Robotic Mower Boundary Following With Adaptive Direction Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mower technologies face challenges in efficiently selecting a movement direction along a lawn boundary, leading to poor mapping quality and increased costs due to high equipment and labor costs for burial cable installation.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that allows a mower to identify a boundary of a target region and control its movement direction based on proximity to the boundary, comparing distances between left and right movement components to determine the optimal direction with the least angle deviation from its orientation, enabling efficient boundary following.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the mower moves according to a preset solution after reaching the boundary location, then the control process is simple, but the mapping quality is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the movement direction adaptive rather than fixed. The controller dynamically adjusts the movement direction based on real-time detection of the boundary's actual direction, allowing the mower to adapt its path to match the true boundary orientation, thereby improving mapping quality while maintaining simple control through automated direction selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback by using the boundary identifying component to detect the actual direction of the boundary and feeding this information back to the controller. The controller then uses this feedback to automatically select and adjust the movement direction, ensuring the mower follows the boundary accurately without requiring complex manual intervention.
2Manufacturing precision
If the mower automatically selects movement direction based on boundary proximity and angle, then the mapping quality improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by enabling the mower to automatically determine and select its own movement direction without external intervention. The controller autonomously calculates the angle between the mower's orientation and the boundary, identifies the direction with the smaller angle, and adjusts movement accordingly, improving mapping quality while avoiding the need for complex manual control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the controller as an intermediary that simplifies the interaction between the boundary identifying component and the movement component. Rather than requiring direct complex coordination between multiple sensors and actuators, the controller mediates by processing boundary direction information and automatically determining the optimal movement direction, thus improving mapping quality without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
3Measurement precision
If burial cable installation is performed to delineate the boundary, then the boundary identification is accurate, but the equipment cost and labor cost are high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical burial cable system with an optical/electromagnetic detection system. Instead of using physical cables buried in the ground to mark boundaries, the mower uses a boundary identifying component (such as a camera or sensor) to detect and identify boundaries optically or electromagnetically, achieving accurate boundary identification while eliminating the high equipment and labor costs associated with cable installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital copy or representation of the boundary through image capture or sensor detection rather than using physical markers. The boundary identifying component captures visual or electromagnetic information about the boundary and processes it to determine boundary direction, replacing the need for physical burial cables with an informational copy that achieves the same boundary delineation function at lower cost.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for selecting a direction, a mower, and an electronic equipment are provided. With the method, a boundary of a target region is identified via a mower. If a distance between the mower and the boundary is determined to be within a first preset range according to the boundary as identified, the mower is controlled to move along the boundary in a movement direction. The movement direction is either a leftward direction along the boundary or a rightward direction along the boundary, which direction has a less angle with respect to an orientation of a head of the mower.