Substation Inspection Robot Path Planning Under Pose Constraints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing path planning methods for substation inspection robots fail to consider road network constraints and robot pose constraints, making them inefficient for high-voltage transmission line inspections.
Innovation Solution
A path planning method that constructs a road network constraint model and a temperature measurement point inspection pose constraint model, using ant colony optimization to determine globally optimal inspection paths and stop points, minimizing time and path length while ensuring all temperature measurement points are effectively reached.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If traditional path planning algorithms (Dijkstra, A*) are used without considering robot pose constraints, then the path length can be optimized, but the robot cannot effectively reach temperature measurement points due to pose limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the path planning problem from a simple geometric path optimization to a constrained optimization problem by incorporating robot pose parameters (position, orientation, pitch angle). The measurement effectiveness is ensured by defining a constraint function that checks whether the robot's pose at each path point satisfies the requirements for effective temperature measurement, thus changing the planning parameters to include both path coordinates and robot orientation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a constraint function as an intermediary between the path planning algorithm and the measurement task. This constraint function evaluates whether a given path point satisfies the pose requirements for effective measurement, acting as a mediator that filters invalid path points and ensures measurement effectiveness without requiring complex real-time pose adjustment during execution.
2Reliability
If the robot stops at every temperature measurement point, then all measurement points can be covered, but the inspection time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple temperature measurement points that can be effectively measured from a single robot pose into one stop. By evaluating the constraint function at each path point and identifying clusters of measurement points that satisfy the pose constraints simultaneously, the robot can perform multiple measurements during a single stop, thus reducing the total number of stops and inspection time while maintaining complete measurement coverage.
3Productivity
If the robot moves quickly to reduce inspection time, then productivity increases, but the robot cannot maintain the required pose accuracy for effective measurement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary calculation of valid path points that satisfy pose constraints before the robot executes the inspection task. By pre-computing the path with embedded pose information and identifying all points where effective measurement is possible, the robot can move efficiently along the pre-planned path without needing to slow down or perform complex real-time pose adjustments, thus maintaining both speed and measurement accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention discloses a path planning method for a substation inspection robot, which includes the following steps: 1) constructing a road network constraint model for robot movement according to a map; 2) constructing a temperature measurement point inspection pose constraint model in consideration of actual constraints of the pose of a holder and a measured visual distance when the robot measures the temperature of a target in combination with temperature measurement points; 3) determining a robot stop point set according to a robot movement road network and the temperature measurement point inspection pose constraint model; 4) constructing an inspection robot path planning model with a goal of minimizing time to complete inspection; and 5) solving the model to output an inspection path and position of each stop point corresponding to a globally optimal solution, and a set of temperature measurement points corresponding to each stop point, which is used as a path planning solution for the substation inspection robot to perform temperature measurement tasks. The method of the invention solves the path planning problem of the robot carrying a thermal imager to autonomously measure the temperature of a high-voltage line under a road network constraint and a pose constraint.