Programmable lawn mower
First Claim
1. A programmable robotic apparatus, comprising:
- a drive system comprising a plurality of independently operable treads;
a control module in electrical communication with said drive system, said control module configured to command the operation of each tread;
a memory module in electrical communication with said control module, said memory module configured to store and retrieve information;
a transmitter in electrical communication with said control module, said transmitter configured to transmit a signal comprising at least a unique identifier associated with the robotic apparatus; and
a receiver in electrical communication with said control module, said receiver configured to receive a signal comprising location information;
whereby said robotic apparatus is able to discern at least one of a location and an orientation of said programmable robotic apparatus.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A robotic apparatus for traversing a selected area autonomously that senses orientation relative to the Earth'"'"'s magnetic field or other “environmental” signals. The robotic apparatus is provided in two models, a master that can record directive and compass or “environmental signal” readings, or that can record received location information, to provide at least one command recorded on a machine-readable medium representing an instruction for traversing an area of interest, and a slave that lacks the recording capability. Both master and slave models can replay recorded commands, and compare the expected orientation from the command with an actual orientation sensed during autonomous operation. If an error exceeding a predetermined value is observed, a corrective action is taken. The robotic apparatus is able to utilize a tool to perform a task at one or more locations, such as cutting, shoveling and digging. In one embodiment, the robotic apparatus is a lawn mower.
77 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A programmable robotic apparatus, comprising:
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a drive system comprising a plurality of independently operable treads;
a control module in electrical communication with said drive system, said control module configured to command the operation of each tread;
a memory module in electrical communication with said control module, said memory module configured to store and retrieve information;
a transmitter in electrical communication with said control module, said transmitter configured to transmit a signal comprising at least a unique identifier associated with the robotic apparatus; and
a receiver in electrical communication with said control module, said receiver configured to receive a signal comprising location information;
whereby said robotic apparatus is able to discern at least one of a location and an orientation of said programmable robotic apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of operating a programmable robotic apparatus, comprising the steps of:
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providing at least one command recorded on a machine-readable medium, said at least one command representing an instruction for traversing an area of interest;
operating said programmable robotic apparatus according to said at least one command recorded on said machine-readable medium;
discerning at least one of a location and an orientation of said programmable robotic apparatus;
comparing said at least one of said location and said orientation of said programmable robotic apparatus to a corresponding one of a location and a direction recorded in said at least one command to determine an error signal; and
in the event that said error signal exceeds a predetermined value, commanding said programmable robotic apparatus to take a corrective action;
whereby said programmable robotic apparatus autonomously traverses an area of interest. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of providing at least one command recorded on a machine-readable medium, the at least one command representing an instruction for traversing an area of interest, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a programmable robotic apparatus;
operating said programmable robotic apparatus under external control, the programmable robotic apparatus receiving directives from an external source and traversing an area of interest;
taking readings from a receiver of said programmable robotic apparatus said receiver configured to receive a signal comprising location information; and
recording said directives and readings on a machine-readable medium for later recovery. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A computer program recorded on a machine-readable medium, said computer program comprising:
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a supervisory module that controls the autonomous operation of a programmable robotic apparatus and that, as required, receives information recorded on a machine-readable medium;
an orientation receiver module that derives orientation information from a signal received by a receiver of said programmable robotic apparatus, and a computation module that computes an error signal based at least in part on orientation information derived from said environmental signal detection module and information recorded on said machine-readable medium. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification