Patent Description:
A mower is a gardening tool used for mowing lawns, vegetation, and the like, and generally includes a walking system, a cutter system, and a power source. The power source may be a gasoline engine, a battery, or the like. A battery-powered mower is popular to users because of low noise and zero pollution. However, due to constraints of battery energy density, battery production costs, and other factors, the battery carried on the mower has a very limited charge amount, resulting in a relatively small working area of the mower in each operation. In case of a relatively large lawn area, a user requires a plurality of batteries for replacement to achieve uninterrupted work. Nevertheless, a user still needs to spend a very long time to complete lawn mowing. If a plurality of mowers is simultaneously used, a plurality of operators will be simultaneously required. As a result, labor costs will increase.

<CIT> discloses a method for wirelessly controlling a plurality of agricultural machines. Status updates are received from the plurality of agricultural machines and responsive to the status updates, the agricultural machines coordinated to work together on the same task.

In view of the above problems, a mower fleet management device is required to resolve the above problems.

The present disclosure provides a mower fleet management system comprising a mower fleet comprising a plurality of mowers and a mower fleet management device, wherein the mower fleet management device is configured to control the plurality of mowers to work in collaboration. Each of the mowers includes an on-board communication module and an on-board positioning and navigation module. The mower fleet management device includes: a map loading module configured to acquire a map of a working land parcel for use by the on-board positioning and navigation modules; a control terminal communication module configured to wirelessly communicate with the on-board communication modules to acquire status information of the mowers and transmit a control command to the mowers, where the status information includes charge amounts of battery packs, speeds, and mowing widths of the mowers; a working region assigning module configured to assign a working region to each of the mowers according to the status information and the map. The working region assigning module comprises a working area estimation unit and a path generation unit, wherein the working area estimation unit is configured to estimate the working area of each of the mowers according to the status information, and the path generation unit is configured to generate a working path according to the estimated working area and the map of the working land. The on-board positioning and navigation module of each of the mowers is configured to guide the mower to work in the corresponding working region according to the assigned working region. The working region assigning module is configured to transmit a prompt message when the sum of the estimated working areas of all of the mowers is less than the area of the working land.

The present disclosure further provides a mower fleet management method for controlling a plurality of mowers to work in collaboration, including the following steps: acquiring a map of a working land parcel and status information of the mowers, where the status information includes charge amounts of battery packs, speeds, and mowing widths of the mowers; assigning a working region to each of the mowers according to the status information and the map and guiding each of the mowers to work in the corresponding working region; estimating a working area of each of the plurality of mowers according to the status information of each of the plurality of mowers; generating a working path of each of the plurality of mowers according to the estimated working area of each of the plurality of mowers and the map of the working land; and determining whether a sum of the estimated working areas of all of the plurality of mowers is not less than an area of the working land; and if so, generating a working path of each of the plurality of mowers according to the estimated working area of each of the plurality of mowers and the map of the working land; or determining whether a mower outside the fleet is needed to be added; and if so, adding the mower outside the fleet to a current fleet and estimating the working area of each of the plurality of mowers according to the status information of each of the plurality of mowers.

The present invention has the following beneficial effects: the mower fleet management device of the present invention can control a plurality of unmanned mowers to work in collaboration, thereby effectively improving working efficiency and reducing labor costs.

To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

Referring to <FIG>, the present disclosure provides a mower fleet management device <NUM> configured to control a plurality of mowers <NUM> to work in collaboration to mow lawn quickly. Each of the plurality of mowers <NUM> includes an on-board communication module <NUM> and an on-board positioning and navigation module <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, the mower fleet management device <NUM> includes a map loading module <NUM>, a control terminal communication module <NUM>, a working region assigning module <NUM>, a control terminal monitoring module <NUM>, an interaction module <NUM>, and a control terminal database <NUM>. The map loading module <NUM> is configured to acquire a map of a working land for use by the on-board positioning and navigation modules <NUM>. Referring to <FIG>, the map loading module <NUM> includes a position collection unit <NUM> and a map generation unit <NUM>. The position collection unit <NUM> is configured to collect coordinate information of the working land. Preferably, the coordinate information of the working land includes coordinate information of a boundary of the working land and coordinate information of a boundary of an obstacle located in the working land. The map generation unit <NUM> is configured to generate a boundary curve of the working land according to the coordinate information and determine whether the boundary curve is a closed curve. If the boundary curve is a closed curve, the map generation unit <NUM> fits the boundary curve to generates the map of the working land. If the boundary curve is not a closed curve, the map generation unit transmits a prompt message to remind a worker to complete collection of position information of the working land. The prompt message may be a prompt voice emitted by the mower fleet management device <NUM>, a prompt lamplight, or a prompt text, graphics, or the like displayed on the interaction module <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, the control terminal communication module <NUM> wirelessly communicates with the on-board communication module <NUM> to acquire status information of the mowers <NUM> or transmit a control command to the mowers <NUM>. The control terminal communication module <NUM> and the on-board communication module <NUM> each may be a <NUM> communication module, a <NUM> communication module, a <NUM> communication module, a WIFI module, a Bluetooth module, a WiMAX module, a Zigbee module, or the like. The status information includes charge amount of battery, speed, mowing widths, and the like of the mowers.

Referring to <FIG>, the working region assigning module <NUM> assigns a working region to each of the mowers <NUM> according to the status information and the map. The on-board positioning and navigation module <NUM> of each of the mowers <NUM> guides the mower <NUM> to work in the corresponding working region according to the assigned working region. The working region assigning module <NUM> includes a working area estimation unit <NUM> and a path generation unit <NUM>. The working area estimation unit <NUM> is configured to estimate the working area of each of the mowers <NUM> according to the status information. An estimation equation for the working area is: Simax=Bi*SOCi*Ki, where Simax is an estimated working area of an ith mower, SOCi is a full charge of a battery of the ith mower, Bi is a current charge percentage of the battery of the ith mower, and Ki is a ratio of a mowing area to power consumption of the ith mower. In order to protect the battery and prevent the battery from being damaged as a result of over discharged; a user may set a minimum battery percentage Bimin for the battery of the ith mower through the interaction module <NUM>. In this case, the estimation equation for the working area may be changed to Simax=(Bi - Bimin)*SOCi*Ki (referred to as Equation <NUM> below). However, since the mower is working while moving forward, when the mower completes work in a corresponding region, the mower may have been far away from a starting point such as a charging station, a mower shed, or the like. In order to cause the mower to automatically return to the starting point after completion of the work, the mower fleet management device <NUM> may determine a "back battery percentage" Biback according to a distance between the position of the mower when the work is completed and the starting point. In this case, the estimation equation for working area may be changed to Simax=(Bi - Bimin-Biback)*SOCi*Ki. In addition, in order to fully mow the lawn, mowing widths corresponding to adjacent mowing tracks need to be partially overlapped. Therefore, preferably, the user may set a re-mowing rate Fi for the ith mower through the interaction module <NUM>. In this case, the estimation equation for the area of the working region may be updated to Simax=(Bi - Bimin-Biback)*SOCi*Ki*(<NUM>-Fi). Certainly, the area of the working region may also be estimated by other methods. For example, the estimation equation for the working area may also be Simax =Ti * Vi * Di * (<NUM> - Fi) (referred to as Equation <NUM> below), where Ti is a working time of the ith mower, Vi is a travelling speed of the ith mower during working, and Di is a mowing width of the ith mower. An evaluation formula for a longest mowing time of the mower under a current power level is Timax=Simax/[Vi * Di * (<NUM> - Fi)] (referred to as Equation <NUM> below). An estimation formula for a shortest working time (regardless of a charge amount) for a mower fleet composed of n mowers to complete a mowing area S is Timin = S /[ V<NUM> * D<NUM> * (<NUM> - F<NUM>) + V<NUM> * D<NUM> * (<NUM> - F<NUM>) +. + Vn * Dn * (<NUM> - Fn)] (referred to as Equation <NUM> below). For example, when mowers <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> listed in Table <NUM> are used to form a mower fleet, an estimated shortest mowing time and an estimated mowing area of each of the mowers are shown in Table <NUM>. When a sum of the estimated working areas of all of the mowers is less than the area of the working land, the working region assigning module <NUM> transmits a prompt message, to remind the user that the mowers in the current fleet cannot complete the mowing work on the working land. The prompt message may be a prompt voice emitted by the mower fleet management device <NUM>, a prompt lamplight, or a prompt text, graphics, or the like displayed on the interaction module <NUM>. When the sum of the estimated working areas of all of the mowers <NUM> is less than the area of the working land, a user controls, through the interaction module <NUM>, the control terminal communication module <NUM> to establish a communicative connection to an on-board communication module <NUM> of a mower outside a fleet to add the mower to the fleet. Then it is determined whether the sum of the estimated working areas of all of the mowers <NUM> in the current fleet is less than the area of the working land. If the sum of the estimated working areas of all of the mowers <NUM> in the current fleet is still less than the area of the working land, the user is again reminded to add a new mower to the fleet. The process is repeated until the sum of the estimated working areas of all of the mowers <NUM> in the current fleet is greater than the area of the working land. In addition, when the sum of the estimated working areas of all of the mowers is less than the area of the working land and no new mower is added to the fleet, a user may select, from the map of the working land through the interaction module <NUM>, a preferential region of the working land. The mower fleet management device <NUM> controls the mower fleet to work in the preferential region of the working land parcel.

Referring to <FIG>, the path generation unit <NUM> generates a working path corresponding to each of the mowers according to the estimated working area and the map of the working land. Preferably, the user may further set a working mode through the interaction module <NUM>. The working mode includes an independent working mode and a follow-up working mode. <FIG> is a schematic diagram of a working path of an independent working mode. Solid lines represent a working path of a first mower, and dashed lines represent a working path of a second mower. In the independent working mode, a working region of the first mower and a working region of the second mower are independent of each other. <FIG> is a schematic diagram of a working path of a follow-up working mode. Solid lines represent a working path of a first mower, and dashed lines represent a working path of a second mower. In the follow-up working mode, a working region of the first mower and a working region of the second mower are separated from each other. Although there are only two mowers in the independent working mode shown in <FIG> and the follow-up working mode shown in <FIG>, in practical applications, numbers of mowers in the independent working mode and the follow-up working mode may be changed as needed. In the follow-up working mode, in order to fully mow the lawn, a mowing range of the first mower partially overlaps a mowing range of the second mower. In order to avoid mutual influence between the first mower and the second mower, preferably, the first mower and the second mower are caused to operate with a distance between them, that is, the first mower and the second mower work one after the other according to a preset working path. When a front mower malfunctions and stops operation, the mower fleet management device <NUM> controls a rear mower to stop operation to prevent the rear mower from colliding with the front mower. Preferably, a safety distance is set between the first mower and the second mower, that is, the first mower and the second mower operate at an interval of the safety distance. When the front mower malfunctions and stops operation, the rear mower is capable of decelerating and stopping within the safety distance to avoid a collision as a result of the two being too close. Preferably, the value of the safety distance is proportional to a walking speed of the mowers.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the control terminal monitoring module <NUM> is configured to monitor operation information of each of the mowers <NUM> and control the mower <NUM> to perform an operation corresponding to the operation information. The operation information may be malfunction information of the mower or charge amount information of the battery. When the control terminal monitoring module <NUM> monitors that the mower <NUM> malfunctions, the mower fleet management device <NUM> controls the mower <NUM> to stop working and transmits a prompt message. When a malfunction of the malfunctioned mower is resolved, the mower fleet management device <NUM> guides the mower <NUM> back to work in the corresponding working region. Referring to <FIG>, the interaction module <NUM> includes an input unit <NUM> configured to input a user instruction, and a display unit <NUM> configured to display the prompt message. The input unit <NUM> may be an input key, a voice control module, or the like. The display unit <NUM> may be a display screen. In this embodiment, the input unit <NUM> and the display unit <NUM> are separately disposed. However, in other embodiments, the input unit <NUM> and the display unit <NUM> may also be integrated as a whole, such as a touch screen.

Referring to <FIG>, the control terminal database <NUM> is configured to store mower historical work information <NUM>, working land map information <NUM>, mower status information <NUM>, and the like, to be viewed by a user or used by the mower fleet management device <NUM>. Preferably, when the mower fleet management device <NUM> is used, the map loading module <NUM> preferably loads the working land map information <NUM>. If the working land map information <NUM> has a map of a land currently to be worked on, the map loading module <NUM> directly loads the map from the working land map information <NUM>. If the working land map information <NUM> does not have the map of the land currently to be worked on, the map loading module <NUM> collects coordinate information of the working parcel and generates a map through fitting.

The mower fleet management device <NUM> may be a fixed console, a mobile console, or a cloud console. The mower fleet management device <NUM> may also be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or the like. In this embodiment, the mower fleet management device <NUM> directly communicates with the mower <NUM>. However, in other embodiments, the mower fleet management device <NUM> may also indirectly communicate with the mower <NUM>. For example, referring to <FIG>, the mower fleet management device <NUM> includes a cloud control center <NUM> and a handheld terminal <NUM>. The handheld terminal <NUM> may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or the like. A user transmits an instruction to the cloud control center <NUM> through the handheld terminal <NUM>, and then the cloud control center <NUM> processes the instruction, the mower status information, the working land map, and the like to generate control information and transmits the control information to the mower <NUM>. Such a configuration can effectively utilize powerful data processing capabilities of cloud computing and supercomputers, so that the data processing capability required of the handheld terminal <NUM> is reduced, thereby miniaturizing the handheld terminal <NUM>. In this way, the handheld terminal <NUM> is reduced in size, making it convenient for the user to carry, and has lower production costs without degrading user experience. Moreover, such a configuration can further enable a plurality of mower fleet management devices to share one cloud control center <NUM>, thereby reducing overall operation costs.

Compared with the prior art, the mower fleet management device <NUM> of the present invention can control a plurality of unmanned mowers to work in collaboration, thereby effectively improving working efficiency and reducing labor costs.

In this embodiment, the map loading module <NUM> and the working region assigning module <NUM> are disposed on the mower fleet management device <NUM>. However, in other embodiments, the map loading module <NUM> and the working region assigning module <NUM> may also be disposed on the mower <NUM>. For example, referring to <FIG>, the mower <NUM> includes an on-board communication module <NUM>, an on-board positioning and navigation module <NUM>, an on-board control module <NUM>, a working region assigning module <NUM>, a map loading module <NUM>, an on-board database <NUM>, an environment sensing module <NUM>, and an interaction module <NUM>. The on-board communication module <NUM> is configured to communicate with the control terminal communication module <NUM>. The on-board positioning and navigation module <NUM> is configured to guide the mower <NUM> to work on a corresponding working land. The on-board control module <NUM> includes a self-propelling control unit <NUM> configured to control a vehicle to automatically propel, a mower status monitoring unit <NUM> configured to monitor a status of the mower, and a power supply management unit <NUM>. Functions of the working region assigning module <NUM>, the map loading module <NUM>, the on-board database <NUM>, and the interaction module <NUM> are the same as those of the working region assigning module <NUM>, the map loading module <NUM>, the control terminal database <NUM>, and the interaction module <NUM>. Details are not described here again. The environment sensing module <NUM> is configured to gather environment information around the mower <NUM>, such as terrain information, obstacle information, and the like. The environment sensing module <NUM> may be a lidar, vision camera, ultrasonic wave radar, millimeter wave radar, or the like.

Referring to <FIG>, the present invention further discloses a mower fleet management method for controlling a plurality of mowers to work in collaboration. The mower fleet management method includes the following steps:.

Specifically, step S1 also includes the following steps:.

In order to acquire detailed map information of the working land, preferably, step S11 further includes the following steps:.

Specifically, step S2 also includes the following steps:.

Step S21 further includes the following steps:.

Referring to <FIG>, the present disclosure further provides a mower fleet management system <NUM>, including a mower fleet <NUM> and the mower fleet management device <NUM>. The mower fleet <NUM> comprises a plurality of mowers <NUM>, wherein each of the plurality of mowers <NUM> includes the on-board communication module <NUM> and the on-board positioning and navigation module <NUM>.

In conclusion, the mower fleet management device <NUM> of the present disclosure can remotely control a plurality of unmanned mowers to work in collaboration, thereby effectively improving working efficiency and reducing labor costs.

Claim 1:
A mower fleet management system comprising a mower fleet (<NUM>) comprising a plurality of mowers (<NUM>) and a mower fleet management device (<NUM>), wherein the mower fleet management device (<NUM>) is configured to control the plurality of mowers (<NUM>) to work in collaboration, wherein each of the plurality of mowers (<NUM>) comprises an on-board communication module (<NUM>), and an on-board positioning and navigation module (<NUM>), and wherein the mower fleet management device (<NUM>) further comprises:
a map loading module (<NUM>) configured to acquire a map of a working land for use by the on-board positioning and navigation modules (<NUM>);
a control terminal communication module (<NUM>) configured to wirelessly communicate with the on-board communication modules (<NUM>) to acquire status information of the plurality of mowers (<NUM>) and to transmit a control command to the plurality of mowers (<NUM>), wherein the status information comprises at least one of charge amount of battery, speed and mowing widths of the plurality of mowers (<NUM>); and
a working region assigning module (<NUM>) configured to assign a working region to each of the plurality of mowers (<NUM>) according to the status information and the map, and comprises a working area estimation unit (<NUM>) and a path generation unit (<NUM>), wherein the working area estimation unit (<NUM>) is configured to estimate the working area of each of the mowers (<NUM>) according to the status information, and the path generation unit (<NUM>) is configured to generate a working path according to the estimated working area and the map of the working land.; wherein
the on-board positioning and navigation module (<NUM>) of each of the plurality of mowers (<NUM>) is configured to guide the mower (<NUM>) to work in the corresponding working region according to the assigned working region characterized in that the working region assigning module (<NUM>) is configured to transmit a prompt message when the sum of the estimated working areas of all of the mowers (<NUM>) is less than the area of the working land.