CARRYING DEVICE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20190090601A1
• Filed: 06/27/2016
• Published: 03/28/2019
• 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
• Granted Patent: US 10,638,820 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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 provied. 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 to follow the target object.

2. The carrying device according to claim 1, 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.

3. The carrying device according to claim 1, wherein

the object information detector comprises:

a distance sensor configured to acquire a distance signal of the object in front of the body; and

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.

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 distance sensor is an ultrasonic sensor.

7. The carrying device according to claim 2, wherein the control mechanism is connected to the distance sensor via a RS232 interface.

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

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

10. 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 to follow the target object,

the method comprising;

acquiring object information from an object information detector; and

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.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein in the event that the object information detector comprises a distance sensor, the step of determining a position of a 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 of the carrying device to move along with the target object comprises:

simulating a 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 a 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.

12. The method according to claim 11, 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.

13. The method according to claim 11, 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.

14. The method according to claim 11, 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.

15. The method according to claim 10, 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 comprises:

acquiring a first distance signal of the object in front of the body from the distance sensor and 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 comprises;

simulating a profile feature of the object in front of the body based on the first distance signal, 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;

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.

16. The method according to claim 15, 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.

17. The method according to claim 15, 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.

18. The method according to claim 15, 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.

19. The method according to claim 18, 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.

20. The method according to claim 19, 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.

21. (canceled)