Automatic lawn mower and control method for automatic lawn mower

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an automatic lawn mower, comprising: a moving assembly for driving the automatic lawn mower to move within a working area; a cutting assembly for performing cutting tasks to form a cutting area; and a controller for controlling the automatic lawn mower to operate within the working area, wherein the working area comprises a first area and a second area, the first area being adjacent to the second area, and the boundary between the two areas being a common boundary; the cutting assembly is controlled to perform cutting on the first area at a first cutting height and on the second area at a second cutting height, the first cutting height being less than the second cutting height; when the cutting assembly performs cutting tasks at the first cutting height, the moving assembly is controlled to move along the common boundary, while ensuring that at least part of the cutting area is within the first area. The present disclosure not only avoids missing a spot during cutting along the common boundary, but also prevents the cutting area from excessively extending to the second area, so as to prevent an excessive amount of grass height in the second area from being cut off at once, thereby reducing the risk of the lawn turning yellow due to excessive exposure and water loss.

Description

Automatic mower and control method of automatic mower

[0001] The present disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411252532.4, filed on September 8, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of boundary processing, and in particular to an automatic mower and a control method of the automatic mower. BACKGROUND

[0003] With the continuous progress of computer technology and artificial intelligence technology, the application of automatic mowers similar to intelligent robots is becoming more and more widespread.

[0004] The self-moving device can move and work within a defined work area based on a map without manual operation. However, when there is a high-low grass boundary in the work area, the automatic mower cannot effectively cut at the high-low grass boundary. SUMMARY

[0005] The present disclosure provides a grass cutting area boundary processing method, an automatic mower, and a storage medium to at least solve the problem that the automatic mower cannot efficiently cut at the high-low grass boundary. The technical solutions of the present disclosure are as follows:

[0006] According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, an automatic mower is provided, comprising:

[0007] A moving assembly configured to drive the automatic mower to move within a work area;

[0008] A cutting assembly configured to perform a cutting task to form a cutting area;

[0009] A controller configured to control the automatic mower to work within a work area, wherein the work area includes a first area and a second area, the first area is adjacent to the second area, and the boundary between the two is a common boundary;

[0010] The controller is further configured to:

[0011] Control the cutting assembly to set the cutting height of the first area to a first cutting height and the cutting height of the second area to a second cutting height, the first cutting height being less than the second cutting height;

[0012] When the cutting assembly performs the cutting task at the first cutting height, control the moving assembly to move along the common boundary and make the cutting area at least partially within the first area.

[0013] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the cutting region covers a lateral distance to the second region less than a first lateral threshold, the lateral being perpendicular to a moving direction of the moving assembly, the first lateral threshold being greater than or equal to 5 cm and less than or equal to 30 cm.

[0014] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to control a lateral distance between a midpoint of the cutting region in the lateral direction and the common boundary to be L1 when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height, according to a formula:

[0015] The L1 satisfies a relationship:

[0016] wherein d is a width of the cutting region in the lateral direction, and s1 is the first lateral threshold.

[0017] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to control a lateral distance between a midpoint of the cutting region in the lateral direction and the common boundary to be L2 when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height, according to a formula:

[0018] The L2 satisfies a relationship:

[0019] wherein d is a width of the cutting region in the lateral direction, and s2 is the second lateral threshold.

[0020] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to control a lateral distance between a midpoint of the cutting region in the lateral direction and the common boundary to be L3 when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height, according to a formula:

[0021] The L3 satisfies a relationship:

[0022] wherein D is an overall width of the automatic mower.

[0023] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to control the cutting assembly to perform the cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height and the second cutting height, and control the cutting regions of the two cutting tasks to be tangent or at least partially overlapped.

[0024] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to control the moving assembly to move along the common boundary when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task at the second cutting height, and control the cutting region to be at least partially within the first region.

[0025] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to control at least part of the cutting trajectory not to exceed the common boundary when the mobile assembly performs a cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height to form the cutting trajectory, wherein a cumulative length of the cutting trajectory not exceeding the common boundary is L4, and a total length of the cutting trajectory is L5,

[0026] The L4 and L5 satisfy the following relationship:

[0027] wherein,

[0028] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, a continuous length of the part of the cutting trajectory exceeding the common boundary is less than a continuous length threshold, and the continuous length threshold is greater than or equal to 1m and less than or equal to 2m.

[0029] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first region is defined by a first boundary, the second region is defined by a second boundary and the first boundary, and the common boundary is a part of the first boundary adjacent to the first region and the second region.

[0030] The first region corresponds to a fairway region in a golf course,

[0031] The second region corresponds to a semi-rough region in a golf course.

[0032] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller is configured to perform the cutting task on the fairway region at a first working frequency and perform the cutting task on the semi-rough region at a second working frequency, and the first working frequency is greater than the second working frequency.

[0033] As some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first region and the second region have different attributes, and the automatic mower further comprises:

[0034] A region identification system for identifying the different attributes of the first region and the second region, the region identification system comprising at least one of:

[0035] An image sensor configured to acquire an environment image and determine the different attributes based on the environment image;

[0036] A GPS positioning system configured to determine a current position of the automatic mower and determine the different attributes according to the current position;

[0037] The controller is configured to adjust the cutting parameters of the cutting assembly based on the detection result of the region identification system.

[0038] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides an automatic mower control method, comprising:

[0039] controlling the automatic mower to work in a working area, wherein the working area comprises a first area and a second area adjacent to each other, and a boundary between the first area and the second area is a common boundary;

[0040] controlling the cutting assembly to perform a cutting task to form a cutting area;

[0041] controlling the cutting height of the cutting assembly such that the cutting height of the first area is a first cutting height, and the cutting height of the second area is a second cutting height, and the first cutting height is less than the second cutting height;

[0042] controlling the moving assembly to move along the common boundary while the cutting assembly performs the cutting task at the first cutting height, and causing the cutting area to be at least partially in the first area.

[0043] With the above scheme, when the automatic mower performs the cutting task at the first cutting height, the cutting area at the common boundary is controlled to be at least partially in the first area, which can not only avoid missing cutting at the common boundary, but also prevent the cutting area from extending too much into the second area, thereby avoiding the second area being cut too much at one time (i.e., too much cutting), and reducing the risk of yellowing caused by excessive exposure of the lawn and water loss. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0044] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like elements in the several views. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure, and should not be taken as limiting of the present disclosure. In the drawings:

[0045] FIG. 1 shows a whole system diagram of a working area boundary processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0046] FIG. 2 shows a first working area top view according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0047] FIG. 3 shows a second working area top view according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0048] FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of an automatic mower according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0049] FIG. 5 shows a common boundary change schematic diagram according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0050] FIG. 6 shows a first cutting height expansion schematic diagram according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0051] Fig. 7 shows a first cutting height retraction schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0052] Fig. 8 shows a profile width and public boundary relationship schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0053] Fig. 9 shows a first cutting height and a second cutting height schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0054] Fig. 10 shows a no more than public boundary schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0055] Fig. 11 shows an automatic mower control method of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0056] Reference signs: 1, automatic mower; 2, first area; 3, second area; 4, public boundary; 4', real public boundary; 401, main body; 402, moving assembly; 403, cutting assembly; 404, controller; 5, first boundary; 6, second boundary; 101, cutting track; 101', part of the cutting track not exceeding the public boundary; 91, first cutting area; 92, second cutting area. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present specification will be described clearly and completely in the embodiments of the present specification in combination with the drawings in the embodiments of the present specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0058] As shown in Fig. 1, the overall system diagram of a working area boundary processing method includes a working area and an automatic mower 1. The working area includes a first area 2 and a second area 3. The cutting height of the first area 2 is a first cutting height, and the cutting height of the second area 3 is a second cutting height. The cutting height corresponding to the working area can be automatically recommended by the system or set by the user. The boundary between the first area 2 and the second area 3 is a common boundary 4. Some automatic mowers 1 are configured to perform the cutting task in the first area 2 or the second area 3 first, and then perform the cutting task along the boundary; or perform the cutting task along the boundary first, and then cut in the first area 2 or the second area 3. The present disclosure does not limit the working order. Since the cutting height of each area is defined, when the automatic mower 1 cuts in the area, the cutting assembly (including rotating cutting blades or rolling cutting knives) will be adjusted to the corresponding cutting height for cutting. For the convenience of description, the cutting height of the automatic mower in the first area 2 can be referred to as the first cutting height, and the cutting height of the automatic mower in the second area 3 can be referred to as the second cutting height. When the automatic mower 1 performs the cutting task at the preset cutting height, a cutting track is formed. For the convenience of description, the cutting height of the first area 2 is preset to the first cutting height, and the cutting height of the second area 3 is preset to the second cutting height. The first cutting height is less than the second cutting height. The cutting height is the distance between the lowest point of the cutting assembly and the lowest point of the moving assembly.

[0059] As shown in Fig. 1, the applicant found that if the amount of grass cut at one time is too much, the lawn may dry out during the mowing process. The reason for this drying phenomenon is that the lawn is directly exposed to sunlight after mowing, and the evaporation increases. Due to the rapid loss of water, the lawn will soon appear dry and yellow. In the present disclosure, the first cutting height and the second cutting height are used for cutting on both sides of the common boundary 4. When the automatic mower uses the first cutting height to perform the cutting task, it may cut the grass in the second area 3. When the difference between the height of the grass in the second area 3 and the first cutting height is large, it may cause the grass in the second area 3 to dry and yellow.

[0060] For the convenience of understanding, the present disclosure provides a first working area top view as shown in Fig. 2, which corresponds to Fig. 1. The left side is the second area 3, and the right side is the first area 2. The boundary between the second area 3 and the first area 2 is the common boundary.

[0061] The present disclosure also provides a second working area top view as shown in Fig. 3, which corresponds to a golf course. The first area 2 is defined by a first boundary 5, the second area 3 is defined by a second boundary 6 and the first boundary 5, and the common boundary 4 is the part of the first boundary 5 adjacent to the first area 3 and the second area 4;

[0062] The first area 2 corresponds to the fairway area in the golf course,

[0063] The second region 3 corresponds to a semi-long grass region in the golf course.

[0064] In the golf course, the grass height at the fairway region is low, usually 9-13mm, and the grass height at the semi-long grass region is high, usually 25-38mm. It can be seen that if the fairway region is mowed, the cutting height is 9-13mm, and if the semi-long grass region is mowed using 9-13mm, the single cutting height is large, which will cause the grass in the semi-long grass region to wither.

[0065] As shown in the schematic diagram of the automatic mower in FIG. 4, in order to solve this problem, the automatic mower of the present disclosure comprises:

[0066] The main body 401.

[0067] The moving assembly 402 is configured to drive the automatic mower to move in the working region; the moving assembly 402 is arranged at the bottom of the main body 401 and is used to drive the automatic mower to travel in the working region. Specifically, the moving assembly 402 can include driven wheels, drive wheels and drive motors thereof, and each drive wheel can be independently driven to realize forward movement, backward movement and steering operation.

[0068] Optionally, the moving assembly 402 adopts a four-wheel independent drive structure, and the front wheels or the rear wheels can be provided with independent steering motors for steering to ensure the stability when traveling near the boundary. The moving assembly 402 can also adopt a tracked structure to adapt to rugged or slippery lawn environments. In addition, the moving assembly 402 can also be electrically connected with a position detection unit (such as an odometer, an IMU) to obtain the moving distance and attitude angle of the automatic mower, thereby providing data support for the path correction of the controller 404.

[0069] The cutting assembly 403 is configured to perform a cutting task to form a cutting region.

[0070] The cutting assembly 403 is arranged below the main body 401. Specifically, the cutting assembly 403 includes a rotary cutting assembly 403 or a rolling cutting assembly 403, and the specific form of the cutting assembly is not limited.

[0071] The rotary cutting assembly 403 includes a cutter head and a rotating blade mounted on the cutter head. The cutter head is driven to rotate by a cutting motor, and the rotating blade forms a cutting region with a horizontal width of d during rotation.

[0072] The rolling cutting assembly 403 includes a rolling cutter and a fixed cutter. The rolling cutter is cylindrical, and a plurality of blade edges are arranged on the outer periphery of the rolling cutter in an axial spiral. One end of the rolling cutter is connected to the output shaft of the cutting motor, and the motor drives the rolling cutter to rotate around its axis. When the automatic mower moves forward, the rolling cutter rotates while forming a shearing cooperation with the fixed cutter, and the grass blades are cut off between the rolling cutter blade and the fixed cutter, thereby achieving fine trimming. The length direction of the rolling cutter is perpendicular to the forward direction of the automatic mower, and the effective cutting width of the rolling cutter is denoted as d. Through the cooperation of the rolling cutter and the fixed cutter, a cutting area with a transverse width of d is formed on the moving track of the automatic mower.

[0073] To adapt to the grass length requirements of different areas, a height adjustment mechanism is also included. The height adjustment mechanism can be an electric push rod or a screw rod lifting mechanism, which adjusts the height of the fixed cutter relative to the ground, thereby realizing the switching between the first cutting height and the second cutting height. The controller can automatically drive the height adjustment mechanism to adjust the cutting height according to the different properties of the first area and the second area.

[0074] The controller 404 is configured to control the automatic mower to work in a working area, wherein the working area includes a first area and a second area, the first area is adjacent to the second area, and the boundary between the two is a common boundary;

[0075] The controller 404 is disposed in the main body 401 and is electrically connected with the moving assembly 402 and the cutting assembly 403, and is used to control the operation process of the automatic mower. Specifically, the controller 404 includes a processor, a memory and a communication interface, and the processor executes program instructions in the memory to realize the following control logic:

[0076] The controller controls the cutting height of the cutting assembly 403 on the first area to be a first cutting height and the cutting height on the second area to be a second cutting height, and the first cutting height is less than the second cutting height.

[0077] When the cutting assembly 403 performs a cutting task at the first cutting height, the controller controls the moving assembly 402 to move along the common boundary, and makes the cutting area at least partially located in the first area.

[0078] Accordingly, when the automatic mower performs a cutting task at the first cutting height, the controller controls the cutting area at the common boundary to be at least partially located in the first area, which can avoid missing cutting at the common boundary, and can also prevent the cutting area from extending too much into the second area, thereby avoiding the second area being cut off too much grass height (i.e., too much cutting) at one time, and reducing the risk of yellowing caused by excessive exposure of the lawn and loss of water.

[0079] Specifically, the present disclosure describes the positional relationship between the automatic mower and the common boundary 4 from the transverse direction and the circumferential direction respectively.

[0080] Transverse direction:

[0081] The lateral distance of the cutting region from the second region is less than a first lateral threshold, the lateral being perpendicular to the moving direction of the moving assembly, the first lateral threshold being greater than or equal to 5 cm and less than or equal to 30 cm.

[0082] In the present disclosure, the moving direction of the moving assembly can be the instantaneous moving direction of the moving assembly, and can also be the average moving direction of the moving assembly, and the present disclosure does not limit this. For the convenience of description, the instantaneous moving direction of the moving assembly can be used for description.

[0083] In the present disclosure, for the convenience of description, the cutting region can be an excircle composed of all the cutting assemblies 403.

[0084] As shown in the common boundary change schematic diagram in FIG. 5, since the sensor accuracy of the automatic mower affects the cutting effect in the lateral direction, the first lateral threshold needs to consider the positioning accuracy. In addition, when the automatic mower cuts at the first cutting height, if the lateral distance of the automatic mower entering the second region 3 from the common boundary 4 is large, the real common boundary between the first region and the second region 3 will be changed. After the common boundary is changed for the first time, the lawn in the region between the common boundary 4 and the real common boundary 4' will wither, that is, there is a withering region between the solid line common boundary 4 and the dashed line real common boundary 4' in FIG. 5. If the automatic mower continues to cut along the real common boundary in the subsequent cutting task, the withering region between the common boundary 4 and the dashed line real common boundary 4' will sprout again. At this time, part of the grass in the second region 3 becomes the grass consistent with the first cutting height. From the effect, the common boundary 4 will expand outward to the second region 3 to obtain the real common boundary 4'. The present disclosure also considers the withering width between the common boundary 4 and the real common boundary 4' acceptable to the user. Through a large number of investigations, the withering width between the common boundary 4 and the real common boundary 4' of 5 cm, 15 cm and 30 cm can be restored to the ideal state within a certain period of time. In addition, when the mower cuts the second region 3 at a lower first cutting height, since the grass in the second region 3 is higher, the cutting assembly may be stalled when the cutting assembly of the mower has insufficient kinetic energy. In some cases, an automatic mower can have multiple cutting assemblies, and the multiple cutting assemblies work simultaneously to form a cutting region. The width of the cutting region can generally reach 30 cm. In order to avoid the whole cutting region being stalled, the first lateral threshold can be set to be less than 30 cm.

[0085] In summary, by setting the first lateral threshold to be 5 cm-30 cm, the present disclosure can take into account the influence of positioning accuracy, the withering width acceptable to the user and the influence of stall.

[0086] Since the arrangement of the cutting assembly is different in different scenarios, and the cutting assembly has a movable function in some automatic mowers, the cutting area is difficult to describe, so the present disclosure can be described using the position relationship between the midpoint of the cutting area in the transverse direction and the common boundary.

[0087] As shown in FIG. 6 is a first cutting height outward expansion schematic diagram, specifically: the controller is configured to control the transverse distance between the midpoint of the cutting area in the transverse direction and the common boundary 4 to be L when the cutting assembly performs a cutting task along the common boundary 4 at a first cutting height according to the following formula:

[0088] L1 satisfies the following relationship:

[0089] Wherein, d is the width of the cutting area in the transverse direction, s1 is the first transverse threshold.

[0090] For the convenience of understanding, when the midpoint of the cutting area in the transverse direction and the common boundary 4 is d / 2, the cutting area is tangent to the common boundary 4, if the precision of the automatic mower is high, the cutting area will maintain the state of being tangent to the common boundary 4, and according to the above content, it is known that during the normal working process of the automatic mower, it is difficult for the automatic mower to maintain a high precision state, therefore, the present disclosure combines the above-mentioned first transverse threshold to design the transverse distance L1. Keep the transverse distance between the midpoint of the cutting area in the transverse direction and the common boundary 4 as L1, which can ensure that the influence of positioning accuracy, the acceptable width of the user and the stall influence can be considered at the same time.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 7 is a first cutting height inward expansion schematic diagram, in some cases, in order to ensure that when the automatic mower cuts at the first cutting height, if the automatic mower cuts in the first area direction and feels inward, part of the grass in the first area will be changed to the grass consistent with the second cutting height, in effect, the common boundary 4 will be inwardly retracted to obtain the real common boundary 4'. The present disclosure also considers the acceptable offset of the common boundary 4 of the user, through a large number of user surveys, some users think that 5cm, 10cm, 20cm are acceptable.

[0092] The controller is configured to control the transverse distance between the midpoint of the cutting area in the transverse direction and the common boundary 4 to be L2 when the cutting assembly performs a cutting task along the common boundary 4 at a first cutting height according to the following formula:

[0093] L2 satisfies the following relationship:

[0094] Wherein, d is the width of the cutting area in the transverse direction, s2 is the second transverse threshold.

[0095] For the convenience of understanding, when the transverse midpoint of the cutting area is tangent to the common boundary 4 at d / 2, the cutting area is tangent to the common boundary 4, and if the precision of the automatic mower is high, the cutting area will maintain the state of being tangent to the common boundary 4, and according to the above content, it is known that the automatic mower is difficult to maintain a high precision state during normal operation of the automatic mower, so the present disclosure designs a transverse distance L2 in combination with the second transverse threshold described above. The transverse distance between the transverse midpoint of the cutting area and the common boundary 4 is L2, which can ensure that the positioning accuracy and the user-acceptable inward offset of the common boundary 4 can be considered at the same time.

[0096] As shown in FIG. 8, an outline width and common boundary relationship diagram, due to the particularity of the golf scene, at the common boundary 4, it is possible to design some roads or obstacles, if considering allowing the automatic mower to cross the common boundary 4 to perform the cutting task, it is possible to damage the cutting assembly, therefore, the present disclosure uses a relatively conservative way to set one side edge of the automatic mower near the common boundary 4, since the cutting assembly is set at the bottom of the automatic mower, and the cutting assembly and the edge of the automatic mower exist a certain distance, therefore, after ensuring that one side edge of the automatic mower and the common boundary 4 exist a certain distance, mechanical interference or damage can be prevented, specifically:

[0097] The controller is configured to control the transverse distance between the center axis of the automatic mower and the common boundary 4 to be L3 when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task along the common boundary 4 at the first cutting height;

[0098] L3 satisfies the following relationship:

[0099] Wherein, D is the outline width of the automatic mower.

[0100] In this way, it can be ensured that the side of the automatic mower close to the common boundary 4 is at least tangent to the common boundary 4, or away from it, thereby avoiding the automatic mower crossing the common boundary 4 to invade the second area, which can ensure that the real common boundary 4 does not deviate to the second area side, and also can prevent mechanical interference or damage.

[0101] As shown in FIG. 9, a first cutting height and a second cutting height diagram, preferably, in order to avoid repeated cutting resulting in low cutting efficiency, the present disclosure designs the positional relationship between different cutting areas, for the convenience of explanation, the cutting area formed by the first cutting height is called the first cutting area 91, and the cutting area formed by the second cutting height is called the second cutting area 92.

[0102] The controller is configured to control the cutting assembly to perform the cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height and the second cutting height, and control the cutting regions of the two cutting tasks to be tangent to each other, specifically, control the first cutting region 91 and the second cutting region 92 to be tangent to each other. In this way, the area of repeated cutting can be reduced, and the cutting efficiency can be improved.

[0103] In addition, considering that the positioning accuracy of the automatic mower is not fixed, it is difficult to ensure that the first cutting region 91 and the second cutting region 92 are tangent to each other, and when there is a distance between the first cutting region 91 and the second cutting region 92, grass will be missed, so the cutting regions of the two cutting tasks can also be controlled to at least partially overlap, specifically, the first cutting region 91 and the second cutting region 92 at least partially overlap. In this way, grass can be avoided.

[0104] Preferably, as above, when the first cutting region 91 and the second cutting region 92 are tangent to each other or partially overlap, and the position of the tangent or the supplementary overlap is limited, it is possible that there will be some difference between the actual common boundary and the common boundary 4, causing the actual common boundary to deviate to the first region or the second region, so the position relationship between the automatic mower and the common boundary can be controlled to ensure that the position where the first cutting region 91 and the second cutting region 92 are tangent to each other is at the common boundary, so that the actual common boundary is not deviated, and the user satisfaction is improved.

[0105] In addition, in order to ensure that there is no missed grass in the first region and the second region that is higher than the second cutting height, the controller is configured to control the movement assembly to move along the common boundary when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task at the second cutting height, and make the cutting region at least partially in the first region. In this way, there is no missed grass position near the common boundary, and the overall appearance of the first region and the second region is guaranteed.

[0106] Circumferential:

[0107] In order to facilitate understanding, the nouns are defined first.

[0108] Cutting trajectory refers to the path line actually formed by the cutting region of the automatic mower during the execution of the cutting task, which reflects the trimming trajectory of the automatic mower on the working region.

[0109] Cutting trajectory length refers to the cumulative length of the complete cutting trajectory formed by the automatic mower during the execution of the cutting task along the common boundary. It can be understood as the sum of the lengths of the line segments "walked" by the cutting assembly from the starting point to the ending point. The cutting trajectory length includes the part of the cutting trajectory located on both sides of the common boundary.

[0110] The accumulated length of the cutting trajectory beyond the common boundary refers to the part of the cutting trajectory of the cutting assembly located in the area on the other side of the common boundary when the automatic mower performs the cutting task along the common boundary. The lengths of these trajectories beyond the boundary are summed up, for example, when the cutting task is performed at the first cutting height, the accumulated length of the cutting trajectory beyond the common boundary is the accumulated length of the cutting trajectory in the second area; when the cutting task is performed at the second cutting height, the accumulated length of the cutting trajectory beyond the common boundary is the accumulated length of the cutting trajectory in the first area.

[0111] Similarly, the accumulated length of the cutting trajectory not beyond the common boundary refers to the length of the cutting trajectory minus the accumulated length of the cutting trajectory beyond the common boundary.

[0112] The accumulated length of the common boundary, where the accumulated length refers to the total length of the common boundary along its extension direction, that is, the result of adding up the lengths of all line segments of the common boundary from the starting point to the ending point. Mathematically, it can be understood as the "arc length" of the common boundary. If the common boundary is not a straight line, but is spliced by multiple line segments or curves, then the accumulated length is the sum of the arc lengths of these line segments and curves.

[0113] The first cutting area is formed when the automatic mower cuts at the first cutting height. Due to the change of positioning accuracy with the change of the environment, the first cutting area will inevitably exceed the common boundary. Cutting at the first cutting height in the second area will cause part of the grass in the second area to wither, resulting in insufficient continuity and aesthetics of the common boundary. The cutting beyond the boundary or repeated deviation will cause the boundary line to be uneven and unclear, producing "stepped" or "sawtooth" cuts, affecting the overall appearance of the lawn. Although this situation is difficult to avoid, in order to ensure the cutting quality, the deviation length in the circumferential direction needs to be controlled within a certain range based on considering these errors. Specifically:

[0114] As shown in FIG. 10, the controller is configured to control at least part of the cutting trajectory not to exceed the common boundary 4 when the moving assembly performs the cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height to form the cutting trajectory 101, where the accumulated length of the part of the cutting trajectory not beyond the common boundary 101' is L4, and the total length of the cutting trajectory 101 is L5,

[0115] L4 and L5 satisfy the following relationship:

[0116] Wherein,

[0117] The applicant finds that for the cutting track 101, the cumulative length exceeding the common boundary 4 is divided into two cases, the first case is that the cutting track 101 exceeding the common boundary 4 is continuous, and the second case is that the cutting track 101 exceeding the common boundary 4 is discontinuous. If the cumulative length in the first case is the same as the cumulative length in the second case, the second case will be more beautiful. Therefore, the disclosure designs the continuous length of the part of the cutting track 101 exceeding the common boundary 4 to be less than a continuous length threshold, and the continuous length threshold is greater than or equal to 1 m and less than or equal to 2 m. In this way, the appearance can be further improved on the premise that L4 and L5 meet the designed relationship.

[0118] As some embodiments of the disclosure, the automatic mower generally plans to cut the fairway and the semi-long grass area at a uniform frequency for the convenience of unified planning, but the applicant finds that this will bring bad effects, specifically, the lawn in the fairway area is generally short, and requires a smooth and uniform surface after cutting, and a high trimming frequency is required to maintain the competition standard. The lawn in the semi-long grass area is relatively high, and an excessively high cutting frequency not only increases energy consumption but also damages the natural state of the lawn. If the fairway area and the semi-long grass area are cut at the same working frequency, the semi-long grass may be excessively cut, resulting in damage to the lawn or premature wilting.

[0119] Accordingly, the controller is configured to perform a cutting task on the fairway area at a first working frequency and perform a cutting task on the semi-long grass area at a second working frequency, the first working frequency being greater than the second working frequency.

[0120] In the above manner, the controller adjusts the working frequency according to the region attribute (the fairway area and the semi-long grass area) to meet the maintenance needs of different lawns, cuts at a higher working frequency in the fairway area to keep the lawn low and uniform, meet the high requirements of smoothness and precision for competition use, and cuts at a lower working frequency in the semi-long grass area to avoid unnecessary damage to the lawn and maintain a natural appearance. The lawn can maintain an appropriate state in different areas: the fairway is smooth, the semi-long grass is natural, and the overall effect is beautiful and uniform.

[0121] As some embodiments of the disclosure, existing automatic mowers generally rely on manual preset working modes, lack real-time recognition and dynamic adjustment capabilities for different regions, and manual configuration is not only tedious but also prone to errors due to the large size and load of the golf course. Therefore, the automatic mower of the disclosure also has the function of automatically identifying the first region and the second region, and adjusting the cutting height based on the respective attributes of the first region and the second region.

[0122] The first region and the second region have different attributes, in the present disclosure, the different attributes include but are not limited to the grass height setting, the lawn density, the lawn type, the mowing frequency requirement and the difference of the region use function of the lawn, and the controller automatically adjusts the cutting height, the cutting frequency or the blade rotating speed of the cutting assembly based on the different attributes detected by the region identification system to adapt to the maintenance requirements of different regions.

[0123] The automatic mower further comprises:

[0124] The region identification system is configured to identify the different attributes of the first region and the second region, and the region identification system comprises at least one of the following:

[0125] The image sensor is configured to acquire an environment image and determine the different attributes based on the environment image;

[0126] The GPS positioning system is configured to determine the current position of the automatic mower and determine the different attributes according to the current position;

[0127] The controller is configured to adjust the cutting parameters of the cutting assembly based on the detection result of the region identification system. In the present disclosure, the cutting parameters include the cutting height, the blade rotating speed or the working frequency.

[0128] By means of the image sensor or the GPS positioning system, the automatic mower can distinguish different work regions, such as the fairway and the semi-long grass. The controller can automatically adjust the cutting height, the blade rotating speed or the working frequency of the cutting assembly based on the identification result, so as to ensure that the fairway region is finely mowed at a low grass height, and the semi-long grass region is mowed at a high grass height and a low frequency, thereby avoiding the damage to the lawn or the insufficient mowing caused by uniform cutting. In addition, the region identification system can include both image and GPS modes, which can accurately identify in the scene with obvious optical characteristics, and can determine by positioning when the environment light is different or the vision is limited, thereby improving the identification reliability. The user no longer needs to manually switch the mode, and the automatic mower can automatically adjust the cutting parameters in different regions, so that the operation is more convenient.

[0129] The present disclosure further provides an automatic mower control method as shown in FIG. 11, comprising:

[0130] Step 1101, controlling the automatic mower to work in a work region, wherein the work region comprises a first region and a second region adjacent to each other, and the boundary between the two regions is a common boundary;

[0131] Step 1102, controlling the cutting assembly to perform a cutting task to form a cutting region;

[0132] Step 1103, controlling the cutting height of the cutting assembly, so that the cutting height of the first region is a first cutting height, the cutting height of the second region is a second cutting height, and the first cutting height is less than the second cutting height.

[0133] Step 1104, when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task at the first cutting height, the moving assembly is controlled to move along the common boundary, and the cutting area is at least partially within the first area.

[0134] In addition to the method and the device described above, an embodiment of the present disclosure can also be a computer program product, which includes computer program instructions, and the computer program instructions make the processor execute the steps in the method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure described above in the specification when the processor runs.

[0135] The computer program product can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages to perform the operations of the embodiments of the present disclosure, including object-oriented programming languages, such as Java, C++, and the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" language or similar programming languages. The program code can be executed entirely on the user computing device, partially on the user device, as an independent software package, partially on the user computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server.

[0136] In addition, an embodiment of the present disclosure can also be a computer readable storage medium, which stores computer program instructions, and the computer program instructions make the processor execute the steps in the method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure described above in the specification when the processor runs.

[0137] The computer readable storage medium can adopt any combination of one or more readable media. The readable medium can be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. The readable storage medium may, for example, include but is not limited to an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device or component, or any combination of the above. More specific examples (non-exhaustive list) of readable storage medium include: electrical connection with one or more conductive wires, portable disk, hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage device, magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above.

[0138] The basic principles of the present disclosure are described above in combination with specific embodiments, but it should be noted that the advantages, advantages, effects and the like mentioned in the present disclosure are only examples and are not limited, and these advantages, advantages, effects and the like cannot be considered as the must-have of each embodiment of the present disclosure. In addition, the above specific details are only for the purpose of example and for the purpose of understanding, and are not limited to the above specific details, and the above details do not limit the present disclosure to the above specific details.

[0139] The block diagrams of devices, apparatuses, devices, and systems disclosed herein are merely illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that they must be connected, arranged, or configured in the manner shown in the block diagrams. As those skilled in the art will recognize, these devices, apparatuses, devices, and systems can be connected, arranged, and configured in any manner. Words such as “comprising,” “including,” “having,” etc., are open-ended terms meaning “including but not limited to,” and are used interchangeably with them. The terms “or” and “and” as used herein refer to the terms “and / or,” and are used interchangeably with them unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term “such as” as used herein refers to the phrase “such as but not limited to,” and is used interchangeably with it.

[0140] It should also be noted that in the apparatus, devices, and methods of this disclosure, the components or steps can be disassembled and / or recombined. These disassemblies and / or recombinations should be considered as equivalent solutions to this disclosure.

[0141] The above description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use this disclosure. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but rather to be carried out within the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0142] The above description has been given for purposes of illustration and description. Furthermore, this description is not intended to limit the embodiments of this disclosure to the forms disclosed herein. Although numerous exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those skilled in the art will recognize certain variations, modifications, alterations, additions, and sub-combinations therein.

Claims

1. An automatic mower characterized in that, comprises: a moving assembly configured to move the automatic mower within a working area; a cutting assembly configured to perform a cutting task to form a cutting area; a controller configured to control the automatic mower to work within the working area, wherein the working area comprises a first area and a second area, the first area is adjacent to the second area, and a boundary between the first area and the second area is a common boundary; the controller is further configured to: control the cutting assembly to perform the cutting task at a first cutting height for the first area and at a second cutting height for the second area, the first cutting height being smaller than the second cutting height; control the moving assembly to move along the common boundary and make the cutting area at least partially within the first area when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task at the first cutting height.

2. The automatic mower of any of claims 1, wherein: a lateral distance by which the cutting area covers into the second area is smaller than a first lateral threshold, the lateral being perpendicular to a moving direction of the moving assembly, and the first lateral threshold is greater than or equal to 5 cm and smaller than or equal to 30 cm.

3. The automatic mower of any of claims 1, wherein: the controller is configured to control a lateral distance between a lateral midpoint of the cutting area and the common boundary to be L1 when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height, wherein L1 is determined according to a following equation: The L1 satisfies the following relationship: wherein d is a width of the cutting area in the lateral direction, and s1 is the first lateral threshold.

4. The automatic mower of any of claims 1, wherein: the controller is configured to control a lateral distance between a lateral midpoint of the cutting area and the common boundary to be L2 when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height, wherein L2 is determined according to a following equation: The L2 satisfies the following relationship: wherein d is a width of the cutting area in the lateral direction, and s2 is a second lateral threshold.

5. The automatic mower of any of claims 1, wherein: the controller is configured to control a lateral distance between a center axis of the automatic mower and the common boundary to be L3 when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height, wherein L3 is determined according to a following equation: The L3 satisfies the following relationship: wherein D is an overall width of the automatic mower.

6. The automatic mower of any of claims 1, wherein: the controller is configured to control the cutting assembly to perform the cutting task at the first cutting height and at the second cutting height along the common boundary, and control the cutting areas of the two cutting tasks to be tangent to each other or at least partially overlap.

7. The automatic mower of any of claims 1, wherein: the controller is configured to control the moving assembly to move along the common boundary and make the cutting area at least partially within the first area when the cutting assembly performs the cutting task at the second cutting height.

8. The automatic mower of any of claims 1, wherein: a controller configured to control at least part of a cutting trajectory formed by the cutting assembly performing a cutting task along the common boundary at the first cutting height so as not to exceed the common boundary, wherein a cumulative length of the cutting trajectory not exceeding the common boundary is L4, and a total length of the cutting trajectory is L5, The L4 and L5 satisfy the following relationship: wherein 9. The automatic mower of any one of claims 1-8, wherein a continuous length of the part of the cutting trajectory exceeding the common boundary is less than a continuous length threshold, the continuous length threshold being greater than or equal to 1 m and less than or equal to 2 m.

10. The automatic mower of any one of claims 1-9, wherein the first region is defined by a first boundary, the second region is defined by a second boundary and the first boundary, and the common boundary is a part of the first boundary where the first region and the second region are adjacent to each other; the first region corresponds to a fairway region in a golf course, the second region corresponds to a semi-rough region in the golf course.

11. The automatic mower of any one of claims 1-10, wherein the controller is configured to perform the cutting task on the fairway region at a first working frequency and perform the cutting task on the semi-rough region at a second working frequency, the first working frequency being greater than the second working frequency.

12. The automatic lawnmower according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that, the first region and the second region have different attributes, and the automatic mower further comprises: a region identification system configured to identify the different attributes of the first region and the second region, the region identification system comprising at least one of: an image sensor configured to acquire an environment image and determine the different attributes based on the environment image; a GPS positioning system configured to determine a current position of the automatic mower and determine the different attributes based on the current position; and the controller is configured to adjust a cutting parameter of the cutting assembly based on a detection result of the region identification system.

13. An automatic lawn mower control method, characterized by, comprising: controlling an automatic mower to operate in a working area, wherein the working area comprises a first region and a second region adjacent to each other, and a boundary between the first region and the second region is a common boundary; controlling a cutting assembly to perform a cutting task to form a cutting region; controlling a cutting height of the cutting assembly such that a cutting height for the first region is a first cutting height, and a cutting height for the second region is a second cutting height, and the first cutting height is less than the second cutting height; controlling a moving assembly to move along the common boundary while the cutting assembly performs the cutting task at the first cutting height, and causing the cutting region to be at least partially within the first region.

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