Robotic vacuum cleaner and pile searching method and device thereof, and storage medium

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of robotic vacuum cleaners, and provides a robotic vacuum cleaner and a pile searching method and device thereof, and a storage medium. The method comprises: obtaining a map of an environment where a robotic vacuum cleaner is located and the position of the robotic vacuum cleaner in the map; on the basis of the map, determining a map contour where the position of the robotic vacuum cleaner is; on the basis of the map contour, determining traversal points for searching for a charging pile and traversal areas corresponding to the traversal points; and on the basis of a predetermined traversal point searching sequence, searching the traversal areas corresponding to the traversal points for the charging pile, until the charging pile is found from the traversal areas, or until the searching of contour areas of all the traversal points is completed. By means of the traversal points determined on the contour, the searching for the charging pile is rapidly carried out on the basis of the predetermined traversal point searching sequence, so that the uncertainty caused by random searching is reduced, and the efficiency of searching for the charging pile is improved.

Description

Sweeping robot and pile-finding method, device and storage medium thereof

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on August 30, 2023, with application number 202311126670.3 and invention name “Sweeping robot and its pile-finding method, device and storage medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of sweeping robots, and in particular to a sweeping robot and a pile-finding method, device, and storage medium thereof. Background Art

[0003] Robot vacuums have a built-in power storage unit that allows them to operate autonomously even when not connected to a charging station. After receiving a recharge command, the robot vacuum returns to the charging station for recharging. Therefore, being able to quickly and accurately locate a charging station is crucial for robot vacuums.

[0004] During the normal charging pile search process, if the sweeping robot starts cleaning from the charging pile, the sweeping robot can record the location of the charging pile when it goes down. When the sweeping robot receives the recharging instruction, it navigates to the location for recharging based on the pre-recorded location of the charging pile.

[0005] However, if the location of the charging station changes during cleaning, or if the robot vacuum cleaner does not start cleaning from the charging station, it will need to find a charging station on its own to recharge. This is usually done using a random roaming search method, which uses a random path to search for charging stations. Since random paths have no regularity, this can lead to inefficient search results. Technical issues

[0006] In view of this, the embodiments of the present application provide a sweeping robot and its pile-finding method, device and storage medium to solve the problem in the prior art that when searching for piles, the search efficiency may be low due to random and irregular paths. Technical Solutions

[0007] A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a pile-finding method for a sweeping robot, the method comprising:

[0008] Obtaining a map of the scene where the sweeping robot is located, and the position of the sweeping robot in the map;

[0009] Determine a map outline of the position of the sweeping robot according to the map;

[0010] Determining, according to the map outline, traversal points for searching for charging piles and traversal areas corresponding to the traversal points;

[0011] According to a predetermined traversal point search order, a charging pile is searched in the traversal area corresponding to the traversal point until a charging pile is found in the traversal area or the search of the contour area of ​​all traversal points is completed.

[0012] In conjunction with the first aspect, in a first possible implementation of the first aspect, searching for a charging pile in a traversal area corresponding to the traversal point includes:

[0013] Check whether there is a point in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point where a charging pile has been found;

[0014] If there is a point in the traversal area where a charging pile has been found, the charging pile is searched for at the next traversal point of the current traversal point.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect or the first possible implementation of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation of the first aspect, searching for a charging pile in the traversal area corresponding to the traversal point includes:

[0016] Check whether there is an undetected area in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point;

[0017] If there is an undetected area in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point, a traversal optimization point in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point is determined according to the undetected area.

[0018] In combination with the second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, detecting whether there is an undetected area in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point includes:

[0019] Detect whether there are continuous unknown points greater than a predetermined number M in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point;

[0020] Determining a traversal optimization point in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point according to the undetected area includes:

[0021] In the traversal distinction corresponding to the traversal point, the Nth unknown point is selected from the continuous unknown points as the traversal optimization point of the traversal area, wherein M and N are natural numbers, and M is greater than or equal to N.

[0022] In combination with the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, after detecting whether there is a point in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point where a charging pile has been found, the method includes:

[0023] If the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point does not contain a point where a charging pile has been found, the traversal optimization point of the traversal area is corrected according to the traversal area.

[0024] In conjunction with the fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, correcting the traversal optimization point of the traversal area according to the traversal area includes:

[0025] Modify the traversal optimization point of the traversal area according to one or more of the following conditions:

[0026] The traversal optimization point is located within the map outline;

[0027] There is no found stake point within a predetermined range centered at the traversal optimization point;

[0028] The distance between the traversal optimization point and the obstacle is greater than a predetermined distance threshold.

[0029] In combination with the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, determining the map outline of the position of the sweeping robot according to the map includes:

[0030] Binarizing the map to obtain a binary image;

[0031] The binary image is expanded to obtain a map outline corresponding to the map.

[0032] A second aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a pile-finding device for a sweeping robot, the device comprising:

[0033] A map information acquisition unit, configured to acquire a map of the scene where the sweeping robot is located, and a position of the sweeping robot in the map;

[0034] A map outline determining unit, configured to determine a map outline of the position of the sweeping robot according to the map;

[0035] a traversal point determination unit, configured to determine, based on the map outline, traversal points for searching for charging piles, and traversal areas corresponding to the traversal points;

[0036] The search unit is used to search for charging piles in the traversal area corresponding to the traversal point according to a predetermined traversal point search order until a charging pile is found in the traversal area or the search of the contour area of ​​all traversal points is completed.

[0037] A third aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a sweeping robot, comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the steps of the method described in any one of the first aspects when executing the computer program.

[0038] A fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in any one of the first aspects are implemented. Beneficial effects

[0039] Compared with the prior art, the embodiments of the present application have the following advantages: the embodiments of the present application obtain a map of the scene where the sweeping robot is located, as well as the position of the sweeping robot in the map, determine the map outline of the position of the sweeping robot based on the map, determine the traversal points for searching for charging piles based on the map outline, and search for charging piles in the traversal areas corresponding to the traversal points according to a predetermined traversal point search order until the charging pile is found or the search for the outline area of ​​all traversal points is completed. The embodiments of the present application can quickly search for charging piles according to the predetermined traversal point search order using the traversal points determined by the outline, thereby reducing the uncertainty caused by random searches and improving the efficiency of searching for charging piles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or descriptions of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0041] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of a pile-finding method for a sweeping robot provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a map of a scene in which a sweeping robot is located, provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of determining a map outline according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of determining a traversal point according to the position of a sweeping robot according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of detecting whether a traversal point is repeated according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a traversal optimization point determined by a sweeping robot according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of a method for determining a traversal optimization point provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a pile-finding device of a sweeping robot provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a sweeping robot provided in an embodiment of the present application. Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0050] In the following description, specific details such as specific system structures and techniques are provided for purposes of illustration rather than limitation to facilitate a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present application. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present application may be implemented in other embodiments without these specific details. In other cases, detailed descriptions of well-known systems, devices, circuits, and methods are omitted to avoid obscuring the description of the present application with unnecessary detail.

[0051] In order to illustrate the technical solution described in this application, specific embodiments are provided below.

[0052] When a robot vacuum searches for a charging station during recharging, it typically randomly sets detection points for the charging station and controls the robot vacuum to search for the charging station based on these points. Because detection points are randomly selected, it's possible that even after searching all detection points, the robot vacuum may still fail to find the charging station, resulting in inefficient charging station search.

[0053] In order to solve the problem of low charging pile search efficiency, the embodiment of the present application proposes a charging pile search method for a sweeping robot, as shown in Figure 1, the method includes:

[0054] In S101, a map of the scene where the cleaning robot is located and the position of the cleaning robot in the map are obtained.

[0055] The map in the embodiment of the present application may include a map of the working scene of the sweeping robot. The map may include known areas and unknown areas. Among them, the known areas may include obstacle areas and blank areas. For example, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a map of the working scene of a sweeping robot provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, the gray area represents the unknown area in the map (including the area that has not been explored by the robot, the unexplored area includes the area where unexplored obstacles are located and / or the unexplored area where the robot can move freely, the area where the obstacle is located includes the area behind the wall or the area where other obstacles in the scene are located, etc.), the black area represents the explored obstacle area (including wall obstacles and obstacles in the room), and the white area represents the explored blank area, that is, the area that can move freely.

[0056] The map of the scene in which the robot vacuum is located can be generated during the operation of the robot vacuum according to a predetermined mapping method, or the map of the scene in which the robot vacuum is located can be obtained by reading a predetermined file. The position of the robot vacuum in the map can be determined during the map generation process. Alternatively, the position of the robot vacuum in the map can be determined after the map is generated using the positioning module of the robot vacuum.

[0057] In S102, a map outline of the position of the cleaning robot is determined according to the map.

[0058] When determining the map outline of the map where the robot vacuum is located, the map outline included in the map can be determined based on the boundary pixels of the unknown area and the obstacle area in the map. For example, the boundary pixels of the obstacle and the boundary pixels of the unknown area can be used to obtain the outline included in the map.

[0059] To further improve the efficiency of map outline generation, the map can be binarized to obtain a binarized image. For example, the grayscale areas (unknown areas) and black areas (obstacle areas) in the map can be binarized to 0, and the white areas (blank areas) in the map can be binarized to 1.

[0060] Dilate the edges of the binarized image. For example, n grid cells can be dilated according to a pre-set dilation parameter to produce the dilated contour shown in Figure 3. As shown in Figure 3, the black areas represent the obstacles and unknown areas after binarization, while the white areas represent the blank areas after binarization. The area between the black and white areas is the dilated area, and the boundary between the dilated and blank areas is the contour generated after dilation. Dilation effectively suppresses the effects of image noise on the contour.

[0061] In S103 , traversal points for searching for charging piles and traversal areas corresponding to the traversal points are determined according to the map outline.

[0062] The embodiment of the present application can determine contour points located on the map contour according to the determined map contour, as traversal points for searching for charging piles.

[0063] When determining the traversal point of the sweeping robot on the map contour, the traversal point of the sweeping robot on the contour and the subsequent traversal points on the map contour can be determined based on the position of the last traversal point of the sweeping robot. For example, the last contour point selected by the robot is last_choose_conotur_point. According to the preset traversal point interval, such as an interval of m grids, the current contour point can be determined to be m_index_point. Similarly, according to this interval, the points at positions m_index_point+m, m_index_point+2m, m_index_point+3m.... on the map contour can be determined as traversal points in the map contour for searching for charging piles.

[0064] The traversal area corresponding to a traversal point can be flexibly set. For example, the traversal area of ​​each traversal point can be an area with a radius of m / 2 grid cells centered at the traversal point. Alternatively, the traversal area of ​​the i-th traversal point can be the area between the i-th traversal point and the i+1-th traversal point, etc.

[0065] In a possible implementation, if a traversal point on the previously selected contour does not exist, the current contour point can be determined based on the robot's current position. For example, as shown in Figure 4, when the robot is within the map contour, point B can be determined as the current traversal point m_index_point based on the robot's position A and the closest point B on the map contour. Other traversal points on the map contour, such as m grid intervals, are then determined: m_index_point+m, m_index_point+2m, m_index_point+3m, etc.

[0066] In S104 , according to a predetermined traversal point search order, a charging pile is searched in the traversal area corresponding to the traversal point until a charging pile is found in the traversal area or the search of the contour area of ​​all traversal points is completed.

[0067] After determining the traversal points on the map outline, you can move to each traversal point in turn in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction according to the determined traversal points to detect whether there is a charging pile in the traversal area where the traversal point is located. If there is a charging pile in the traversal area where the traversal point is located, you can control the sweeping robot to charge on the pile according to the position of the detected charging pile. If the current traversal point does not detect the charging pile of the sweeping robot, you can move to the next traversal point to detect whether there is a charging pile in the traversal area where the traversal point is located. The traversal detection work is terminated until a charging pile is detected in the traversal area. Or until all traversal points are detected, the traversal detection work is terminated.

[0068] In an embodiment of the present application, in order to further improve the traversal efficiency, when searching for charging piles in the traversal area corresponding to the traversal point, a detection process of whether the traversal point is repeated may be included, as shown in FIG5 , including:

[0069] In S501 , it is detected whether there is a point in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point where a charging pile has been found.

[0070] In the embodiments of the present application, a point where a charging pile has been found can be understood as a point where a charging pile has been found within a predetermined time period from the current time, and no charging pile was found at that point. Alternatively, it can be understood as a point where a charging pile has been found during the current recharge, and no charging pile was found at that point. Alternatively, it can be understood as a point where a charging pile has been found during a predetermined number of recharges at the current time, and no charging pile was found at that point.

[0071] If a point in the traversal area corresponding to a traversal point already has a charging station, it indicates that the point in the traversal area has previously found a charging station. Since the time interval between the last detection and the current time is short (for example, the time interval is less than a predetermined time threshold), the probability of detecting a charging station at the traversal point is low.

[0072] In S502, if there is a point in the traversal area where a charging pile has been found, a charging pile is searched for at the next traversal point of the current traversal point.

[0073] If there is a point where a charging pile has been found within a predetermined time before the current time, then since the time interval between the two charging pile searches is short, it can be determined based on the previous charging pile search results that there is no charging pile at the current traversal point, and the next traversal point of the current traversal point can be directly searched for, and the charging pile can be searched based on the traversal area corresponding to a traversal point.

[0074] In S503 , if the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point does not contain a point where a charging pile has been found, the traversal optimization point of the traversal area is corrected according to the traversal area.

[0075] If there is no previously detected charging pile in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point, it means there is no valid detection record. You can then perform a charging pile detection based on the current traversal point. For example, you can move the robot vacuum to the traversal point to perform a charging pile detection.

[0076] In order to optimize the detection efficiency, the embodiment of the present application further optimizes the traversal points before traversal, so that the selected points can be away from obstacles or in an open area, and the traversal optimization points are obtained, and the charging pile detection is performed according to the traversal optimization points.

[0077] When optimizing the position of the traversal point, one or more of the following conditions may be included:

[0078] 1. The traversal optimization point is located within the map outline.

[0079] 2. There is no found pile point within the predetermined range centered at the traversal optimization point.

[0080] 3. The distance between the traversal optimization point and the obstacle is greater than a predetermined distance threshold.

[0081] The area enclosed by the map outline is a blank area, which is accessible to the robot vacuum. Areas outside the outline are obstacles or unknown areas. To ensure reliable and effective traversal of optimized points, it is necessary to first ensure that the traversal optimization points are within the map outline. This condition can be used to filter out points outside the map outline.

[0082] To ensure the effectiveness of the traversal optimization point, the search range determined by the traversal optimization point must be a valid search range. The predetermined range must be determined with the traversal optimization point as the center and a predetermined radius or length. Within the predetermined range, no charging pile has been found (a found charging pile point). That is, within the predetermined range, no charging pile has been found within a predetermined time period before the current time. This traversal optimization point can improve the effectiveness of the charging pile detection information obtained.

[0083] Since the charging pile itself has a certain width (the length from the front to the back), when detecting a charging pile close to an obstacle, the obstacle can be effectively detected from the front of the charging pile (facing the obstacle). Therefore, the distance between the traversal optimization point and the obstacle can be set to be greater than a predetermined distance threshold. For example, the distance threshold can be greater than or equal to the width of the sweeping robot.

[0084] For example, Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of the optimal traversal point determined by a robot vacuum. As shown in Figure 6, the robot's current position is point P. Based on the grid spacing on the contour, the next traversal point is determined to be point Q. By optimizing and correcting the positions of the traversal points, the optimized traversal point, point Y, is obtained.

[0085] In a possible implementation, when searching for a charging pile in a traversal area corresponding to a traversal point, the embodiment of the present application may have an undetected area. In order to avoid the possibility of a charging pile in the undetected area, as shown in FIG7 , the embodiment of the present application may further include:

[0086] In S701 , it is detected whether there is any undetected area in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point.

[0087] When determining whether there are undetected areas in the traversed area, it is possible to determine whether there is an outline of an unknown area within the map outline of the traversed area, and whether the outline of the unknown area is greater than a predetermined length. For example, if the length of the outline of the unknown area is greater than M grid cells, it indicates that there are undetected areas in the traversed area.

[0088] Among them, for the detection of the undetected area, after determining that there are points in the traversed area where piles have been found, the undetected area in the traversed area can be detected.

[0089] In S702, if there is an undetected area in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point, a traversal optimization point in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point is determined according to the undetected area.

[0090] Since there may be charging piles in the undetected area, in order to be able to more reliably detect the charging piles that may exist therein. The embodiment of the present application can set the Nth (N is less than or equal to M) undetected point among the continuous unknown points on the map outline as the traversal optimization point, and use the traversal optimization point as the detection point of the charging pile. When the sweeping robot moves to the traversal optimization point, it can perform obstacle detection on the undetected area, so that the detection information in the undetected area is more complete, and the undetected area is expanded into a detection area. And the charging pile detection is performed at the traversal optimization point, which can effectively confirm the charging piles within the unknown range.

[0091] In a possible implementation, after determining that the Nth consecutive unknown point on the map outline is a traversal optimization point, it can be further optimized according to the above-mentioned optimization conditions of the traversal optimization point.

[0092] If there is no undetected area in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point, it is further determined according to S703 whether there is a point in the traversal area that has been found. If there is a point that has been found, the next traversal point can be determined. If there is no point that has been found, the traversal point can be optimized.

[0093] The embodiment of the present application obtains a map of the scene where the sweeping robot is located, as well as the position of the sweeping robot in the map, determines the map outline of the position of the sweeping robot based on the map, determines the traversal points for searching for charging piles based on the map outline, and searches for charging piles in the traversal areas corresponding to the traversal points in a predetermined traversal point search order until the charging pile is found or the search for the outline area of ​​all traversal points is completed. The embodiment of the present application can quickly search for charging piles in a predetermined order using the traversal points determined by the outline, thereby improving the efficiency of searching for charging piles.

[0094] In addition, the embodiment of the present application further reduces repeated pile search judgments by detecting whether there are points where piles have been found in the traversed area, thereby effectively improving the efficiency of finding charging piles.

[0095] By detecting unknown areas in the traversed area, charging piles can be detected in the unknown area, and the map can be effectively improved to improve the completeness of the map information.

[0096] By optimizing the positions of the traversal points, the traversal optimization points are obtained, which is beneficial to improving the efficiency of traversing and searching for charging piles.

[0097] It should be understood that the size of the serial numbers of the steps in the above embodiments does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0098] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a pile-finding device for a sweeping robot provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG8 , the device includes:

[0099] The map information acquisition unit 801 is configured to acquire a map of the scene where the sweeping robot is located, and the position of the sweeping robot in the map.

[0100] The map outline determining unit 802 is configured to determine the map outline of the position of the cleaning robot according to the map.

[0101] The traversal point determination unit 803 is configured to determine traversal points for searching for charging piles and traversal areas corresponding to the traversal points according to the map outline.

[0102] The search unit 804 is configured to search for a charging pile in the traversal area corresponding to the traversal point according to a predetermined traversal point search order until a charging pile is found in the traversal area or the search for the contour area of ​​all traversal points is completed.

[0103] The pile-finding device of the sweeping robot shown in FIG8 corresponds to the pile-finding method of the sweeping robot shown in FIG1 .

[0104] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a sweeping robot provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG9 , the sweeping robot 9 of this embodiment includes: a processor 90, a memory 91, and a computer program 92 stored in the memory 91 and executable on the processor 90, such as a sweeping robot pile-finding program. When the processor 90 executes the computer program 92, the steps in each of the sweeping robot pile-finding method embodiments described above are implemented. Alternatively, when the processor 90 executes the computer program 92, the functions of each module / unit in each of the above-mentioned device embodiments are implemented.

[0105] For example, the computer program 92 can be divided into one or more modules / units, which are stored in the memory 91 and executed by the processor 90 to complete the present application. The one or more modules / units can be a series of computer program instruction segments that can perform specific functions, and the instruction segments are used to describe the execution process of the computer program 92 in the cleaning robot 9.

[0106] The cleaning robot may include, but is not limited to, a processor 90 and a memory 91. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that FIG9 is merely an example of the cleaning robot 9 and does not limit the cleaning robot 9. The cleaning robot 9 may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or may combine certain components or different components. For example, the cleaning robot may further include input and output devices, network access devices, buses, and the like.

[0107] The processor 90 may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0108] The memory 91 may be an internal storage unit of the sweeping robot 9, such as a hard disk or memory of the sweeping robot 9. The memory 91 may also be an external storage device of the sweeping robot 9, such as a plug-in hard disk, a smart memory card (Smart Media Card, SMC), a secure digital (Secure Digital, SD) card, a flash card (Flash Card), etc. equipped on the sweeping robot 9. Furthermore, the memory 91 may also include both an internal storage unit and an external storage device of the sweeping robot 9. The memory 91 is used to store the computer program and other programs and data required by the sweeping robot. The memory 91 may also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

[0109] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, only the division of the above-mentioned functional units and modules is used as an example for illustration. In actual applications, the above-mentioned functions can be distributed and completed by different functional units and modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional units or modules to complete all or part of the functions described above. The functional units and modules in the embodiment can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units. In addition, the specific names of the functional units and modules are only for the convenience of distinguishing each other, and are not used to limit the scope of protection of this application. The specific working process of the units and modules in the above-mentioned system can refer to the corresponding process in the aforementioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0110] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own focus. For parts that are not described or recorded in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant description of other embodiments.

[0111] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0112] In the embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices / terminal equipment and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device / terminal equipment embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the modules or units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0113] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0114] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0115] If the integrated module / unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the present application implements all or part of the process in the above-mentioned embodiment method, which can also be completed by hardware related to computer program instructions. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, it can implement the steps of the above-mentioned various method embodiments. Among them, the computer program includes computer program code, and the computer program code can be in source code form, object code form, executable file or some intermediate form. The computer-readable medium may include: any entity or device capable of carrying the computer program code, recording medium, USB flash drive, mobile hard disk, magnetic disk, optical disk, computer memory, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electric carrier signal, telecommunication signal and software distribution medium. It should be noted that the content contained in the computer-readable medium can be appropriately increased or decreased according to the requirements of legislation and patent practice in the jurisdiction. For example, in some jurisdictions, according to legislation and patent practice, computer-readable media do not include electric carrier signals and telecommunication signals.

[0116] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present application, and should all be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for finding a pile of a sweeping robot, characterized in that: The method comprises: Obtain a map of the scene where the cleaning robot is located, and the position of the cleaning robot in the map; Determine a map outline of the position of the cleaning robot according to the map; Determining, according to the map outline, traversal points for searching for charging piles, and traversal areas corresponding to the traversal points; According to a predetermined traversal point search order, a charging pile is searched in the traversal area corresponding to the traversal point until a charging pile is found in the traversal area, or the search of the contour area of ​​all traversal points is completed.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Searching for a charging pile in a traversal area corresponding to the traversal point includes: Check whether there is a point where a charging pile has been found in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point; If there is a point in the traversal area where a charging pile has been found, the charging pile is searched at the next traversal point of the current traversal point.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Searching for a charging pile in a traversal area corresponding to the traversal point includes: Check whether there is an undetected area in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point; If there is an undetected area in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point, a traversal optimization point in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point is determined according to the undetected area.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that Check whether there is an undetected area in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point, including: Detect whether there are continuous unknown points greater than a predetermined number M in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point; Determine the traversal optimization in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point according to the undetected area Points, including: In the traversal distinction corresponding to the traversal point, determine to select the Nth unknown point from the continuous unknown points as the traversal optimization point of the traversal area, wherein M and N are natural numbers, and M is greater than or equal to N.

5. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: After detecting whether there is a point in the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point where a charging pile has been found, the method includes: If the traversal area corresponding to the current traversal point does not contain a point where a charging pile has been found, the traversal optimization point of the traversal area is corrected according to the traversal area.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Correcting the traversal optimization point of the traversal area according to the traversal area includes: According to one or more of the following conditions, the traversal optimization point of the traversal area is modified: The traversal optimization point is located within the map outline; There is no found stake point within the predetermined range centered at the traversal optimization point; The distance between the traversal optimization point and the obstacle is greater than a predetermined distance threshold.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Determining a map outline of a position of the cleaning robot according to the map includes: Binarizing the map to obtain a binary image; The binary image is expanded to obtain a map outline corresponding to the map.

8. A pile-finding device for a sweeping robot, characterized in that: The device comprises: A map information acquisition unit, used to acquire a map of the scene where the cleaning robot is located, and the position of the cleaning robot in the map; A map contour determining unit, configured to determine a map contour where the position of the cleaning robot is located according to the map; a traversal point determination unit, configured to determine a traversal point for searching for a charging pile according to the map outline, and a traversal area corresponding to the traversal point; The search unit is used to search for charging piles in the traversal area corresponding to the traversal point according to a predetermined traversal point search order, until the charging pile is found in the traversal area, or the search of the contour area of ​​all traversal points is completed.

9. A sweeping robot, comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that: When the processor executes the computer program, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 are implemented.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 are implemented.

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