CN119512065B

CN119512065B - Robotic pile-back methods, devices, equipment, storage media and systems

Info

Publication number: CN119512065B
Application number: CN202311054269.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王佳飞
Original assignee: Guangzhou Shiyuan Electronics Thecnology Co Ltd; Guangzhou Shirui Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Guangzhou Shiyuan Electronics Thecnology Co Ltd; Guangzhou Shirui Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-08-21
Filing date: 2023-08-21
Publication date: 2025-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 2043-08-21
Also published as: CN119512065A

Abstract

This application discloses a robot re-tracking method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and system, relating to the field of robotics. The method includes: controlling a robot to send a first signal to a workstation, causing the workstation to receive the first signal and then begin sending a second signal; receiving the second signal through a receiver on the robot, and determining the receiver's location based on the second signal; if the receiver is located in the first or second area, controlling the robot to move the receiver to a central area; if the receiver is located in the central area, controlling the robot to move a preset distance based on a reference direction; controlling the robot to rotate to return the receiver to the central area; and controlling the robot to move to the workstation based on a target direction, the target direction being determined based on the reference direction and the receiver's location. By employing the above technical means, the problem of long processing time for the robot to return to the workstation in existing technologies is solved, thereby improving the robot's re-tracking efficiency.

Description

Robot pile returning method, device, equipment, storage medium and system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of robots, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, a device, a storage medium, and a system for pile returning of a robot.

Background

Along with the continuous expansion of the application range of intelligent robots in the fields of cleaning, security, delivery and the like, the requirement of automatic operation of the intelligent robots is also increasingly increased. In order to achieve the goal of fully replacing manual work, robots need to have autonomous pile-back technology to automatically return to a workstation when idle, low power, water replenishment, sewage discharge, or task execution is completed. The precision and success rate of the automatic pile returning technology are important indexes of automatic operation, and are critical to the use experience of the intelligent robot.

In the prior art, in the pile returning process of the intelligent robot, the moving direction is continuously adjusted based on the infrared signals transmitted by the receiving workstation, so that the time consumption of the process of returning the robot to the charging pile is long, and the pile returning efficiency is low.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a robot pile returning method, device, equipment, storage medium and system, which are used for solving the problem that the time consumption of a robot returning process to a workstation in the prior art is long, and improving the pile returning efficiency of the robot.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a robot pile-returning method, including:

The robot is controlled to send a first signal to the workstation so that the workstation starts to send a second signal after receiving the first signal;

The second signal is received through a receiver of the robot, the area where the receiver is located is determined according to the second signal, the area comprises a first area, a second area and a central area, and the first area and the second area are located on two sides of the central area;

controlling a robot to move the receiver to the center area in a case where the receiver is located in the first area or the second area;

Controlling the robot to move a preset distance based on a reference direction, which is a connecting line direction between a rotation center of the robot and the receiver, in a case that the receiver is located in the center area, the preset distance being determined based on a distance between the rotation center and the receiver;

and controlling the robot to rotate so as to enable the receiver to return to the central area, and controlling the robot to move to the workstation based on a target direction, wherein the target direction is determined based on the reference direction and the area where the receiver is located.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a robot pile returning device, comprising:

The signal transmission module is configured to control the robot to transmit a first signal to the workstation so that the workstation starts to transmit a second signal after receiving the first signal;

The area determining module is configured to receive the second signal through a receiver of the robot, determine an area where the receiver is located according to the second signal, wherein the area comprises a first area, a second area and a central area, and the first area and the second area are positioned on two sides of the central area;

a first movement control module configured to control movement of a robot to move the receiver to the central area if the receiver is located in the first area or the second area;

A second movement control module configured to control the robot to move a preset distance based on a reference direction, which is a direction of a line between a rotation center of the robot and the receiver, in a case where the receiver is located in the center area, the preset distance being determined based on a distance between the rotation center and the receiver;

And a third movement control module configured to control the robot to rotate to return the receiver to the central area, and to control the robot to move to the workstation based on a target direction, the target direction being determined based on the reference direction and the area in which the receiver is located.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a robotic pile-returning device comprising:

And a memory storing one or more programs which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the robot stub-returning method as described in the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a storage medium containing computer executable instructions for performing the robot backshell method according to the first aspect when executed by a computer processor.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a pile-back system comprising:

the work station is provided with an infrared module which is used for sending a second signal;

The robot is provided with a receiver and a processor, the receiver is used for receiving the second signal, the processor is used for controlling the robot to send a first signal to a workstation so that the workstation starts to send the second signal after receiving the first signal, the receiver of the robot receives the second signal, the area where the receiver is located is determined according to the second signal, the area comprises a first area, a second area and a central area, the first area and the second area are located on two sides of the central area, the robot is controlled to move to the central area when the receiver is located in the first area or the second area, the robot is controlled to move to the central area when the receiver is located in the central area, the robot is controlled to move a preset distance based on a reference direction, the reference direction is a connecting line direction between the rotation center of the robot and the receiver, the preset distance is determined based on the distance between the rotation center and the receiver, the robot is controlled to rotate to return the receiver to the target direction, and the robot is controlled to move to the target direction based on the target direction when the receiver is located in the central area.

In the application, when the robot triggers a pile-returning operation, a first signal is sent to the workstation, so that the workstation starts to send a second signal after receiving the first signal. After the receiver receives the second signal, determining the area of the receiver according to the second signal, and if the receiver is positioned in the first area or the second area, controlling the robot to move to a central area positioned between the first area and the second area. If the receiver is located in the center area, the robot is controlled to move a preset distance based on the reference direction so that the rotation center of the robot moves into the center area. After the rotating center moves to the central area, the robot is controlled to rotate and stops rotating after the receiver returns to the central area again, at the moment, the receiver and the rotating center are both positioned in the central area, the current gesture of the robot is consistent or approximately consistent with the gesture positioned in the workstation, the target direction of the robot can be determined through the reference direction and the area where the receiver is positioned, and the robot is controlled to move to the workstation according to the target direction. By the technical means, the workstation starts to send the second signal after the robot triggers the pile returning operation, so that the energy consumption of the workstation is saved, and other robots are prevented from being guided back to the workstation. After the receiver of the robot enters the central area for the first time, the robot is controlled to move straight and rotate, the gesture of the robot can be quickly adjusted to be the gesture of the workstation, then the robot is controlled to move to the workstation based on the target direction, the frequency and the rotating amplitude of the adjustment of the moving direction of the robot are reduced, the time consumption of the robot for returning to the workstation is shortened, and the piling efficiency of the robot is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a robot pile-returning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a workstation provided by an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 3 is one of the schematic diagrams of the coverage area of the second infrared signal provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a second schematic diagram of a coverage area of a second infrared signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a third schematic diagram of the coverage area of a second infrared signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a fourth schematic diagram of a coverage area of a second infrared signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is one of the top schematic views of the workstation and robot provided by the embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a second schematic top view of a workstation and robot provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is one of the top views of the robot movements provided by the embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a second schematic top view of a robot movement according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is one of the schematic top views of the robot after rotation according to the embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 12 is one of top views of a robot spin in place provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a second schematic top view of the robot spin in place according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a second schematic top view of a robot rotated according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot pile-returning device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot pile-returning device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present application is given with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the application and are not limiting thereof. It should be further noted that, for convenience of description, only some, but not all of the matters related to the present application are shown in the accompanying drawings. Before discussing exemplary embodiments in more detail, it should be mentioned that some exemplary embodiments are described as processes or methods depicted as flowcharts. Although a flowchart depicts operations (or steps) as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel, concurrently, or at the same time. Furthermore, the order of the operations may be rearranged. The process may be terminated when its operations are completed, but may have additional steps not included in the figures. The processes may correspond to methods, functions, procedures, subroutines, and the like.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged, as appropriate, such that embodiments of the present application may be implemented in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein, and that the objects identified by "first," "second," etc. are generally of a type, and are not limited to the number of objects, such as the first object may be one or more. Furthermore, in the description and claims, "and/or" means at least one of the connected objects, and the character "/", generally means that the associated object is an "or" relationship.

In a more common existing implementation mode, when the robot detects that the battery power is low and needs to be charged or a cleaning task is performed, or the requirements of pile returning, water adding, sewage draining, cleaning tool cleaning and the like are generated, pile returning operation can be triggered and moved to the position of the workstation. The workstation always sends infrared signals to the area in front of the charging port, and when the infrared receiver of the robot moves to the area, the infrared signals sent by the workstation are received, and when the infrared receiver of the robot moves out of the area, the infrared signals sent by the workstation are not received. The robot continuously adjusts the moving direction by whether the infrared receiver receives the infrared signal or not, so that the robot returns to the workstation in a posture of aligning with the charging port. Because the robot needs to frequently adjust the moving direction in the pile returning process to ensure that the robot can return to the workstation in the posture of aiming at the charging port, the process of returning the robot to the workstation is time-consuming and the pile returning efficiency is low.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present embodiment provides a robot pile-returning method to control the robot to quickly return piles.

The robot pile-returning method provided in the embodiment may be executed by a robot pile-returning device, where the robot pile-returning device may be implemented in a software and/or hardware manner, and the robot pile-returning device may be formed by two or more physical entities or may be formed by one physical entity. For example, the robot pile-returning device may be the robot itself or a processor of the robot.

The robot stub-returning device is provided with at least one type of operating system, wherein the operating system comprises, but is not limited to, an android system, a Linux system and a Windows system. The robot pile-back device can be used for installing at least one application program based on the operating system, wherein the application program can be an application program of the operating system, or can be an application program downloaded from a third party device or a server. In this embodiment, the robot stub returning device has at least an application program that can execute the robot stub returning method.

For ease of understanding, the present embodiment will be described taking as an example a main body for a robot to execute a robot pile-back method.

Fig. 1 shows a flowchart of a robot pile-returning method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 1, the robot pile returning method specifically includes:

s110, controlling the robot to send a first signal to the workstation so that the workstation starts to send a second signal after receiving the first signal.

The workstation refers to equipment with functions of dust collection, charging, water changing, cleaning, drying and/or the like. The first signal may be understood as a signal for informing the robot to the workstation that the robot has started the pile-back operation, and in terms of signal system, the first signal may be a visible spectrum signal, an infrared signal, a bluetooth signal, a wifi signal, etc. For example, if the first signal is an electromagnetic wave signal such as a bluetooth signal or a wifi signal, the robot broadcasts the first signal to the surroundings when triggering the pile-returning operation, and when the workstation receives the first signal broadcast by the robot, it is confirmed that the robot is performing the pile-returning operation, and thus starts to transmit the second signal. If the first signal is a visible spectrum signal or an infrared signal and other spectrum signals, the robot sends the first signal to a certain area when triggering the pile returning operation, the area covered by the first signal moves along with the movement of the robot, and when the workstation enters the area covered by the first signal, the workstation receives the first signal and confirms that the robot has triggered the pile returning operation and is located near the workstation, so that the second signal starts to be sent.

The second signal is the signal that the workstation was used for guiding robot to return the stake, and it can be visible spectrum signal or infrared signal, but compares in visible spectrum signal, and the wavelength of infrared signal is longer, is difficult for receiving the influence of ambient light, and guiding effect is better. The present embodiment describes taking the second signal as an example of an infrared signal. It should be noted that, compared with the traditional pile returning mode in which the workstation continuously transmits an infrared signal to the front area, the embodiment transmits the first signal through the robot, so that the workstation starts the infrared signal transmitting function after receiving the first signal and confirming that the robot triggers the pile returning operation, and the energy consumption of the workstation can be effectively saved. And when the workstation is sending infrared signal, if still there is other robots in the space and other robots are in the in-process that gets back to other workstations, other robots received infrared signal probably can be by the mistake and guide into unmatched workstation, leads to the back stake operation to appear the mistake, therefore this embodiment is after the robot triggers back stake operation the guide back stake function of restart workstation to avoid guiding other robots to get back to this workstation.

If the coverage range of electromagnetic wave signals such as Bluetooth signals or wifi signals is larger than that of spectrum signals such as visible spectrum signals or infrared signals, if the robot adopts electromagnetic wave signals such as Bluetooth signals or wifi signals as the first signal, the workstation can receive the first signal and start to send infrared signals when the robot is far away from the workstation, before the robot does not enter an area covered by the infrared signals sent by the workstation, the robot can not receive the infrared signals, and the infrared signals belong to invalid signals from the beginning of sending the infrared signals by the workstation to the time when the robot receives the infrared signals, namely, the sending of the infrared signals by the workstation belongs to invalid consumption. If a spectrum signal such as a visible spectrum signal or an infrared signal is used as the first signal, the coverage area of the first signal is limited, when the robot just triggers the pile returning operation, the workstation may be far away from the robot and cannot receive the first signal, and after the workstation enters the coverage area of the first signal along with the movement of the robot to the vicinity of the workstation, the workstation receives the first signal and starts to send the infrared signal. At this time, the robot is located near the workstation, and the robot can enter the area covered by the infrared signal transmitted by the workstation without spending much time. Therefore, compared with the method adopting electromagnetic wave signals such as Bluetooth signals or wifi signals as the first signals, the method can further save the energy consumption of the workstation by adopting spectrum signals such as visible spectrum signals or infrared signals as the first signals.

The present embodiment is described taking the first signal as an example of an infrared signal. In order to distinguish between the first signal and the second signal, the first signal is described as a first infrared signal and the second signal is described as a second infrared signal.

In an embodiment, the workstation is provided with an infrared module, and the infrared module can send infrared signals to a certain area and receive infrared signals sent by other devices, wherein the second infrared signals are infrared signals sent by the workstation through the infrared module. The robot is provided with infrared receiver and infrared transmitter, and infrared receiver and infrared transmitter can use same lamp pearl in the design and increase the angle of reception in order to guarantee the effective scope to the stake. The infrared transmitter is used for transmitting an infrared signal to a certain area, and the infrared receiver is used for receiving the infrared signal, wherein the first infrared signal is the infrared signal transmitted by the robot through the infrared transmitter. For example, when the robot triggers a pile-returning operation, the first infrared signal may be sent through the infrared transmitter, and when the infrared module enters the area covered by the first infrared signal as the robot moves toward the workstation, the infrared module of the workstation receives the first infrared signal and confirms that the robot is located near the workstation, the second infrared signal is sent through the infrared module, so that the infrared receiver receives the second infrared signal when entering the area covered by the second infrared signal.

Because the coverage area of the first infrared signal is limited, when the robot just triggers the pile returning operation, the workstation may be far away from the robot, and the infrared module cannot receive the first infrared signal, so that the first infrared signal belongs to an invalid signal in the period from the time when the robot triggers the pile returning operation to the time when the workstation enters the coverage area of the first infrared signal, that is, the infrared transmitter transmits the first infrared signal belongs to invalid consumption. In this embodiment, to reduce the inefficient consumption of infrared transmitters, a target back-stake point may be positioned near the workstation according to the coverage of the first infrared signal such that the infrared module is within the coverage of the first infrared signal when the robot moves to the target back-stake point.

In an embodiment, the robot moving to the target pile-returning point comprises the steps of collecting first point cloud data through a laser radar, generating a local map according to the first point cloud data, determining pose information of the robot according to the local map and a preset global map, planning a pile-returning path of the robot according to the pose information of the robot, the global map and the pose information of the target pile-returning point, and controlling the robot to move to the target pile-returning point according to the pile-returning path. The first point cloud data can be understood as point cloud data obtained by scanning surrounding environments through a laser radar when the robot triggers pile-back operation, and the global map can be understood as a map constructed by scanning the point cloud data of the whole space through the laser radar in advance. The robot can construct a local map of the surrounding environment according to the first point cloud data, and the local map is matched with the global map to determine the position information and the gesture information of the robot. The pose information of the target pile-back point comprises position information of the target pile-back point and pose information when the robot moves to the target pile-back point and sends a first infrared signal. It can be appreciated that the angle at which the infrared transmitter transmits the first infrared signal is limited, and when the robot maintains corresponding attitude information at the target pile-back point, it can be ensured that the infrared module is located within the coverage area of the first infrared signal. Fixed obstacles in the space are recorded in the global map, and a pile returning path avoiding various fixed obstacles can be planned according to pose information of the robot, the positions of target pile returning points and the position information of each fixed obstacle in the global map, wherein the starting point of the pile returning path is the current position of the robot, and the end point is the position of the target pile returning point.

In this embodiment, the pile-back path of the robot may be determined by a global path planning algorithm, which performs path planning based on a global map, and finds an optimal path from the current position of the robot to the target pile-back point. However, the global path planning algorithm belongs to a static planning algorithm, and is suitable for a scene with no movement change in the surrounding environment, but various dynamic obstacles possibly exist in the space where the robot is located, and the dynamic obstacles cannot be avoided only by means of the global path planning algorithm. In this regard, the pile-back path of the robot can also be planned by a dynamic path search algorithm based on the pose information of the robot, the global map and the pose information of the target pile-back point. The dynamic path search algorithm can determine surrounding environment information according to environment sensing sensors such as vision sensors and laser radars installed on the robot, and plan a safe moving path of the robot. Furthermore, the dynamic path searching algorithm can adopt a D-Star algorithm (an incremental heuristic path searching algorithm), and the D-Star algorithm can correct the path in real time during calculation, adapt to environmental change and dynamic obstacle conditions and ensure the safe movement of the robot. And the D-Star algorithm can efficiently process a large-scale map and provide good path planning performance under the condition of limited computing resources, so that the robot can automatically move to a target pile-returning point.

When the robot moves to the target pile returning point and is in a posture corresponding to the target pile returning point, the infrared transmitter transmits a first infrared signal, the infrared module is located in the coverage area of the first infrared signal, and the infrared module can receive the first infrared signal and start transmitting a second infrared signal. It should be noted that, in order to improve the pile returning efficiency of the robot, the target pile returning point may be set according to the coverage areas of the first infrared signal and the second infrared signal, so that when the robot is in the pose of the target pile returning point, the infrared module is located in the coverage area of the first infrared signal and the infrared receiver is located in the coverage area of the second infrared signal. Thus, after the infrared module transmits the second infrared signal, the infrared receiver may receive the second infrared signal by the standing horse, and the robot may then return to the workstation according to the second infrared signal.

When the environment in the space where the robot is located is changed frequently, the robot cannot accurately move to the target pile-returning point, namely, the position of the target pile-returning point to which the robot moves and the actual position of the target pile-returning point have errors. Because the first infrared signal and the second infrared signal cover smaller areas, the error may result in the infrared module not being within the coverage area of the first infrared signal or the infrared receiver not being within the coverage area of the second infrared signal. In this regard, the pose of the robot may be adjusted by means of a reference mounted to the workstation when the robot moves to the target backset point such that the infrared module falls within the coverage area of the first infrared signal and the infrared receiver falls within the coverage area of the second infrared signal.

In one embodiment, the process of adjusting the pose of the robot based on the reference object comprises the steps of collecting second point cloud data through a laser radar, screening third point cloud data of the reference object from the second point cloud data, determining a central axis of the reference object according to the third point cloud data, controlling the robot to move towards the central axis based on a direction perpendicular to the central axis, and controlling the robot to rotate when the robot moves to the central axis so that a receiver faces a workstation. The second point cloud data can be understood as point cloud data obtained by scanning the surrounding environment through the laser radar when the robot moves to the target pile-back point. The current robot is located near the workstation, so the second point cloud data includes third point cloud data of a reference mounted on the workstation. The features of the reference object may be different from objects in the surrounding environment, for example, the shape or material of the reference object may be different from the shape or material of the surrounding objects, and the third point cloud data of the reference object may be selected from the second point cloud data based on the features of the reference object. When the reflector is used as the reference object, the third point cloud data of the reference object can be screened out from the second point cloud data according to the reflection intensity value of the second point cloud data, wherein the reflection intensity value of the third point cloud data meets the reflection intensity threshold of the reflector. Because the reflection intensity value of the object made of the reflective material is far greater than that of the object made of the non-reflective material, the intensity threshold of the reflective plate can be regarded as the minimum reflection intensity value of the point cloud data formed by the reflective plate correspondingly, and the reflection intensity values of other objects in the second point cloud data are smaller than the reflection intensity threshold of the reflective plate. Therefore, when the third point cloud data of the reference object in the second point cloud data is screened, the point cloud data with the reflection intensity value larger than or equal to the reflection intensity threshold value of the reflector plate is screened from the second point cloud data according to the reflection intensity value of the second point cloud data to serve as the third point cloud data of the reference object. When the shape of the reference object is different from that of other surrounding objects, third point cloud data of the reference object can be screened out from the second point cloud data according to the shape of the reference object. The distance between the reference object and other surrounding objects is far, the second point cloud data can be clustered based on a density clustering algorithm to divide the second point cloud data corresponding to each object into each point cloud set, the shape formed by the second point cloud data in each point cloud set is matched with the shape of the reference object, and the point cloud data in the point cloud set with the matched shape is used as third point cloud data of the reference object.

After the third point cloud data of the reference object is determined, the central axis of the reference object is determined according to the coordinates of each point cloud in the third point cloud data. The central axis is a straight line perpendicular to the installation surface of the reference object and passing through the center of the reference object, and the installation surface of the reference object is the front surface of the workstation. For example, when the reference object is a plate-like object, the reference object surface is parallel to the mounting surface, an expression of the reference object surface is fitted according to the third point cloud data, and a central axis perpendicular to the reference object surface and passing through the center point of the reference object is determined according to the expression. Fig. 2 is a schematic top view of a workstation according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, when the infrared module 11 of the workstation 10 transmits the second infrared signal to the front of the workstation 10, a coverage area 30 of the second infrared signal is formed in front of the workstation 10, and the central axis 13 of the reference object 12 falls into the coverage area 30 of the second infrared signal. The robot can plan a path which moves to the central axis 13 vertically according to the position information of the central axis 13 and the current position of the robot, when the robot moves to the central axis 13, the gesture of the infrared receiver and the infrared transmitter when facing the workstation 10 is determined based on the coordinates of the central point of the reference object 12 and the self coordinates, and when the robot is controlled to rotate in situ to meet the gesture, the infrared receiver and the infrared transmitter face the workstation 10.

When the infrared receiver and the infrared emitter face the workstation, the infrared module is in the coverage range of the first infrared signal, the infrared receiver is in the coverage range of the second infrared signal, and at the moment, the robot can send the first infrared signal through the infrared emitter, so that the infrared module starts to send the second infrared signal after receiving the first infrared signal, and the infrared receiver receives the second infrared signal.

S120, receiving a second signal through a receiver of the robot, and determining an area where the receiver is located according to the second signal, wherein the area comprises a first area, a second area and a central area, and the first area and the second area are located on two sides of the central area.

Wherein, in case the second signal is an infrared signal, the receiver is an infrared receiver. The infrared module comprises at least two infrared transmitters, the infrared module can send second infrared signals with different codes to different areas through different infrared transmitters, the robot can determine the area where the infrared receiver is located according to the codes of the second infrared signals received by the infrared receiver, and the robot is controlled to return to the workstation according to the area where the infrared receiver is located. In this embodiment, the coverage area of the second infrared signal includes a first area, a second area, and a central area, where the codes of the second infrared signals of the first area and the second area are different, and the codes of the second infrared signal of the central area may be configured based on the codes of the first area and the second area, or may be different from the codes of the first area and the second area.

The present embodiment will be described taking an example in which the encoding of the second infrared signal of the center region is based on the encoding configuration of the first region and the second region.

In one embodiment, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a coverage area of a second infrared signal provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, the infrared module 11 includes a first infrared emitter 111 and a second infrared emitter 112, the first infrared emitter 111 emitting a first encoded second infrared signal to a first encoded signal region, and the second infrared emitter 112 emitting a second encoded second infrared signal to a second encoded signal region. The center region 31 is a region where the first encoded signal region and the second encoded signal region overlap, the first region 32 is a region other than the center region 31 in the first encoded signal region, and the second region 33 is a region other than the center region 31 in the second encoded signal region.

In another embodiment, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a coverage area of a second infrared signal provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4, the infrared module 11 includes a first infrared emitter 111, a second infrared emitter 112 and a third infrared emitter 113, the first infrared emitter 111 emits a first encoded second infrared signal to a first encoded signal area, the second infrared emitter 112 emits a second encoded second infrared signal to a second encoded signal area, and the third infrared emitter 113 emits a third encoded second infrared signal to a third encoded signal area. The center region 31 is a region where the first encoded signal region, the second encoded signal region, and the third encoded signal region overlap, the first region 32 is a region other than the center region among the overlapping regions of the first encoded signal region and the third encoded signal region, the second region 33 is a region other than the center region among the overlapping regions of the second encoded signal region and the third encoded signal region, the third region 34 is a region other than the first region and the center region among the first encoded signal region, and the fourth region 35 is a region other than the second region and the center region among the second encoded signal region.

It should be noted that the more the coverage area of the second infrared signal can be divided, the more efficiency of the robot for searching the center area can be improved, and further the pile returning efficiency of the robot can be improved. The present embodiment is described taking an example in which the coverage area of the second infrared signal is divided into five areas shown in fig. 4.

For example, in the case where the infrared receiver receives only the second infrared signal of the first code, the infrared receiver may be determined to be in the third area, in the case where the infrared receiver receives only the second infrared signal of the second code, the infrared receiver may be determined to be in the fourth area, in the case where the infrared receiver receives the second infrared signal of the first code and the third code, the infrared receiver may be determined to be in the first area, in the case where the infrared receiver receives the second infrared signal of the second code and the third code, the infrared receiver may be determined to be in the second area, and in the case where the infrared receiver receives the second infrared signal of the first code, the second code, and the third code, the infrared receiver may be determined to be in the center area.

In one embodiment, the first infrared Transmitter, the second infrared Transmitter and the third infrared Transmitter can transmit by using infrared signals of 38K to accurately transmit digital signals and avoid interference by other signal sources, and the three infrared transmitters are controlled by respective timers to modulate a USART (Universal Asynchronous/Receiver/Transmitter, universal synchronous/asynchronous serial Receiver/Transmitter) waveform, and the USART waveform can transmit codes of the infrared signals in byte form, and each output is independent and not interfered with each other. Since the time-sharing transmission affects the receiving efficiency of the infrared receiver, the first infrared transmitter, the second infrared transmitter, and the third infrared transmitter can synchronously transmit the second infrared signal. In this embodiment, in order to improve the transmission and reception efficiency of the second infrared signal, the encoded information of the second infrared signal is expressed by one byte, but actually the encoded information of the second infrared signal with respect to the second infrared signal occupies only two bytes, for example, the encoded information of the second infrared signal of the first encoding is 01000000, but actually the first encoding is 01, the encoded information of the second infrared signal of the second encoding is 00100000, but actually the second encoding is 10, and the encoded information of the second infrared signal of the third encoding is 00001100, but actually the third encoding is 11. It should be noted that, the two bits occupied by different codes are different in positions in the encoded information, and as described above, after the first code occupies the first two bits of the byte of the encoded information, the two bits of the second code can only be selected from the last six bits of the byte of the encoded information.

Correspondingly, when the infrared receiver receives the second infrared signal, infrared data can be generated according to the second infrared signal, the infrared data comprises one byte of coded information, the coded information comprises codes corresponding to the second signal, the codes occupy two bits, the infrared data is converted into logic values, and the area of the receiver is determined according to the logic values. For example, if the infrared receiver receives the second infrared signal sent by the first infrared transmitter and the second infrared signal sent by the third infrared transmitter, the second infrared signal sent by the first infrared transmitter is converted into corresponding infrared data, where the infrared data includes one byte of encoded information corresponding to the first code and one byte of frame identifier of the header, and the second infrared signal sent by the third infrared transmitter is converted into corresponding infrared data, where the infrared data includes one byte of encoded information corresponding to the third code and one byte of frame identifier of the header. The robot analyzes the heads of the two infrared data and then combines the encoded information of the two infrared data. For example, the code information corresponding to the first code is 01000000, the code information corresponding to the third code is 00100000, and the combined code information is 0100000. If the infrared receiver receives the second infrared signals of the first code, the second code and the third code, the code information of the first code, the second code and the third code is combined. If only one encoded second infrared signal is received, the encoded information may be converted to a logical value. Further, in order to ensure uniform output of the infrared protocol, the combined coded information is converted into a logic value, and the area where the infrared receiver is located is determined according to the preset mapping relation between each area and the logic value. If the infrared transmitter in the infrared module is changed into other models to change the codes, each region and the corresponding logic value can be directly modified, and the region where the infrared receiver is positioned is determined based on the modified mapping relation.

And S130, controlling the robot to move so as to move the receiver to the central area when the receiver is positioned in the first area or the second area.

Illustratively, the infrared receiver is oriented toward the workstation after the robot moves to the target backset point or adjusts the pose based on the central axis of the reference. The infrared receiver faces the workstation, and it is understood that the connection direction between the rotation center of the robot and the infrared receiver, that is, the reference direction of the robot points to the workstation, and at this time, no matter which area outside the central area the infrared receiver is located, the robot can move the infrared receiver into the central area based on the reference direction.

It should be noted that, because the width of the central area is smaller, the infrared receiver may be separated from the central area when the robot is not reacting yet when the robot is faster, so that the deceleration of the robot can be controlled to facilitate the follow-up better control of the robot pile-back. In this embodiment, in a case where the infrared receiver is located in the first area or the second area, the robot is controlled to move based on a first speed that is less than a moving speed of the robot when the infrared receiver does not receive the second infrared signal. The moving speed of the robot when the second infrared signal is not received can be understood as the moving speed of the robot outside the coverage area of the second infrared signal. The robot moves to the target pile point or the central axis of the reference object according to the moving speed, after the infrared transmitter transmits the first infrared signal, the infrared receiver confirms which area the infrared receiver is positioned in based on the second infrared signal received for the first time, and if the robot is positioned in the first area or the second area, the robot is controlled to move slowly according to the reference direction at the first speed.

Referring to fig. 4, in the case where the third region 34 exists at one side of the first region 32 and the fourth region 35 exists at one side of the second region 33, the infrared receiver may be located at the third region 34 or the fourth region 34. Accordingly, in the case where the infrared receiver is located in the third region 34 or the fourth region 35, the robot is controlled to move to the first region 32 or the second region 33 based on a second speed, which is greater than the first speed and less than a moving speed of the robot when the infrared receiver does not receive the second infrared signal. For example, if it is confirmed that the infrared receiver is located in the third region 34 or the fourth region 35 based on the second infrared signal received by the infrared receiver for the first time, the robot may be controlled to move slowly in the reference direction at the second speed. After the infrared receiver enters the first area 32 or the second area 33, the robot is controlled to slow down to a first speed and continue to move according to the reference direction.

After the infrared receiver has moved to the central area 31, the robot is then decelerated from the first speed to a third speed and thereafter the robot is moved at the third speed until it is returned to the workstation.

And S140, when the receiver is positioned in the central area, controlling the robot to move a preset distance based on a reference direction, wherein the reference direction is a connecting line direction between the rotation center of the robot and the receiver, and the preset distance is determined based on the distance between the rotation center and the receiver.

In this embodiment, the central area is used to guide the robot to return to the workstation in a posture when the robot is located at the workstation, and the width between two sides of the central area is generally between 5mm and 20 mm. The sides of the central region may be straight as shown in fig. 3-5 or curved as shown in fig. 6. As shown in fig. 5, the angle between the straight lines on both sides of the center area 31 is small so that the width on both sides of the center area 31 is within a certain range. Or as shown in fig. 3 and 4, the two sides of the central region 31 are straight lines parallel to each other. As shown in fig. 6, the arcs on both sides of the central region 31 have a larger arc and a smaller included angle so that the widths on both sides of the central region 31 are within a certain range. Overall, when the infrared receiver and the rotation center of the robot are located simultaneously in the central area 31, the current pose of the robot coincides or is close to the pose of the robot located in the workstation.

It should be noted that the smaller the width of the central area 31, the stronger the constraint force on the infrared receiver and the rotation center of the robot located in the central area 31, i.e. the closer the current pose of the robot is to the pose of the robot located in the workstation. The stronger the constraining force of the center regions 31, which are parallel to each other, on the infrared receiver and the rotation center of the robot located in the center region 31 is compared with the center region 31, which has an included angle on both sides, the closer the current pose of the robot is to the pose of the robot located in the workstation. The present embodiment is described with a central region 31 with two sides parallel to each other. The infrared module and/or the light confinement structure thereof that creates the center region 31 with two sides parallel to each other is not particularly limited herein.

The posture of the robot in the workstation is understood to be the posture of the robot when the workstation performs dust collection, charging, water changing, cleaning or drying and other operations on the robot after the robot returns to the workstation. For example, when the workstation supplies power to the robot, the pose of the robot when the charging port of the robot is aligned with the charging port of the workstation is the pose of the robot in the workstation, and when the workstation changes water to the robot, the pose of the water supply port of the robot aligned with the water supply port of the workstation is the pose of the robot in the workstation. That is, as for the pose of the robot in the workstation, it mainly refers to the pose that is presented when the interface provided on the robot and the interface provided on the base station are aligned for docking. The interface may at least comprise a charging interface, an injection interface, a drain interface, a defined alignment interface dedicated for docking, etc.

In the embodiment, the posture of the robot is taken as the posture of the robot returning to the workstation when the charging port of the robot is aligned with the charging port of the workstation. Fig. 7 and 8 are schematic top views of a workstation and a robot provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the workstation 10 is provided with an infrared module 11 and a first charging port 14, the infrared module 11 is disposed above the first charging port 14, the robot 20 is provided with an infrared receiver 22 and a second charging port 21, and the infrared receiver 22 is disposed above or below the second charging port 21. Or as shown in fig. 8, the infrared module 11 of the workstation 10 is disposed at the left side of the first charging port 14 while maintaining a horizontal distance a from the first charging port 14. The infrared receiver 22 of the robot 20 is disposed at the left side of the second charging port 21 while maintaining a horizontal distance from the second charging port 21. The robot 20 uses a line direction between the infrared receiver 22 and the rotation center 23 of the robot 20 as a reference direction of the robot 20. As can be seen from fig. 7 and 8, when the infrared receiver 22 and the rotation center 23 are located in the center area 31, the current posture of the robot 20 is equivalent to or similar to the posture of the robot 20 charged in the workstation 10, and at this time, the robot 20 can be quickly moved to the workstation 10 based on the reference direction or the fine-tuned movement direction can be quickly moved to the workstation 10. When the robot 20 returns to the workstation 10, the first charging port 14 is aligned with the second charging port 21, and the workstation 10 charges the robot 20. Note that, fig. 7 and 8 show the square robot 20, but the robot 20 may also be circular or other shapes, and the embodiment is not particularly limited.

Fig. 9 and 10 are schematic top views of robot movements according to embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 9, when the infrared receiver 22 first enters the central area 31 during the pile-back process of the robot 20, the infrared receiver 22 receives the second infrared signals of the first code, the second code, and the third code, thereby determining that the infrared receiver 22 is located in the central area 31. Since the reference direction is the direction of the line between the infrared receiver 22 and the rotation center 23, if the robot 20 moves the distance b between the infrared receiver 22 and the rotation center 23 along the reference direction, the rotation center 23 moves to the position where the infrared receiver 22 was previously located in the center area 31, that is, the rotation center 23 moves into the center area 31. It should be noted that, since the rotation center 23 is a position point and the infrared receiver 22 is an object, in the case where the size of the infrared receiver 22 is large and the width of the center region 31 is small, the rotation center 23 is also outside the center region 31 after the robot 20 moves by the distance b along the reference direction, and thus the preset distance moved by the robot 20 can be determined based on the volume of the infrared receiver 20, the width of the center region 31, and the linear distance b between the infrared receiver 22 and the rotation center 23.

The present embodiment is described taking a preset distance as an example of the distance b between the rotation center 23 and the receiver. As shown in fig. 10, after the robot 20 moves by the distance b in the reference direction, the rotation center 23 of the robot 20 moves into the center area 31. If the infrared receiver 22 is mounted on the rear of the robot 20, the robot 20 is controlled to retract by a reference distance b, and if the infrared receiver 22 is mounted on the head of the robot 20, the robot 20 is controlled to advance by the reference distance b.

And S150, controlling the robot to rotate so as to enable the receiver to return to the central area, controlling the robot to move to the workstation based on the target direction, and determining the target direction based on the reference direction and the area where the receiver is located.

Fig. 11 is a schematic top view of a robot after rotation according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10 and 11, when the robot 20 in fig. 10 rotates in place, the rotation center 23 is maintained in the center region 31, and the infrared receiver 22 rotates around the rotation center 23. When the robot 20 confirms that the infrared receiver 22 re-receives the second infrared signal of the first code, the second code, and the third code, it is determined that the infrared receiver 22 is re-positioned within the center area 31, at which time the current pose of the robot 20 is equivalent or similar to the pose of the robot 20 charged in the workstation.

In an embodiment, the first area 32 and the second area are arranged at two sides of the central area, and after the rotation center of the robot moves to the central area, the robot is controlled to rotate clockwise or anticlockwise according to whether the infrared receiver is positioned at the left side or the right side of the central area, so that the rotation angle of the robot is reduced, and the piling efficiency of the robot is improved. Fig. 12 and 13 are schematic plan views of in-situ rotation of a robot according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 12 and 13, the first region 32 is located on the left side of the central region 31, and the second region 33 is located on the right side of the central region 31. With the infrared receiver 22 located in the first region 32, the robot 20 is controlled to rotate in a clockwise direction to bring the infrared receiver 22 back to the central region 31. It will be appreciated that when the infrared receiver 22 is positioned in the first region 32, the angle between the line connecting the infrared receiver 22 and the center of rotation 23 and the central region 31 is less than or equal to 90 degrees in the clockwise direction, so that the robot 20 can be controlled to spin in situ in the clockwise direction to allow the infrared receiver 22 to quickly return to the central region 31. With the infrared receiver 22 located in the second region 33, the robot is controlled to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction to bring the infrared receiver 22 back to the central region 31. Similarly, when the infrared receiver is positioned in the second region 33, the angle between the line connecting the infrared receiver 22 and the rotation center 23 and the center region 31 is less than or equal to 90 degrees in the counterclockwise direction, so that the robot 20 can be controlled to spin in situ in the counterclockwise direction to allow the infrared receiver 22 to quickly return to the center region 31.

Referring to fig. 7 or 8, when both the infrared receiver 22 and the rotation center 23 of the robot 20 are within the center region 31, it is possible to restrict the current pose of the robot 20 to be the same as the pose located within the workstation 10 in the center region 31, and at this time, the reference direction may be determined as the target direction of the robot so that the robot 20 moves straight to the workstation 10 based on the target direction. If the infrared receiver 22 is mounted on the tail of the robot 20, the robot 20 is controlled to move backward in the target direction, and if the infrared receiver 22 is mounted on the head of the robot 20, the robot 20 is controlled to move forward in the target direction.

When the infrared receiver 22 of the robot 20 moves out of the central area 31 during the return of the robot 20 to the workstation, the infrared receiver 22 receives the second infrared information of the first code and the third code, or the second infrared signal of the second code and the third code, and can immediately confirm that the infrared receiver 22 is in the first area 32 or the second area 33. At this time, there is a small deviation between the current pose of the robot 22 and the pose located in the workstation, so that the target direction can be obtained by fine-tuning the reference direction according to the region where the infrared receiver 22 is located, and the infrared receiver 22 of the robot 20 can be quickly moved back into the central region 31 based on the target direction, so that the efficiency of returning the robot 20 to the workstation 10 is improved. Fig. 14 is a schematic top view of a robot after rotation according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 14, when the robot 20 shown in fig. 12 or 13 rotates to bring the infrared receiver 22 back into the central area 31 again, the current posture of the robot 20 coincides or nearly coincides with the posture located in the workstation 10, the reference direction may be determined as the current target direction of the robot 20, so that the robot 20 moves based on the target direction. During movement, if infrared receiver 22 receives the second infrared signals of the first code, the second code, and the third code, it may be determined that infrared receiver 22 is still maintained within central region 31, and the reference direction is determined as the target direction to move robot 20 along the reference direction. If the infrared receiver 22 receives the second infrared signals of the first code and the third code, indicating that the infrared receiver 22 has been shifted to the left from the center area 31 into the first area 32, the robot 20 is controlled to gradually move to the right and back according to the target direction with the direction in which the reference direction is rotated to the right as the target direction, until the target direction is set back to the reference direction when the infrared receiver 22 returns to the center area 31. If the infrared receiver 22 receives the second infrared signals of the second code and the third code, indicating that the infrared receiver 22 has been shifted to the left from the center area 31 into the second area 33, the robot 20 is controlled to gradually move to the left and back according to the target direction with the direction in which the reference direction is rotated to the left as the target direction, until the target direction is set back to the reference direction when the infrared receiver 22 returns to the center area 31. When the first charging port 11 contacts the second charging port 21, it is determined that the robot 20 completes the pile-back operation.

In summary, according to the robot pile returning method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the robot triggers the pile returning operation, the first signal is sent to the workstation, so that the workstation starts to send the second signal after receiving the first signal. After the receiver receives the second signal, determining the area of the receiver according to the second signal, and if the receiver is positioned in the first area or the second area, controlling the robot to move to a central area positioned between the first area and the second area. If the receiver is located in the center area, the robot is controlled to move a preset distance based on the reference direction so that the rotation center of the robot moves into the center area. After the rotating center moves to the central area, the robot is controlled to rotate and stops rotating after the receiver returns to the central area again, at the moment, the receiver and the rotating center are both positioned in the central area, the current gesture of the robot is consistent or approximately consistent with the gesture positioned in the workstation, the target direction of the robot can be determined through the reference direction and the area where the receiver is positioned, and the robot is controlled to move to the workstation according to the target direction. By the technical means, the workstation starts to send the second signal after the robot triggers the pile returning operation, so that the energy consumption of the workstation is saved, and other robots are prevented from being guided back to the workstation. After the receiver of the robot enters the central area for the first time, the robot is controlled to move straight and rotate, the gesture of the robot can be quickly adjusted to be the gesture of the workstation, then the robot is controlled to move to the workstation based on the target direction, the frequency and the rotating amplitude of the adjustment of the moving direction of the robot are reduced, the time consumption of the robot for returning to the workstation is shortened, and the piling efficiency of the robot is improved.

On the basis of the above embodiment, fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot pile-returning device according to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 15, the robot pile-returning device provided in this embodiment specifically includes a signal sending module 41, an area determining module 42, a first movement control module 43, a second movement control module 44, and a third movement control module 45.

Wherein the signal sending module 41 is configured to control the robot to send the first signal to the workstation, so that the workstation starts sending the second signal after receiving the first signal;

the area determining module 42 is configured to receive the second signal through the receiver of the robot, determine an area where the receiver is located according to the second signal, where the area includes a first area, a second area, and a central area, where the first area and the second area are located on two sides of the central area;

A first movement control module 43 configured to control the robot movement to move the receiver to the center area in a case where the receiver is located in the first area or the second area;

A second movement control module 44 configured to control the robot to move a preset distance based on a reference direction, which is a connection direction between a rotation center of the robot and the receiver, in a case where the receiver is located in the center area, the preset distance being determined based on a distance between the rotation center and the receiver;

A third movement control module 45 configured to control the robot to rotate to re-center the receiver, the robot to move to the workstation based on a target direction, the target direction being determined based on the reference direction and the area in which the receiver is located.

On the basis of the embodiment, the robot pile-returning device further comprises a pose determining module, a path planning module and a fourth movement control module, wherein the pose determining module is configured to collect first point cloud data through a laser radar before controlling the robot to send a first signal to a workstation, generate a local map according to the first point cloud data, determine pose information of the robot according to the local map and a preset global map, and plan a pile-returning path of the robot according to the pose information of the robot, the global map and pose information of a target pile-returning point.

On the basis of the above embodiment, the path planning module includes a path planning unit configured to plan a pile-back path of the robot by a dynamic path search algorithm based on pose information of the robot, a global map, and pose information of a target pile-back point.

The robot pile returning device further comprises a point cloud screening module, a fifth movement control module and a rotation control module, wherein the point cloud screening module is configured to collect second point cloud data through a laser radar when the robot moves to a target pile returning point before controlling the robot to send a first signal to a working station, third point cloud data of a reference object are screened out from the second point cloud data, the reference object is installed on the working station, the fifth movement control module is configured to determine a central axis of the reference object according to the third point cloud data, the robot is controlled to move towards the central axis based on the direction perpendicular to the central axis, and the rotation control module is configured to control the robot to rotate to enable a receiver to face the working station when the robot moves to the central axis.

On the basis of the embodiment, the point cloud screening module comprises a first screening unit and a second screening unit, wherein the first screening unit is configured to screen third point cloud data of a reference object from the second point cloud data according to the reflection intensity value of the second point cloud data, the reference object is a reflecting plate, the reflection intensity value of the third point cloud data meets the reflection intensity threshold of the reflecting plate, or the second screening unit is configured to screen third point cloud data of the reference object from the second point cloud data according to the shape of the reference object.

On the basis of the above embodiment, the first movement control module 43 comprises a first movement control unit configured to control the robot to move based on a first speed, which is smaller than the movement speed of the robot when the receiver does not receive the second signal, in case the receiver is located in the first area or the second area.

On the basis of the embodiment, the area further comprises a third area and a fourth area, the third area is located on one side of the first area, the fourth area is located on one side of the second area, and the first movement control module 43 further comprises a second movement control unit correspondingly and is configured to control the robot to move to the first area or the second area based on a second speed after determining the area where the receiver is located according to a second signal received by the receiver, and the second speed is larger than the first speed and smaller than the movement speed of the robot when the receiver does not receive the second infrared signal under the condition that the receiver is located in the third area or the fourth area.

On the basis of the above embodiment, the third movement control module 45 includes a first rotation control unit configured to control the robot to rotate in a clockwise direction to return the receiver to the center area in a case where the receiver is located in a first area, wherein the first area is located at the left side of the center area, and a second rotation control unit configured to control the robot to rotate in a counterclockwise direction to return the receiver to the center area in a case where the receiver is located in a second area, wherein the second area is located at the right side of the center area.

On the basis of the above embodiment, the workstation transmits the first encoded second signal to the first encoded signal region, transmits the second encoded second signal to the second encoded signal region, and transmits the third encoded second signal to the third encoded signal region, the center region being a region overlapping the first encoded signal region, the second encoded signal region, and the third encoded signal region, the first region being a region other than the center region in the region overlapping the first encoded signal region and the third encoded signal region, the second region being a region other than the center region in the region overlapping the second encoded signal region and the third encoded signal region, the third region being a region other than the first region and the center region in the first encoded signal region, and the fourth region being a region other than the second region and the center region in the second encoded signal region.

On the basis of the above embodiment, the area determining module 42 includes an infrared data generating unit configured to generate infrared data according to the second signal, the infrared data including one byte of encoded information including an encoding corresponding to the second signal, the encoding occupying two bits, and an area determining unit configured to convert the infrared data into a logic value, and determine an area in which the receiver is located according to the logic value.

In the above-mentioned embodiment of the present application, when the robot triggers the pile returning operation, the first signal is sent to the workstation, so that the workstation starts to send the second signal after receiving the first signal. After the receiver receives the second signal, determining the area of the receiver according to the second signal, and if the receiver is positioned in the first area or the second area, controlling the robot to move to a central area positioned between the first area and the second area. If the receiver is located in the center area, the robot is controlled to move a preset distance based on the reference direction so that the rotation center of the robot moves into the center area. After the rotating center moves to the central area, the robot is controlled to rotate and stops rotating after the receiver returns to the central area again, at the moment, the receiver and the rotating center are both positioned in the central area, the current gesture of the robot is consistent or approximately consistent with the gesture positioned in the workstation, the target direction of the robot can be determined through the reference direction and the area where the receiver is positioned, and the robot is controlled to move to the workstation according to the target direction. By the technical means, the workstation starts to send the second signal after the robot triggers the pile returning operation, so that the energy consumption of the workstation is saved, and other robots are prevented from being guided back to the workstation. After the receiver of the robot enters the central area for the first time, the robot is controlled to move straight and rotate, the gesture of the robot can be quickly adjusted to be the gesture of the workstation, then the robot is controlled to move to the workstation based on the target direction, the frequency and the rotating amplitude of the adjustment of the moving direction of the robot are reduced, the time consumption of the robot for returning to the workstation is shortened, and the piling efficiency of the robot is improved.

The robot pile returning device provided by the embodiment of the application can be used for executing the robot pile returning method provided by the embodiment, and has corresponding functions and beneficial effects.

Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot pile-returning device according to an embodiment of the present application, and referring to fig. 16, the robot pile-returning device includes a processor 51, a memory 52, a communication device 53, an input device 54, and an output device 55. The number of processors 51 in the robotic back-stake device may be one or more and the number of memories 52 in the robotic back-stake device may be one or more. The processor 51, memory 52, communication means 53, input means 54 and output means 55 of the robot pile back equipment may be connected by bus or other means.

The memory 52 is a computer readable storage medium, and may be used to store a software program, a computer executable program, and modules, such as program instructions/modules corresponding to the robot stub-returning method according to any embodiment of the present application (e.g., the signal transmission module 41, the area determination module 42, the first movement control module 43, the second movement control module 44, and the third movement control module 45 in the robot stub-returning device). The memory 52 may mainly include a storage program area that may store an operating system, application programs required for at least one function, and a storage data area that may store data created according to the use of the device, etc. In addition, memory 52 may include high-speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state storage device. In some examples, the memory may further include memory remotely located with respect to the processor, the remote memory being connectable to the device through a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

The communication means 53 are for data transmission.

The processor 51 executes various functional applications of the apparatus and data processing by running software programs, instructions and modules stored in the memory 52, i.e. implements the robot pile-back method described above.

The input device 54 may be used to receive input numeric or character information and to generate key signal inputs related to user settings and function control of the apparatus. The output means 55 may comprise a display device such as a display screen.

The robot pile returning device provided by the embodiment can be used for executing the robot pile returning method provided by the embodiment, and has corresponding functions and beneficial effects.

The embodiment of the application also provides a storage medium containing computer executable instructions, wherein the computer executable instructions are used for executing a robot pile-back method when being executed by a computer processor, the robot pile-back method comprises the steps of controlling a robot to send a first signal to a work station so that the work station starts to send a second signal after receiving the first signal, receiving the second signal through a receiver of the robot, determining an area where the receiver is located according to the second signal, the area comprises a first area, a second area and a central area, the first area and the second area are located on two sides of the central area, controlling the robot to move so that the receiver moves to the central area when the receiver is located in the first area or the second area, controlling the robot to move a preset distance based on a reference direction when the receiver is located in the central area, the reference direction is determined based on a distance between a rotation center of the robot and the receiver, controlling the robot to rotate so that the receiver is restored to the central area according to the second signal, controlling the robot to move to the work station based on a target direction, and determining the target direction based on the reference direction and the receiver.

Storage media-any of various types of memory devices or storage devices. The term "storage medium" is intended to include mounting media such as CD-ROM, floppy disk or tape devices, computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, lanbas (Rambus) RAM, etc., non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media (e.g., hard disk or optical storage), registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The storage medium may also include other types of memory or combinations thereof. In addition, the storage medium may be located in a first computer system in which the program is executed, or may be located in a second, different computer system connected to the first computer system through a network such as the internet. The second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "storage medium" may include two or more storage media residing in different locations (e.g., in different computer systems connected by a network). The storage medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) executable by one or more processors.

Of course, the storage medium containing the computer executable instructions provided by the embodiment of the application is not limited to the robot pile-back method, and the related operations in the robot pile-back method provided by any embodiment of the application can be executed.

The embodiment of the application also provides a pile returning system which comprises a workstation and a robot. The robot comprises a working station, a robot, a processor, a receiver, a control robot and a control robot, wherein the infrared module is arranged in the working station and is used for sending a second signal, the robot is provided with the receiver and the processor and is used for receiving the second signal, the processor is used for controlling the robot to send a first signal to the working station so that the working station starts to send the second signal after receiving the first signal, the receiver of the robot receives the second signal, the area where the receiver is located is determined according to the second signal and comprises a first area, a second area and a central area, the first area and the second area are located on two sides of the central area, the robot is controlled to move to enable the receiver to move to the central area under the condition that the receiver is located in the first area or the second area, the robot is controlled to move a preset distance based on a reference direction, the preset distance is determined based on the distance between the rotation center of the robot and the receiver, the control robot is controlled to rotate so that the receiver is returned to the central area again, the control robot is controlled to move to the working station based on a target direction, and the target direction is determined based on the reference direction and the area where the receiver is located.

The robot pile-returning device, the storage medium and the robot pile-returning equipment provided in the above embodiments may execute the robot pile-returning method provided in any embodiment of the present application, and technical details not described in detail in the above embodiments may be referred to the robot pile-returning method provided in any embodiment of the present application.

The foregoing description is only of the preferred embodiments of the application and the technical principles employed. The present application is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, but is capable of numerous modifications, rearrangements and substitutions as will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the application. Therefore, while the application has been described in connection with the above embodiments, the application is not limited to the embodiments, but may be embodied in many other equivalent forms without departing from the spirit of the application, the scope of which is set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A robot-based method for pile relocation, characterized in that it includes:

The robot is controlled to send a first signal to the workstation, so that the workstation, upon receiving the first signal, begins to send a second signal.

The robot receives the second signal through its receiver and determines the area where the receiver is located based on the second signal. The area includes a first area, a second area, and a central area, with the first area and the second area located on either side of the central area.

If the receiver is located in the first area or the second area, the robot is controlled to move so that the receiver moves to the central area;

When the receiver is located in the central region, the robot is controlled to move a preset distance based on a reference direction, which is the direction of the line connecting the robot's rotation center and the receiver, and the preset distance is determined based on the distance between the rotation center and the receiver;

The robot is controlled to rotate so that the receiver returns to the central area, and the robot is controlled to move to the workstation based on a target direction, which is determined based on the reference direction and the area where the receiver is located.

2. The robot repositioning method according to claim 1, characterized in that, before the robot sends the first signal to the workstation, it further includes:

The robot's pose information is determined by collecting first point cloud data using lidar, generating a local map based on the first point cloud data, and then determining the robot's pose information based on the local map and a preset global map.

Based on the robot's pose information, the global map, and the pose information of the target return point, the robot's return path is planned;

The robot is controlled to move to the target pile return point according to the pile return path.

3. The robot return-to-pillar method according to claim 2, characterized in that, the step of planning the robot's return-to-pillar path based on the robot's pose information, the global map, and the pose information of the target return-to-pillar point includes:

Based on the robot's pose information, the global map, and the pose information of the target return point, a dynamic path search algorithm is used to plan the robot's return path.

4. The robot repositioning method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, before the robot sends the first signal to the workstation, it further includes:

When the robot moves to the target return point, it collects second point cloud data through the lidar, and filters out the third point cloud data of the reference object from the second point cloud data. The reference object is installed on the workstation.

The central axis of the reference object is determined based on the third point cloud data, and the robot is controlled to move toward the central axis in a direction perpendicular to the central axis.

As the robot moves to the central axis, it is controlled to rotate so that the receiver faces the workstation.

5. The robot repositioning method according to claim 4, characterized in that, the step of filtering the third point cloud data of the reference object from the second point cloud data includes:

Based on the reflection intensity value of the second point cloud data, a third point cloud data of a reference object is selected from the second point cloud data; wherein, the reference object is a reflector, and the reflection intensity value of the third point cloud data meets the reflection intensity threshold of the reflector; or,

Based on the shape of the reference object, the third point cloud data of the reference object is selected from the second point cloud data.

6. The robot repositioning method according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the receiver is located in the first area or the second area, controlling the robot to move includes:

When the receiver is located in the first area or the second area, the robot is controlled to move based on a first speed, which is less than the robot's movement speed when the receiver does not receive the second signal.

7. The robot repositioning method according to claim 6, characterized in that the region further includes a third region and a fourth region, the third region being located on one side of the first region, and the fourth region being located on one side of the second region; correspondingly, after determining the region where the receiver is located based on the second signal received by the receiver, the method further includes:

When the receiver is located in the third or fourth region, the robot is controlled to move based on a second speed to move the receiver to the first or second region; the second speed is greater than the first speed and less than the robot's movement speed when the receiver does not receive the second signal.

8. The robot repositioning method according to claim 1, characterized in that controlling the robot to rotate so that the receiver returns to the central region includes:

With the receiver located in the first region, the robot is controlled to rotate clockwise so that the receiver returns to the central region; wherein the first region is located to the left of the central region;

With the receiver located in the second region, the robot is controlled to rotate counterclockwise so that the receiver returns to the central region; wherein the second region is located to the right of the central region.

9. The robot repositioning method according to claim 7, characterized in that the workstation transmits a first-coded second signal to a first-coded signal region, transmits a second-coded second signal to a second-coded signal region, and transmits a third-coded second signal to a third-coded signal region; the central region is the overlapping region of the first-coded signal region, the second-coded signal region, and the third-coded signal region; the first region is the region other than the central region in the overlapping region of the first-coded signal region and the third-coded signal region; the second region is the region other than the central region in the overlapping region of the second-coded signal region and the third-coded signal region; the third region is the region other than the first region and the central region in the first-coded signal region; and the fourth region is the region other than the second region and the central region in the second-coded signal region.

10. The robot repositioning method according to claim 9, characterized in that, determining the location of the receiver based on the second signal includes:

Infrared data is generated based on the second signal. The infrared data includes one byte of encoded information, which includes an encoding corresponding to the second signal. The encoding occupies two bits.

The infrared data is converted into logical values, and the area where the receiver is located is determined based on the logical values.

11. A robotic pile-returning device, characterized in that it comprises:

The signal transmission module is configured to control the robot to send a first signal to the workstation, so that the workstation starts to send a second signal after receiving the first signal;

The region determination module is configured to receive the second signal through the robot's receiver, and determine the region where the receiver is located based on the second signal. The region includes a first region, a second region, and a central region, with the first region and the second region located on either side of the central region.

A first motion control module is configured to control the robot to move the receiver to the central area when the receiver is located in the first area or the second area.

The second motion control module is configured to control the robot to move a preset distance based on a reference direction when the receiver is located in the central region. The reference direction is the direction of the line connecting the robot's rotation center and the receiver. The preset distance is determined based on the distance between the rotation center and the receiver.

The third motion control module is configured to control the robot to rotate so that the receiver returns to the central area, and to control the robot to move to the workstation based on a target direction, the target direction being determined based on the reference direction and the area where the receiver is located.

12. A robotic pile-returning device, characterized in that it comprises:

One or more processors;

A memory that stores one or more programs that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the robot re-stall method as described in any one of claims 1-10.

13. A storage medium containing computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a computer processor, are used to perform the robot re-stacking method as described in any one of claims 1-10.

14. A pile-back system, characterized in that it comprises:

The workstation is equipped with an infrared module, which is used to transmit a second signal;

A robot is equipped with a receiver and a processor. The receiver is used to receive the second signal. The processor is used to control the robot to send a first signal to a workstation, so that the workstation, upon receiving the first signal, begins to send the second signal. The robot receives the second signal through its receiver and determines the area where the receiver is located based on the second signal. The area includes a first area, a second area, and a central area, with the first area and the second area located on either side of the central area. When the receiver is located in the first area or the second area, the robot is controlled to move so that the receiver moves to the central area. When the receiver is located in the central area, the robot is controlled to move a preset distance based on a reference direction, the reference direction being the direction of the line connecting the robot's rotation center and the receiver, the preset distance being determined based on the distance between the rotation center and the receiver. The robot is controlled to rotate so that the receiver returns to the central area, and the robot is controlled to move to the workstation based on a target direction, the target direction being determined based on the reference direction and the area where the receiver is located.