High-precision 3D scanning system having feeding monitoring function

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention is a high-precision 3D scanning system having a feeding monitoring function, comprising at least one 3D scanning device mounted on a container, wherein the container is provided with at least one feeding port, and the 3D scanning device is used for: scanning the surface of a material in the container within a first preset angle range along a first set direction during a non-feeding time period, so as to measure a material feature parameter, and scanning a material flow within a second preset angle range along a second set direction during a feeding time period, so as to obtain a material flow parameter. According to the present invention, material scanning is performed depending on the time period, enabling the 3D scanning device to scan the material during the non-feeding time period and measure the material feature parameter and to scan the material flow during the feeding time period and obtain the material flow parameter, thereby making full use of measurement resources of the 3D scanning device, avoiding the waste of measurement resources of 3D scanning devices in the prior art, and making measurement scanning data of the material more accurate by means of time period-based scanning, i.e., using different scanning modes during different time periods.

Description

High-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of material monitoring, and in particular to a high-precision 3D scanning system with a feeding monitoring function. Background Art

[0002] Existing three-dimensional scanning systems for monitoring material parameters in containers are mostly used to measure parameters such as the surface three-dimensional shape, volume, and mass of the materials in the container. However, when the container holding the material is in a feeding state, on the one hand, the above parameters are in a fluctuating state, and the three-dimensional scanning system's measurement is not accurate enough. On the other hand, the material flow in the container will block the measurement signal of the three-dimensional scanning system. Therefore, when the existing three-dimensional scanning system measures the relevant parameters of the material during the container feeding process, it is difficult to ensure the accuracy of its output results. In addition, the feeding time of some large storage tanks, silos and other containers is usually long, and the existing three-dimensional scanning system continues to measure the material during the feeding period, which will result in a large amount of measurement resource waste in the existing three-dimensional scanning system during the feeding period. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is at least to overcome the defects in the above-mentioned background technology and provide a high-precision 3D scanning system with feeding monitoring function.

[0004] A high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function, comprising:

[0005] At least one scanning device is mounted on the container; the container is provided with at least one feed port, and one or more of the at least one scanning device is used to scan the surface of the material in the container within a corresponding first preset angle range along a corresponding first set direction during a non-feeding period to measure material characteristic parameters; and to scan the material flow within a corresponding second preset angle range along a corresponding second set direction during a feeding period to obtain material flow parameters;

[0006] Wherein, the first preset angle range is not smaller than the second preset angle range.

[0007] Optionally, one or more of the at least one scanning device is further configured to scan the material flow within the corresponding third preset angle range and a portion of the material below the corresponding feed port along the corresponding second set direction during the feeding period to obtain material flow parameters and a material level below the corresponding feed port;

[0008] Wherein, the third preset angle range is not greater than the first preset angle range.

[0009] Optionally, one or more of the at least one scanning device is also used to at least determine the second preset angle range based on the relative position relationship between its own installation position and the feed port, and then based on the measurement information of the second preset angle range, determine whether the current time period is the feeding time period or the non-feeding time period.

[0010] Optionally, the material flow parameters include at least one of material flow state, material flow velocity, material flow density, material flow rate, feeding time, feeding quality, feeding volume, distance between the material flow and the 3D scanning device, and feeding area.

[0011] Optionally, the material characteristic parameters include at least one of the three-dimensional shape of the material surface, material volume, material mass, maximum material level, minimum material level and average material level.

[0012] Optionally, the non-feeding period includes a period during which the container is unloading and a period during which the container is neither feeding nor unloading.

[0013] Optionally, the scanning device example includes at least one of a 3D microwave scanning radar and a 3D microwave multi-point radar.

[0014] Optionally, the scanning device includes a multi-angle measurement module and a processing module;

[0015] The multi-angle measurement module is configured to emit first measurement signals from a plurality of first angles during the non-feeding period and receive a first echo signal formed by at least one reflection of each first measurement signal from the material surface; and emit second measurement signals from a plurality of second angles during the feeding period and receive a second echo signal formed by at least one reflection of each second measurement signal from the material flow.

[0016] The processing module is connected to the multi-angle measurement module, and is at least used to obtain and parse material point cloud data based on multiple first reflection signals during the non-feeding period, and then obtain the material characteristic parameters based on the material point cloud data; and obtain and parse the material flow parameters based on multiple second reflection signals during the feeding period.

[0017] Optionally, the multi-angle measurement module includes a signal transceiver unit and a motion unit;

[0018] The signal transceiver unit is provided on the motion unit and is configured to transmit the first measurement signal during the non-feeding period, so that the first echo signal formed by the first measurement signal at least being reflected by the material surface is received by the signal transceiver unit; and transmit the second measurement signal during the feeding period, so that the second echo signal formed by the second measurement signal at least being reflected by the material flow is received by the signal transceiver unit;

[0019] The motion unit is at least configured to drive the signal transceiver unit to scan the material surface according to a first preset motion logic during the non-feeding period; and to drive the signal transceiver unit to scan the material flow within the second preset angle range along the second set direction according to a second preset motion logic during the feeding period;

[0020] The processing module is respectively connected to the signal transceiver unit and the motion unit, and is at least specifically used to control the motion unit to move according to the first preset motion logic or the second preset motion logic during the non-feeding period or the feeding period; and to generate a first control signal or a second control signal during the non-feeding period or the feeding period, so that the signal transceiver unit transmits the first measurement signal or the second measurement signal accordingly; and, in the non-feeding period, obtain and parse the material point cloud data based on multiple first reverberation signals, and then obtain the material characteristic parameters based on the material point cloud data; and, in the feeding period, obtain and parse the material flow parameters based on multiple second reverberation signals.

[0021] Optionally, the processing module includes a central control unit, an analog-to-digital conversion unit, a signal amplification unit and a signal conversion unit;

[0022] The signal conversion unit is connected to the signal transceiver unit, the central control unit, and the signal amplification unit, respectively, and is used at least to generate the second measurement signal according to the second control signal issued by the central control unit during the feeding period and transmit the second measurement signal to the signal transceiver unit, so that the signal transceiver unit transmits the second measurement signal during the feeding period; and receive the second echo signal uploaded by the signal transceiver unit during the feeding period, generate a second mixing signal according to the second echo signal, and transmit the second mixing signal to the signal amplification unit.

[0023] The central control unit is connected to the signal amplification unit through the analog-to-digital conversion unit, and is at least used to obtain characteristic information of the second echo signal according to the second mixing signal amplified and processed by the signal amplification unit and subjected to analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit during the feeding period, thereby parsing the material flow parameters.

[0024] Optionally, the signal conversion unit includes a frequency mixing subunit and a local oscillator unit;

[0025] The local oscillator unit is connected to the frequency mixing subunit and is used to transmit the generated local oscillator signal to the frequency mixing subunit;

[0026] The mixing subunit is connected between the signal amplifying unit and the signal transceiver unit, and is used to receive the second echo signal uploaded by the signal transceiver unit corresponding to the feeding period; and, during the feeding period, mix the local oscillator signal and the second echo signal to obtain the second mixing signal, and transmit the second mixing signal to the signal amplifying unit.

[0027] Optionally, the measurement signal emitted by the scanning device during the feeding period is at least a fixed-frequency signal, and the central control unit performs a one-dimensional Fourier transform operation on the second mixing signal after amplification and processing by the signal amplification unit and analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit at least during the feeding period to obtain characteristic information of the second echo signal, and then parse out the material flow parameters.

[0028] Optionally, the measurement signal emitted by the scanning device during the feeding period is at least a continuous frequency modulation signal, and the central control unit performs a two-dimensional Fourier transform operation on the second mixing signal after amplification and processing by the signal amplification unit and analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit at least during the feeding period to obtain characteristic information of the second echo signal, and then parse out the material flow parameters.

[0029] Optionally, the 3D scanning system further includes a human-computer interaction device and a power supply device;

[0030] The human-computer interaction device is connected to at least each of the scanning devices that generates the material flow parameters, and is at least used to visually display the feeding data of the container according to the material flow parameters;

[0031] The power supply device is respectively connected to the human-computer interaction device and each of the scanning devices, and is at least used to access external power supply and convert the external power supply into multi-level operating voltage to maintain the normal operation of the 3D scanning system.

[0032] In summary, the high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring functionality provided by the present invention comprises one or more scanning devices within at least one scanning device that perform scanning operations according to time periods; scans materials and measures material characteristic parameters during non-feeding periods, and scans the material flow and obtains material flow parameters during feeding periods, effectively enhancing the measurement resource utilization of the 3D scanning system. Furthermore, to address the issue of existing three-dimensional scanning systems being unable to guarantee measurement accuracy due to factors such as material fluctuations and material flow obstruction signals during the feeding process, the present invention can calibrate and compensate for changes in material characteristic parameters within a certain feeding period using the material flow parameters measured by one or more scanning devices performing scanning operations according to time periods, thereby improving the measurement accuracy of the 3D scanning system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of a high-precision 3D scanning system with a feed monitoring function according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a scanning device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a multi-angle measurement module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a processing module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a signal conversion unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a scanning device according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of a high-precision 3D scanning system with a feed monitoring function according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in combination with the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 1 , an embodiment of the present invention provides a high-precision 3D scanning system with a feed monitoring function, comprising: at least one scanning device 20 mounted on a container 10; the container is provided with at least one feed port 110; one or more of the at least one scanning device 20 is configured to scan the surface of the material in the container 10 within a corresponding first preset angular range along a corresponding first set direction during a non-feeding period to measure characteristic parameters of the material; and to scan the material flow 30 within a corresponding second preset angular range along a corresponding second set direction during a feeding period to obtain material flow parameters;

[0042] The first preset angle range is not smaller than the second preset angle range.

[0043] The container can be a silo, a storage tank, etc., and the material is preferably a solid material.

[0044] Optionally, the material flow parameters include at least one of material flow state, material flow velocity, material flow density, material flow rate, feeding time, feeding mass, feeding volume, distance between the material flow and the 3D scanning device, and feeding area. Specifically, the material flow state may refer to whether or not a material flow exists.

[0045] Optionally, the material characteristic parameters include at least one of the three-dimensional shape of the material surface, the material volume, the material mass, the highest material level, the lowest material level and the average material level.

[0046] In the present invention, the non-feeding period may refer to a period when the container is not feeding but only discharging, or a period when the container is neither feeding nor discharging. Accordingly, the feeding period may include a period when the container is not discharging but only feeding, or a period when the container is both feeding and discharging. In some embodiments, optionally, one or more of the at least one scanning device is also used to determine a second preset angle range based on the relative position relationship between its own installation position and the feed port, and then determine whether the current period is a feeding period or a non-feeding period based on the measurement information of the second preset angle range. The measurement information may refer to distance information. If the distance information of the second preset angle range determined by the scanning device remains unchanged or changes very little, it means that the current period is a non-feeding period; on the contrary, if the distance information of the second preset angle range determined by the scanning device is always in a changing state, it means that the current period is a feeding period.

[0047] For different second set directions and / or second preset angle ranges, the scanning device can perform fixed-point scanning (i.e., the second set direction is fixed and the second preset angle range is a single angle) or multi-point scanning (for example, the second set direction and the second preset angle range are both variable) on the material flow during the feeding period.

[0048] The high-precision 3D scanning system with feeding monitoring function provided in the present application comprises at least one scanning device, in which one or more scanning devices perform scanning work according to time periods; during the non-feeding period, the material is scanned and the material characteristic parameters are measured; during the feeding period, the material flow is scanned and the material flow parameters are obtained; and the measurement resource utilization of the 3D scanning system is effectively enhanced.

[0049] In order to address the problem that existing three-dimensional scanning systems are unable to guarantee measurement accuracy due to factors such as material fluctuations and material flow obstruction signals during the feeding process, the present invention measures material flow parameters in a certain feeding period by one or more scanning devices that perform scanning work in time periods. Based on the material flow parameters, the changes in material characteristic parameters within the feeding period can be judged, which is conducive to improving the measurement accuracy of the 3D scanning system.

[0050] Furthermore, if a 3D scanning system includes multiple scanning devices, and the multiple scanning devices include both scanning devices that perform scanning operations according to time periods and scanning devices that do not perform scanning operations according to time periods (i.e., scanning devices that always measure the material surface regardless of changes in the container's feeding and unloading status), then the two scanning devices constitute a redundant design. Specifically, the 3D scanning system can, on the one hand, determine the changes in material characteristic parameters within a feeding period based on the material flow parameters measured by the scanning device that performs scanning operations according to time periods (for example, if the container only involves feeding, the feed volume can be calculated given the known material flow rate and feeding duration; if the container involves feeding and unloading, the discharge parameters can be obtained through the container discharge system based on the obtained material flow parameters, ultimately determining the changes in the material characteristic parameters). Furthermore, the 3D scanning system can also directly measure the changes in material characteristic parameters within the corresponding feeding period using the scanning device that does not perform scanning operations according to time periods. The changes in material characteristic parameters within the feeding period obtained by the above two methods can be calibrated and compensated for each other, further improving the measurement accuracy of the 3D scanning system.

[0051] In the present application, the scanning device may be, for example, a 3D microwave scanning radar, a 3D microwave multi-point radar, or other types of 3D radars, without specific limitation.

[0052] The first set direction and the first preset angle, as well as the second set direction and the second preset angle range, can be adaptively selected according to the actual application conditions of the scanning device. The first set direction and the second set direction can be regular (e.g., vertical, horizontal, circular, etc.), or irregularly changing directions (e.g., "Z" shape, "S" shape, "8" shape, etc.). The preset angle range may also vary accordingly with different set directions; it is understood that when the set direction and the preset angle range remain unchanged, the scanning device can perform fixed-point detection of the material or material flow at a fixed angle (i.e., the aforementioned fixed-point scanning).

[0053] For example, referring to FIG1 , FIG1 shows an embodiment in which the second set direction is vertically downward and the second preset angle range a is 15° for material flow scanning. Of course, the scanning device can also be installed in a non-vertical manner, for example, by being installed at a predetermined angle to the top surface of the container, or by being installed in other ways. The set direction and the preset angle range can be adjusted as needed and are not limited to the situation or circumstances shown in FIG1 . For the same scanning device, the first set direction and the second set direction (and / or the first preset angle range and the second preset angle range) can be the same or different; for different scanning devices, since the installation positions of the various scanning devices are different, the set directions and preset angle ranges corresponding to the various scanning devices are mostly different.

[0054] In one embodiment, referring to FIG7 , optionally, one or more of the at least one scanning device is further configured to scan the material flow 30 and the portion of the material 40 below the corresponding feed port within a corresponding third preset angle range β along the corresponding second set direction during the feeding period to obtain material flow parameters and the material level below the corresponding feed port; wherein the third preset angle range is not greater than the first preset angle range. The reason for this setting is that, under normal circumstances, the material level below the feed port is often maintained at a higher level than the material in the area not below the feed port. Once the scanning device detects that the material level below the feed port has risen to a fixed threshold, the scanning device can send a full bin or full tank alarm signal to the central control room or the feed control system, or directly shut down the feed control system to stop feeding the container. It is understandable that the third preset angle range and the second preset angle range can be equal to or different from each other. By the same token, optionally, one or more of the at least one scanning device is also used to at least determine a third preset angle range based on the relative position relationship between its own installation position and the feed port, and then based on the measurement information of the third preset angle range, determine whether the current time period is a feeding period or a non-feeding period.

[0055] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG2 , the scanning device includes a multi-angle measurement module and a processing module;

[0056] The multi-angle measurement module is configured to emit first measurement signals from a plurality of first angles during a non-feeding period and receive a first echo signal formed by at least one reflection of each first measurement signal from a material surface; and emit second measurement signals from a plurality of second angles during a feeding period and receive a second echo signal formed by at least one reflection of each second measurement signal from a material flow;

[0057] The processing module is connected to the multi-angle measurement module and is at least used to obtain and parse material point cloud data based on multiple first echo signals during the non-feeding period, and then obtain material characteristic parameters based on the material point cloud data; and to obtain and parse outflow parameters based on multiple second echo signals during the feeding period.

[0058] The measurement signal may be a microwave signal, and the frequency of the measurement signal may be fixed frequency or continuously frequency modulated.

[0059] It can be seen that the processing module can include a hardware processor, such as an MCU processing device, and a corresponding algorithm software program, which can process the obtained signals and obtain corresponding measurement data (i.e., material point cloud data, material characteristic parameters and material flow parameters) through calculation according to the built-in algorithm.

[0060] The specific structural composition of the multi-angle measurement module can be various. For example, the multi-angle measurement module can be composed of at least one sensor and a mechanical motion mechanism, or can be a phased array scanner, or can be composed of a phased array scanner and a mechanical motion mechanism.

[0061] Taking a multi-angle measurement module composed of a sensor and a mechanical motion structure as an example, in some embodiments, as shown in FIG3 , the multi-angle measurement module includes a signal transceiver unit and a motion unit (ie, the aforementioned mechanical motion mechanism).

[0062] The signal transceiver unit is arranged on the motion unit and is driven by the motion unit to move along a preset trajectory. It is at least used to transmit a first measurement signal during a non-feeding period, so that the first measurement signal is at least reflected by the material surface to form a first echo signal that is received by the signal transceiver unit; and transmit a second measurement signal during a feeding period, so that the second measurement signal is at least reflected by the material flow to form a second echo signal that is received by the signal transceiver unit.

[0063] The motion unit is at least used to drive the signal transceiver unit to move along a first preset trajectory according to a first preset motion logic during a non-feeding period, and scan the material surface within a first preset angle range along a first set direction; and to drive the signal transceiver unit to move along a second preset trajectory according to a second preset motion logic during a feeding period, and scan the material flow within a second preset angle range along a second set direction.

[0064] The processing module is respectively connected to the signal transceiver unit and the motion unit, and is at least used to control the motion unit to move according to the first preset motion logic or the second preset motion logic during the non-feeding period or the feeding period; and to generate a first control signal or a second control signal during the non-feeding period or the feeding period, so that the signal transceiver unit transmits the first measurement signal or the second measurement signal accordingly; and, in the non-feeding period, obtains and parses the material point cloud data based on the multiple first reverberation signals, and then obtains the material characteristic parameters based on the material point cloud data; and, in the feeding period, obtains and parses the discharge flow parameters based on the multiple second reverberation signals.

[0065] Among them, the signal transceiver unit can be any type of microwave sensor, such as a horn antenna type microwave sensor, a microstrip antenna type microwave sensor, etc. The motion unit can perform motion in one or more dimensions such as horizontal, vertical, and pitch. In addition, the preset trajectory, preset motion logic, set direction, and preset angle range are associated, and can all be adaptively selected according to the actual application conditions of the scanning system, and the embodiments of the present invention do not limit this. The first control signal and the second control signal can be transmitted wirelessly or wired; the specific type of the above control signal is related to the communication principle between the processing module and the signal transceiver unit, for example, it can be a level signal. Material point cloud data can refer to a data set that can characterize the spatial midpoint of the material surface; if the number of material point clouds is large enough, the many material point cloud data can be combined to form the material surface, and the processing module can obtain the material characteristic parameters accordingly.

[0066] It is understood that the purpose of the processing module can be specifically as follows:

[0067] On the one hand, the processing module controls the motion unit to move according to the first preset motion logic at least during the non-feeding period; and, generates a first control signal during the non-feeding period to enable the signal transceiver unit to transmit a first measurement signal; and, after obtaining multiple first echo signals during the non-feeding period, parses the material point cloud data according to the multiple first echo signals, and then obtains the material characteristic parameters based on the material point cloud data.

[0068] On the other hand, the processing module also controls the motion unit to move according to the second preset motion logic at least during the feeding period; and generates a second control signal during the feeding period to enable the signal transceiver unit to transmit a second measurement signal; and obtains and analyzes the discharge flow parameters based on multiple second echo signals during the feeding period.

[0069] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG4 , the processing module includes a central control unit, an analog-to-digital conversion unit, a signal amplification unit, and a signal conversion unit;

[0070] a signal conversion unit, connected to the signal transceiver unit, the central control unit, and the signal amplification unit, respectively, and configured to generate a second measurement signal according to a second control signal issued by the central control unit during a feeding period and transmit the second measurement signal to the signal transceiver unit, so that the signal transceiver unit transmits the second measurement signal during the feeding period; and, receiving a second echoed signal uploaded by the signal transceiver unit during the feeding period, generating a second mixed signal according to the second echoed signal, and transmitting the second mixed signal to the signal amplification unit;

[0071] The central control unit is connected to the signal amplification unit through the analog-to-digital conversion unit, and is used at least to obtain characteristic information of the second echo signal according to the second mixing signal amplified and processed by the signal amplification unit and subjected to analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit during the feeding period, thereby analyzing the discharge flow parameters.

[0072] Among them, the signal amplification unit is at least used to amplify the second mixing signal; the analog-to-digital conversion unit can be used to perform signal conversion on the amplified second mixing signal and then upload it to the central control unit; the central control unit can be a system on chip, a single-chip microcomputer, a DSP processor, etc.; the analog-to-digital conversion unit can adopt any type of AD conversion circuit; the signal amplification unit can be any type of signal amplification circuit; the control signal sent by the central control unit can at least include signal frequency information, signal amplitude information and signal width information, etc.

[0073] Exemplarily, the analog-to-digital conversion unit can sample the second mixing signal to generate a second sampling signal. Specifically, the analog-to-digital conversion unit can sample the second mixing signal and convert the signal type of the second mixing signal from an analog signal to a discrete digital signal, which is the second sampling signal.

[0074] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG5 , the signal conversion unit includes a frequency mixing subunit and a local oscillator unit;

[0075] A local oscillator unit, connected to the frequency mixing subunit, and configured to transmit the generated local oscillator signal to the frequency mixing subunit;

[0076] The mixing subunit is connected between the signal amplification unit and the signal transceiver unit, and is used to receive the second echo signal uploaded by the signal transceiver unit during the feeding period; and during the feeding period, mix the local oscillator signal and the second echo signal to obtain a second mixed signal, and transmit the second mixed signal to the signal amplification unit.

[0077] As can be seen, if the local oscillator signal is a continuously frequency modulated signal, the frequency of the local oscillator signal can, but is not limited to, linearly vary over time, i.e., linear frequency modulation. It is understood that there is a frequency difference between the local oscillator signal and the second echo signal. Based on this, the second mixing signal refers to a signal that can represent the frequency difference between the local oscillator signal and the second echo signal. Generally, the frequency of the mixing signal is relatively low, so the second mixing signal requires a lower sampling rate for the analog-to-digital conversion unit, which helps reduce the hardware cost of the scanning system.

[0078] In some embodiments, the measurement signal (i.e., the second measurement signal) emitted by the scanning device during the feeding period uses at least a fixed-frequency signal (the local oscillator signal is also a fixed-frequency signal at this time). When using a fixed-frequency signal, the central control unit performs a one-dimensional Fourier transform operation on the second mixed signal after amplification processing by the signal amplification unit and analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit at least during the feeding period to obtain characteristic information of the second echo signal, and then analyze the discharge flow parameters.

[0079] Since the material flow is flowing during the feeding period, the second measurement signal is reflected by the material flow to form a second echo signal. Under the action of the Doppler effect, there is a difference frequency between the second echo signal and the second measurement signal of fixed frequency. The scanning device obtains the characteristic information of the second echo signal by performing a one-dimensional Fourier transform operation on the second mixed signal after amplification by the signal amplification unit and analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit, and thus can at least parse the material flow state and material flow velocity.

[0080] In some embodiments, the measurement signal emitted by the scanning device during the feeding period uses at least a continuous frequency modulation signal; when using the continuous frequency modulation signal, the central control unit performs a two-dimensional Fourier transform operation on the second mixed signal after amplification and processing by the signal amplification unit and analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit at least during the feeding period to obtain characteristic information of the second echo signal, and then analyze the discharge flow parameters.

[0081] Because the material flow is fluid during the feeding period, the Doppler effect creates a difference frequency between the continuously modulated frequency signal and the echo signal formed by the material flow. The scanning device performs a one-dimensional Fourier transform in the first direction on the second mixed signal, which has been amplified by the signal amplification unit and converted by the analog-to-digital conversion unit. This produces multiple echo curves. These echo curves are then subjected to a one-dimensional Fourier transform in the second direction to obtain velocity information. Based on this information, the scanning device can analyze the material flow status, the distance between the material flow and the scanning device, and the material flow velocity.

[0082] Based on the obtained material flow velocity, the scanning device can also estimate the material flow density or the material flow cross-sectional area according to the intensity of the second echo signal (for example, the amplitude). At this time, the material flow rate can be roughly obtained based on the material flow velocity and the material flow cross-sectional area, and the feed mass can be determined based on the material flow rate and the feeding time. Finally, the feed volume can be calculated based on the feed mass and the material flow density.

[0083] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG6 , the 3D scanning system further includes a human-machine interface device and a power supply device. The human-machine interface device is connected to at least each scanning device that generates material flow parameters and is used to visually display the container's feeding data based on the material flow parameters. For example, a tank image is output and displayed on the display device of the human-machine interface module (e.g., a CRT display, LCD display, LED display, etc.). During feeding, the display shows that the material flow is being injected into the tank. The duration of each feeding, real-time material flow speed, real-time material flow rate, single feeding mass, single feeding volume, etc. can be displayed next to the tank image. Of course, the human-machine interface device can also establish a connection with the container discharge system (e.g., a belt scale system) to similarly display parameters such as the discharge duration, discharge speed, discharge flow rate, and discharge volume during container discharge.

[0084] The power supply device is connected to the human-computer interaction device and each scanning device respectively, and is used at least to connect to the external power supply (the external power supply can be, for example, AC power) and convert the external power supply into a multi-level working voltage (the multi-level working voltage can be used to ensure the steady-state operation of the aforementioned central control unit, analog-to-digital conversion unit, signal amplification unit and signal conversion unit, etc. For example, the multi-level working voltage can include multiple voltage levels such as 3.3V, 5V, ±12V, ±15V or 24V) to maintain the normal operation of the 3D scanning system.

[0085] The power supply device can also be an AC power supply module or a battery module, without specific limitation. The human-computer interaction device can include a control host and a display connected to the control host. The control host is a server or a computer with data processing, image processing and calculation functions, and has built-in corresponding processing programs to realize the data processing function, image processing function and visual display of the feeding and / or discharging data of the container of the present invention. At the same time, it is equipped with an external input device, and the user inputs control parameters or instructions to realize the control of the device.

[0086] In summary, the high-precision 3D scanning system with feeding monitoring function provided by the present application comprises one or more scanning devices in at least one scanning device that perform scanning work according to time periods; scans materials and measures material characteristic parameters during non-feeding periods, and scans material flow and obtains material flow parameters during feeding periods; effectively enhancing the measurement resource utilization of the 3D scanning system.

[0087] In order to address the problem that existing three-dimensional scanning systems are unable to guarantee measurement accuracy due to factors such as material fluctuations and material flow obstruction signals during the feeding process, the present invention measures material flow parameters in a certain feeding period by one or more scanning devices that perform scanning work in time periods. Based on the material flow parameters, the changes in material characteristic parameters within the feeding period can be judged, which is conducive to improving the measurement accuracy of the 3D scanning system.

[0088] Furthermore, if a 3D scanning system includes multiple scanning devices, and the multiple scanning devices include both scanning devices that perform scanning operations according to time periods and scanning devices that do not perform scanning operations according to time periods (i.e., scanning devices that always measure the material surface regardless of changes in the container's feeding and unloading status), then the two scanning devices constitute a redundant design. Specifically, the 3D scanning system can, on the one hand, determine the changes in material characteristic parameters within a feeding period based on the material flow parameters measured by the scanning device that performs scanning operations according to time periods (for example, if the container only involves feeding, the feed volume can be calculated given the known material flow rate and feeding duration; if the container involves feeding and unloading, the discharge parameters can be obtained through the container discharge system based on the obtained material flow parameters, ultimately determining the changes in the material characteristic parameters). Furthermore, the 3D scanning system can also directly measure the changes in material characteristic parameters within the corresponding feeding period using the scanning device that does not perform scanning operations according to time periods. The changes in material characteristic parameters within the feeding period obtained by the above two methods can be calibrated and compensated for each other, further improving the measurement accuracy of the 3D scanning system.

[0089] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. High-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function, characterized by: include: At least one scanning device is mounted on the container; the container is provided with at least one feeding port, and one or more of the at least one scanning device is used to scan the surface of the material in the container within a corresponding first preset angle range along a corresponding first set direction during a non-feeding period to measure characteristic parameters of the material; and, scanning the material flow within the corresponding second preset angle range along the corresponding second set direction during the feeding period to obtain material flow parameters; Wherein, the first preset angle range is not smaller than the second preset angle range.

2. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 1, characterized in that: One or more of the at least one scanning device is further configured to scan the material flow within the corresponding third preset angle range and the portion of the material below the corresponding feed port along the corresponding second set direction during the feeding period to obtain material flow parameters and the material level below the corresponding feed port; Wherein, the third preset angle range is not greater than the first preset angle range.

3. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 1, characterized in that: One or more of the at least one scanning device is at least further used to determine the second preset angle range based on the relative position relationship between its own installation position and the feed port, and then based on the measurement information of the second preset angle range, determine whether the current time period is the feeding time period or the non-feeding time period.

4. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material flow parameters include at least one of material flow state, material flow velocity, material flow density, material flow rate, feeding time, feeding quality, feeding volume, distance between the material flow and the 3D scanning device, and feeding area.

5. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material characteristic parameters include at least one of the three-dimensional shape of the material surface, the material volume, the material mass, the highest material level, the lowest material level and the average material level.

6. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The non-feeding period includes a period during which the container is unloading and a period during which the container is neither loading nor unloading.

7. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The scanning device includes at least one of a 3D microwave scanning radar and a 3D microwave multi-point radar.

8. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The scanning device includes a multi-angle measurement module and a processing module; The multi-angle measurement module is configured to emit first measurement signals from a plurality of first angles during the non-feeding period, and receive a first echo signal formed by each of the first measurement signals being reflected by at least the material surface; and, during the feeding period, emitting second measurement signals from a plurality of second angles, and receiving a second echo signal formed by each second measurement signal being reflected by at least the material flow; The processing module is connected to the multi-angle measurement module and is at least used to obtain material point cloud data during the non-feeding period and parse the material point cloud data according to the plurality of first reverberation signals, and then obtain the material characteristic parameters based on the material point cloud data; Furthermore, the material flow parameters are acquired during the feeding period and analyzed based on the plurality of the second reflective signals.

9. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 8, characterized in that: The multi-angle measurement module includes a signal transceiver unit and a motion unit; The signal transceiver unit is provided on the motion unit and is configured to transmit the first measurement signal at least during the non-feeding period, so that the first echo signal formed by the first measurement signal at least being reflected by the surface of the material is received by the signal transceiver unit; and transmitting the second measurement signal during the feeding period, so that the second echo signal formed by at least the second measurement signal being reflected by the material flow is received by the signal transceiver unit; The motion unit is at least configured to drive the signal transceiver unit to scan the material surface according to a first preset motion logic during the non-feeding period; and to drive the signal transceiver unit to scan the material flow within the second preset angle range along the second set direction according to a second preset motion logic during the feeding period; The processing module is connected to the signal transceiver unit and the motion unit, and is at least specifically configured to control the motion unit to move according to the first preset motion logic or the second preset motion logic during the non-feeding period or the feeding period, respectively; and generating a first control signal or a second control signal during the non-feeding period or the feeding period, respectively, so that the signal transceiver unit transmits the first measurement signal or the second measurement signal accordingly; and acquiring and parsing the material point cloud data according to the plurality of first reverberated signals during the non-feeding period, and further obtaining the material characteristic parameters based on the material point cloud data; Furthermore, the material flow parameters are acquired during the feeding period and analyzed based on the plurality of the second reflective signals.

10. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 9, characterized in that: The processing module includes a central control unit, an analog-to-digital conversion unit, a signal amplification unit and a signal conversion unit; The signal conversion unit is connected to the signal transceiver unit, the central control unit and the signal amplification unit respectively, and is at least used to generate the second measurement signal according to the second control signal issued by the central control unit during the feeding period and transmit the second measurement signal to the signal transceiver unit, so that the signal transceiver unit transmits the second measurement signal during the feeding period; and, receiving the second echo signal uploaded by the signal transceiver unit during the feeding period, generating a second mixing signal according to the second echo signal, and transmitting the second mixing signal to the signal amplification unit; The central control unit is connected to the signal amplification unit through the analog-to-digital conversion unit, and is at least used to obtain characteristic information of the second echo signal according to the second mixing signal amplified and processed by the signal amplification unit and subjected to analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit during the feeding period, thereby parsing the material flow parameters.

11. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 10, characterized in that: The signal conversion unit includes a frequency mixing subunit and a local oscillator unit; The local oscillator unit is connected to the frequency mixing subunit and is used to transmit the generated local oscillator signal to the frequency mixing subunit; The mixing subunit is connected between the signal amplifying unit and the signal transceiver unit, and is used to receive the second echo signal uploaded by the signal transceiver unit during the feeding period; Furthermore, during the feeding period, the local oscillation signal and the second echo signal are mixed to obtain the second mixed signal, and the second mixed signal is transmitted to the signal amplification unit.

12. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 10, characterized in that: The measurement signal emitted by the scanning device during the feeding period is at least a fixed-frequency signal, and the central control unit performs a one-dimensional Fourier transform operation on the second mixing signal after amplification and processing by the signal amplification unit and analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit at least during the feeding period to obtain characteristic information of the second echo signal, and then parse out the material flow parameters.

13. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 10, characterized in that: The measurement signal emitted by the scanning device during the feeding period is at least a continuous frequency modulation signal, and the central control unit performs a two-dimensional Fourier transform operation on the second mixing signal after amplification and processing by the signal amplification unit and analog-to-digital conversion by the analog-to-digital conversion unit at least during the feeding period to obtain characteristic information of the second echo signal, and then parse out the material flow parameters.

14. The high-precision 3D scanning system with feed monitoring function according to claim 1, characterized in that: The 3D scanning system also includes a human-computer interaction device and a power supply device; The human-computer interaction device is connected to at least each of the scanning devices that generates the material flow parameters, and is at least used to visually display the feeding data of the container according to the material flow parameters; The power supply device is respectively connected to the human-computer interaction device and each of the scanning devices, and is at least used to access external power supply and convert the external power supply into multi-level operating voltage to maintain the normal operation of the 3D scanning system.

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