Systems and methods for assisting a robotic apparatus

• US 10,377,040 B2
• Filed: 02/02/2017
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brain Corporation
• Original Assignee: Brain Corporation
• Inventors: Sinyavskiy, Oleg, Passot, Jean-Baptiste, Gabardos, Borja Ibarz, Le, Diana Vu
• Primary Examiner(s): Bendidi, Rachid
• Application Number:
  US15/423,442
• Publication Number:
  US 20180215039A1
• Time in Patent Office: 922 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4011 Regulation of the cleaning machine by electric means; Control systems and remote control systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1666 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39082 Collision, real time collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0044 by providing the operator with a computer generated representation of the environment of the vehicle, e.g. virtual reality, maps maps used for automatic navigation G05D1/0274; flight directors G01C23/005
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30

Abstract

Systems and methods assisting a robotic apparatus are disclosed. In some exemplary implementations, a robot can encounter situations where the robot cannot proceed and/or does not know with a high degree of certainty it can proceed. Accordingly, the robot can determine that it has encountered an error and/or assist event. In some exemplary implementations, the robot can receive assistance from an operator and/or attempt to resolve the issue itself. In some cases, the robot can be configured to delay actions in order to allow resolution of the error and/or assist event.

Claims

1. A method for operating a robot, comprising:

displaying, via at least one processor, a first alert on a user interface of a robot indicating the robot being unable to perform a task after a predetermined first delay, the first alert displayed in response to at least one sensor detecting obstruction in a path of the robot;

transmitting signal to at least one actuator coupled to the robot to perform the task after a predetermined second delay after displaying the first alert, the second delay being subsequent to the first delay and in response to continued detection of the obstruction in the path of the robot;

displaying, via the at least one processor, a second alert on the user interface of the robot indicating the robot being unable to perform the task after a predetermined third delay, the third delay being subsequent to the second delay and in response to the continued detection of the obstruction in the path of the robot; and

receiving operating instructions from an operator after the third delay, the operating instructions corresponding to the robot performing the task notwithstanding the detection of the obstruction.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the task comprises cleaning a floor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the operating instructions from the operator includes determining that a button coupled to the robot is actuated, the actuation of the button corresponds to the robot performing the task notwithstanding the detection of the obstruction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the operating instructions comprises,

receiving one or more paths of travel for the robot,

displaying the one or more paths of travel, and

receiving a selection of the displayed paths.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving data from an external sensor; and

determining if the robot is still at least partially obstructed from performing the task based at least in part on the received data from the external sensor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the obstruction detected by the at least one sensor is either a stationary object or a moving object.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein,

the displaying of the first alert is sooner if the obstruction is identified as the stationary object instead of the moving object.

8. A robot, comprising:

a user interface configured to display and receive information; and

a processor configured to execute computer readable instructions to;

display on the user interface an assist view comprising an alert corresponding to a detected obstacle by at least one sensor in a path of the robot and one or more positions of the robot after a predetermined first delay;

receive, via the user interface, a selected one of the one or more selectable positions of the robot after a predetermined second delay, the second delay being subsequent to the first delay and in response to continued detection of the obstacle in the path of the robot; and

actuate one or more actuators based at least in part on a selected one of the one or more selectable positions of the robot upon receiving operating instructions from an operator after a third delay, the third delay being subsequent to the second delay and in response to the continued detection of obstruction in the path of the robot, the operating instructions corresponding to the robot performing a task notwithstanding the detection of the obstacle.

9. The robot of claim 8, wherein the robot further comprises a communications unit communicatively coupled to a remote network configured to monitor the robot.

10. The robot of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the computer readable instructions to identify the obstacle.

11. The robot of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the computer readable instructions to learn to identify the obstacle through a machine learning process.

12. The robot of claim 8, wherein the task comprises cleaning a floor.

13. The robot of claim 8, wherein the operating instructions includes navigating the robot along a predetermined route.

14. The robot of claim 8, wherein the selectable positions of the robot comprise differing trajectories for the robot.

15. A method for assisting a floor cleaning robot, comprising:

displaying, via a graphic user interface, an assist view representing that the floor cleaning robot is obstructed from cleaning after a predetermined first delay, the obstruction being detected by at least one sensor;

transmitting signal to at least one actuator coupled to the robot to perform the cleaning after a predetermined second delay after displaying the assist view, the second delay being subsequent to the first delay and in response to continued detection of obstruction in a path of the robot;

receiving, via the graphic user interface, operating instructions after a third delay, the third delay being subsequent to the second delay and in response to the continued detection of obstruction in the path of the robot, the operating instructions comprising displaying a plurality of paths of travel for the robot on the graphic user interface the operating instructions corresponding to the robot performing the cleaning notwithstanding the detection of the obstruction; and

causing the floor cleaning robot to clean in accordance with the received operating instructions.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein displaying the assist view further comprises:

receiving data from the at least one sensor coupled to the robot;

identifying an assist event based at least in part on the received data; and

generating a graphic indicating the identified assist event.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting the assist view to a remote network.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the causing of the floor cleaning robot to clean further comprises:

causing the floor cleaning robot to navigate along a predetermined path; and

causing the floor cleaning robot to scrub the floor along the predetermined path.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising delaying the causing of the floor cleaning robot to clean in accordance with the received operating instructions at least a predetermined time from the displaying of the assist view.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the causing of the floor cleaning robot to clean in accordance with the received operating instructions occurs after receiving a signal indicating that an assist button coupled to the robot is actuated.