US-12625497-B2 - Patrol system and method thereof

Abstract

A patrol system for performing a night patrol using an indoor robot includes at least one robot and a control device that controls the at least one robot. The control device performs a night patrol for a patrol target using the at least one robot, receives a request to identify an unidentified moving object from a first robot among the at least one robot during the night patrol, selects a second robot to identify the unidentified moving object among the at least one robot in response to the request, and identifies the unidentified moving object using the second robot.

Inventors

• Seung Yong Lee
• Yun Sub Kim
• Ga Hee KIM
• Hwan Hee Lee

Assignees

• HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
• KIA CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20231019

Priority Date

20230220

Claims (18)

1. 1 . A patrol system, comprising: at least one robot; and a control device configured to control the at least one robot; wherein the control device is configured to: perform a night patrol for a patrol target using the at least one robot; receive a request to identify an unidentified moving object from a first robot among the at least one robot during the night patrol; select a second robot to identify the unidentified moving object among the at least one robot in response to the request; and identify the unidentified moving object using the second robot; wherein the at least one robot includes a controller, and wherein the controller is configured to: detect a second object based on a point cloud generated by light detection and ranging (LiDAR); determine whether the second object is a moving object; identify whether the second object is within a view of a camera included in each of the at least one robot in response to determining that the second object is the moving object; and transmit the request to identify the unidentified moving object to the control device in response to identifying that the second object is out of the view of the camera.
2. 2 . The patrol system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one robot further includes: a communication device connected to the controller; a memory connected to the controller; and wherein the controller is further configured to: receive a patrol path transmitted from the control device through the communication device; and update the patrol path stored in the memory using the received patrol path.
3. 3 . The patrol system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to: receive a patrol initiation command transmitted from the control device using the communication device; and initiate patrolling of the patrol target along the patrol path stored in the memory in response to the patrol initiation command.
4. 4 . The patrol system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to: detect a first object from an image obtained by a camera included in the at least one robot; determine whether the first object is a person object; determine whether the first object is an authorized person based on appearance information of the first object in response to determining that the first object is the person object; and transmit the request to identify the unidentified moving object to the control device in response to determining that the first object is not the authorized person.
5. 5 . The patrol system of claim 4 , wherein the controller is further configured to: continue patrolling the patrol target in response to determining that the first object is not the person object or in response to determining that the first object is the person object and is the authorized person.
6. 6 . The patrol system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to: identify whether the second object is detected by the camera in response to identifying that the second object is within the view of the camera; and transmit the request to identify the second object to the control device in response to identifying that the second object is not detected by the camera.
7. 7 . The patrol system of claim 6 , wherein the controller is further configured to: continue patrolling the patrol target in response to identifying that the second object is detected by the camera.
8. 8 . The patrol system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to: continue patrolling the patrol target in response to identifying that the second object is not the moving object.
9. 9 . The patrol system of claim 1 , wherein the control device is further configured to: select the second robot based on a distance from the first robot.
10. 10 . The patrol system of claim 1 , wherein the control device is further configured to: correct a patrol path of the second robot; and transmit the corrected patrol path to the second robot.
11. 11 . A patrol method, comprising: performing, by a control device, a night patrol for a patrol target using at least one robot; receiving, by the control device, a request to identify an unidentified moving object from a first robot among the at least one robot during the night patrol; selecting, by the control device, a second robot to identify the unidentified moving object among the at least one robot in response to the request; and identifying, by the control device, the unidentified moving object using the second robot; and wherein receiving the request to identify the unidentified moving object includes: detecting, by the first robot, a second object based on a point cloud generated by LiDAR included in the first robot; determining, by the first robot, whether the second object is a moving object; identifying, by the first robot, whether the second object is within a view of a camera included in the first robot in response to determining that the second object is the moving object; and transmitting, by the first robot, the request to identify the unidentified moving object to the control device, when it is identified that the second object is out of the view of the camera.
12. 12 . The patrol method of claim 11 , wherein performing the night patrol includes: transmitting, by the control device, a patrol initiation command and a patrol path to the at least one robot; and initiating, by the at least one robot, to patrol the patrol target along the patrol path.
13. 13 . The patrol method of claim 11 , wherein receiving the request to identify the unidentified moving object includes: detecting, by the first robot, a first object from an image obtained by a camera included in the first robot; determining, by the first robot, whether the first object is a person object; determining, by the first robot, whether the first object is an authorized person based on appearance information of the first object in response to determining that the first object is the person object; and transmitting, by the first robot, the request to identify the unidentified moving object to the control device in response to determining that the first object is not the authorized person.
14. 14 . The patrol method of claim 13 , further comprising: continuing, by the first robot, patrolling the patrol target in response to determining that the first object is not the person object or in response to determining that the first object is the person object and is the authorized person.
15. 15 . The patrol method of claim 11 , further comprising: identifying, by the first robot, whether the second object is detected by the camera in response to identifying that the second object is within the view of the camera; and transmitting, by the first robot, the request to identify the unidentified moving object to the control device in response to identifying that the second object is not detected by the camera.
16. 16 . The patrol method of claim 15 , further comprising: continuing, by the first robot, patrolling the patrol target in response to determining that the second object is not the moving object or in response to identifying that the second object is detected by the camera.
17. 17 . The patrol method of claim 11 , wherein selecting the second robot includes: selecting, by the control device, the second robot based on a distance from the first robot.
18. 18 . The patrol method of claim 11 , wherein identifying the unidentified moving object includes: correcting, by the control device, a patrol path of the second robot; and transmitting, by the control device, the corrected patrol path to the second robot.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0022347, filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Feb. 20, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a patrol system for performing a night patrol using an indoor robot and a method thereof. BACKGROUND Because it is assumed that an indoor robot moves bright interior, it moves to a specified location (e.g., a delivery location) using light detection and ranging (LiDAR), a depth camera, and a red green blue (RGB) camera. It is difficult to normally proceed with an indoor and outdoor patrol at night using a sensor configuration of such an indoor robot. Thus, an RGB camera and an infrared (IR) camera are loaded into a patrol robot together. The patrol robot detects a person using an IR image to detect that an unauthorized person enters a patrol zone in no-entry time upon a night patrol and store the image by means of a control system when detecting the person. Because the IR camera (or an IR image sensor) loaded into such a patrol robot is expensive and the image obtained by the IR camera is lower in resolution than an RGB image, an object may fail to be normally detected. Furthermore, although lighting is installed, because the light of the lighting reaches an object away from the lighting, the object distant from the lighting may not be detected. SUMMARY The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art while advantages achieved by the prior art are maintained intact. An aspect of the present disclosure provides a patrol system for performing a night patrol using an indoor robot and a method thereof. Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a patrol system for effectively performing an indoor and outdoor patrol at night using a plurality of indoor robots without an IR camera and a method thereof. The technical problems to be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the aforementioned problems, and any other technical problems not mentioned herein will be clearly understood from the following description by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a patrol system may include at least one robot and a control device that controls the at least one robot. The control device may perform a night patrol for a patrol target using the at least one robot, may receive a request to identify an unidentified moving object from a first robot among the at least one robot during the night patrol, may select a second robot to identify the unidentified moving object among the at least one robot in response to the request, and may identify the unidentified moving object using the second robot. The at least one robot may include a communication device, a memory, and a controller connected with the communication device and the memory. The controller may receive a patrol path transmitted from the control device through the communication device and may update a patrol path stored in the memory using the received patrol path. The controller may receive a patrol initiation command transmitted from the control device using the communication device and may initiate patrolling of the patrol target along the patrol path stored in the memory in response to the patrol initiation command. The controller may detect a first object from an image obtained by a camera included in the at least one robot, may determine whether the first object is a person object, may determine whether the first object is an authorized person based on appearance information of the first object in response to determining that the first object is the person object, and may transmit information indicating that there is an object which is not allowed to enter the patrol target to the control device in response to determining that the first object is not the authorized person. The controller may continue patrolling the patrol target in response to determining that the first object is not the person object or in response to determining that the first object is the person object and is the authorized person. The controller may detect a second object based on a point cloud generated by light detection and ranging (LiDAR), may determine whether the second object is a moving object, may identify whether the second object is within a view of a camera included in each of the at least one robot in response to determining that the second object is the moving object, and may transmit a request to identify the second object to the control device in response to identifying that the second object is out of the view of the camera. The controller may identify whether the second object is an object detected by the camera in response to identifying that the second object is within the view of the camera, and may transmit the r