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EP-4741976-A1 - AUTONOMOUS OPERATING DEVICE AND CROSS-REGION CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR

EP4741976A1EP 4741976 A1EP4741976 A1EP 4741976A1EP-4741976-A1

Abstract

Disclosed in the present disclosure are an autonomous operation device and a cross-region control method therefor. The cross-region control method includes: determining, during operation of an autonomous operation device in a current working region, whether a cross-region condition is satisfied; if the cross-region condition is satisfied, controlling the autonomous operation device to search for a pre-arranged cross-region indicator in the current working region; and after the autonomous operation device finds the cross-region indicator, controlling the autonomous operation device to move to a target working region according to a traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator. The current working region is spaced apart from the target working region by a non-working region. The autonomous operation device according to the present disclosure can autonomously and accurately complete a cross-region operation, thereby greatly improving the applicability.

Inventors

  • ZHOU, CHANG
  • LONG, KAI

Assignees

  • Zhejiang Sunseeker Industrial Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20231105

Claims (17)

  1. A cross-region control method for an autonomous operation device, comprising: determining, during operation of an autonomous operation device in a current working region, whether a cross-region condition is satisfied; if the cross-region condition is satisfied, controlling the autonomous operation device to search for a pre-arranged cross-region indicator in the current working region; and after the autonomous operation device finds the cross-region indicator, controlling the autonomous operation device to travel in a straight line along a traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator until the autonomous operation device enters a target working region, wherein the current working region is spaced apart from the target working region by a non-working region.
  2. The cross-region control method according to claim 1, wherein the step of controlling the autonomous operation device to travel in a straight line along the traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator until the autonomous operation device enters the target working region comprises: adjusting, according to the traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator, a traveling direction of the autonomous operation device to be consistent with the traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator; and controlling the autonomous operation device to travel in a straight line until a boundary of the target working region is detected, and enter the target working region.
  3. The cross-region control method according to claim 2, wherein the step of adjusting, according to the traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator, the traveling direction of the autonomous operation device to be consistent with the traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator comprises: adjusting the traveling direction of the autonomous operation device to a reference direction; and then adjusting the traveling direction of the autonomous operation device from the reference direction to the traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator.
  4. The cross-region control method according to claim 3, wherein the reference direction is a geomagnetic north-south direction or a direction, at the cross-region indicator, perpendicular to a boundary and pointing away from the current working region.
  5. The cross-region control method according to claim 1, further comprising: in the process of searching for the cross-region indicator in the current working region, controlling the autonomous operation device to search for a boundary of the current working region and then travel along the boundary.
  6. The cross-region control method according to claim 5, wherein the step of controlling the autonomous operation device to travel in a straight line along the traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator until the autonomous operation device enters the target working region specifically comprises: controlling the autonomous operation device to rotate by a fixed angle at the cross-region indicator and then travel in a straight line away from the current working region until the autonomous operation device enters the target working region.
  7. The cross-region control method according to claim 5, wherein the boundary is a visual boundary line between the working region and the non-working region and is recognizable by a camera mounted on the autonomous operation device, or the boundary is a boundary defined by a closed electrified wire in an enclosing manner and is recognizable by an inductor coil mounted on the autonomous operation device.
  8. The cross-region control method according to claim 1, further comprising: in the process of the autonomous operation device entering the target working region from the current working region, controlling the autonomous operation device to travel in a straight line toward a pre-arranged cross-region indicator in the non-working region and then travel in a straight line along a traveling direction indicated by the pre-arranged cross-region indicator in the non-working region.
  9. The cross-region control method according to claim 1, further comprising: in the process of searching for the cross-region indicator in the current working region, keeping the autonomous operation device working.
  10. The cross-region control method according to claim 1, wherein when a working duration of the autonomous operation device in the current working region reaches a preset duration value or when the autonomous operation device reaches a set cross-region working time in the current working region, it is determined that the cross-region condition is satisfied.
  11. The cross-region control method according to claim 1, wherein the cross-region indicator is a signal transmitter, a signal receiver is mounted on the autonomous operation device, and the cross-region indicator is found by the signal receiver through searching for a signal of the signal transmitter.
  12. The cross-region control method according to claim 11, wherein the signal transmitter is an RFID tag, and the signal receiver is an RFID reader.
  13. The cross-region control method according to claim 12, further comprising: determining, based on a signal strength received by the RFID reader, whether the autonomous operation device reaches a position where the RFID tag is located.
  14. The cross-region control method according to claim 1, wherein the cross-region indicator is an image marker, and the cross-region indicator is found by a camera mounted on the autonomous operation device through recognizing the image marker.
  15. The cross-region control method according to claim 14, wherein the image marker comprises an arrow icon and a QR code icon.
  16. An autonomous operation device, comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program executable on the processor, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements a step of the cross-region control method for an autonomous operation device according to any one of claims 1 to 15.
  17. The autonomous operation device according to claim 16, wherein the autonomous operation device is a robotic mower.

Description

The present disclosure claims priority to the following patent application, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety: Chinese Patent Application No. 2023108207875 filed with China National Intellectual Property Administration on July 5, 2023, and entitled "AUTONOMOUS OPERATION DEVICE AND CROSS-REGION CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR". TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to the field of robots, and in particular, to an autonomous operation device and a cross-region control method therefor. BACKGROUND An autonomous operation device is, in particular, a robot that can autonomously move in a preset region and perform a specific operation, typically such as an intelligent sweeper/vacuum cleaner performing a cleaning operation, or an intelligent robotic mower performing a lawn mowing operation. Generally, such an autonomous operation device is small in size and is integrated with a sensing apparatus, a driving apparatus, a battery, and the like, which does not need to be manually controlled, and can travel and work in a specified region. Additionally, when the battery power is insufficient, it can autonomously return to the charging station, dock with the charging station and be charged, and continue to travel and work after the charging is completed. For an existing intelligent robotic mower, the working region is a relatively large lawn, and the boundary may be recognized by a camera or configured as a closed electrified wire electrically connected to a boundary signal generation apparatus of the intelligent robotic mower. After reaching the boundary, the intelligent robotic mower generally adopts a random steering or a mode of first reversing and then randomly steering, such that it can return to the inside of the boundary to continue mowing. However, for some lawns separated by roads, the existing intelligent robotic mower cannot autonomously enter the lawn on the other side of the road to work after completing the work on the lawn on one side of the road. SUMMARY The objective of the present disclosure is to provide an improved autonomous operation device and a cross-region control method therefor, which addresses at least one of the above problems. According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, the objective is at least partially achieved by a cross-region control method for an autonomous operation device. The cross-region control method includes: determining, during operation of an autonomous operation device in a current working region, whether a cross-region condition is satisfied; if the cross-region condition is satisfied, controlling the autonomous operation device to search for a pre-arranged cross-region indicator in the current working region; and after the autonomous operation device finds the cross-region indicator, controlling the autonomous operation device to travel in a straight line along a traveling direction indicated by the cross-region indicator until the autonomous operation device enters a target working region, where the current working region is spaced apart from the target working region by a non-working region. Therefore, in the cross-region control method with the above characteristics, between traveling out of the current region and entering the target region, the autonomous operation device only undergoes straight-line traveling control without monitoring and adjusting the traveling direction, which greatly reduces the computing power required by its control system, thereby eliminating the need for expensive chips and lowering the device cost. Meanwhile, through the cross-region control method, the autonomous operation device can accurately complete the cross-region operation, thereby greatly improving the applicability. According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, the objective is at least partially achieved by an autonomous operation device. The autonomous operation device includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores a computer program executable on the processor. The processor, when executing the computer program, can implement a step of the cross-region control method for an autonomous operation device as described above. The details of at least one embodiment will be set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objectives, and advantages will be apparent from the description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an autonomous operation device according to the present disclosure;FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a cross-region control method for an autonomous operation device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a tag arrangement of the cross-region control method for an autonomous operation device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a tag arrangement of a cross-region control method for an autonomous operati