System and method for guiding robot

• US 10,488,866 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2017
• Issued: 11/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Futaihua Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Futaihua Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Chen, Chia-Hung, Xie, Liang, Yang, Shun-Chuan
• Primary Examiner(s): Amin, Bhavesh V
• Application Number:
  US15/595,963
• Publication Number:
  US 20170336799A1
• Time in Patent Office: 924 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0242 using non-visible light signals, e.g. IR or UV signals
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0255 using acoustic signals, e.g. ultra-sonic singals sonar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S15/93
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/22 The load being a portable electronic device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/48 for electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0045 concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/20 Processing of the output signals of the acoustic transducers of an array for obtaining a desired directivity characteristic H04R2203/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/01 Mobile robot

Abstract

A method for guiding a robot towards a charging base includes controlling a device of the charging base to emit sound when a battery level of the robot is less than a preset level. Once an orientation of the charging base in relation to the robot is determined, according to signal strengths of audio signals detected by microphone of the robot, a moving mechanism of the robot is controlled to drive the robot to move towards the charging base.

Claims

1. A robot comprising:

at least one microphone configured for detecting signal strengths of audio signals;

a moving mechanism configured for driving the robot to move;

a storage device; and

at least one processor, wherein the storage device stores one or more programs, when executed by the at least one processor, the one or more programs cause the at least one processor to;

detect signal strengths of audio signals transmitted by a charging base using the at least one microphone, when a battery level of the robot is less than a preset level;

determine an orientation of the charging base according to the signal strengths of audio signals;

control the moving mechanism to drive the robot to move towards the orientation of the charging base;

determine at predetermined intervals whether infrared signals exist around the robot;

control the moving mechanism to drive the robot to move according to the infrared signals when infrared signals exist around the robot;

when no infrared signals exist around the robot, determine a new orientation for the charging base each time the robot moves for a preset distance value; and

control the moving mechanism to drive the robot to move towards the new orientation of the charging base.

2. The robot according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further caused to:

control the at least one microphone to rotate and arrive at different orientations;

control the at least one microphone to detect signal strengths of audio signals received from the different orientations; and

determine an orientation corresponding to one of the detected audio signals having the greatest signal strength as the orientation of the charging base.

3. The robot according to claim 1, wherein the at least one microphone comprises more than one microphones, the more than one microphones are configured at different orientations, wherein the at least one processor is further caused to:

obtain, from the more than one microphones, the signal strengths of audio signals and orientations of the more than one microphones; and

determine an orientation of one of the more than one microphones that detects the greatest signal strength as the orientation of the charging base.

4. A method for guiding a robot, comprising:

detecting signal strengths of audio signals transmitted by a charging base using at least one microphone of the robot, when a battery level of the robot is less than a preset level;

determining an orientation of the charging base according to the signal strengths of audio signals;

controlling a moving mechanism of the robot to drive the robot to move towards the orientation of the charging base;

determining at predetermined intervals whether infrared signals exist around the robot;

controlling the moving mechanism to drive the robot to move according to the infrared signals when infrared signals exist around the robot;

when no infrared signals exist around the robot, determining a new orientation for the charging base each time the robot moves for a preset distance value; and

controlling the moving mechanism to drive the robot to move towards the new orientation of the charging base.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

controlling the at least one microphone to rotate and arrive at different orientations;

controlling the at least one microphone to detect signal strengths of audio signals received from the different orientations; and

determining an orientation corresponding to one of the detected audio signals having the greatest signal strength as the orientation of the charging base.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the at least one microphone comprises more than one microphones, the more than one microphones are configured at different orientations, wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining, from the more than one microphones, the signal strengths of audio signals and orientations of the more than one microphones; and

determining an orientation of one of the more than one microphones that detects the greatest signal strength as the orientation of the charging base.

7. A non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor of a robot, causes the processor to perform a guiding method, wherein the method comprises:

detecting signal strengths of audio signals transmitted by a charging base using at least one microphone of the robot, when a battery level of the robot is less than a preset level;

determining an orientation of the charging base according to the signal strengths of audio signals;

controlling a moving mechanism of the robot to drive the robot to move towards the orientation of the charging base;

determining at predetermined intervals whether infrared signals exist around the robot;

controlling the moving mechanism to drive the robot to move according to the infrared signals when infrared signals exist around the robot;

when no infrared signals exist around the robot, determining a new orientation for the charging base each time the robot moves for a preset distance value; and

controlling the moving mechanism to drive the robot to move towards the new orientation of the charging base.

8. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

controlling the at least one microphone to rotate and arrive at different orientations;

controlling the at least one microphone to detect signal strengths of audio signals received from the different orientations; and

determining an orientation corresponding to one of the detected audio signals having the greatest signal strength as the orientation of the charging base.

9. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 7, wherein the at least one microphone comprises more than one microphones, the more than one microphones are configured at different orientations, wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining, from the more than one microphones, the signal strengths of audio signals and orientations of the more than one microphones; and

determining an orientation of one of the more than one microphones that detects the greatest signal strength as the orientation of the charging base.