Snow Removal Robot Path Planning for Multi-Area Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automatic snowplows using ultra-wide band (UWB) tag wireless carrier communication are unable to efficiently clean multiple areas in one go, resulting in low snow removal efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A smart snow removal method utilizing GPS-RTK positioning technology to generate a snow removal map, which is then rasterized and converted into a potential field using a breadth-first search (BFS) algorithm. The snow removal robot travels to uncleaned grids with the highest potential energy value and performs snow removal operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If UWB tag wireless carrier communication is used for positioning, then the snowplow can be controlled automatically, but it cannot clean multiple areas in one go, resulting in low snow removal efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning area is segmented into multiple independent grids, each with its own potential energy value. The snowplow can selectively clean multiple discrete areas by navigating to grids with higher potential energy values, enabling multi-area cleaning in one operation while maintaining automatic control through the BFS algorithm that calculates and compares potential energy across segmented regions.
2Productivity
If the snowplow cleans one area at a time, then the positioning is simple, but the snow removal efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces potential energy values as a new parameter for each grid position, calculated through BFS algorithm based on distance from snow throwing areas. This parameter transformation allows the snowplow to efficiently prioritize and plan routes to multiple areas simultaneously, improving snow removal efficiency without requiring complex real-time communication infrastructure beyond the existing positioning system.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a smart snow removal method, applied to a snow removal robot. The method includes: obtaining, through global positioning system real-time kinematic (GPS-RTK) positioning technology, a latitude and longitude coordinates of a target snow throwing area and a target snow removal area, to generate a snow removal map; rasterizing the snow removal map; converting the snow removal map into a potential field: starting from a grid located in the target snow throwing area, and assigning, through a breadth-first search (BFS) algorithm, a potential energy value to the grid located in the target snow removal area in an outward diffusion manner; wherein the potential energy value increases with an increase in a number of diffusion layers; and controlling the snow removal robot to travel on an uncleaned grid with a highest current potential energy value one by one, and performing the snow removal operation on an arrived grid.