Marking robot

• US 20040164696A1
• Filed: 02/23/2004
• Published: 08/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Silverbrook, Kia, Yourlo, Zhenya Alexander, Lapstun, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 7,148,644 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 318/568.11
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2003/00826 Changeable playing pieces
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00643 Electric board games; Electric features of board games electric word or number games A63F3/0421; computer chess G06F; electric raffle games A63F3/081
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 2200/00 Computerized interactive toys, e.g. dolls
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/28 for printing downwardly on flat surfaces, e.g. of books, drawings, boxes , envelopes, e.g. flat-bed ink-jet printers
• CPC Class Codes: B43L 13/00 Drawing instruments, or writing or drawing appliances or accessories not otherwise provided for stencils for surface decoration B44D
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45084 Service robot
• 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 1/0227 using mechanical sensing means, e.g. for sensing treated area
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0234 using optical markers or beacons optical beacons per se G01S1/70
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0242 using non-visible light signals, e.g. IR or UV signals
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0272 comprising means for registering the travel distance, e.g. revolutions of wheels measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles, e.g. using odometers G01C22/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30

Abstract

A robot adapted to operate in association with an interface surface having disposed therein or thereon coded data indicative of a plurality of reference points of the interface surface, the robot comprising:

movement means to allow the robot to move over the interface surface;

a sensing device which senses at least some of the coded data and generates indicating data indicative of a position of the robot on the interface surface;

communication means to transmit the indicating data to a computer system running a computer application, and to receive movement instructions from the computer application; and,

a marking device adapted to selectively mark the interface surface in response to marking instructions received from the computer application.

Claims

1. A robot adapted to operate in association with an interface surface having disposed therein or thereon coded data indicative of a plurality of reference points of the interface surface, the robot comprising:

movement means to allow the robot to move over the interface surface;

a sensing device which senses at least some of the coded data and generates indicating data indicative of a position of the robot on the interface surface;

communication means to transmit the indicating data to a computer system running a computer application, and to receive movement instructions from the computer application; and

,

a marking device adapted to selectively mark the interface surface in response to marking instructions received from the computer application.

2. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the marking device is at least one pen, or the like, attached to or held by the robot.

3. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the marking device is at least one printhead attached to or held by the robot.

4. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the marking device can be selectively moved into and out of contact with the interface surface.

5. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein a characteristic of the marking device is determined by the robot decoding a barcode on the marking device.

6. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein a characteristic of the marking device is determined by the robot reading a value from a solid-state memory associated with the marking device.

7. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein a characteristic of the marking device is determined by a user activating a hyperlink on the interface surface using the robot.

8. The robot as claimed in claim 7, wherein a characteristic of the marking device is the color of the ink in the marking device.

9. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the robot can operate in a raster mode or a vector mode.

10. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the robot can be remotely controlled by a user.

11. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movement means are electronically driven wheels.

12. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the computer application controls the marking device in response to the indicating data received by the computer system.

13. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the robot has a unique robot identifier which is adapted to distinguish the robot from other robots.

14. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the indicating data is transmitted to the computer system by a wireless signal.

15. The robot as claimed in claim 14, wherein the computer system is adapted to receive the indicating data via a relay device in wireless communication with the robot.

16. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interface surface is a netpage.

17. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coded data is also indicative of an identity of the interface surface that can be sensed by the sensing device.

18. A system for marking an interface surface by controlling a robot provided with means to mark the interface surface, the system comprising:

the interface surface, having disposed therein or thereon coded data indicative of a plurality of reference points of the interface surface, thereby facilitating the robot to operate in association with the interface surface;

the robot, provided with movement means to allow the robot to move over the interface surface, and a sensing device which senses at least some of the coded data and generates indicating data indicative of a position of the robot on the interface surface, and a marking device adapted to mark the interface surface; and

,

a computer system running a computer application, the computer system in communication with the robot, the computer application adapted to receive the indicating data and to transmit movement instructions and marking instructions to the robot.

19. A method of marking an interface surface by controlling a mobile robot adapted to mark the interface surface, the robot additionally adapted to operate in association with the interface surface having disposed therein or thereon coded data indicative of a plurality of reference points of the interface surface, the method including the steps of:

the robot sensing at least some of the coded data and generating indicating data indicative of a position of the robot on the interface surface;

the robot transmitting the indicating data to a computer system running a computer application;

the robot receiving movement instructions from the computer application; and

,

the robot receiving marking instructions from the computer application to selectively mark the interface surface.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the robot can mark the interface surface while stationary or moving.