Method for controlling mowing robot, and mowing robot

Abstract

The present application provides a method for controlling a mowing robot, and a mowing robot. The method for controlling a mowing robot comprises: during movement, acquiring an image of an area in an advancing direction of the mowing robot; when high-grass areas are identified, determining, on the basis of a time interval at which the high-grass areas are identified and the sizes of the high-grass areas, whether a preset condition is satisfied; when the preset condition is not satisfied, controlling the mowing robot to pass through each high-grass area in a first movement mode, wherein the first movement mode comprises controlling the mowing robot to turn and controlling the mowing robot to continue to move forwards; and when the preset condition is satisfied, controlling the mowing robot to pass through each high-grass area in a second movement mode, wherein the second movement mode comprises controlling the mowing robot to move in a zigzag or spiral mode. In the present application, the mowing robot can use different movement modes for different high-grass areas, so as to perform centralized mowing on the high-grass areas satisfying the preset condition, and it is unnecessary to move to a current high-grass area again for supplementary mowing.

Description

Method for controlling mowing robot and mowing robot TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of mowing robots, and more particularly, to a method for controlling a mowing robot and a mowing robot. BACKGROUND

[0002] The method commonly used by mowing robots is to use GPS, laser, UWB or other methods for positioning and establishing an electronic map of the lawn, then path planning, and finally path tracking to complete traversal work.

[0003] The existing visual mowing robot, after identifying the uncut area through image processing, usually determines the turning of the mowing robot according to the distribution of the uncut area to perform a through mowing operation. However, when the lawn area is only left with a few clumps of high grass areas that are far apart, the mowing robot using the turning through mowing operation can only cut part of the high grass on the high grass area, but cannot completely cut all the high grass on the high grass area. The remaining high grass on the high grass area will take a long time to be found again, thereby affecting the mowing efficiency.

[0004] SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a method for controlling a mowing robot and a mowing robot, which can save mowing time and improve mowing efficiency. The various aspects involved in the present application are introduced below.

[0006] In a first aspect, a method for controlling a mowing robot is provided, for controlling the mowing robot to walk in a lawn area to perform a mowing operation, the method comprising: during walking, acquiring an image of an area in the forward direction of the mowing robot to identify a high grass area; when a high grass area is identified, determining whether a preset condition is met according to a time interval at which the high grass area is identified and a size of the high grass area; when the preset condition is not met, controlling the mowing robot to pass through the high grass area in a first walking mode, the first walking mode comprising controlling the mowing robot to turn, and after the mowing robot turns, controlling the mowing robot to continue to move forward; and when the preset condition is met, controlling the mowing robot to pass through the high grass area in a second walking mode, the second walking mode comprising controlling the mowing robot to walk in an arch shape or a spiral shape.

[0007] In a second aspect, a mowing robot is provided, comprising: a memory for storing a computer program; and a processor, which, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of the method according to the first aspect.

[0008] In a third aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program. The computer program, when executed, implements the method according to the first aspect.

[0009] The application determines the high grass area meeting the preset condition according to the time interval of identifying the high grass area and the size of the high grass area, and controls the mowing robot to walk through the high grass area meeting the preset condition in a bow shape or a spiral shape. The mowing robot can concentrate on mowing the high grass area meeting the preset condition, so as to completely mow the high grass on the current high grass area, without the need to move to the current high grass area again for mowing, which helps to save mowing time and improve mowing efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a mowing robot according to an embodiment of the application.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a high grass area and a forward direction of a cutter head according to an embodiment of the application.

[0012] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a possible implementation of the method of FIG. 1.

[0013] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of step S310 of the method of FIG. 3.

[0014] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another possible implementation of the method of FIG. 1.

[0015] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of yet another possible implementation of the method of FIG. 1.

[0016] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a mowing robot according to an embodiment of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the application, but not all the embodiments of the application.

[0018] Automated devices are increasingly involved in human life and production. For example, in parks, golf courses, residential areas, and the like, there are usually large lawns for aesthetic purposes. In order to improve the mowing efficiency of the lawns, a mowing robot that does not need to be manually controlled is usually used for mowing operations to mow the high grass on the lawn area, where the high grass is defined as grass with a height higher than a preset value, i.e., grass that needs to be cut.

[0019] The lawn mowing robot, also known as an automatic lawn mower, is a robot that senses the surrounding environment and its own state through sensors, understands and judges the complex environment, makes decisions and plans on this basis, and realizes target-oriented movement to complete certain work tasks. It can either accept user input instructions for operation or automatically run according to the installed program. The method commonly used by the lawn mowing robot is to use GPS, laser, UWB or other methods for positioning and to establish an electronic map of the lawn, then to plan the path, and finally to perform path tracking to complete the traversal operation.

[0020] The existing visual lawn mowing robot, after identifying the high grass area (unmowed area) through image processing, usually determines the turning direction of the lawn mowing robot according to the distribution of the high grass area and performs the mowing operation while walking straight through the high grass area after turning. This mowing method is called the through type operation or the turning through type operation. However, when there are only a few clumps of high grass forming high grass areas far apart on the lawn, and the high grass area is large, the turning through type mowing operation of the lawn mowing robot can only cut off part of the high grass in the high grass area, and cannot completely remove the high grass on the high grass area. The remaining high grass will take a long time to be found again, thereby affecting the coverage efficiency and the mowing efficiency is low.

[0021] Therefore, it is necessary to design a technical solution for controlling a lawn mowing robot with high mowing efficiency.

[0022] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application proposes a method for controlling a lawn mowing robot. FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the method for controlling a lawn mowing robot provided by the embodiment of the present application. The method of FIG. 1 is used to control the lawn mowing robot to walk in a lawn area to perform a mowing operation. The boundary of the lawn area can be predetermined or not determined, for example, the lawn area can be a specified area with an electronic boundary. As shown in FIG. 1, the method for controlling the lawn mowing robot of the embodiment of the present application can mainly include steps S110 to S140, which are described in detail below.

[0023] It should be noted that the size of the serial number of each step in the embodiment of the present application does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application.

[0024] In step S110, during walking, an image of the area in the forward direction of the lawn mowing robot is acquired to identify a high grass area.

[0025] The walking manner of the mowing robot can be a high grass passing type mowing operation or a random type mowing operation. In some embodiments, the mowing robot can mow while walking in the process of identifying the high grass area. In other embodiments, the mowing robot can only walk without mowing, i.e. the cutter head is not started, in the process of identifying the high grass area, and then start the cutter head to mow after finding the high grass area.

[0026] In step S120, when the high grass area is identified, it is determined whether a preset condition is met according to the time interval of identifying the high grass area and the size of the high grass area. That is, it can be determined whether the current high grass area is the target high grass area according to the time interval of identifying the high grass area and the size of the high grass area.

[0027] In the process of walking, the mowing robot can determine whether the lawn area is only left with multiple high grass areas far apart from each other, i.e. most of the high grass in the lawn area has been mowed, and only a few clumps of high grass are scattered in multiple places in the lawn area and far apart from each other, according to the time interval of identifying the high grass area. Different operation modes can be adopted according to the size of the multiple high grass areas far apart from each other, which helps to improve the operation efficiency. For example, for a smaller high grass area, the high grass in the current high grass area can be mowed when the mowing robot walks through the high grass area once, and for a larger high grass area, a fixed-point cutting can be adopted to concentrate on mowing the high grass in the current high grass area, avoiding the time waste caused by moving to the high grass area multiple times to perform mowing, thereby improving the mowing efficiency.

[0028] In step S130, when the preset condition is not met, the mowing robot is controlled to pass through the high grass area in a first walking manner. The first walking manner includes controlling the mowing robot to turn, and controlling the mowing robot to continue to move forward after the mowing robot turns. It can be understood that the mowing robot usually moves in a straight line between any two adjacent turning points.

[0029] The first walking manner can be, for example, a turning passing type mowing operation or a random type mowing operation. In some embodiments, the first walking manner can include multiple turning points, and the multiple turning points are determined in association with at least the boundary of the lawn area and the obstacles, and the mowing robot moves in a straight line between any two adjacent turning points.

[0030] In step S140, when the preset condition is met, the mowing robot is controlled to pass through the high grass area in a second walking manner. The second walking manner includes controlling the mowing robot to walk in an arch shape or a spiral shape.

[0031] In some embodiments, the second walking mode path can be associated with a boundary of the target high grass area. For example, the second walking mode can include a plurality of turning points, and the plurality of turning points are located at the boundary of the target high grass area. The second walking mode is also referred to as a spot working mode for the target high grass area.

[0032] In the embodiments of the present application, when the time interval of identifying the high grass area and the size of the high grass area meet the preset condition, the lawn mowing robot is controlled to pass through the high grass area in an arch shape or a spiral shape to perform spot mowing. The lawn mowing robot can concentrate on mowing the target high grass area that meets the preset condition, and it is not necessary to move to the current high grass area again for mowing, which helps to save mowing time and improve mowing efficiency.

[0033] The method for controlling the lawn mowing robot in the embodiments of the present application will be further described below in combination with some possible implementation manners of the embodiments of the present application.

[0034] In some implementation manners, the step S120 of determining whether the preset condition is met according to the time interval of identifying the high grass area and the size of the high grass area can include: when the time interval of identifying the high grass area twice in succession is greater than a first time threshold or the average time interval of identifying the high grass area more than twice is greater than a second time threshold, and the length parameter of the high grass area is greater than a first length threshold, it is determined that the preset condition is met, otherwise it is determined that the preset condition is not met. The first time threshold is greater than the second time threshold, and the length parameter represents the size of the high grass area.

[0035] For example, the first time threshold can be 90 seconds (S), 80 seconds, and the second time threshold can be 60 seconds, 50 seconds. The average time interval of finding the high grass for a plurality of times (more than twice) is greater than the second time threshold, which helps to improve the accuracy of determining the mowing condition of the lawn area. The first length threshold can be less than or equal to the effective working width of the cutter head, and the first length threshold can be, for example, 0.8 times the diameter of the cutter head.

[0036] The size of the high grass area can be determined according to whether the length parameter of the high grass area is greater than the first length threshold.

[0037] The shape of the high grass area is usually an irregular figure, and in some implementation manners, the length parameter can be the diameter of the largest inscribed circle of the high grass area. As shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2, the largest inscribed circle 211 of the high grass area 210, and the length parameter can be the diameter of the largest inscribed circle 211. If the diameter of the largest inscribed circle 211 of the high grass area 210 is greater than the first length threshold, the lawn mowing robot cannot cut the current high grass area in a single pass.

[0038] In some implementations, the length parameter can also be a maximum length of the high grass area along a direction perpendicular to the mowing robot's advancing direction. Referring to FIG. 2, the maximum length of the high grass area along the direction perpendicular to the mowing robot's advancing direction can be understood as a maximum length between the left side and the right side of the high grass area 210, i.e., a length of a long side close to the cutter deck 220. When the high grass area is irregularly shaped, the maximum length of the high grass area along the direction perpendicular to the mowing robot's advancing direction can be determined by a maximum distance between high grass on the left side and the right side of the high grass area. When the maximum length of the high grass area along the direction perpendicular to the mowing robot's advancing direction is less than a first length threshold, such as 0.8 times the diameter of the cutter deck, the mowing robot can advance along the advancing direction in a straight line to mow all the high grass in the high grass area. When the maximum length of the high grass area along the direction perpendicular to the mowing robot's advancing direction is greater than the first length threshold, the mowing robot can advance along the advancing direction in a straight line to mow only a portion of the high grass in the high grass area, resulting in a large portion of the high grass not being mowed. Therefore, the second advancing manner can be used to mow the high grass area in a point-by-point manner, which can save mowing time and improve mowing efficiency.

[0039] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one possible implementation of the method of FIG. 1. In some implementations, if the second advancing manner is the arch-shaped manner, the mowing robot can be controlled to advance in the arch-shaped manner, which can include steps S310 to S340, which are described in detail below.

[0040] In step S310, a position relationship of a current working point of the mowing robot relative to the high grass area is determined according to an image of the high grass area in the advancing direction of the mowing robot. The position relationship can include, for example, that the current working point of the mowing robot corresponds to a left side of a center line of the high grass area parallel to the advancing direction.

[0041] In some embodiments, the mowing robot can be a binocular vision mowing robot, which can include independent first and second image modules to obtain first and second images of the area in the advancing direction, and use the first and second images to obtain a corresponding stereogram, and then count the number of high grass on both sides of the center line in the stereogram. In other embodiments, the mowing robot can also be other stereovision mowing robots or monocular vision mowing robots.

[0042] In step S320, a first working direction of the mowing robot is determined according to the position relationship.

[0043] In some embodiments, when the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the first side in the advancing direction of the mowing robot is greater than the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the second side, the first working direction is determined as the direction turning from the current working point of the mowing robot to the first side, and the second side is the opposite side of the first side, which can be the left side or the right side. This helps to minimize the missed cutting area.

[0044] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the step S320 of the method of FIG. 3 for determining the first working direction. As shown in the left part of FIG. 4, when the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the left side in the advancing direction of the mowing robot is greater than the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the right side, the first working direction is determined as the direction turning from the current working point of the mowing robot to the left side. As shown in the middle part of FIG. 4, when the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the right side in the advancing direction of the mowing robot is greater than the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the left side, the first working direction is determined as the direction turning from the current working point of the mowing robot to the right side.

[0045] In some implementations, when the difference between the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the left side and the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the right side in the advancing direction of the mowing robot is less than a preset threshold, it is indicated that there is no significant difference between the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the left side and the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the right side in the advancing direction of the mowing robot, and the first working direction is determined as the direction turning from the current working point of the mowing robot to any one side in the advancing direction of the mowing robot. The preset threshold can be a certain percentage of the number of high grasses in the high grass area, for example, the preset threshold can be 1% of the number of high grasses in the high grass area. As shown in the right part of FIG. 4, when there is no significant difference between the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the left side and the number of high grasses in the high grass area corresponding to the right side in the advancing direction of the mowing robot, i.e., the current working point of the mowing robot corresponds to the middle part of the high grass area, the first working direction is determined as the direction turning from the current working point of the mowing robot to any one side.

[0046] In step S330, after controlling the mowing robot to turn to the first working direction, the mowing robot is controlled to move forward along the first working direction. That is, after turning, the robot is controlled to cut grass straightly.

[0047] In step S340, when there is no high grass within the first preset distance in the advancing direction of the mowing robot, the mowing robot is controlled to move to the side where the high grass area is located with a second preset distance as the interval, then turn to the second working direction, and move along the second working direction, the second working direction being opposite to the first working direction. The size of the second preset distance can be determined according to the diameter of the cutter head of the mowing robot and the cutting overlap. The second preset distance can be 0.5-0.8 times the diameter of the cutter head, for example, the second preset distance is the distance of the radius of the cutter head. That is, when there is no high grass in the current direction, the mowing robot is moved to the side to continue the point cutting operation.

[0048] In some implementations, after the mowing robot is controlled to move towards the side with high grass at a second preset distance, and then turns to the second working direction, the mowing robot can be controlled to turn to the third working direction in place, and then run in a straight line along the third working direction to a distance of the second preset distance, and then turn to the second working direction in place, and the third working direction is perpendicular to the first working direction and points to the high grass area. Alternatively, the mowing robot can be controlled to run along a semicircular arc to turn to the second working direction, and the diameter of the semicircular arc is the second preset distance.

[0049] In some implementations, when it is first necessary to turn from the first working direction to the second working direction, the mowing robot can not be controlled to turn by side shifting, but can be controlled to turn in place, and then run in the opposite direction along the previous path, so that the high grass on the first working path can be completely mowed, which helps to completely mow the entire high grass area and avoid missing mowing of the high grass.

[0050] In some implementations, if the second running mode is an arch-shaped mode, the mowing robot can be controlled to run in the arch-shaped mode, and the method can further include a step of ending, that is, the method can include: determining whether any of a plurality of preset ending conditions is met; and when the preset ending condition is met, controlling the mowing robot to stop running in the second running mode.

[0051] 1) The boundary or obstacle of the lawn area is identified. At this time, it is represented that the current grass clump is near the boundary or obstacle of the lawn area, and the point cutting can be stopped, and the boundary or obstacle control logic is executed.

[0052] 2) In the case that there is no high grass on one side and in front of the mowing robot, the running distance of the mowing robot reaches a second length threshold. The second length threshold can be 0.3 meters, for example, which represents that the current grass clump has been mowed.

[0053] 3) The straight line running distance of the mowing robot is greater than a third length threshold, and the third length threshold is greater than the second length threshold. The second length threshold can be 1 meter, for example. The straight line running distance of the mowing robot can be the straight line running distance of the mowing robot along the first working direction or the second working direction at a time, that is, the running distance before each turn.

[0054] Among them, for condition 1) and 2), after ending the point mowing operation, the high grass seeking point mowing is continued. For condition 3), because the shape of the lawn is complex, after the preset condition is met, there are still large areas of lawn that have not been cut, and such large areas of lawn do not need to perform the point mowing operation of the second running mode, and thus the first running mode of the high grass seeking operation, such as the through-type mowing operation, is performed, and the point mowing operation of the second running mode is performed again when the preset condition is met, and the cycle is repeated.

[0055] Fig. 5 is a flowchart of another possible implementation of the method of Fig. 1. In some implementations, if the second walking manner is a spiral manner, the step of controlling the lawn mowing robot to walk in the spiral manner can include steps S510-S530, which are described in detail as follows.

[0056] In step S510, the boundary of the high grass region is determined according to the identified high grass region. In this step, the identified high grass region is the high grass region that satisfies the preset condition.

[0057] In step S520, the spiral progressive route is determined according to the boundary of the high grass region. The spiral progressive route can be determined according to the boundary of the high grass region and the cutting overlap degree.

[0058] In step S530, the lawn mowing robot is controlled to walk through the high grass region in a spiral progressive route from outside to inside.

[0059] In some implementations, before determining whether the preset condition is satisfied according to the time interval of identifying the high grass region and the size of the high grass region in step S120, the method of the present application can further include that the time for the lawn mowing robot to mow the high grass region based on the first walking manner has exceeded a third time threshold, which can be, for example, 1 hour or 2 hours. That is, the mowing work of the lawn region is basically completed, and there can be some missed mowing areas.

[0060] In the present application, when the time interval of identifying the high grass region and the size of the high grass region satisfy the preset condition, the lawn mowing robot is controlled to pass through the high grass region for point mowing in an arch or spiral manner. This allows the lawn mowing robot to perform centralized mowing work on the high grass region, and it is not necessary to move to the current high grass region again for supplementary mowing, which helps to save mowing time and improve mowing efficiency.

[0061] Fig. 6 is a flowchart of another possible implementation of the method of Fig. 1. In the method of Fig. 6, the first walking manner can be a turning-through mowing work manner, and the second walking manner can be an arch manner. When the lawn region is left with only a few clumps of high grass regions that are far apart, each time a high grass region is found, it is mowed in a point mowing work manner, so that the high grass on the high grass region can be completely mowed. As shown in Fig. 6, the method of controlling the lawn mowing robot of the present application can include steps S610-S640, which are described in detail as follows.

[0062] In step S610, during walking, the image of the region in the forward direction of the lawn mowing robot is acquired to identify the high grass region.

[0063] The first walking mode of the mowing robot can be a turning through type mowing operation mode.

[0064] In step S620, whether a preset condition is met is determined according to a time interval of identifying the high grass area and a size of the high grass area.

[0065] In some embodiments, when mowing starts, the binocular vision mowing robot can perform a straight line running mowing operation, and after a period of operation (i.e., a third time threshold), whether the preset condition is met is determined. If the preset condition is met, step S630 is entered; if the preset condition is not met, step S650 is entered. In other embodiments, whether the preset condition is met can be determined when the mowing starts.

[0066] The preset condition can be that a time interval of identifying the high grass area twice in succession is greater than a first time threshold or an average time interval of identifying the high grass area more than twice is greater than a second time threshold, and a length parameter of the high grass area is greater than a first length threshold. According to the time interval of identifying the high grass area, the condition of the lawn area can be known, that is, whether the lawn area is only left with multiple high grass areas far apart. According to the size of the high grass area, an adaptive mowing mode can be adopted, which helps to improve the mowing efficiency.

[0067] In step S630, if the preset condition is met, the mowing robot is controlled to pass through the high grass area in a second walking mode. The second walking mode can be that the mowing robot is controlled to walk in an arch-shaped mode.

[0068] If the high grass area meets the preset condition, the high grass area is a target high grass area, and the arch-shaped mode is preferentially adopted for the target high grass area for point mowing operation. Specifically, the high grass area is turned to the side with more high grass to mow, which helps to reduce the missed mowing area. If the number of high grass on the left and right sides is not significantly different, the mowing robot is turned to either side to start mowing. When there is no more high grass in front of the mowing robot, the mowing robot is side-shifted to turn around and continue the point mowing operation.

[0069] The side-shifted turn around can be a predetermined distance (i.e., a second preset distance) right-angle turn around, or can be based on a semicircular arc running to achieve the turn around. For example, the mowing robot is turned 90 degrees to a third operation direction, runs a second preset distance, for example, a distance of a radius of the cutter head, and is turned 90 degrees again to a second operation direction to achieve the side-shifted turn around. The diameter of the semicircular arc can be the second preset distance. These movement operations can be well completed in a short time by fusing a control inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a wheel odometer.

[0070] In step S640, when the preset end condition is met, the mowing robot is controlled to stop passing through the high grass area in the arch-shaped mode.

[0071] When the following conditions are met, the mowing robot is controlled to stop and pass through the high grass area in an arch shape, i.e., end the current spot mowing operation: 1) a boundary or obstacle is encountered; 2) the straight line operation is performed for a second preset distance, for example, 0.3 meters, on the other side without high grass, and there is no high grass in front; 3) the straight line operation distance is greater than a third preset distance, for example, 1 meter.

[0072] After the spot mowing operation ends under condition 1) and 2), the high grass seeking spot mowing operation is continued. For condition 3), it indicates that the high grass clump is too large, and because of the complex shape of the lawn, there are still large areas of lawn that have not been cut within a given time, and such large areas of lawn do not need to perform spot mowing. The spot mowing operation is stopped, and the through mowing operation or the high grass seeking through mowing operation is performed, and the spot mowing operation is performed again when the preset condition is met, and the cycle is repeated.

[0073] In step S650, when the preset condition is not met, the mowing robot is controlled to pass through the high grass area in the first walking mode.

[0074] In some embodiments, when the preset condition is not met, if the length parameter of the missed grass clump is less than the first length threshold, the missed grass clump can still be mowed in the through mode.

[0075] In the embodiments of the present application, the target high grass area is determined according to the time interval of identifying the high grass area and the size of the high grass area, and the mowing robot is controlled to pass through the target high grass area in an arch shape or a spiral shape for spot mowing. The mowing robot can perform concentrated mowing operation on the target high grass area, and it is not necessary to move to the current high grass area for re-mowing, which saves mowing time and improves mowing efficiency.

[0076] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a component unit / part component unit of the mowing robot provided by the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 7, the mowing robot 700 of the embodiments of the present application can include a memory 710 and a processor 720.

[0077] The memory 710 is used to store a computer program.

[0078] The processor 720 is used to execute the computer program to implement the steps of the method of controlling the mowing robot as described above.

[0079] The processor is the operation and control core of the mowing robot, and is the final execution unit of information processing and program running. The processor 720 can be a general-purpose processor, including a central processing unit, a micro control unit, a network processor, or other conventional processors. It can also be a special-purpose processor, including a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like.

[0080] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. The computer program is used to implement the method for controlling the mowing robot when executed.

[0081] In the above embodiment, the implementation can be achieved by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, the implementation can be achieved in the form of a computer program product in whole or in part. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the flow or function described in the embodiment of the present disclosure is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a machine-readable storage medium or transferred from one machine-readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The machine-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (such as digital video disc (DVD)), or semiconductor media (such as solid state disk (SSD)) and the like.

[0082] Those of ordinary skill in the art can be aware that units and algorithm steps of each example described in combination with the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present disclosure.

[0083] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, "first", "second", and the like are used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to describe a specific sequence, and the size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, the execution order of the processes should be determined according to its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0084] In several embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed system and device can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and there can be another division manner in actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, and can be electrical, mechanical or in other forms.

[0085] In several embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that when a part is referred to as "connected" or "connected" to another part, it means that the part can be "directly connected" or "electrically connected", and another element is involved. In addition, the term "connected" also means that the part is "physically connected" and "wirelessly connected". In addition, when a part is referred to as "including" an element, unless otherwise stated, it means that the part can include another element, rather than excluding the other element.

[0086] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or they can be distributed on multiple network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment.

[0087] In addition, the functional units in various embodiments of the present disclosure can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0088] The above is only a specific implementation of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed in the present disclosure, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a lawnmower robot, used to control the lawnmower robot to walk in a lawn area to perform lawn mowing operations, characterized in that, The method includes: During the movement, images of the area in the direction the lawnmower is moving are acquired to identify areas with tall grass; When a tall grass area is identified, it is determined whether the preset conditions are met based on the time interval between the identification of the tall grass area and the size of the tall grass area. When the preset conditions are not met, the lawn mowing robot is controlled to pass through the tall grass area in a first walking mode. The first walking mode includes controlling the lawn mowing robot to turn, and after the lawn mowing robot turns, controlling the lawn mowing robot to continue moving forward. When the preset conditions are met, the lawn mowing robot is controlled to pass through the tall grass area in a second walking mode, which includes controlling the lawn mowing robot to walk in a bow-shaped or spiral pattern.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of determining whether a preset condition is met based on the time interval between identifying the tall grass area and the size of the tall grass area includes: If the time interval between two consecutive detections of the tall grass area is greater than a first duration threshold, or the average time interval between two or more detections of the tall grass area is greater than a second duration threshold, and the length parameter of the tall grass area is greater than a first length threshold, then the preset condition is determined to be met; otherwise, the preset condition is determined not to be met. Here, the first duration threshold is greater than the second duration threshold, and the length parameter represents the size of the tall grass area.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The length parameter is the maximum inscribed circle diameter of the tall grass area.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control of the lawnmower robot to walk in a bow-shaped pattern includes: Based on the image of the tall grass area along the direction of the mowing robot's movement, determine the positional relationship of the current working point of the mowing robot relative to the tall grass area; Based on the positional relationship, the first working direction of the lawnmower robot is determined; After controlling the lawnmower to turn to the first working direction, control the lawnmower to move forward along the first working direction; When there is no tall grass within a first preset distance in the direction of the lawn mower's movement, the lawn mower is controlled to move toward the side where the tall grass area is located at a second preset distance interval, and then turn to a second working direction and move along the second working direction, which is opposite to the first working direction.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Determining the first working direction of the lawnmower robot based on the positional relationship includes: When the number of tall grasses in the tall grass area corresponding to the first side of the forward direction of the lawn mower robot is greater than the number of tall grasses in the tall grass area corresponding to the second side, the first working direction is determined to be the direction from the current working point of the lawn mower robot to the first side, and the second side is the side opposite to the first side.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Determining the first working direction of the lawnmower robot based on the positional relationship includes: When the difference in the number of tall grasses in the tall grass areas corresponding to the left and right sides of the forward direction of the lawn mower robot is less than a preset threshold, the first working direction is determined to be the direction from the current working point of the lawn mower robot to any side of the forward direction of the lawn mower robot.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The control of the lawnmower robot to move towards the side with tall grass at a second preset distance and then turn to the second working direction includes: The machine turns in place to the third working direction, and after traveling a distance in a straight line along the third working direction to reach the second preset distance, it turns in place to the second working direction again. The third working direction is perpendicular to the first working direction and points towards the tall grass area; or, The machine moves along a semi-circular arc and turns to the second working direction, the diameter of which is the second preset distance.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control of the lawnmower robot to walk in a bow-shaped pattern also includes: Determine whether any of the following preset termination conditions are met; When the condition is met, the lawnmower robot is controlled to stop walking in the second walking mode; The multiple preset termination conditions include: Identify the boundaries or obstacles of the lawn area; When there are no tall grasses on one side and in front of the lawnmower, the lawnmower's running distance reaches the second length threshold. The straight-line running distance of the lawnmower robot is greater than a third length threshold, which is greater than the second length threshold.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Controlling the lawnmower robot to move in a spiral pattern includes: Based on the identified tall grass areas, the boundaries of the tall grass areas are determined; Based on the boundaries of the tall grass area, determine the spiral-shaped route; The lawnmower robot is controlled to travel from the outside to the inside along the spiral-shaped path through the tall grass area.

10. A lawnmower robot, characterized in that, include: Memory, used to store computer programs; A processor that, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1-9.

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