Modular robotic platform
First Claim
1. A robotic platform comprising:
- a body;
at least two locomotion members for moving said body;
each of said at least two locomotion members being mounted to said body via a steering assembly so as to pivot in a first plane relatively to said body;
each of said at least two locomotion members including an endless track assembly having a driving wheel, a drive system for driving said driving wheel, a driven wheel, an endless track for coupling said driven wheel to said driving wheel for rotation in unison, and a track tensioning assembly for pivoting said locomotion member in a second plane perpendicular to said first plane;
at least one controller mounted to said body and being coupled to said at least two locomotion members;
said at least one controller being configured to actuate the movement of said at least two locomotion members; and
a power supply system mounted to said body and being coupled to said at least one controller for energizing said at least one controller and said at least two locomotion members.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A modular robotic platform is provided having four legs mounted to a body. Each of the legs is mounted to the body via a steering assembly so as to pivot in a first plane relatively to the body. Each leg includes an endless track assembly having a first wheel, a drive system for driving the first wheel, a second wheel, an endless track for rotatably coupling the second wheel to the first wheel, and a track tensioning assembly for pivoting the leg in a second plane perpendicular to the first plane. Each leg includes a locomotion controller and a local environment recognition module. Synchronisation of the legs is achieved by a central controller, which gathers data information from each leg through a synchronisation bus. A coordination bus allows to exchange data information between different modules of the robotic platform, including the legs, the central control system and other systems or modules such as an energizing system, a pitch gauge system, etc. A communication protocol is used allowing each module to know which data messages carried on the communication buses are intended for it.
129 Citations
71 Claims
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1. A robotic platform comprising:
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a body;
at least two locomotion members for moving said body;
each of said at least two locomotion members being mounted to said body via a steering assembly so as to pivot in a first plane relatively to said body;
each of said at least two locomotion members including an endless track assembly having a driving wheel, a drive system for driving said driving wheel, a driven wheel, an endless track for coupling said driven wheel to said driving wheel for rotation in unison, and a track tensioning assembly for pivoting said locomotion member in a second plane perpendicular to said first plane;
at least one controller mounted to said body and being coupled to said at least two locomotion members;
said at least one controller being configured to actuate the movement of said at least two locomotion members; and
a power supply system mounted to said body and being coupled to said at least one controller for energizing said at least one controller and said at least two locomotion members. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A track-tensioning assembly for pivoting an endless track assembly including a driving wheel about the driving wheel;
- said endless track assembly including, in addition to the driving wheel, a drive system for driving the driving wheel, a driven wheel, and an endless track for coupling the driven wheel to the driving wheel for rotation in unison;
the track-tensioning assembly comprising;
a support frame having a ring portion and being mounted within the endless track between said driving wheel and said driven wheel;
said driving wheel being rotatably received in said a ring portion of said support frame;
a driving mechanism for pivoting said support frame about said driving wheel, including an inner toothed gear secured to said support frame, a motor, having a driving shaft, mounted to the driving wheel via a mounting plate for driving said inner toothed gear, and a speed-reduction gear set for transmitting the rotational movement of said driving shaft of said motor to said inner-toothed gear. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41)
- said endless track assembly including, in addition to the driving wheel, a drive system for driving the driving wheel, a driven wheel, and an endless track for coupling the driven wheel to the driving wheel for rotation in unison;
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42. A robotic platform comprising:
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a body;
a locomotion assembly mounted to said body for moving said body;
said locomotion assembly including at least one locomotion member for displacement of said body and a steering assembly including a steering mechanism for steering said body;
said at least one locomotion member including a drive assembly and a locomotion controller coupled to said drive assembly;
said steering assembly including a steering controller coupled to said steering mechanism;
an environment recognition module mounted to the platform for gathering environment data indicative of the environment surrounding the robotic platform;
said environment recognition module including a sensor and a recognition module controller coupled to said sensor;
an energizing module including a power supply controller and an energizing system connected to said locomotion assembly and said environment recognition module for energizing said locomotion assembly and said environment recognition module; and
a communication data bus interconnecting said at least one locomotion controller, said steering controller and said environment recognition module controller for communicating status data therebetween;
whereby, in operation, said locomotion controller, steering controller, recognition module controller, and power supply controller exchanging status data about said drive assembly, said steering assembly, said environment recognition module, and said energizing system via said communication data bus, and using said status data to control said drive assembly, said steering assembly, said environment recognition module, and said energizing system respectively. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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71. A method for controlling the modules of a robotic platform, each module including a system and a controller for the system, and each system including at least one sensor and one actuator, the method comprising:
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coupling the modules through a communication data bus;
providing a central controller coupled to the modules via the communication data bus;
upon one of the modules sending a first data frame over said communication data bus, each said first data frame being characterized by the hardware address of the module to which the data frame is intended;
i) each of the modules filtering said first data frame to identify data frames intended thereto using said hardware address of the module to which said first data frame is intended;
ii) said central controller verifying whether the module to which said first data frame is intended to is activated or not;
iii) if said module to which said first data frame is intended to is activated then said module to which the data frame is intended to a) reading its at least one sensor, b) processing said command or query according to said reading, c) commanding its at least one actuator according to said processing, and d) transmitting a second data frame via said communication bus to the modules indicative of the command/query; and
iv) transmitting a second data frame indicative of the status of at least said module to which said first data frame is intended to.
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Specification