Robot Cleaner Posture Detection Using Vanishing Point Vision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robot cleaners require multiple sensors or expensive equipment like laser sensors to detect their posture and navigate autonomously, which increases costs and limits their adaptability to various environments, including those with uneven floors.
Innovation Solution
A robot cleaner equipped with a monocular camera that uses vanishing point detection and the RANSAC algorithm to classify line segments into a 3D coordinate system, allowing it to detect its posture and navigate without additional sensors or expensive equipment, effectively using a single camera to handle various indoor environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple sensors or expensive equipment like laser sensors are used to detect robot posture and enable autonomous navigation, then measurement precision and navigation reliability are improved, but manufacturing cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The single camera performs multiple functions: it captures images for posture detection, identifies vanishing points for navigation, and provides environmental information. This multi-functional approach replaces the need for multiple specialized sensors, reducing device complexity while maintaining measurement precision through sophisticated image processing algorithms
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces expensive mechanical sensors (laser sensors, multiple cameras) with a vision-based system using a single camera combined with computational algorithms. The mechanical/optical sensing approach is substituted with image processing and mathematical computations to achieve the same navigation and posture detection functions
2Measurement precision
If multiple cameras are used to detect robot posture in various environments, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a single, inexpensive camera instead of multiple expensive cameras. The system compensates for the limitations of a single camera through sophisticated software processing, making the overall system more cost-effective while achieving the required measurement precision for autonomous navigation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the approach from using multiple cameras (hardware parameter) to using advanced image processing parameters and algorithms. By adjusting processing parameters such as vanishing point detection algorithms and line segment classification, the system achieves accurate posture detection with a single camera, reducing manufacturing cost
3Measurement precision
If laser sensors are used to detect robot posture, then measurement precision is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive laser sensors with a vision-based system using a single camera. The mechanical/optical measurement approach of laser sensors is substituted with electromagnetic (optical) image capture and computational processing, achieving comparable measurement precision at lower cost through software-based solutions
4Device complexity
If a single camera is used to detect robot posture in various environments, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision may deteriorate due to environmental variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces vanishing points as an intermediary element for environmental adaptation. By detecting vanishing points in images and using them as reference markers, the system can adapt to different environments (floors, walls, ceilings) without requiring multiple cameras, maintaining measurement precision through this intermediary reference system
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically adjusts processing parameters based on environmental features detected in the image. By changing parameters such as line segment classification thresholds and vanishing point detection criteria according to the specific environment, the system maintains high measurement precision with a single camera across diverse settings
Data Source
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AI summary
A cleaner includes a main body having a suction port, a cleaning unit provided in the main body to suck a cleaning object through the suction port, a driving unit moving the main body, a camera provided in the main body and photographing an image, and a controller detecting a vanishing point related to the image and detecting information related to a posture of the main body based on the detected vanishing point.