CN116443450A

CN116443450A - Electronic device control method and electronic device control system

Info

Publication number: CN116443450A
Application number: CN202210247829.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 江翰霖; 徐宁; 王国振
Original assignee: Pixart Imaging Inc
Current assignee: Pixart Imaging Inc
Priority date: 2022-01-09
Filing date: 2022-03-14
Publication date: 2023-07-18

Abstract

The invention discloses an electronic device control method and an electronic device control system, wherein the electronic device control method is used for calling a first electronic device in a building and comprises the following steps: (a) Receiving a call command of a user through the first electronic device; (b) Acquiring map information of the building through the first electronic device corresponding to the call command; and (c) driving the first electronic device to go to a user area where the user is located according to the map information, wherein the user area is a preset range of the position where the user is located. By using the invention, the user can call any needed electronic device to the position of the user.

Description

Electronic device control method and electronic device control system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electronic device control method and an electronic device control system, and more particularly, to an electronic device control method and an electronic device control system capable of calling an electronic device to approach a user.

Background

Everywhere a trash can is required. However, if the trash can is provided too few in a large building, because the location of the trash can is fixed, the user cannot easily find the trash can and may need to walk a long distance to reach the location of the trash can. In contrast, if more trash cans are provided in a large building, many cleaning persons are required to clean the trash, or a long time is required for cleaning the trash. In addition, if the user does not work conveniently, the user can hardly reach the place where the garbage can is located.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to disclose a method for controlling an electronic device capable of calling a desired electronic device to a location of a user.

Another object of the present invention is to disclose an electronic device control system capable of calling a desired electronic device to a location of a user.

An embodiment of the present invention discloses a control method of an electronic device for calling a first electronic device in a building, which is characterized by comprising: (a) Receiving a call command of a user through the first electronic device; (b) Acquiring map information of the building through the first electronic device corresponding to the call command; and (c) driving the first electronic device to go to a user area where the user is located according to the map information, wherein the user area is a preset range of the position where the user is located.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses an electronic device control system, which is a first electronic device used in a building, and is characterized by comprising: a receiving interface for receiving a call command of a user; and a control circuit for performing the steps of: (a) Acquiring map information of the building through the first electronic device corresponding to the call command; and (b) driving the first electronic device to go to a user area where the user is located according to the map information, wherein the user area is a preset range of the position where the user is located.

According to the above embodiment, the user can call any desired electronic device to its location, so that the problems mentioned in the prior art can be ameliorated.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a trash can system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating map information and how to determine a user's location according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a method of controlling a trash can according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of sharing map information.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example of calculating the space available for a trash can system according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the electronic device control method according to the present disclosure used in other electronic devices.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention.

Wherein reference numerals are as follows:

100. garbage bin system

101. Container

103. Control circuit

105. Receiving interface

200. User area

201_1, 201_2 sound receiver

400. Server

401. Sweeping robot

501. Light source

503. Optical sensor

601. Movement assisting device

603. Electric vehicle

MI map information

Detailed Description

In the following, the present invention will be described in terms of various embodiments, and it should be noted that the elements of each embodiment may be implemented in hardware (e.g., devices or circuits) or firmware (e.g., at least one program written in a microprocessor). Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like in the following description are used merely to define various elements, parameters, data, signals, or steps. And are not intended to limit the order in which they are presented. For example, the first device and the second device may be the same structure but different devices.

Fig. 1 is a trash can system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the trash can system 100 includes a container 101, a control circuit 103, and a receiving interface 105. The container 101 is used to allow a user to dispose of waste (i.e., the container 101 may be a conventional trash can). The control circuit 103 is used for controlling the actions of the garbage can system 100. The receiving interface 105 is used to receive a call command from a user. The control circuit 103 is configured to perform the following steps: acquiring map information of a building in which the trash can system 100 corresponding to the call command is located; the trash can system 100 is driven to the user area where the user is located according to the map information. The user area is a preset area of the user position where the user is located. In one embodiment, the predetermined area is 0, which represents the user area as the user location.

Map information may be generated by various existing methods. For example, existing sweeping robots may generate map information by laser light or any other mechanism. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating map information and how to determine a user's location according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the map information is represented by a dotted line, which may include edges of a building. As described above, if the trash can system 100 receives a call command generated by the user U, the trash can system 100 can go to the user area 200 where the user U is located according to the map information.

In one embodiment, the call command is one of the following commands: voice commands, commands from a mobile controller (remote control), and commands generated by an App (Application). If the call command is a voice command, the control circuit 103 may control the trash can system 100 to go to the user area 200 according to the map information and the voice command received by other devices in the user area 200. For example, as shown in fig. 2, two sound receivers 201_1, 201_2 such as microphones are provided in the user area 200. Therefore, if the user U generates a voice command, the voice command is received by the sound receivers 201_1, 201_2, so that the position of the user U can be judged by the positions of the sound receivers 201_1, 201_2. Note also that the sound receivers 201_1, 201_2 may be replaced by any other electronic device, the number of which is not limited to two.

However, the position of the user U is not limited to being judged by the sounds received by the two sound receivers. For example, if the call command is a command from a portable controller or a command generated by an App, the call command may be transmitted through wireless communication means such as WiFi or bluetooth, and the location of the user may be determined through an electronic device for transmitting a WiFi signal or a bluetooth signal. In addition, the user's location may also be determined by a short-range signaling device such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification ) or NFC (Near-field communication).

In an embodiment, if the map information corresponding to the user area 200 is already recorded in the storage device, the control circuit 103 reads the map information corresponding to the user area 200 from the storage device. The storage device may be located inside the trash can system 100 or may be located outside the trash can system 100. If the map information corresponding to the user area is not recorded in the storage device, the control circuit 103 generates map information corresponding to the user area. The steps of this embodiment are shown in fig. 3 below, which is a flowchart of an embodiment of the method for controlling a trash can system according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 includes the following steps:

step 301

The user generates a call command to call the trash can system.

Step 303

It is determined whether the storage device stores map information in the vicinity of the user position (for example, map information of the user area), if so, step 307 is performed, and if not, step 305 is performed.

Step 305

Map information corresponding to the user area is generated.

Step 307

Move toward the user area.

Step 309

If necessary, the map information is updated.

Step 311

The trash can 100 reaches the user area.

In an embodiment, the trash can system 100 can share map information with at least one other electronic device. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of sharing map information. As shown in fig. 4, the trash can system 100 can transmit the map information MI generated therefrom to the server 400. Then, the sweeping robot 401 may read the map information MI from the server 400. In contrast, the sweeping robot 401 may transmit the map information MI generated by the sweeping robot 401 to the server 401. The trash can system 100 can then read the map information MI from the server 400. In both ways, the trash can system 100 or the sweeping robot 401 can update the map information MI in the server 401 according to the collected information. In addition to the map information MI, the user location can also be shared with other electronic devices in the same manner.

In one embodiment, the trash can system 100 further includes a capacity measurement system to measure the available capacity of the trash can system 100. It is also noted that the available capacity referred to herein may be a general capacity, e.g., more, medium or less, rather than an exact value. The capacity measurement system may be implemented by various systems. For example, the capacity measurement system may measure the weight of the waste in the waste bin system 100 to determine the available capacity.

In one embodiment, the available capacity of the trash can system 100 is measured optically. Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example of calculating the space available for a trash can system according to one embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 5, the trash can system 100 further includes a light source 501 and an optical sensor 503 (e.g., an image sensor) as a capacity measurement system. The light source 501 is used to emit light L to the bottom or near the bottom region of the container 101. Thus, if there is a lot of trash in the container 101, the optical sensor 503 receives a strong reflected light. Conversely, if there is less debris in the container 101, the reflected light received by the optical sensor 503 is weaker. Accordingly, the usable capacity can be measured from the light intensity of the reflected light received by the light sensor 503.

In addition to the foregoing functions, the trash can system 100 can include other functions. In one embodiment, the trash can system 100 includes a balancing mechanism so that the trash can system 100 can be balanced when the container is empty or full of trash. In one embodiment, the trash can system 100 further includes an obstacle avoidance function. The obstacle avoidance mechanism may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, the trash can system 100 may construct map information including obstacle information using VSLAM (Visual Simultaneous Localization And Mapping), and may avoid obstacles according to the map information. In addition, the trash can system 100 can detect obstructions using light, such as laser or infrared light.

In one embodiment, the trash can system 100 further includes a mechanism for determining the height of the obstacle, so that the trash can system 100 can determine whether the trash can system 100 can directly pass through the obstacle or should avoid the obstacle. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/924,138, the present invention is a continuation of this section, disclosing such a mechanism. Further, in an embodiment, the trash can system 100 includes a trash compression mechanism to compress the trash in the container 101. In yet another embodiment, the trash can system 100 includes a kitchen waste disposal mechanism to reduce the wasted space of kitchen waste.

In the embodiment of fig. 1, the container 101 is a trash can. However, the container 101 may be any other container. For example, the container 101 may be a shopping basket such that the trash can system 100 may become a shopping cart. For another example, the container 101 may be a storage bin such that the trash can system 100 may become a storage system.

The concepts disclosed in the above embodiments may be applied to any other electronic device without a container, in addition to a system including a container. For example, as shown in fig. 6, the concepts disclosed in the above embodiments may be applied to a mobile aid (mobile aid) 601, such as a walker or a wheelchair. In addition, the concepts disclosed in the above embodiments can be applied to an electric vehicle 603, such as an electric skateboard, an electric bicycle, or an electric baby carriage.

Thus, in one embodiment, the control circuit 103 and the receiving interface 105 shown in fig. 1 forming the control system of the electronic device may be provided in one control device. This control device can be easily removed from the trash can system 100 and installed into any other electronic device. In other words, different kinds of electronic devices can share the same control device in a simple manner.

According to the above-described embodiments, an electronic device control method can be obtained. Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a control method of an electronic device for calling a first electronic device in a building according to an embodiment of the invention. In one embodiment, the electronic device control method is performed by the control circuit shown in fig. 1, and includes:

step 701

The first electronic device obtains map information of the building corresponding to a call command from the user.

The first electronic device may be an electronic device comprising a container, such as the trash can system 100 shown in fig. 1, or a shopping cart as described above, a storage system as described above. Further, the first electronic device may be the movement assistance device or the electric vehicle disclosed in fig. 6.

Step 703

The first electronic device is driven to go to a user area (e.g., user area 200 in fig. 2) where the user is located according to the map information, wherein the user area is a predetermined area of the user location.

As described above, the first electronic device may share map information with the second electronic device, such as the sweeping robot 401 shown in fig. 4. Other details have been described in the above embodiments, and are not repeated here.

The above description is only of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, but various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of controlling an electronic device for calling a first electronic device in a building, comprising:

(a) Receiving a call command of a user through the first electronic device;

(b) Acquiring map information of the building through the first electronic device corresponding to the call command; and

(c) And driving the first electronic device to go to a user area where the user is located according to the map information, wherein the user area is a preset range of the position where the user is located.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the call command is one of the following commands: voice command, command from mobile controller, command generated by App.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the call command is the voice command, and the step (c) controls the first electronic device to the user area according to the map information and the voice command received by another electronic device in the user area.

4. The method for controlling an electronic device according to claim 1, wherein,

if the map information corresponding to the user information is already stored in a storage device, the step (b) reads the map information corresponding to the user information from the storage device;

if the map information corresponding to the user information is not stored in the storage device, the step (b) generates the map information corresponding to the user information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device shares the map information with the second electronic device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device comprises a container.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the container is one of the following: garbage bin, shopping basket and storing box.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the first electronic device further comprises a capacity measurement system for calculating the available space of the container.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device is a mobile auxiliary device or an electric vehicle.

10. An electronic device control system for use with a first electronic device in a building, comprising:

a receiving interface for receiving a call command of a user; and

a control circuit for performing the following steps:

(a) Acquiring map information of the building through the first electronic device corresponding to the call command; and

(b) And driving the first electronic device to go to a user area where the user is located according to the map information, wherein the user area is a preset range of the position where the user is located.

11. The electronic device control system of claim 10, wherein the call command is one of: voice command, command from mobile controller, command generated by App.

12. The electronic device control system of claim 11, wherein the call command is the voice command, and the step (b) controls the first electronic device to the user area according to the map information and the voice command received by another electronic device in the user area.

13. The electronic device control system of claim 10,

if the map information corresponding to the user information is already stored in a storage device, the step (a) reads the map information corresponding to the user information from the storage device;

if the map information corresponding to the user information is not stored in the storage device, the step (a) generates the map information corresponding to the user information.

14. The electronic device control system of claim 10, wherein the first electronic device shares the map information with the second electronic device.

15. The electronic device control system of claim 10, wherein the first electronic device comprises a container.

16. The electronic device control system of claim 15, wherein the container is one of: garbage bin, shopping basket and storing box.

17. The electronic device control system of claim 15, wherein the first electronic device further comprises a capacity measurement system to calculate the available space of the container.

18. The electronic device control system of claim 10, wherein the first electronic device is a mobile auxiliary device or an electric vehicle.