Automatically guided tools
First Claim
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1. A system to position a working member of a rig, the rig comprising a stage for receiving and holding the working member, and at least one motor for moving the stage, the system comprising:
- a processor in combination with one or more software applications;
one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the processor, a first sensor of the one or more sensors configured to capture first information of a surface of a material; and
a memory, communicatively coupled to the processor,wherein the one or more software applications, when executed, cause the system to;
determine, based at least in part upon the first information, a first location of the working member using a map of the surface retrieved from memory;
indicate, via a display screen of the rig, the first location of the working member relative to the map of the surface;
register a design, retrieved from memory, to the map of the surface, to identify a path for the working member;
compare the first location of the working member with the path to determine a second location for the working member corresponding to the path for the working member;
control, responsive to the second location, a first one or more motors of the at least one motor to move the stage to position the working member at the second location to align the working member with the path; and
control a second one or more motors of the at least one motor to maintain alignment of the working member with the path by moving the working member in a first direction as the rig is advanced in a second, different direction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A position correcting system, method and tool for guiding a tool during its use based on its location relative to the material being worked on. Provided is a system and tool which uses its auto correcting technology to precisely rout or cut material. The invention provides a camera which is used to track the visual features of the surface of the material being cut to build a map and locate an image on that map used to reference the location of the tool for auto-correction of the cutting path.
243 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A system to position a working member of a rig, the rig comprising a stage for receiving and holding the working member, and at least one motor for moving the stage, the system comprising:
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a processor in combination with one or more software applications; one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the processor, a first sensor of the one or more sensors configured to capture first information of a surface of a material; and a memory, communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the one or more software applications, when executed, cause the system to; determine, based at least in part upon the first information, a first location of the working member using a map of the surface retrieved from memory; indicate, via a display screen of the rig, the first location of the working member relative to the map of the surface; register a design, retrieved from memory, to the map of the surface, to identify a path for the working member; compare the first location of the working member with the path to determine a second location for the working member corresponding to the path for the working member; control, responsive to the second location, a first one or more motors of the at least one motor to move the stage to position the working member at the second location to align the working member with the path; and control a second one or more motors of the at least one motor to maintain alignment of the working member with the path by moving the working member in a first direction as the rig is advanced in a second, different direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer implemented method of positioning a working member of a rig, comprising:
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capturing, by a first sensor communicatively coupled to a processor, first information of a surface of a material; determining, by a processor based at least in part upon the first information, a first location of the working member using a map of the surface retrieved from memory; providing information, from a processor, for displaying, via a display screen of the rig, the first location of the working member relative to the map of the surface; registering, by a processor, a design retrieved from memory to the map of the surface, to identify a path for the working member; comparing, by a processor, the first location of the working member with the path to determine a second location for the working member corresponding to the path for the working member; controlling, by a processor responsive to the second location, at least one motor to move a stage to position the working member at the second location to align the working member with the path; and controlling the at least one motor to maintain alignment of the working member with the path by moving the working member in a first direction as the rig is advanced in a second, different direction. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. Non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions for positioning a working member of a rig, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to:
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determine, based at least in part upon a first information captured by a first sensor, a first location of the working member using a map of a surface retrieved from memory; indicate, via a display screen of the rig, the first location of the working member relative to the map of the surface; register a design retrieved from memory to the map of the surface, to identify a path for the working member; compare the first location of the working member with the path to determine a second location for the working member corresponding to the path for the working member; and control, responsive to the second location, at least one motor to move a stage, for receiving and holding the working member, to position the working member at the second location to align the working member with the path; and control the at least one motor to maintain alignment of the working member with the path by moving the working member in a first direction as the rig is advanced in a second, different direction. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification