Map area division method, autonomous mobile device, and computer-readable medium

Abstract

The present invention provides a map area division method, an autonomous mobile device, and a computer-readable medium. The method comprises: mapping a working area of a self-propelled device to obtain an outer boundary map; identifying inflection points in the outer boundary map, and extracting feature points from the identified inflection points; identifying recessed points from the extracted feature points; determining the visibility of two recessed points, and matching visible recessed points in pairs to generate visible recessed point pairs; on the basis of a relationship between the lines connecting the visible recessed point pairs, performing optimal segmentation; and performing single-point segmentation on the recessed points for which optimal segmentation cannot be performed. According to the present invention, the working area map of the self-propelled device can be segmented according to the outer boundary, and a recessed polygon is segmented into a plurality of protruding polygon sub-areas having more regular shapes, facilitating path planning. The self-propelled device works in blocks according to the sub-areas, so that the number of times the self-propelled device turns while traveling is reduced, the situations in which the self-propelled device gets stuck are mitigated, and the working efficiency of the self-propelled device is improved.

Description

A method for dividing map areas, a mobile device and a computer-readable medium Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of self-propelled equipment area division, and in particular to a method and system for self-propelled equipment map area division. Background Art

[0002] Demarcating the working area of ​​autonomous vehicles is a crucial component of autonomous vehicle technology. In practice, due to irregularities in the original map and the presence of concave corners, the autonomous vehicle may experience excessive turns or become stuck, reducing operational efficiency. Therefore, by rationally demarcating the autonomous vehicle map and eliminating concave corners, the operational efficiency of the autonomous vehicle can be significantly improved.

[0003] There are already some map area division algorithms in the existing technology. However, these algorithms have the following problems: 1) They have not been applied to the field of self-propelled equipment technology and need to be modified based on actual scenarios; 2) They cannot meet actual application needs, and it is not reasonable to directly apply the divided areas; 3) They can only be applied to some scenarios, and current technology cannot directly handle other scenarios.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] In response to the above problems, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and system for dividing the map area of ​​self-propelled equipment. On the one hand, it reduces the number of turns in the planning and cutting process of the self-propelled equipment. On the other hand, through area division, the shape of the sub-area is made more square, thereby improving the cutting coverage rate and solving the problem that the bow path of the ox plowing method cannot cover the entire map.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0007] On the one hand, a method for dividing a map area is provided, which is applied to a self-propelled device and includes:

[0008] Map the working area of ​​the self-propelled equipment and obtain the outer boundary map;

[0009] Get the concave points in the outer boundary map;

[0010] Concave point pairs are determined according to the visibility of the concave points, so as to perform optimal segmentation according to the relationship between the lines between the concave point pairs; wherein the lines between the concave point pairs for optimal segmentation do not intersect.

[0011] Preferably, mapping the working area of ​​the self-propelled device to obtain an outer boundary map includes: the self-propelled device walking along the outer boundary of the working area to obtain coordinates of various points on the outer boundary, and establishing the outer boundary map.

[0012] Preferably, the obtaining of concave points in the outer boundary map includes: identifying inflection points in the outer boundary map, and extracting feature points from the identified inflection points; and identifying concave points from the extracted feature points.

[0013] Preferably, the method further comprises: comparing adjacent outer boundary coordinate points, and if two coordinate points are located in the same row but the column coordinates are changed, or if two coordinate points are located in the same column but the row coordinates are changed, it is considered that an inflection point occurs.

[0014] Preferably, the method further comprises: when the angle formed by the outer boundary lines on both sides of the feature point inside the map is greater than 180 degrees, the feature point is identified as a concave point.

[0015] Preferably, for any two concave points, a line is drawn from one concave point to another concave point. If the line is always inside the map, then the two concave points are visible; and the visible concave points are matched in pairs to generate visible concave point pairs.

[0016] Preferably, the method further comprises: performing single-point segmentation on concave points that cannot be optimally segmented.

[0017] Preferably, the single-point segmentation line when performing single-point segmentation does not intersect with the optimal segmentation line when performing optimal segmentation.

[0018] In another aspect, a self-propelled device is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores at least one instruction, the at least one instruction being loaded by the processor and performing the following operations:

[0019] Map the working area of ​​the self-propelled equipment and obtain the outer boundary map;

[0020] Get the concave points in the outer boundary map;

[0021] Concave point pairs are determined according to the visibility of the concave points, so as to perform optimal segmentation according to the relationship between the lines between the concave point pairs; wherein the lines between the concave point pairs for optimal segmentation do not intersect.

[0022] Preferably, mapping the working area of ​​the self-propelled device to obtain an outer boundary map includes: the self-propelled device walking along the outer boundary of the working area to obtain coordinates of various points on the outer boundary, and establishing the outer boundary map.

[0023] Preferably, the obtaining of concave points in the outer boundary map includes: identifying inflection points in the outer boundary map, and extracting feature points from the identified inflection points; and identifying concave points from the extracted feature points.

[0024] Preferably, the method further comprises: when the angle formed by the outer boundary lines on both sides of the feature point inside the map is greater than 180 degrees, the feature point is identified as a concave point.

[0025] Preferably, for any two concave points, a line is drawn from one concave point to another concave point. If the line is always inside the map, then the two concave points are visible; and the visible concave points are matched in pairs to generate visible concave point pairs.

[0026] Preferably, the method further comprises: performing single-point segmentation on concave points that cannot be optimally segmented; wherein the single-point segmentation line during the single-point segmentation does not intersect with the optimal segmentation line for the optimal segmentation.

[0027] In another aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the storage medium stores at least one instruction, wherein the at least one instruction is loaded by a processor and performs the following operations:

[0028] Map the working area of ​​the self-propelled equipment and obtain the outer boundary map;

[0029] Get the concave points in the outer boundary map;

[0030] Concave point pairs are determined according to the visibility of the concave points, so as to perform optimal segmentation according to the relationship between the lines between the concave point pairs; wherein the lines between the concave point pairs for optimal segmentation do not intersect.

[0031] Preferably, mapping the working area of ​​the self-propelled device to obtain an outer boundary map includes: the self-propelled device walking along the outer boundary of the working area to obtain coordinates of various points on the outer boundary, and establishing the outer boundary map.

[0032] Preferably, the obtaining of concave points in the outer boundary map includes: identifying inflection points in the outer boundary map, and extracting feature points from the identified inflection points; and identifying concave points from the extracted feature points.

[0033] Preferably, the method further comprises: when the angle formed by the outer boundary lines on both sides of the feature point inside the map is greater than 180 degrees, the feature point is identified as a concave point.

[0034] Preferably, for any two concave points, a line is drawn from one concave point to another concave point. If the line is always inside the map, then the two concave points are visible; and the visible concave points are matched in pairs to generate visible concave point pairs.

[0035] Preferably, the method further comprises: performing single-point segmentation on concave points that cannot be optimally segmented; wherein the single-point segmentation line during the single-point segmentation does not intersect with the optimal segmentation line for the optimal segmentation.

[0036] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution provided by the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0037] The method and system for dividing a self-propelled vehicle's map area into zones can segment the device's operating area map according to its outer boundaries, dividing a concave polygon into multiple, more regularly shaped convex polygon sub-areas, facilitating route planning. The self-propelled vehicle operates in blocks of sub-areas, reducing the number of turns required during travel, improving the device's ability to avoid getting stuck, and increasing its operating efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0039] FIG1 is a flow chart of a method for dividing a map area of ​​a self-propelled device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of identifying inflection points and concave points according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of visibility of concave point pairs provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0042] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of optimal segmentation provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of two non-intersecting optimal dividing lines provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of two intersecting segmentation lines and processing of the intersecting lines provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of two non-intersecting single-point dividing lines provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of processing two intersecting single-point segmentation lines provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0047] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of an angle bisector dividing line intersecting a single-point dividing line provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0048] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a system for dividing a map area of ​​a self-propelled device provided in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] To make the purpose, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more clear, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the described embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0050] An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for dividing a map area for a self-propelled device, as shown in FIG1 , wherein the self-propelled device may be a lawn mower, a sweeper, or other device with a self-moving function. The method includes the following steps:

[0051] S1. Map the working area of ​​the self-propelled device and obtain an outer boundary map.

[0052] As an optional implementation, the outer boundary map is marked with multiple coordinate points, and the self-propelled device walks and locates along the outer boundary of the working area, obtains the coordinates of each point on the outer boundary, and establishes the outer boundary map.

[0053] S2. Identify inflection points in the outer boundary map, and extract feature points from the identified inflection points.

[0054] As an optional implementation, when identifying an inflection point, adjacent outer boundary coordinate points are compared. If two coordinate points are located in the same row but the column coordinates change, or if two coordinate points are located in the same column but the row coordinates change, an inflection point is considered to have occurred.

[0055] Taking a certain inflection point as the starting point, only one inflection point is retained every n Manhattan distances to extract the feature points.

[0056] S3. Identify concave points from the extracted feature points.

[0057] Among the extracted feature points, if the angle formed by the outer boundary lines on both sides of a feature point within the map is greater than 180 degrees, the feature point is identified as a concave point, and the corresponding angle is called a concave angle. As shown in Figure 2, the black dot represents an identified concave point, and the lines on both sides of the black dot represent a concave angle, that is, an angle greater than 180 degrees within the shape.

[0058] S4. Determine the visibility of two concave points, and match the visible concave points in pairs to generate visible concave point pairs.

[0059] For any two concave points, draw a line from one concave point to another. If the line is always inside the map, then the two concave points are visible, otherwise they are invisible; match the visible concave points pair by pair to generate visible concave point pairs.

[0060] As shown in FIG3 , point 1 and point 2 are invisible, and point 1 and point 3 are visible.

[0061] S5. Perform optimal segmentation according to the relationship between the lines between the visible concave point pairs.

[0062] The definition of optimal segmentation is as follows: if the line between the visible concave point pairs does not produce new concave corners, then the line segmentation is considered to be the optimal segmentation.

[0063] This step specifically includes:

[0064] S51. arbitrarily connect visible concave point pairs for optimal segmentation to form a first optimal segmentation line.

[0065] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the optimal segmentation. ∠1, ∠2, ∠3, and ∠4 are all less than 180 degrees. The segmentation line forms the optimal segmentation line. Otherwise, it is not the optimal segmentation line.

[0066] S52: If the next optimal segmentation line does not intersect with the first optimal segmentation line, then the segmentation is established.

[0067] As shown in FIG5 , the second optimal segmentation line does not intersect with the first optimal segmentation line, so both optimal segmentation lines (black lines in the figure) are valid.

[0068] S53. If the next optimal dividing line intersects the first optimal dividing line, then perpendicular lines are drawn from the two concave points to the first known optimal dividing line that intersects, and the perpendicular lines are used as the dividing lines.

[0069] As shown in Figure 6, the dotted line is the optimal dividing line but intersects with another optimal dividing line. At this time, perpendicular lines 2 and 3 are drawn from the two concave points to the known optimal dividing line 1, and the perpendicular lines 2 and 3 are used as dividing lines.

[0070] S54. After the segmentation is completed, the concave points are deleted from the visible concave point pairs.

[0071] S6. For concave points that cannot be optimally segmented, single-point segmentation is performed.

[0072] For concave points that cannot be optimally segmented, further single-point segmentation is performed, specifically including:

[0073] S61. Draw a perpendicular line from the concave point to the visible opposite boundary line. If the two new angles generated after the concave point is divided are both less than 180 degrees, then the perpendicular line is used as the single-point dividing line.

[0074] S62: If the single point segmentation line in step S61 does not intersect with the known segmentation line, then the segmentation is established. As shown in FIG7 , there are two single point segmentation lines that do not intersect.

[0075] S63: If the single-point segmentation line in step S61 intersects with a known segmentation line, a perpendicular line is drawn from the concave point to the first intersecting known segmentation line, and the perpendicular line is used as the single-point segmentation line. The known segmentation lines include known single-point segmentation lines and known optimal segmentation lines.

[0076] As shown in FIG8 , when perpendicular lines are drawn from the concave points on the left and right sides to the opposite sides, they intersect with the known dividing line. At this time, perpendicular lines are drawn from the two concave points to the known dividing line that intersects first, and the perpendicular lines are used as single-point dividing lines.

[0077] S64. If a concave point cannot find the perpendicular line described in step S61, then segmentation is performed along the angle bisector of the concave angle corresponding to the concave point, and the line segment of the intersection of the angle bisector of the concave angle and the opposite side is used as the single-point segmentation line; if a known segmentation line is encountered during the segmentation process, a perpendicular line is drawn to the known segmentation line that intersects first, and the perpendicular line is used as the single-point segmentation line.

[0078] As shown in FIG9 , when some concave points 10 and 20 cannot find a dividing line perpendicular to the opposite side, the dividing line is performed along the angle bisector of the entire concave angle. If the optimal dividing line or a dividing line perpendicular to a single point is encountered, the dividing line is vertically processed, as shown by the vertical line segment 11 in FIG9 .

[0079] S65: After all the concave points are segmented, the program ends.

[0080] The segmentation priority in the present invention is: (1) optimal segmentation; (2) perpendicular segmentation; (3) angle bisector segmentation. It should be noted that using (1) or (2) alone can also achieve reasonable segmentation of the map. If the concave corners still cannot be segmented reasonably on this basis, (3) can be used for supplementary segmentation.

[0081] In an embodiment of the present invention, an outer boundary map is obtained by mapping the working area of ​​the self-propelled device; inflection points in the outer boundary map are identified, and feature points are extracted from the identified inflection points; concave points are identified from the extracted feature points; the visibility of two concave points is determined, and the visible concave points are matched in pairs to generate visible concave point pairs; optimal segmentation is performed based on the relationship between the lines connecting the visible concave point pairs; and single-point segmentation is performed for concave points that cannot be optimally segmented. In this way, the working area map of the self-propelled device can be segmented according to the outer boundary, and the concave polygon can be segmented into multiple convex polygon sub-areas with more regular (square) shapes, which is convenient for path planning. The self-propelled device works in blocks according to the sub-areas, which reduces the number of turns the self-propelled device makes during driving, improves the situation where the self-propelled device is stuck, and improves the working efficiency of the self-propelled device.

[0082] Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a system for dividing a map area of ​​a self-propelled device, as shown in FIG10 , the system comprising:

[0083] A mapping module is used to map the working area of ​​the self-propelled device and obtain an outer boundary map;

[0084] an inflection point recognition module, configured to recognize inflection points in the outer boundary map and extract feature points from the recognized inflection points;

[0085] A concave point recognition module, used for identifying concave points from the extracted feature points;

[0086] A judgment module is used to judge the visibility of two concave points and match the visible concave points in pairs to generate visible concave point pairs;

[0087] An optimal segmentation module, configured to perform optimal segmentation based on the relationship between the lines connecting the visible concave point pairs;

[0088] The single point segmentation module is used to perform single point segmentation on concave points that cannot be optimally segmented.

[0089] The system of this embodiment can be used to execute the technical solution of the method embodiment shown in Figure 1. Its implementation principle and technical effects are similar and will not be repeated here.

[0090] An embodiment of the present invention also provides a self-propelled device, which may have relatively large differences due to different configurations or performance, and may include one or more processors (central processing units, CPU) and one or more memories, wherein the memory stores at least one instruction, and the at least one instruction is loaded and executed by the processor to implement the steps of the above-mentioned self-propelled device map area division method.

[0091] In an exemplary embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, such as a memory including instructions. The instructions are executable by a processor in a terminal to implement the above-described method for dividing a map region for an autonomous vehicle. For example, the computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, random access memory (RAM), CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, or optical data storage device.

[0092] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "includes," or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or terminal device that includes a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article, or terminal device. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprises a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or terminal device that includes the element.

[0093] References in the specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an exemplary embodiment," "some embodiments," etc. indicate that the described embodiments may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment may include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. In addition, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, it is within the knowledge of persons skilled in the relevant art to implement such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments (whether or not explicitly described).

[0094] The present invention encompasses any alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and solutions that fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. To provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, specific details are described in detail below in connection with the preferred embodiments of the present invention, but those skilled in the art will be able to fully understand the present invention without these detailed descriptions. Furthermore, to avoid unnecessary confusion regarding the essence of the present invention, well-known methods, processes, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail.

[0095] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps in the above-mentioned embodiment method can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a program, and the program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, a disk, an optical disk, etc.

[0096] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for dividing a map area, characterized in that: The method is applied to a self-propelled device, and the method comprises: Map the working area of ​​the self-propelled equipment and obtain the outer boundary map; Get the concave points in the outer boundary map; Concave point pairs are determined according to the visibility of the concave points, so as to perform optimal segmentation according to the relationship between the lines between the concave point pairs; wherein the lines between the concave point pairs for optimal segmentation do not intersect.

2. The map area division method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Mapping the working area of ​​the self-propelled device to obtain an outer boundary map includes: the self-propelled device walks along the outer boundary of the working area to obtain the coordinates of each point on the outer boundary, and establishes the outer boundary map.

3. The map area division method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The obtaining of the concave points in the outer boundary map includes: identifying inflection points in the outer boundary map, and extracting feature points from the identified inflection points; and identifying the concave points from the extracted feature points.

4. The map area division method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further includes: comparing adjacent outer boundary coordinate points, and if two coordinate points are located in the same row but the column coordinates are changed, or if two coordinate points are located in the same column but the row coordinates are changed, it is considered that an inflection point occurs.

5. The map area division method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further includes: when the angle formed by the outer boundary lines on both sides of the feature point inside the map is greater than 180 degrees, the feature point is identified as a concave point.

6. The map area division method according to claim 1, characterized in that: For any two concave points, a line is connected from one concave point to another. If the line is always inside the map, then the two concave points are visible; the visible concave points are matched two by two to generate visible concave point pairs.

7. The map area division method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: performing single-point segmentation on concave points that cannot be optimally segmented.

8. The map area division method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The single-point segmentation line when performing single-point segmentation does not intersect with the optimal segmentation line when performing optimal segmentation.

9. A self-moving device, comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, characterized in that: When the processor executes the computer program, the control method described in any one of claims 1 to 8 is implemented.

10. A computer readable medium having a non-volatile program code executable by a processor, characterized in that: The program code enables the processor to execute the control method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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