Robot pose estimation method and apparatus and robot using the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11279045-B2
Application number	US-201916556233-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 30, 2019
Priority date	Dec 29, 2018
Publication date	Mar 22, 2022
Grant date	Mar 22, 2022

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to robot technology, which provides a robot pose estimation method as well as an apparatus and a robot using the same. The method includes: obtaining, through an inertial measurement unit, initial 6DoF pose data; performing a first correction on the initial 6DoF pose data based on pose data obtained through an auxiliary sensor to obtain corrected 6DoF pose data; obtaining, through a 2D lidar sensor disposed on a stable platform, 3DoF pose data; and performing a second correction on the corrected 6DoF pose data based on the 3DoF pose data to obtain target 6DoF pose data. In this manner, the accuracy of the pose data of the robot is improved, and the accurate pose estimation of the robot is realized.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented pose estimation method for a robot having an inertial measurement unit, an auxiliary sensor, and a 2D lidar sensor, comprising executing on a processor of the robot steps of:
obtaining, through the inertial measurement unit, initial 6DoF pose data;
obtaining, through the auxiliary sensor, pose data;
performing a first correction on the initial 6DoF pose data based on the pose data obtained through the auxiliary sensor to obtain corrected 6DoF pose data;
obtaining, through the 2D lidar sensor, 3DoF pose data; and
performing a second correction on the corrected 6DoF pose data based on the 3DoF pose data to obtain target 6DoF pose data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of performing the first correction on the initial 6DoF pose data based on the pose data obtained through the auxiliary sensor to obtain the corrected 6DoF pose data comprises:
decoupling the initial 6DoF pose data to obtain pose data in a horizontal direction, pose data in a height direction, and a yaw angle; and
correcting the pose data in the horizontal direction, the pose data in the height direction, and the yaw angle based on the pose data obtained through the auxiliary sensor to obtain the corrected 6DoF pose data.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein before the step of decoupling the initial 6DoF pose data further comprises:
converting an angular velocity ω=(ω x ,ω y , ω z ) T and an acceleration a=(a x ,a y ,a z ) T detected by the IMU in a body coordinate into an Euler angle Ω=(ϕ, θ, φ) T , a position vector p=(p x ,p y , p z ) T , and a velocity vector p=(p x , p y , p z ) T in a navigation system; and
integrating the Euler angle Ω=(ϕ, θ,φ) T , the position vector p=(p x ·p y ,p z ) T , and the velocity vector p=(p x , p y , p z ) T to obtain the initial 6DoF pose data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of obtaining, through the 2D lidar sensor, the 3DoF pose data comprises:
aligning two frames of data obtained at a current time and a previous time, and estimating a change amount of the 3DoF pose data between the two frames of data; and
correcting the 3DoF pose data obtained through the 2D lidar at the previous time based on the change amount to obtain the 3DoF pose data obtained through the 2D lidar sensor at the current time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of performing the second correction on the corrected 6DoF pose data based on the 3DoF pose data to obtain the target 6DoF pose data comprises:
using the following correction equation to perform the second correction on the corrected 6DoF pose data:
( P + ) −1 =(1−ω) P −1 +ω·C T R −1 C

{circumflex over (x)} + =P + ((1−ω) P −1 {circumflex over (x)}+ω·C T R −1 ξ + ) −1 ;

where, {circumflex over (x)} is the corrected 6DoF pose data, P is a variance matrix corresponding to the corrected 6DoF pose data, and ξ + is the 3DoF pose data, R is a variance matrix corresponding to the corrected 3DoF pose data, C is an observation projection matrix for projecting the corrected 6DoF pose data onto a scan plane of the 2D lidar sensor, and ω is a correction weight.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the robot further comprises a stable platform, the 2D lidar sensor is disposed on the stable platform, and the step of obtaining, through the 2D lidar sensor, the 3DoF pose data comprises:
obtaining, through the 2D lidar sensor disposed on the stable platform, the 3DoF pose data.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
calculating a control amount of the stable platform based on the corrected 6DoF pose data, and controlling an actuator to drive the stable platform to move in a reverse direction according to the control amount to keep the stable platform stable.

8. A pose estimation apparatus for a robot having an inertial measurement unit, an auxiliary sensor, and a 2D lidar sensor, comprising:
a first obtaining unit configured to obtain, through the inertial measurement unit, initial 6DoF pose data;
a first correcting unit configured to obtain, through the auxiliary sensor, pose data, and perform a first correction on the initial 6DoF pose data based on the pose data obtained through the auxiliary sensor to obtain corrected 6DoF pose data;
a second obtaining unit configured to obtain, through the 2D lidar sensor, 3DoF pose data; and
a second correcting unit configured to perform a second correction on the corrected 6DoF pose data based on the 3DoF pose data to obtain target 6DoF pose data.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first correcting unit is configured to:
decouple the initial 6DoF pose data to obtain pose data in a horizontal direction, pose data in a height direction, and a yaw angle; and
correct the pose data in the horizontal direction, the pose data in the height direction, and the yaw angle based on the pose data obtained through the auxiliary sensor to obtain the corrected 6DoF pose data.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the second obtaining unit is configured to:
align two frames of data obtained at a current time and a previous time, and estimating a change amount of the 3DoF pose data between the two frames of data; and
correct the 3DoF pose data obtained through the 2D lidar at the previous time based on the change amount to obtain the 3DoF pose data obtained through the 2D lidar sensor at the current time.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the second correcting unit is configured to:
use the following correction equation to perform the second correction on the corrected 6DoF pose data:
( P + ) −1 =(1−ω) P −1 +ω·C T R −1 C

{circumflex over (x)} + =P + ((1−ω) P −1 {circumflex over (x)}+ω·C T R −1 ξ + ) −1 ;

where, {circumflex over (x)} is the corrected 6DoF pose data, P is a variance matrix corresponding to the corrected 6DoF pose data, and ξ + is the 3DoF pose data, R is a variance matrix corresponding to the corrected 3DoF pose data, C is an observation projection matrix for projecting the corrected 6DoF pose data onto a scan plane of the 2D lidar sensor, and ω is a correction weight.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the robot further comprises a stable platform, the 2D lidar sensor is disposed on the stable platform, and the method further comprises:
a platform control unit configured to calculate a control amount of the stable platform based on the corrected 6DoF pose data, and control an actuator to drive the stable platform to move in a reverse direction according to the control amount to keep the stable platform stable.

13. A robot, comprising:
an inertial measurement unit;
an auxiliary sensor;
a 2D lidar sensor;
a memory;
a processor; and
one or more computer programs stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the one or more computer programs comprise:
instructions for obtaining, through the inertial measurement unit, initial 6DoF pose data;
instructions for obtaining, through the auxiliary sensor, pose data;
instructions for performing a first correction on the initial 6DoF pose data based on the pose data obtained through the auxiliary sensor to obtain corrected 6DoF pose data;
instructions for obtaining, through the 2D lidar sensor, 3DoF pose data; and
instructions for performing a second correction on the corrected 6DoF pose data based on the 3DoF pose data to obtain target 6DoF pose data.

14. The robot of claim 13 , wherein the instructions for performing the first correction on the initial 6DoF pose data based on the pose data obtained through the auxiliary sensor to obtain the corrected 6DoF pose data comprise:
instructions fo

Assignees

• Ubtech Robotics Corp Ltd

Inventors

• Xiong Youjun
• Pang Jianxin
• Zhang Wanli
• Zhang Jingtao

Classifications

• B25J9/1664

  characterised by motion, path, trajectory planning · CPC title

• B25J9/1692

  Calibration of manipulator · CPC title

• B25J19/022

  using lasers · CPC title

• B25J13/088 Primary

  with position, velocity or acceleration sensors · CPC title

• G01S17/42

  Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates (indirect measurement G01S17/46) · CPC title