Carrying device and method of controlling the same

• US 10,638,820 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2016
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Ding, Hongli, Gu, Yu, Gui, Zhongcheng, Zhang, Yifei, Zhao, Kai, Zhang, Ying
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Shardul D
• Application Number:
  US15/527,053
• Publication Number:
  US 20190090601A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,408 Days
• Field of Search: 701 2, 701 23, 701 28, 3405727, 180167, 180214, 700258, 700259
• CPC Class Codes: A45C 5/03 Suitcases
• CPC Class Codes: A45C 5/14 with built-in rolling means
• CPC Class Codes: B60B 19/003 Multidirectional wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 7/0007 the motor being electric
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/86 Carts; Golf carts
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2400/30 Sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/02 Control of position or course in two dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0214 in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0246 using a video camera in combination with image processing means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0255 using acoustic signals, e.g. ultra-sonic singals sonar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S15/93

Abstract

A carrying device and a method for controlling the carrying device are provided. The carrying device includes a body and a movement mechanism arranged at a bottom of the body and capable of moving in various directions. The carrying device further includes: an object information detector arranged on the body and configured to collect object information about an object in front of the body; a driving mechanism connected to the movement mechanism and configured to drive the movement mechanism to move; and a control mechanism configured to determine a position of a target object based on the object information, and output a control instruction to the driving mechanism to enable the movement mechanism to drive the body to follow the target object.

Claims

1. A carrying device, comprising:

a body;

a movement mechanism arranged at a bottom of the body and capable of moving in a plurality of directions;

an object information detector arranged on the body and configured to collect object information about an object in front of the body;

a driving mechanism connected to the movement mechanism and configured to drive the movement mechanism to move; and

a control mechanism configured to determine a position of a target object based on the object information, and output a control instruction to the driving mechanism to enable the movement mechanism to drive the body by adjusting the speed and/or a rotation direction to follow the target object;

wherein the object information detector comprises a distance sensor configured to acquire a distance signal of the object in front of the body, and the control mechanism comprises a first controller configured to determine the position of the target object based on the distance signal;

wherein the distance sensor comprises a plurality of ultrasonic sensors;

wherein the plurality of ultrasonic sensors is provided at different positions and is enabled to transmit a plurality of ultrasonic signals in different directions to different positions in front of the body, the plurality of ultrasonic sensors are combined to simulate a profile feature of the object in front of the body, so that the simulated profile feature of the object in front of the body can be matched with a pre-stored model of the target object to determine a current position of the target object based on a matching result.

2. The carrying device according to claim 1, wherein

the object information detector further comprises:

an image collection mechanism configured to acquire a current image of the object in front of the body, and

the control mechanism comprises a second controller configured to determine the position of the target object based on the distance signal and the current image.

3. The carrying device according to claim 2, wherein the control mechanism is connected to the image collection mechanism via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

4. The carrying device according to claim 1, wherein the movement mechanism comprises a plurality of Mecanum wheels.

5. The carrying device according to claim 4, wherein the driving mechanism comprises a hub motor and a driver connected to the hub motor, the hub motor is connected to the Mecanum wheels, and the driver is connected to the control mechanism.

6. The carrying device according to claim 1, wherein the control mechanism is connected to the distance sensor via a RS232 interface.

7. The carrying device according to claim 1, wherein the body comprises an accommodation space for carrying an article.

8. A method of controlling a carrying device, the carrying device comprising:

a body;

a movement mechanism arranged at a bottom of the body and capable of moving in a plurality of directions;

an object information detector arranged on the body and configured to collect object information about an object in front of the body;

a driving mechanism connected to the movement mechanism and configured to drive the movement mechanism to move; and

a control mechanism configured to determine a position of a target object based on the object information, and output a control instruction to the driving mechanism to enable the movement mechanism to drive the body by adjusting the speed and/or a rotation direction to follow the target object;

wherein the object information detector comprises a distance sensor configured to acquire a distance signal of the object in front of the body, and the control mechanism comprises a first controller configured to determine the position of the target object based on the distance signal;

wherein the distance sensor comprises a plurality of ultrasonic sensors;

wherein the plurality of ultrasonic sensors is provided at different positions and is enabled to transmit a plurality of ultrasonic signals in different directions to different positions in front of the body to simulate a profile feature of the object in front of the body;

the method comprising;

scanning the profile of a specific target object using the plurality of ultrasonic sensors, acquiring and storing a pre-stored model;

acquiring object information from an object information detector;

determining a position of a target object based on the object information, and outputting a control instruction to a driving mechanism to enable a movement mechanism to drive a body of the carrying device to follow the target object;

simulating the profile feature of the object in front of the body based on a distance signal of the object in front of the body acquired by the distance sensor, matching the simulated profile feature of the object in front of the body with the pre-stored model of the target object, and determining a current position of the target object based on a matching result; and

determining whether the current position is located within a predetermined following range, and if not, outputting a movement state adjustment instruction to the driving mechanism to enable the movement mechanism to drive the body to follow the target object;

combining the plurality of ultrasonic sensors, and counting the distance signals from the plurality of ultrasonic sensors to perform the object profile feature simulation.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of matching the simulated profile feature of the object in front of the body with a pre-stored model of the target object and determining a current position of the target object based on a matching result comprises:

determining whether one of the simulated profile feature of the object in front of the body corresponds to the pre-stored model of the target object;

if yes, determining the one of the simulated profile feature corresponding to the pre-stored model of the target object as a computed target profile, and calculating a distance between a center of the computed target profile and the distance sensor and an angle of the center of the computed target profile relative to the distance sensor to determine the current position of the target object; and

if not, determining that the current position of the target object is located beyond the predetermined following range.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of outputting a movement state adjustment instruction to the driving mechanism comprises:

outputting a movement speed adjustment instruction and/or a rotation direction adjustment instruction to the driving mechanism.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein in the event that in the step of determining whether the current position is located within a predetermined following range, the current position is determined to be located within the predetermined following range, the method further comprises:

determining whether a current distance between the body and the target object is less than a predetermined value based on the current position, and if yes, outputting a following stopping instruction to the driving mechanism.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein in the event that the object information detector comprises a distance sensor and an image collection mechanism, the step of acquiring object information from the object information detector further comprises:

acquiring a current image of the object in front of the body from the image collection mechanism, and

the step of determining a position of the target object based on the object information and outputting a control instruction to the driving mechanism to enable the movement mechanism to drive the body to follow the target object further comprises;

in the event that the current position is located within a predetermined following range, matching the current image with pre-stored image information about the target object to determine whether the current image comprises the pre-stored image information; and

in the event that the current image does not comprise the pre-stored image information and the current position is not located within the predetermined following range, outputting a movement state adjustment instruction to the driving mechanism.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of matching the simulated profile feature of the object in front of the body with a pre-stored model of the target object and determining a current position of the target object based on a matching result comprises:

determining whether one of the simulated profile feature of the object in front of the body corresponds to the pre-stored model of the target object;

if yes, determining the one of the simulated profile feature corresponding to the pre-stored model of the target object as a computed target profile, and calculating a distance between a center of the computed target profile and the distance sensor and an angle of the center of the computed target profile relative to the distance sensor to determine the current position of the target object; and

if not, determining that the current position of the target object is located beyond the predetermined following range.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the step of outputting a movement state adjustment instruction to the driving mechanism comprises:

outputting a movement speed adjustment instruction and/or a rotation direction adjustment instruction to the driving mechanism.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises, prior to the step of acquiring a first distance signal of the object in front of the body from the distance sensor and a current image of each object in front of the body from the image collection mechanism:

receiving a start instruction;

acquiring a second distance signal of the object in front of the body from the distance sensor based on the start instruction; and

performing a feature simulation based on the second distance signal to acquire and store the pre-stored model.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the method further comprises, subsequent to the step of performing a feature simulation based on the second distance signal to acquire and store the pre-stored model:

outputting a rotation direction adjustment instruction to the driving mechanism to change a direction of the movement mechanism, and enabling the image collection mechanism to face toward the target object and collect image information about the target object and store the image information as the pre-stored image information.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the method further comprises, subsequent to the step of enabling the image collection mechanism to collect image information about the target object:

determining whether a stored image exists, and if yes, deleting the stored image, and storing the currently-collected image information as the pre-stored image information.

18. The method according to claim 8, wherein the simulating a profile feature of the object in front of the body comprises:

filtering out abnormal data points in data using a median filtration algorithm when acquiring of the data of reflected ultrasonic signals;

processing the data using a nearest neighbor algorithm for clustering analysis;

classifying data points in the data and simulating profile features of the object from which the ultrasonic signals are reflected.