body and a drive mechanism for driving the motion of the robot, and the electrical control system including a positioning fusion module, an understanding and decision-making module, a motion control module, and a joint drive module. The positioning fusion module is used to obtain the direction and coordinate information of the robot body and generate positioning information.

[0008] The understanding and decision-making module is used to obtain environmental data of the scene where the robot body is located, upload it to the cloud to make decisions, generate interaction instructions and movement instructions, and enable the robot body to complete the interactive movement of the robot body based on the interaction instructions and generate motion instructions based on the movement instructions and positioning information.

[0009] The motion control module includes a control and calculation unit and an EtherCAT master station. Based on the generated motion command and the real-time status data of each joint, the control and calculation unit performs kinematic and dynamic analysis of the robot body to obtain the joint command of each joint. The EtherCAT master station is used to obtain the real-time status data of each joint and transmit the joint command to the corresponding joint drive module.

[0010] The joint drive module includes a drive unit and an EtherCAT slave station equipped with multiple status sensors. The drive unit receives joint commands from the EtherCAT master station and adjusts the output of the drive mechanism. At the same time, the EtherCAT slave station transmits real-time status data collected by the multiple status sensors to the EtherCAT master station.

[0011] Preferably, through data fusion and cross-data comparison, the direction and coordinate information of multiple sensors is processed to generate positioning information for the robot, and through data fusion and cross-data comparison, errors between each sensor can be eliminated to obtain more accurate position information.

[0012] Specifically, the understanding and decision-making module includes a vision unit and a speech unit for acquiring environmental data, a cloud decision-making unit for command output, and a sensing and planning unit; The vision unit is used to obtain image information of the external environment and obstacles in a scene where the robot body is located; the audio unit is used to acquire audio information of an external environment; The cloud decision-making unit generates corresponding interaction instructions and operation instructions according to the issued task instructions and the received environment data; The sensing planning unit is used for data uploading and data analysis, where the data uploading includes compressing image information and audio information as environmental data and transmitting it to the cloud decision-making unit, and the data analysis includes generating motion commands based on operation commands and positioning information, and generating interactive behaviors of the humanoid robot based on interaction commands.

[0013] Specifically, the cloud decision-making unit includes a debugging terminal and an understanding and decision-making terminal, where the debugging terminal is used to obtain real-time status data of each joint of the EtherCAT master station to obtain the operation status of the robot body, and the understanding and decision-making terminal is used to analyze the environmental data and operation status according to the issued task command, and obtain corresponding interaction commands and operation commands, where the task command is issued by an operator or automatically assigned according to a work plan.

[0014] Specifically, the action command includes a target location, a movement speed, and an action posture.

[0015] Specifically, the interactive operation includes controlling the audio output and video display of the humanoid robot.

[0016] Preferably, the electrical control system uses a private 5G network to transmit data between the functional units of the understanding and decision-making module and the motion control module, ensuring that the heterogeneous multi-core processing unit and the cloud decision-making unit can work together to handle the robot's multi-tasks, thereby realizing high-performance computing and analysis capabilities for the robot body with low power consumption and low cost, thereby enabling the robot to operate efficiently in complex environments and enabling collaboration between multiple robots.

[0017] To achieve the second objective, the present invention provides an electrical control method for a humanoid robot, which is realized by the above-mentioned electrical control system and includes the following steps:

[0018] Step 1: Power on the robot. After the robot is successfully powered on, the status sensor collects information and uploads it to the debugging terminal of the cloud decision-making unit to provide feedback on the overall operating status of the humanoid robot.

[0019] Step 2: Obtain the environmental data of the scene where the humanoid robot is located through the audio unit and the vision unit, and compress and upload the environmental data through the sensing and planning unit.

[0020] Step 3: The understanding and decision-making terminal of the cloud decision-making unit performs task analysis on the received task command, and at the same time performs scene understanding algorithm processing on the environmental data, and generates corresponding interaction commands and operation commands according to the task analysis results, scene understanding results and the operation status of the entire humanoid robot.

[0021] Step 4: The positioning information of the humanoid robot is obtained through the positioning fusion module and transmitted to the sensing planning unit.

[0022] Step 5: The sensing and planning unit controls the voice output and video display of the humanoid robot according to the interaction command.

[0023] At the same time, the sensing and planning unit performs path planning based on the positioning information and the action command, and generates corresponding motion commands.

[0024] Step 6, the control and calculation unit performs dynamics and kinematics calculations together with the motion commands and real-time status data of each joint, obtains the corresponding joint commands, and transmits them to the joint drive module via the EtherCAT master station.

[0025] Step 7: The drive module adjusts the output of the drive mechanism according to the received joint command, allowing the humanoid robot to perform the task. At the same time, the EtherCAT slave station transmits real-time status data collected by multiple status sensors to the EtherCAT master station.

[0026] Specifically, the electrical control method includes a self-detection process of the humanoid robot, and the debugging terminal evaluates based on the operating status of the humanoid robot, and if it determines that the humanoid robot cannot operate normally, it sends a maintenance prompt, and if it determines that the humanoid robot can operate normally, it sends a prompt that the task can be performed.

[0027] To achieve the third object, the present invention provides a computer memory, a sensor, a computer processor, and a program stored in the computer memory and executable on the computer processor. computer An electrical control device for a humanoid robot is provided, the electrical control device including a program, wherein the computer processor employs the electrical control system for the humanoid robot described above.

[0028] When the computer processor executes the computer program, it achieves the following steps: generate corresponding interaction instructions and operation instructions in real time through the electrical control system according to input task instructions, so as to realize task execution and human-computer interaction for the humanoid robot. [Effects of the Invention]

[0029] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0030] The electrical control system is divided into four parts: a positioning fusion module, an understanding and decision-making module, a motion control module, and a joint drive module. A heterogeneous multi-core processing method and a private 5G network enable efficient collaboration between each module, achieving multi-scene, highly reliable, and real-time motion control for humanoid robots. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0031] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the electrical control system provided by this embodiment. [Figure 2]FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the electrical control method provided by this embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the electrical control device provided by this embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the EtherCAT conversion circuit logic provided by this embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0032] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments, so that the objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0033] An electrical control system for a humanoid robot, the humanoid robot comprising a robot body and a drive mechanism for driving the motion of the robot.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 1, the electrical control system includes a positioning fusion module, an understanding and decision-making module, a motion control module, and a joint drive module.

[0035] The positioning fusion module is used to acquire the robot's position information. It acquires the robot's direction and position information through various positioning sensors such as UWB, laser radar, IMU, odometer, and GPS, and uses an FPGA processor to perform data fusion and compare cross-data information to eliminate errors and obtain accurate positioning information.

[0036] The understanding and decision-making module includes a vision unit, a speech unit, a cloud decision-making unit, and a sensing planning unit.

[0037] The vision unit is used to acquire image information of the robot's external environment and objects, and includes a depth camera and a display screen, where the depth camera is used to identify objects, people, etc. in the environment, and the display screen can output interaction video.

[0038] The audio unit is used to acquire audio information from the external environment and includes a microphone array and a speaker device, where the microphone array is used to collect and process audio instructions and the speaker is used for audio output to realize human-computer interaction effects.

[0039] The cloud decision-making unit generates corresponding interaction instructions and action instructions based on the issued task instructions and the received environment data.

[0040] The sensing planning unit is used for data uploading and data analysis. Data uploading involves compressing image and audio information as environmental data for cloud decision-making. unit This includes transmitting to The data analysis includes generating a movement command based on the movement command and the positioning information, and generating an interactive movement of the humanoid robot based on the interaction command.

[0041] Furthermore, the cloud decision-making unit includes a debugging terminal and an understanding and decision-making terminal, where the debugging terminal is used to obtain real-time status data of each joint of the EtherCAT master station to obtain the operation status of the robot body, and the understanding and decision-making terminal is used to analyze the received task command together with the environment data and the operation status to obtain corresponding interaction commands and operation commands, where the task command is issued by an operator or automatically assigned according to a work plan.

[0042] The cloud decision-making unit contains powerful computing capabilities, providing computing support for multiple robots simultaneously, promoting cooperation between multiple robots, and transferring the analysis work of complex task instructions to the cloud decision-making unit, thereby reducing the computing stress on the humanoid robot itself.

[0043] The motion control module includes a control and calculation unit and an EtherCAT master station. Based on the generated motion command and the real-time status data of each joint, the control and calculation unit performs kinematic and dynamic analysis of the robot body to obtain the joint command of each joint. The EtherCAT master station is used to obtain the real-time status data of each joint and transmit the joint command to the corresponding joint drive module.

[0044] The joint drive module includes a drive unit and an EtherCAT slave station equipped with multiple status sensors. The drive unit receives joint commands from the EtherCAT master station and adjusts the output of the drive mechanism. At the same time, the EtherCAT slave station transmits real-time status data collected by the multiple status sensors to the EtherCAT master station.

[0045] In addition, the understanding and decision-making module and motion control module transmit data through a high-bandwidth, highly secure private 5G network, achieving low-latency interconnection and ensuring that the heterogeneous multi-core processing unit and cloud decision-making unit can work together to handle the robot's multi-tasks, thereby achieving high-performance computing and analytical capabilities for the robot body with low power consumption and low cost, allowing the robot to operate efficiently in complex environments and enabling collaboration between multiple robots.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 2, the electrical control method for a humanoid robot provided in this embodiment is realized by the electrical control system described in the above embodiment, and includes the following steps:

[0047] Step 1: Power on the robot. After the robot is successfully powered on, the status sensor collects information and uploads it to the debugging terminal of the cloud decision-making unit to feedback the operating status of the entire humanoid robot. At the same time, the debugging terminal evaluates the operating status of the entire humanoid robot and sends a maintenance prompt if it determines that it cannot operate normally; if it determines that it can operate normally, it sends a prompt that the task can be performed.

[0048] Step 2: Obtain the environmental data of the scene where the humanoid robot is located through the audio unit and the vision unit, and compress and upload the environmental data through the sensing and planning unit.

[0049] Step 3: The understanding and decision-making terminal of the cloud decision-making unit performs task analysis on the received task command, and at the same time performs scene understanding algorithm processing on the environmental data, and generates corresponding interaction commands and operation commands according to the task analysis results, scene understanding results and the operation status of the entire humanoid robot.

[0050] Step 4: The positioning information of the humanoid robot is obtained through the positioning fusion module and transmitted to the sensing planning unit.

[0051] Step 5: The sensing and planning unit controls the voice output and video display of the humanoid robot according to the interaction command.

[0052] At the same time, the sensing planning unit generates corresponding motion commands based on the positioning information and the action commands.

[0053] Step 6, the control and calculation unit performs dynamics and kinematics calculations together with the motion commands and real-time status data of each joint, obtains the corresponding joint commands, and transmits them to the joint drive module via the EtherCAT master station.

[0054] Step 7: The drive unit adjusts the output of the drive mechanism according to the received joint command, allowing the humanoid robot to perform the task. At the same time, the EtherCAT slave station transmits real-time status data collected by multiple status sensors to the EtherCAT master station.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 3, this embodiment provides an electrical control device for a humanoid robot, including a communication device, a data calculation unit with FPGA, a sensing and planning unit with ARM, a control and calculation unit with X86, sensors and driving devices.

[0056] The sensor is It includes a GPS module, IMU sensor, UWB sensor, odometer and lidar in conjunction with a data calculation unit with FPGA, which obtains the robot's status information and location information; A microphone array, speaker, audio capture card, audio amplifier, depth vision camera, and face display in conjunction with an ARM-powered sensing and planning unit. It also includes a status sensor for use with an X86-equipped control and computing unit.

[0057] The communication devices include a private 5G network and an EtherCAT network.

[0058] The drive unit includes a battery for power supply and a BMS system for managing the battery power supply.

[0059] As shown in Figure 4, the EtherCAT conversion circuit logic is as follows:

[0060] The original data of each sensor is acquired according to the specified sampling order.

[0061] It intercepts the original data and converts it into data with a unified structure.

[0062] The data with a uniform structure is transmitted to the EtherCAT network via the EtherCAT slave station, and then received and processed by the EtherCAT master station.

[0063] According to the above-described embodiment, the present invention performs multi-task data processing through the cooperation of different functional units, realizes high-performance computing and analytical capabilities under low power consumption, realizes non-real-time scene understanding and reliable execution of real-time motion control tasks, allows the robot body to operate efficiently in various environments under low computing power requirements, and reduces costs and system complexity. A low-latency, high-concurrency data processing unit is used to collect and combine position and orientation data. A low-power sensing and planning unit is used to compress audio and visual data, execute human-computer interaction, realize path and obstacle avoidance planning algorithms, and output motion commands. The powerful computing resources of the cloud decision-making unit are used to process audio and visual information and realize semantic understanding of complex and diverse scene environments. At the same time, task commands issued by the debugging terminal are analyzed and interaction commands are output. A high-performance, highly compatible control and computing unit is used to calculate motion control algorithms and communicate with EtherCAT. Master Realize a station network and realize a stable real-time network.

[0064] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can understand that the technical solutions recorded in the above examples can be modified or some of the technical features can be replaced with equivalents. All modifications, equivalent replacements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electrical control system for a humanoid robot, the humanoid robot comprising a robot body and a drive mechanism for driving the motion of the robot; a positioning fusion module for acquiring the direction and coordinate information of the robot body and generating positioning information; an understanding and decision-making module including a vision unit and an audio unit for acquiring environmental data, a cloud decision-making unit for command output, and a sensing and planning unit; The vision unit is used to obtain image information of the external environment and obstacles in a scene where the robot body is located; the audio unit is used to acquire audio information of an external environment; The cloud decision-making unit includes a debugging terminal and an understanding and decision-making terminal, wherein the debugging terminal is used to obtain real-time status data of each joint of the EtherCAT® master station to obtain the operation status of the robot body, and the understanding and decision-making terminal analyzes the environment data and the operation status according to the issued task command to obtain corresponding interaction commands and operation commands; an understanding and decision-making module, wherein the sensing and planning unit is used for data uploading and data analysis, the data uploading includes compressing image information and audio information as environmental data and transmitting them to a cloud decision-making unit, and the data analysis includes generating motion commands based on operation commands and positioning information, and generating interactive behaviors of the humanoid robot based on interaction commands; a motion control module including a control and calculation unit and an EtherCAT® master station, which performs kinematic and dynamic analysis of the robot body through the control and calculation unit based on the motion command and real-time status data of each joint to obtain a joint command of each joint, and the EtherCAT® master station obtains the real-time status data of each joint and transmits the joint command to a corresponding joint drive module; The system includes a drive unit and an EtherCAT slave station equipped with a plurality of status sensors, and the drive unit receives joint commands from the EtherCAT master station to adjust the output of the drive mechanism, and simultaneously controls the EtherCAT The EtherCAT® slave station is an articulated drive module that transmits real-time status data collected by multiple status sensors to the EtherCAT® master station; The specific process is: Acquire the original data of each sensor according to the specified sampling order; Intercepting the original data and converting it into data with a uniform structure; and a joint drive module, including transmitting data of a unified structure to an EtherCAT® network via an EtherCAT® slave station, and then receiving and processing the data by an EtherCAT® master station.

2. 2. The electrical control system for a humanoid robot according to claim 1, wherein the electrical control system processes the direction and coordinate information of multiple sensors through data fusion and cross-data comparison to generate positioning information for the robot.

3. 2. The electrical control system for a humanoid robot according to claim 1, wherein the movement command includes a target location, a movement speed, and a movement posture.

4. 2. The electrical control system for a humanoid robot according to claim 1, wherein the interactive operation includes controlling audio output and video display of the humanoid robot.

5. 2. The electrical control system for a humanoid robot according to claim 1, wherein the electrical control system uses a private 5G network to transmit data between the functional units of the understanding and decision-making module and the motion control module.

6. An electrical control method for a humanoid robot, the method being implemented by the electrical control system for a humanoid robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, Step 1: power on the robot, and after the power is successfully turned on, the status sensor collects information and uploads it to the debugging terminal of the cloud decision-making unit to feedback the overall operating status of the humanoid robot; Step 2: obtaining environmental data of the scene where the humanoid robot is located through the audio unit and the vision unit, compressing and uploading the environmental data through the sensing and planning unit; Step 3: The understanding and decision-making terminal of the cloud decision-making unit performs task analysis on the received task command, and simultaneously performs scene understanding algorithm processing on the environmental data, and generates corresponding interaction commands and operation commands according to the task analysis result, scene understanding result and the operation status of the entire humanoid robot; Step 4: obtaining the positioning information of the humanoid robot through the positioning fusion module and transmitting it to the sensing planning unit; Step 5: the sensing and planning unit controls the voice output and video display of the humanoid robot according to the interaction command; At the same time, the sensing and planning unit performs path planning based on the positioning information and the operation command to generate corresponding motion commands; Step 6: the control and calculation unit performs dynamics and kinematics calculations together with the motion commands and the real-time status data of each joint, obtains the joint commands of the corresponding joints, and transmits them to the joint drive modules via the EtherCAT® master station; Step 7: the drive unit adjusts the output of the drive mechanism according to the received joint commands to make the humanoid robot perform the task, and at the same time, the EtherCAT® slave station transmits real-time status data collected by the multiple status sensors to the EtherCAT® master station.

7. 7. The electrical control method for a humanoid robot according to claim 6, wherein the electrical control method includes a self-detection process of the humanoid robot, and the debugging terminal evaluates based on the operating status of the humanoid robot, and sends a maintenance prompt if it determines that the humanoid robot cannot operate normally, and sends a prompt that the task can be performed if it determines that the humanoid robot can operate normally.

8. An electrical control device for a humanoid robot, comprising a computer memory, a sensor, a computer processor, and a computer program stored in the computer memory and executable on the computer processor, wherein the computer processor employs the electrical control system for a humanoid robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5; an electrical control device for a humanoid robot, wherein when the computer processor executes the computer program, the electrical control system generates corresponding interaction instructions and operation instructions in real time according to input task instructions, thereby realizing task execution and human-computer interaction for the humanoid robot.

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