Outside monitoring device for mobile robot

• US 20050222713A1
• Filed: 03/30/2005
• Published: 10/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Satoki, Kawabe, Koji, Kobayashi, Norihisa, Koshiishi, Takeshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,761,231 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/259
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 19/021 Optical sensing devices
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 19/027 Electromagnetic sensing devices

Abstract

An outside monitoring device of a mobile robot for measuring a direction of a target object using a tag, which is provided on a target object and replies a receipt signal to the mobile robot in compliance with a light signal from the mobile robot, the outside monitoring device including a plurality of light emitters each irradiating the light signal to an assigned detectable region among detectable regions established around the mobile robot are provided on the mobile robot, wherein light emitters are arranged around a reference axis orthogonal to a ground plane of the mobile robot to allow the detection of the tag within detectable regions.

Claims

1. An outside monitoring device of a mobile robot for measuring a direction of a target object using a tag, which is provided on a target object and replies a receipt signal to the mobile robot in compliance with a light signal from the mobile robot, the outside monitoring device comprising:

a plurality of light emitters which are provided on the mobile robot and irradiating the light signal to an assigned detectable region among detectable regions established around the mobile robot, wherein

light emitters are arranged around a reference axis orthogonal to a ground plane of the mobile robot to allow the detection of the tag within detectable regions.

2. An outside monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein

the mobile robot has a head part and a body part supporting the head part, and

light emitters are provided on the head part.

3. An outside monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein

an outside image pickup device is provided on the head part, and the light emitter is placed above the outside image pickup device.

4. An outside monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein

the mobile robot has a head part and a body part supporting the head part, and the light emitter is provided on the body part of the mobile robot.

5. An outside monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein

the head part is adapted to turn around the reference axis along an alignment direction of light emitters.

7. An outside monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein

the tag transmits a receipt signal, which indicates that the tag has received the light signal from the mobile robot, to the mobile robot, and the mobile robot measures the direction of the target object based on the receipt signal.

6. An outside monitoring device of a mobile robot for measuring a direction of a target object using a tag, which is provided on a target object and replies a receipt signal to the mobile robot in compliance with radio wave from the mobile robot, the outside monitoring device comprising:

a plurality of radio transceivers transmitting radio wave to an assigned detectable region among detectable regions established around the mobile robot are provided on the mobile robot, wherein

radio transceivers are arranged around a reference axis orthogonal to a ground plane of the mobile robot to allow the detection of the tag within detectable regions.

8. An outside monitoring device according to claim 6, wherein

the tag transmits a receipt signal, which indicates that the tag has received the radio wave from the mobile robot, to the mobile robot, and the mobile robot measures the direction of the target object based on the receipt signal.