KR20130034573A - Fencing sense apparatus and robot cleaner having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an obstacle detecting apparatus for irradiating line light in all directions and a robot cleaner having the same. The obstacle detecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a light emitting unit, a light emitting driver for driving the light emitting unit, and the light emitting unit. A line light transmitting unit having a first conical mirror in the negative light irradiation direction, the peak of which is directed toward the light emitting unit to convert light generated in the light emitting unit into line light irradiated in all directions; And a second conical mirror that collects the reflected light that is reflected from the first conical mirror and then returns to the obstacle, a lens disposed to be spaced apart from a peak of the second conical mirror by a predetermined distance, and to pass the reflected light. The robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a reflection light receiver including an imaging unit configured to capture the reflected light passing through the lens, and the robot cleaner includes the obstacle detecting device and controls the driving of the robot cleaner based on the detection result of the obstacle detecting device. do.

Description

Obstacle Sensing Device and Robot Cleaner with the Same {FENCING SENSE APPARATUS AND ROBOT CLEANER HAVING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to an obstacle detecting sensor capable of detecting obstacles in all directions and a robot cleaner having the same.

In general, the obstacle detecting sensor irradiates light or ultrasonic waves and detects the light or ultrasonic wave reflected by the obstacle and determines the presence or distance of the obstacle and the distance based on the time difference, phase difference, intensity difference, etc. of the detected signal. The distance may be determined using an angle or the like.

Recently, a method of measuring a distance between a sensor and an obstacle using a structured light such as a point light source or a line light has been applied. However, when using a point light source, only an obstacle in the direction of the light beam from which the point light source is radiated is detected. In order to overcome this problem, when the point light source sensor is rotated, a separate servo mechanism is required, and a certain scanning time is required, thereby reducing the efficiency.

In the case of using the line light, obstacles covering a plurality of areas can be detected at the same time instead of one point. However, when the line light is formed using a conventional cylindrical lens, the detection range is limited and it is difficult to form uniform line light. Have

The present invention provides an obstacle detecting apparatus capable of detecting obstacles in all directions by forming a uniform line light using a conical mirror and a robot cleaner having the same.

Obstacle detecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is disposed in the light emitting unit and the light irradiation direction of the light emitting unit, its peak is directed toward the light emitting unit to convert the light generated from the light emitting unit into line light irradiated in all directions A line light transmitter having a first conical mirror, a second conical mirror that collects reflected light that is reflected from an obstacle after being irradiated from the first conical mirror, and spaced apart from a peak of the second conical mirror by a predetermined distance And a reflection light receiver including a lens disposed to pass the reflected light, an image pickup unit for picking up the reflected light passing through the lens, and an image processing unit for image processing the image picked up by the image pickup unit.

The line light transmitting unit may further include a slit or axicon lens disposed between the light emitting unit and the first conical mirror to make the light emitted from the light emitting unit into a ring shape.

The line light transmitting unit may further include a slit disposed between the light emitting unit and the first conical mirror and having at least one groove formed therein.

The slit is formed with a ring, cross (+), circle or straight (-) groove.

The first conical mirror may be formed by combining two or more cone pieces having different diameters of the bottom surface.

The obstacle sensing device may further include a rotating device for rotating the first conical mirror.

The angles of the two sides formed at the peaks on the vertical cross section of the first conical mirror may be 88 to 90 degrees.

The lens of the reflected light receiving unit may be arranged to be spaced apart from the tip of the second conical mirror by the focal length of the lens.

The lens of the reflected light receiving unit or the surface of the second conical mirror may be coated with a band pass filter that passes only the wavelength of the reflected light.

The first point of the first conical mirror of the line light transmitting unit and the second point of the second conical mirror of the reflected light receiving unit may be disposed to face in opposite directions.

The first point of the first conical mirror of the line light transmitting unit and the second point of the second conical mirror of the reflected light receiving unit may be disposed to face in the same direction.

The tip of the first conical mirror of the line light transmitting unit and the point of the second conical mirror of the reflected light receiving unit may be disposed to face each other.

The obstacle sensing device has a structure in which a hole is formed which is smaller than the irradiation cross-sectional area of the light emitted from the light emitting part, and the hole is disposed in the light irradiation path between the light emitting part and the first conical mirror. It may further include.

The line light transmitting unit or the light emitting unit may be inclined at an angle from a vertical line perpendicular to the ground.

The apparatus may further include an obstacle detection controller configured to analyze the image recorded in the imaging unit and extract a distance from the obstacle or the shape of the obstacle.

Two or more line light transmitting units are provided at different heights from the ground,

The obstacle detecting controller may determine the height of the obstacle by analyzing the image recorded in the imaging unit.

The lens of the reflection light receiving unit may be a wide-angle lens.

A robot cleaner comprising an obstacle sensing device for detecting an obstacle and a driving control unit for controlling driving based on a detection result of the obstacle sensing device, wherein the obstacle detecting device comprises: a light emitting unit, a light emitting driving unit for driving the light emitting unit; A line light transmitting unit having a first conical mirror disposed in the light irradiation direction of the light emitting unit so that its peaks are directed toward the light emitting unit and converting the light generated in the light emitting unit into line light irradiated in all directions; A second conical mirror that collects the reflected light that is reflected back from the obstacle after being irradiated from the conical mirror, a lens disposed to be spaced apart from a peak of the second conical mirror by a predetermined distance to pass the reflected light, and passing through the lens A reflected light receiver including an image pickup unit for picking up the reflected light; And an obstacle detection controller configured to analyze the image recorded in the imaging unit and extract a distance from the obstacle or the shape of the obstacle.

The tip of the first conical mirror of the line light transmitting unit and the tip of the second conical mirror of the reflected light receiving unit may be disposed to face in opposite directions.

The line light transmitter may be installed at a lower end of the robot cleaner front part, and the reflected light receiver may be installed at an upper end of the robot cleaner front part.

The driving controller may receive the shape of the obstacle or the distance to the obstacle from the obstacle sensing device and set a driving route based on the obstacle.

Two or more line light transmitting units are provided at different heights from the ground,

The obstacle detecting controller may determine the height of the obstacle by analyzing the image recorded in the imaging unit.

The obstacle detecting controller may turn off the light emitting unit by transmitting a control signal to the light emitting driving unit when it is determined that the robot cleaner is lifted from the ground.

When determining that the sensor window of the robot cleaner is detached, the obstacle detecting controller may transmit a control signal to the light emitting driving unit to turn off the light emitting unit.

The apparatus may further include a sensor window detecting unit mounted at a position adjacent to the sensor window, and the obstacle detecting controller may determine whether the sensor window is separated by analyzing a signal output from the switch or the photo interrupter.

The light emission driving unit may turn on the light emitting unit when the robot cleaner starts to run and turn off the light emitting unit when the robot cleaner finishes driving.

By using the obstacle detecting apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to form uniform line light, thereby improving the accuracy of obstacle detection, and detecting the obstacles in all directions by using the line light. There is no need for mounting or a separate servo mechanism, which also improves economic and structural efficiency.

In addition, the robot cleaner equipped with the obstacle detecting apparatus may efficiently travel by accurately detecting obstacles in all directions.

In addition, the robot cleaner including the obstacle detecting device may efficiently control the obstacle detecting device according to the state of the robot cleaner.

1 is a control block diagram of an obstacle sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of the line light transmitter and the reflected light receiver of the obstacle sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D show side views of a schematic configuration of an obstacle sensing apparatus further including a slit between a laser diode and a first conical mirror in one embodiment of the present invention.
4A and 4B are views of slits and structures that can adjust the thickness of line light by reducing the diffusion angle of light.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an obstacle detection range when the angle of the peak of the first conical mirror 111 is set to 89 degrees and the angle of the peak of the second conical mirror 121 is set to 150 degrees.
6A to 6E illustrate graphs showing measurement distances and resolutions by varying the peak angle of the second conical mirror 121 and the FOV of the lens 122.
7A and 7B illustrate a structure of a line light transmitting unit capable of adjusting an irradiation angle at which line light is radiated.
8A and 8B show a structure of a line light transmitter for generating line light irradiated at a plurality of irradiation angles from one line light transmitter.
9 illustrates a structure of an obstacle detecting apparatus including a plurality of line light transmitters to detect obstacles having different heights.
FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of image information transmitted from the image processing unit to the obstacle detecting controller 130.
FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating a relationship between each component of an obstacle sensing device and an obstacle for calculating a distance.
12 is a side view showing the external appearance of an optical module (line light transmitter, reflected light receiver) of the obstacle detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention from the side.
FIG. 13A illustrates a top view of the robot cleaner 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13B is a view illustrating a robot cleaner driving according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a plan view of the robot cleaner 400 mounted above the line light transmitter and the reflected light receiver at different positions.
15 is a control block diagram of the robot cleaner 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
16 is a side cross-sectional view of the robot cleaner with a sensor window.
FIG. 17 is a side cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a configuration of an obstacle detecting apparatus mounted at the front of the robot cleaner 400 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
18 is a block diagram of a sensor module of an obstacle detecting apparatus mounted to the robot cleaner 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a control block diagram of an obstacle sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an obstacle detecting apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a light emitting unit 112, a light emitting driver 113 for driving the light emitting unit 112, and a light irradiation direction of the light emitting unit 112. A line light transmitting unit having a first conical mirror 111 arranged to point toward the light emitting unit 112 and converting the light generated from the light emitting unit 112 into line light irradiated in all directions. 110, a second conical mirror 121 for condensing the reflected light emitted from the first conical mirror 111 and reflected by the obstacle and spaced apart from a peak of the second conical mirror 121 by a predetermined distance A lens 122 arranged to pass the reflected light, an imaging unit 123 for imaging the reflected light passing through the lens 122, and an image processing unit 124 for image processing the image picked up by the imaging unit 123 The reflected light receiving unit 120 and recorded in the imaging unit It includes an obstacle detection control unit 130 for analyzing the image to extract the distance to the obstacle or the shape of the obstacle.

The light emitting unit 112 corresponds to a light source that emits light and may use a laser diode (LD), an LED, etc., but there is no limitation on the type of the light emitting unit 112. A laser diode is used for convenience. The wavelength and amount of light generated by the laser diode 112 and the like are controlled by the light emission driver, and the wavelength of the laser may use an infrared region invisible to the human eye or may use a visible light region. There is no limitation on the range of wavelengths used.

The light emission driver 113 drives the light emission unit 112 according to the control signal of the obstacle detection control unit 130, and feeds back the intensity of the light irradiated using the photo detector to the obstacle detection control unit 130.

The first conical mirror 111 generates 360-degree omnidirectional line light by causing the light emitted from the light emitting unit 112 to be reflected on the surface of the first conical mirror 111.

The second conical mirror 121 serves to condense the light that is reflected by the first conical mirror 111 and hits the obstacle and returns from the surface thereof to condense to the lens 122 and the second conical mirror 121 of the second conical mirror 121 The lens 122 disposed on the front surface of the cusp causes the image pickup unit 123 to form an image generated by the reflected light.

The imaging unit 123 converts the image formed by the light reflected from the imaging object through the lens 122 to the imaging unit 123 and converts the image into a digital signal according to the intensity of light to convert the image into a digital signal and records the image. As an apparatus, a CCD image sensor, a CMOS image sensor, and the like may be used in the present invention, but in the following embodiments, a CMOS image sensor is used.

Light emitted from the line light transmitting unit 110 and hit by an obstacle returns to the CMOS image sensor 123 through the second conical mirror 121 and the lens 122, and to the CMOS image sensor 123. The digital signal converted by the image is processed by the image processor 124 and then transmitted to the obstacle detection controller 130.

The above-described line light transmitter 110 and the reflected light receiver 120 constitute an optical module of the obstacle detecting apparatus 100.

The obstacle detecting controller 130 analyzes the processed image to extract the distance between the obstacle detecting device and the obstacle, the shape of the obstacle, or the location of the obstacle.

In addition, the obstacle detection controller 130 modulates the frequency, duty ratio, and intensity based on the intensity of the fed back laser, and transmits a control signal to the light emission driver so that the user can irradiate a laser having a desired intensity.

The obstacle detecting controller 130 does not have to be a single module physically coupled with the line light transmitting unit 110 and the reflected light receiving unit 120, but is another device to which the obstacle detecting device 100 is mounted, for example, a mobile robot. In addition, a controller such as a CPU or a MCU included in the robot cleaner may also be an obstacle detecting controller 130. The obstacle detecting controller 130 may control the line light transmitting unit 110 and may analyze the information obtained from the reflected light receiving unit 120.

2 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of the line light transmitter and the reflected light receiver of the obstacle sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an operation of the obstacle detecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the obstacle detecting apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment has a shape in which the peaks (vertexes) of the first conical mirror 111 and the peaks of the second conical mirror 121 face in opposite directions. The position of the line light transmitter 110 and the reflected light receiver 120 may be changed.

First, the configuration and operation of the line light transmitting unit 110 will be described. The first conical mirror 111 is disposed in the laser irradiation direction of the laser diode 112, and thus, the sharpness (vertex) of the first conical mirror 111 is arranged. When the laser diode 112 is directed toward the laser diode 112, the laser beam irradiated from the laser diode 112 strikes and reflects on the surface of the first conical mirror 111 to generate line light irradiated in 360 degrees.

In this case, a collimator lens (not shown) may be disposed between the laser diode 112 and the first conical mirror 111 to make point laser light emitted from the laser diode 112. ) It can be used with a collimator lens itself, or the laser can be reflected directly to the surface of the conical mirror without using the collimator lens.

Next, the configuration of the reflected light receiving unit 120, the second conical mirror 121 is disposed so that its peak is downward, the lens 122 is located below the peak of the second conical mirror 121, CMOS The image sensor 123 is located under the lens 122.

The laser irradiated by the line light transmitting unit 110 and hit by an obstacle hits the surface of the second conical mirror 121 to be collected by the lens 122, and the laser that passes through the lens 122 is the CMOS image sensor 123. When an image is formed on the CMOS image sensor 123, the image is converted into a digital signal and recorded. In this case, a band pass filter that passes only the wavelength of the irradiated laser may be coated on the surface of the lens 122 or the surface of the second conical mirror 121 to remove other signals.

In order to ensure that the image is accurately formed on the CMOS image sensor 123, the lens 122 is preferably positioned at the tip of the second conical mirror 121. However, when such an arrangement is physically difficult, the second conical mirror 121 is disposed. The lens 122 is positioned at a position spaced apart by the focal length of the lens 122 from the point of contact.

Here, the lens 122 refers to an optical lens, and the type of the lens 122 is not limited. However, when a wide-angle lens having a shorter focal length is used than a general lens, the distance between the second conical mirror 121 and the lens 122 is reduced to detect an obstacle. The device can be miniaturized.

3 is a side view of a schematic configuration of an obstacle detecting apparatus further including a slit between a laser diode and a first conical mirror in an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3A, in the obstacle detecting apparatus 100 according to the exemplary embodiment, a groove having a predetermined shape is recessed between the laser diode 112 of the line light transmitting unit 110 and the first conical mirror 111. It may further include a slit (114). The slit 114 located between the laser diode 112 and the first conical mirror 111 converts the laser beam irradiated from the laser diode 112 into various shapes according to the shape of the groove, so that the slit 114 is disposed on the first conical mirror 111. Can be incident.

As shown in FIG. 3B, when a ring or donut-shaped groove is formed in the slit 114, the slit 114 in the form of a donut or a ring irradiates the laser beam irradiated from the laser diode 112. The changed laser beam in the form of a donut or a ring is incident on the surface of the first conical mirror 111 to generate uniform line light. In this embodiment a slit was used to convert the laser beam into the form of a donut or ring, but an axicon lens may be used instead of the slit.

On the other hand, when a plurality of grooves having ring shapes having different sizes are formed in the slit 114, line light can be irradiated at a plurality of different heights.

As shown in FIG. 3C, when the grooves having a cross shape (+) are formed in the slit 114, the slit 114 converts the laser beam irradiated from the laser diode 112 into a cross shape (+). . The laser beam converted into a cross (+) form is incident on the first conical mirror 111 to generate omni-directional line light, but the intensity of light directed in a specific direction is stronger than other directions. Specifically, when the cross-shaped laser beam is reflected on the surface of the first conical mirror 111, the intensity of light directed in the a, b, c, and d directions becomes relatively stronger than the intensity of light directed in the other directions. Here, the a, b, c, and d directions are arbitrary directions perpendicular to each other.

In some cases, it is advantageous to generate a uniform line light in detecting an obstacle, but it may be necessary to vary the intensity of light depending on a direction. In this case, a cross-shaped groove as shown in FIG. This formed slit 114 can be used, and the number of strokes can be adjusted and used as needed.

As shown in FIG. 3D, when a slit 114 having a straight groove is formed by removing one stroke from the cross (+) shape, omnidirectional line light is generated and the light is directed in the d and b directions. The light intensity becomes relatively stronger than the light intensity directed in the other direction.

The shape of the laser beam shown in FIGS. 3B to 3D is merely an example, and in addition, the shape of the groove formed in the slit 114 may be changed to convert the laser beam of various shapes as needed into the first conical mirror 111. The incident light can be generated to produce uniform line light or to generate line light in which intensity is concentrated in a specific direction.

In general, when the light irradiated from the light emitter 112 is directly incident on the first conical mirror 111, the generated line light has a predetermined thickness. Sharp line light or thin line light may need to be generated according to the use of the obstacle detecting apparatus 100. In this case, the embodiment of FIG. 4 may be applied.

4A and 4B are views of slits and structures that can adjust the thickness of line light by reducing the diffusion angle of light.

Referring to FIG. 4A, when the slit 114 having a small hole is formed between the light emitter 112 and the first conical mirror 111, the light emitted from the light emitter 112 is slit 114. The diffusing angle is reduced while passing through), and the light having the reduced diffusing angle is incident on the first conical mirror 111 to generate thin line light.

Referring to FIG. 4B, when a cap-shaped structure 115 having a small hole is formed on the ceiling, the light emitting unit 112 covers the light emitted from the light emitting unit 112 as in FIG. 4A. The diffusion angle is decreased while passing through the hole formed in the structure 115, and the light having the reduced diffusion angle is incident on the first conical mirror 111 to generate a thin line light.

The reference for the small hole in FIGS. 4A and 4B is the emission area of the light emitted from the light emitting unit 112, and the diffusion angle of the light may be reduced only when the emitted light passes through the hole smaller than the emission area. By controlling the sizes of the holes formed in the slit 114 and the structure 115, the diffusion angle may be adjusted and line light having a desired thickness may be generated. .

In the obstacle detecting apparatus according to the present invention, the obstacle detecting range is determined according to an angle formed by two sides in a vertical section of the first conical mirror 111 and the second conical mirror 121.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an obstacle detection range when the angle of the peak of the first conical mirror 111 is set to 89 degrees and the angle of the peak of the second conical mirror 121 is set to 150 degrees.

The altitude angle of the line light is determined according to the sharpness angle of the first conical mirror 111, and the obstacle detection range in the vertical direction can be known. When the peak angle of the first conical mirror 111 is 90 degrees, the line light is irradiated from the obstacle detecting device to be substantially parallel to the ground, and the obstacle at the same altitude as the first conical mirror 111 can be detected.

However, when the line light is irradiated upward, such as when the obstacle detecting device is mounted on the robot cleaner, the eyes may directly come into contact with the user. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the peak angle of the first conical mirror 111 is about 87 degrees to about 89 degrees slightly smaller than 90 to prevent the laser beam from directly contacting the user's eyes.

The tip angle of the second conical mirror 121 determines the position of the closest obstacle that the obstacle detecting device can detect, that is, the minimum distance to the detectable obstacle (hereinafter referred to as a 'minimum detection distance'). As the peak angle of the second conical mirror 121 increases, the minimum sensing distance decreases. As the peak angle decreases, the minimum sensing distance increases.

When the obstacle detecting apparatus according to the embodiment has the arrangement as shown in FIG. 4, the minimum sensing angle θ_lower is obtained by Equation 1 below.

[Equation 1]

ρ = 180-θ_lower

In the case where the peak angle ρ of the second conical mirror 121 is 150 degrees and the distance b between the light source and the second conical mirror 121 is 50 mm, a variable value is substituted in Equation 1 In calculation, in the embodiment of FIG. 5, the minimum sensing angle is 30 degrees. And based on the minimum detection angle [Equation 2] below to obtain the minimum detection distance.

&Quot; (2) "

tan θ_lower = d_min / b

 θ_lower is 30 degrees and b is 50mm, so d_min is about 30mm. That is, the position of the obstacle at the closest distance that can be detected by the obstacle detecting apparatus according to FIG. 5 is about 30 mm away from the obstacle detecting apparatus.

The position of the farthest obstacle that the obstacle detection device can detect, that is, the maximum distance to the obstacle that can be detected (hereinafter referred to as the 'maximum detection distance') is a camera composed of the optical lens 122 and the image sensor 123. It is determined by the field of view (FOV) of the module. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, when using a camera module having an FOV of 100 degrees, θ_upper is 80 degrees and a maximum sensing distance d_max is 270 mm.

In the obstacle detecting apparatus according to the present invention, the distance to the obstacle is measured using the image recorded in the image sensor 123, and the resolution varies according to the measurement distance. In addition, as described above, the maximum sensing distance is changed according to the FOV of the camera module, and the minimum sensing distance is changed depending on the sharpness angle of the second conical mirror 121. In FIG. 6, the peak angle of the second conical mirror 121 is shown. And a graph showing the measurement distance and resolution by varying the FOV of the lens 122 is shown.

FIG. 6A shows the point of view angle of the second conical mirror 121 at 135 degrees, the focal length of the optical lens 122 is 2.8 mm, and the FOV of the camera module is 50 degrees. 6B is a graph showing the results of measuring the resolution in the same case.

FIG. 6C illustrates an obstacle detection distance in the case of using an obstacle detection device in which the sharp angle of the second conical mirror 121 is 150 degrees, the focal length of the optical lens 122 is 2.8 mm, and the FOV of the camera module is 50 degrees. FIG. 6D shows the sharpness angle of the second conical mirror 121 at 135 degrees, and the focal length of the optical lens 122 is 2.8 mm and the FOV of the camera module is 100 degrees. 6E is a graph showing the distance and a graph showing the resolution in the same case.

6D and 6E together, the peak angle of the second conical mirror 121 is 135 degrees, and the focal length of the optical lens 122 is 2.8 mm, and the FOV of the camera module is 3 cm. It can be seen that the distance to the obstacle can be measured with an average resolution of about 4 mm / pixel at a distance of 30 cm. Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6C together, only the peak angle of the second conical mirror 121 is increased under the same conditions. It can be seen that the minimum sensing distance is reduced.

As described above, since the detection range of the obstacle is determined by the angles of the first and second conical peaks and the FOV of the camera module, these values can be appropriately adjusted so that the obstacle detection device according to the embodiment of the present invention can be used according to the purpose. have.

As described above, the altitude or irradiation angle of the line light varies depending on the point angle of the first conical mirror 111, but the point angle of the first conical mirror 111 is determined at the time of manufacturing the first conical mirror. The adjustment of the altitude angle using the sharpness angle of the first conical mirror 111 may occur in terms of time and cost. Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the altitude angle at which line light is irradiated may be changed without changing the peak angle of the first conical mirror 111 will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

7A and 7B illustrate a structure of a line light transmitting unit capable of adjusting an elevation angle at which line light is radiated.

When the line light transmitting unit 110 shown in the left side of FIG. 7A generates line light that is horizontal to the ground, it is assumed that the line light is generated at a height h1 away from the ground. As shown in the right side of FIG. 7A, when the entire line light transmitting unit 110 is tilted at an angle from the horizontal line horizontal to the ground, the line light inclined by the angle is generated. Therefore, an obstacle lower than h1 may be detected in the inclined direction of the line light transmitter 110, and an obstacle higher than h1 may be detected in the opposite direction.

Alternatively, as shown in the right side of FIG. 7B, when the light emitter 112 is inclined at a predetermined angle from the horizontal line horizontal to the ground, line light inclined by the angle is generated, and in the direction in which the light emitter 112 is inclined, h1. Higher obstacles can be detected and vice versa lower than h1.

The line light transmitter 110 or the light emitter 112 may adjust an inclination angle to detect an obstacle having a desired height.

8A and 8B show a structure of a line light transmitter for generating line light irradiated at a plurality of irradiation angles from one line light transmitter.

Referring to FIG. 8A, the first conical mirror 111 comprises a piece of conical mirror having at least two different diameters. Specifically, in the embodiment of FIG. 7A, the sections 111a of the conical mirror having the diameter D1 bisected in the vertical direction and the pieces 111b of the biconical mirror having the diameter D2 bisected in the vertical direction face each other. The one-conical mirror 111 is comprised. The top view of the first conical mirror 111 is as shown in the right side of FIG. 8A.

The first conical mirror 111 shown in FIG. 8A may be applied to the line light transmitting unit 110 by itself, and as shown in FIG. 8B, the rotating device 117 is connected to the first conical mirror 111. It is also possible to rotate the first conical mirror 111.

The rotating device 117 may be controlled by the obstacle detecting controller 130, and a control signal transmitted from the obstacle detecting controller 130 to the rotating device 117 may be synchronized with the reflected light receiving unit 120.

9 illustrates a structure of an obstacle detecting apparatus including a plurality of line light transmitters to detect obstacles having different heights.

9, the obstacle detecting apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a plurality of line light transmitters for irradiating light at different heights. In this embodiment, three line light transmitting units 110a to 110c are included.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the line light emitters 1 to 3 110a to 110c are positioned at different heights, the line light emitter 1110a is based on the line light emitters 2110b. The upper part is sensed, and the line light transmitter 3 110c detects the lower part of the obstacle.

9 illustrates a case where the obstacle is higher than the line light transmitter 1 110a, but the obstacle is lower than the line light transmitter 1 110a and higher than the line light transmitter 2 110b. If the light transmitted from 110b and 3110c is received by the reflected light receiver 120, and the obstacle is lower than the line light transmitter 2 110b and higher than the line light transmitter 3 110c, the line light transmitter Only light transmitted from 3 110c is received by the reflected light receiver 120.

In order to determine from which line light transmitters the light received by the reflected light receiver 120 is transmitted, the time of light irradiation of each line light transmitter may be different. The color of the light to be irradiated can be different.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the line light transmitters are arranged in a line on a vertical line, but the line light transmitters may be independently separated from each other. Therefore, the line light transmitting units 1 to 3 may have different horizontal positions, in which case the height of the optical module can be reduced.

In addition, in the embodiment of FIG. 9, all the light emitted from the line light transmitter is irradiated in parallel with the ground. It is also possible to irradiate light in the direction of the angle inclination.

Alternatively, as described with reference to FIG. 7, the light may be irradiated in a direction tilted at an angle from the horizontal line by tilting the line light transmitting unit itself or tilting the light emitting unit.

Therefore, even if the plurality of line light transmitters do not have different vertical positions, that is, they are not mounted at different heights, obstacles at various heights may be removed by adjusting the peak angle of the first conical mirror or by tilting the line light transmitter or the light emitter. Can be detected.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of image information transmitted from the image processing unit to the obstacle detecting controller 130.

The image information may be represented by a two-dimensional image plane. Referring to FIG. 6, when an arbitrary point in the image plane is p (u, v), the horizontal axis is a U axis, and the vertical axis is a V axis, The angle x between the p point and the U axis in the plane becomes the azimuth angle between the obstacle sensing device and the specific point corresponding to the p point in the actual three-dimensional space, and the distance y between the origin point and the p point in the image plane. Is the distance between the obstacle sensing device and the specific position in the actual three-dimensional space.

If there are no obstacles within the range that the obstacle sensing device can detect, the line light emitted from the line light transmitter will proceed indefinitely and there will be no line light reflected back to the obstacle, so the line of line light received on the image plane Will not appear. However, if there is an obstacle on the same distance with respect to the full azimuth of the obstacle detecting device, a circular image z having a radius proportional to the distance will be formed. By varying the angle and calculating the distance to the reflection point of the irradiated line light corresponding to the angle and calculating the corresponding value, the distance information for the entire azimuth angle can be obtained.

Calculation of the distance between the actual obstacle detecting device and the obstacle will be described with reference to FIG. 11 and Equation 3 and Equation 4.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating a relationship between each component of an obstacle sensing device and an obstacle for calculating a distance.

First, when the laser reflected by the first conical mirror 111 hits an obstacle and returns, the angle θ _i formed by the incident light and the reflected light is summarized using Equation 3 below.

&Quot; (3) "

The distance d _i between the obstacle detecting device and the obstacle may be calculated using θ _i and Equation 4 below.

&Quot; (4) "

12 is a side view showing the external appearance of an optical module (line light transmitter, reflected light receiver) of the obstacle detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention from the side.

Obstacle sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention can be provided in a variety of devices that require the detection of the obstacle and the distance measurement with the obstacle, in particular can be mounted on a mobile robot capable of self walking or driving. At this time, the optical module of the obstacle detection device in the form of the appearance shown in Figure 12 can be mounted on the robot, the size of the optical module according to the size and use of the robot can be miniaturized and the line light transmitting unit 110 ) And the position of the reflected light receiver 120 may be changed. Unlike in FIG. 12, the peaks of the second conical mirror 121 and the peaks of the first conical mirror 111 may face each other or face the same direction. .

Obstacle detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention is not arranged in a line on the vertical line as described above so that the line light transmitter and the reflected light receiver for miniaturization of the optical module or the efficiency of obstacle detection, different from each other independently It is also possible to be placed in position. The description thereof will be described later.

In addition, the obstacle detecting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may be mounted on a robot cleaner that performs a cleaning operation while driving itself, and may be used to allow the robot cleaner to travel without colliding with an obstacle.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a robot cleaner having an obstacle detecting apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

13A is a plan view of the robot cleaner 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from above, and FIG. 13B is a view illustrating a driving state of the robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown on the left side of FIG. 13A, a plurality of sensors have to be mounted on the front of the robot cleaner in order to detect obstacles located in various directions around the robot cleaner, but as shown on the right side of FIG. The robot cleaner 400 according to the embodiment may mount an obstacle detecting device 100 on the front surface thereof to radiate omni-directional line light to detect an obstacle present in all directions without a plurality of sensors or separate servomotors.

Referring to FIG. 13B, the robot cleaner 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention irradiates line light while driving a room and detects obstacles existing at a position where the line light is irradiated. At this time, obstacles located at a lower position or higher than the position where the line light is irradiated may not be detected. Specifically, there are four cross sections depending on the altitude angle of the line light, so that a low obstacle may not be detected or an upward jamming phenomenon. There is a problem that may appear. As mentioned above, this problem can be solved by arranging slits having a plurality of ring-shaped grooves having different sizes between the laser diode 112 and the first conical mirror 111.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the robot cleaner 400 mounted above the line light transmitter and the reflected light receiver at different positions.

As mentioned in FIG. 12, the line light transmitter 110 and the reflected light receiver 120 and 120 may be disposed at different positions independently of each other. Referring to FIG. 14, the line light transmitter 110 and the reflected light receiver 120 may be disposed at different positions in the robot cleaner, and may include a plurality of line light transmitters 110. At this time, by varying the height of each line light transmitting unit 110, or by inclining the line light transmitting unit 110 itself, tilting the light emitting unit, or by adjusting the sharpness angle of the first conical mirror, Obstacles can be detected.

As shown in FIG. 14, when the line light transmitting unit 110 and the reflected light receiving unit 120 are not arranged in a line on the same vertical line, but arranged in different positions, the line light transmitting unit 110 and the reflected light receiving unit 120 are not increased in height without increasing the height of the optical module. Can detect obstacles in height.

15 is a control block diagram of the robot cleaner 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 15, the obstacle detecting control unit 130 calculates the position of the obstacle and the distance to the obstacle and transmits the calculated to the driving control unit 200. The driving control unit 200 based on the position and the distance of the obstacle robot cleaner 400. Determine whether to turn, the direction to turn, stop driving, and the like, and transmits a driving signal to the driver 300. The driver 300 drives the robot cleaner 400 according to the driving signal.

In addition, the slits disposed between the laser diode 112 and the first conical mirror 111 may have a plurality of ring-shaped grooves, or as illustrated in FIG. 13, a plurality of line light transmitting units 110 may be provided. Thus, not only the distance from the robot cleaner to the obstacle but also the height of the obstacle or the rough shape of the obstacle can be extracted.

The driving controller 200 sets a driving route based on information about the surrounding environment of the robot cleaner 400, such as a distance to the obstacle received from the obstacle detecting controller 130, the shape of the obstacle, and sets the driving route according to the set driving route. The robot cleaner 400 may control driving or cleaning operations of the robot cleaner 400.

In addition, the obstacle detection controller 130 may determine the state of the robot cleaner based on the information obtained from the reflected light receiver 120, and may turn on / off the obstacle detection device according to the state of the robot cleaner.

In detail, the obstacle detecting controller 130 may determine whether the robot cleaner leaves the sensor window by analyzing information acquired from the reflected light receiver 120, that is, image information about the surroundings of the robot cleaner. The robot cleaner is provided with a sensor window to prevent the light generated by the light emitting unit from being directly emitted to the outside, and the light transmitted from the line light transmitting unit 110 is emitted to the outside through the sensor window.

16 is a side cross-sectional view of the robot cleaner with a sensor window.

Referring to FIG. 16, some of the light transmitted from the line light transmitter 110 is reflected by the sensor window 410 and enters the reflected light receiver 120, and the obstacle detection controller 130 is provided from the reflected light receiver 120. The presence of the sensor window 410 may be recognized by analyzing the received image information. As a result of the analysis of the image information, when it is determined that the sensor window 410 is separated, the obstacle detection controller 130 may send a control signal to the light emission driver 113 to turn off the operation of the light emission unit 112.

As another embodiment of checking whether the sensor window 410 is separated, the sensor window 410 detects a sensor window, such as a switch or a photo interrupter, at a part which is in contact with or adjacent to the sensor window 410 when the sensor window 410 is mounted on the robot cleaner. The unit may be installed, and the obstacle detection controller 130 may analyze the signal output from the sensor window detection unit to check whether the sensor window is separated.

Referring back to FIG. 15, the obstacle detecting controller 130 may recognize the state in which the robot cleaner 400 is lifted from the ground to turn off the light emitting unit. The robot cleaner 400 is equipped with various devices for detecting a state of the robot cleaner 400 such as an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a vision sensor (or a camera), and the obstacle detecting controller 130 receives signals output from these devices. The analysis may determine whether the current robot cleaner is lifted from the ground.

For example, the upper image information of the robot cleaner may be acquired from the vision sensor, and the acquired image information may be analyzed to determine whether the robot cleaner is lifted from the ground. Specifically, the robot cleaner is lifted from the ground when the distance from the ceiling is set based on the distance from the ceiling when the robot cleaner is placed on the floor and the image information obtained from the vision sensor is less than the reference value. It can be judged to be true.

Alternatively, the robot cleaner is lifted from the ground by mounting an ultrasonic sensor to detect an object in the ceiling direction on the upper part of the robot cleaner, or by detecting a longitudinal acceleration by mounting a longitudinal acceleration sensor. Can be determined.

Alternatively, the robot cleaner may be lifted from the ground by analyzing the image information acquired from the reflected light receiver 120.

In addition, the obstacle detection controller 130 transmits a control signal to the light emission driver 113 after the robot cleaner starts running, thereby turning on the light emitter 112, and after the robot cleaner finishes traveling, the light emitter 112. By turning off the power consumption, the light source can be prevented from being unnecessarily emitted.

FIG. 17 is a side cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a configuration of an obstacle detecting apparatus mounted at the front of the robot cleaner 400 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 17, the obstacle detecting apparatus 100 is mounted on the driving direction of the robot cleaner 400, that is, the front surface. The position of the line light transmitting unit 110 and the reflected light receiving unit 120 may be changed up and down. However, as in the embodiment, when the line light transmitting unit 110 is disposed at the bottom of the robot cleaner 400, the robot cleaner ( Obstacles that hinder the driving of 400 may be easily detected.

In addition, by placing the first conical mirror 111 to be spaced apart from the floor by a predetermined distance or more, it is possible to prevent the robot cleaner 400 from recognizing an obstacle of a height that can be crossed while driving. As an example, when the position of the first conical mirror 111 is adjusted so that the laser reflected by the first conical mirror 111 is irradiated on a height of 20 mm from the bottom surface, the robot cleaner 400 is an obstacle whose height does not become 20 mm. Can be skipped without detection.

However, FIG. 17 is only an embodiment of a structure in which the obstacle detecting apparatus 100 is mounted on the robot cleaner, and if necessary, the obstacle detecting apparatus is inclined in the 90 degree direction to irradiate light in a direction perpendicular to the ground. An example is possible.

18 is a block diagram of an optical module of an obstacle detecting apparatus mounted to the robot cleaner 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As mentioned above, the position of the line light transmitter 110 and the reflected light receiver 120 is not limited, and as shown in FIG. 18, the first point of the first conical mirror 111 of the line light transmitter 110 is It is also possible to arrange the point of the second conical mirror 121 of the reflected light receiving unit 120 to face upward. As shown in FIG. 18, when the line light transmitting unit 110 and the reflected light receiving unit are disposed, the image sensor 123 is disposed in a form looking downward from the top to prevent direct irradiation of external light to the image sensor 123. Can be.

When the obstacle detecting device is mounted on the robot cleaner 400, it is important to make the size as small as possible. Therefore, in another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as shown on the right side of FIG. 18, the line light transmitter 110 and the reflected light receiver are not arranged in the vertical direction, but separated from each other, so that the line light transmitter 110 is separated. The height of the obstacle detecting device can be lowered by placing the s on the obstacle.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the size of the obstacle detecting apparatus may be reduced by arranging the line light transmitting unit 110 and the reflected light receiving unit at positions independent of each other.

As described above, according to the obstacle detecting apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention, it is possible to detect the obstacle in all directions by generating the line light uniformly, reduce the obstacle detection dead zone according to the altitude angle and extract the shape of the obstacle. It is also possible.

In addition, the robot cleaner 400 of the present invention having the obstacle detecting apparatus detects obstacles in all directions and uses the same for driving control to enable more efficient cleaning and driving.

100: obstacle detection device 120: reflected light receiving unit
110: line light transmission unit 121: second conical mirror
111: first conical mirror 122: lens
112: light emitting unit 123: imaging unit
113: light emission drive unit 130: obstacle detection control unit

Claims (26)

A line light transmitting unit having a light emitting unit and a first conical mirror disposed at a point in which light is emitted toward the light emitting unit and converting light generated by the light emitting unit into line light irradiated in all directions; And
A second conical mirror that collects the reflected light reflected from an obstacle after being irradiated from the first conical mirror, a lens disposed to be spaced apart from a peak of the second conical mirror by a predetermined distance, and passing the reflected light; Obstacle detection device comprising a reflected light receiving unit including an image pickup unit for imaging the passed light. The method of claim 1,
The line light transmitting unit,
And a slit or axicon lens disposed between the light emitting unit and the first conical mirror to form a ring-shaped light emitted from the light emitting unit. The method of claim 1,
The line light transmitting unit,
And a slit disposed between the light emitting part and the first conical mirror and having at least one groove formed therein. The method of claim 3, wherein
The slit
Obstacle sensing device is formed in the shape of a ring, cross (+), circular or straight (-) shape. The method of claim 1,
The first conical mirror,
Obstacle detection device that consists of two or more cone pieces having different diameters of the bottom surface. The method of claim 5, wherein
Obstacle sensing device further comprises a rotating device for rotating the first conical mirror. The method of claim 1,
And an angle between the two sides of the first conical mirror at a sharp point on a vertical cross section is 88 to 90 degrees. The method of claim 1,
The lens of the reflected light receiving unit is disposed so as to be spaced apart from the tip of the second conical mirror by the focal length of the lens. The method of claim 1,
The lens of the reflected light receiving unit or the surface of the second conical mirror is obstacle detection device is coated with a band pass filter that passes only the wavelength of the reflected light. The method of claim 1,
And a sharp point of the first conical mirror of the line light transmitting unit and a sharp point of the second conical mirror of the reflected light receiving unit face each other in opposite directions. The method of claim 1,
And a point of the first conical mirror of the line light transmitter and a point of the second conical mirror of the reflected light receiver face each other in the same direction. 11. The method of claim 10,
And a sharp point of the first conical mirror of the line light transmitter and a sharp point of the second conical mirror of the reflected light receiver face each other. The method of claim 1,
Obstacle sensing device that the lens of the reflected light receiving unit is a wide-angle lens. The method of claim 1,
A hole is formed that is smaller than the irradiation cross-sectional area of the light emitted from the light emitting portion, and further comprising a structure disposed between the light emitting portion and the first conical mirror such that the hole is located in the light irradiation path of the light emitting portion. Obstacle detection device. The method of claim 1,
The line light transmitting unit or the light emitting unit,
Obstacle sensing device inclined at an angle from a vertical line perpendicular to the ground. The method of claim 1,
Obstacle detection device further comprises an obstacle detection control unit for analyzing the image recorded in the image pickup unit to extract the distance or the shape of the obstacle. 17. The method of claim 16,
The line light transmitting unit,
Two or more at different heights from the ground,
The obstacle detection control unit,
Obstacle detection device for determining the height of the obstacle by analyzing the image recorded in the image pickup unit. In the robot cleaner comprising an obstacle detecting device for detecting an obstacle and a driving control unit for controlling the driving based on a detection result of the obstacle detecting device,
The obstacle detecting device,
A first light emitting part, a light emitting driving part for driving the light emitting part, and a first point of the light emitting part, the peaks of which are disposed toward the light emitting part to convert light generated in the light emitting part into line light irradiated in all directions; A line light transmitting unit having a conical mirror;
A second conical mirror that collects the reflected light reflected from an obstacle after being irradiated from the first conical mirror, a lens disposed to be spaced apart from a sharp point of the second conical mirror by a predetermined distance, and the lens to pass the reflected light; A reflected light receiving unit including an image capturing unit configured to image the reflected light passing through the light; And
And an obstacle detecting controller configured to analyze the image recorded in the image pickup unit and extract a distance from the obstacle or the shape of the obstacle. 17. The method of claim 16,
And a tip of the first conical mirror of the line light transmitting unit and a point of the second conical mirror of the reflected light receiving unit face each other in a direction opposite to each other. 17. The method of claim 16,
The line light transmitting unit is installed at the lower end of the robot cleaner front part, the reflected light receiving unit is a robot cleaner installed at the top of the robot cleaner front part. 17. The method of claim 16,
The driving controller receives the shape of the obstacle or the distance to the obstacle from the obstacle sensing device and sets the driving path based on the obstacle. 17. The method of claim 16,
The line light transmitting unit,
Two or more at different heights from the ground,
The obstacle detection control unit,
And a robot cleaner for analyzing the image recorded in the image pickup unit to determine the height of the obstacle. The method of claim 16, wherein
The obstacle detection control unit,
And when the robot cleaner is determined to be lifted from the ground, transmits a control signal to the light emitting driver to turn off the light emitting unit. The method of claim 16, wherein
The obstacle detection control unit,
And determining that the sensor window of the robot cleaner is detached, transmitting a control signal to the light emission driving unit to turn off the light emitting unit. The method of claim 16, wherein
Further comprising a switch or photo interrupter mounted in a position adjacent to the sensor window,
The obstacle detection control unit,
The robot cleaner determines whether the sensor window is separated by analyzing a signal output from the switch or the photo interrupter. The method of claim 16, wherein
The obstacle detection control unit,
The robot cleaner turns on the light emitting part when the robot cleaner starts to run, and turns off the light emitting part when the robot cleaner finishes driving.

Images