Obstacle Following Sensor Scheme For A Mobile Robot
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A robot obstacle detection system including a robot housing which navigates with respect to a surface and a sensor subsystem aimed at the surface for detecting the surface. The sensor subsystem includes an emitter which emits a signal having a field of emission and a photon detector having a field of view which intersects the field of emission at a region. The subsystem detects the presence of an object proximate the mobile robot and determines a value of a signal corresponding to the object. It compares the value to a predetermined value, moves the mobile robot in response to the comparison, and updates the predetermined value upon the occurrence of an event.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1-33. -33. (canceled)
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34. A mobile robot comprising:
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a drive mechanism that both drives the robot forward in a drive direction and turns the robot to change the drive direction; a sensor responsive to proximity of objects near a lateral side of the robot; and a drive controller that controls the drive mechanism to drive the robot to follow a sensed object proximate the lateral side of the robot, the drive controller configured to monitor the sensor to detect when a followed object is no longer proximate the lateral side of the robot, to initiate a turn of the robot toward the lateral side in accordance with a turning radius in response to detecting that the followed object is no longer proximate the lateral side, and then to progressively decrease the turning radius of the robot over time while driving the robot forward, thereby causing the robot to turn more sharply until the robot encounters a change in sensory input. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A mobile robot, comprising:
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a drive mechanism that both drives the robot forward across a floor in a drive direction and turns the robot to change the drive direction; a sensor responsive to proximity of an object to be followed on a lateral side of the robot; a floor area cleaner disposed on the lateral side of the robot; and a drive controller that controls the drive mechanism to turn the robot to follow the object on the lateral side of the robot, by changing a robot turning radius to maintain continuous detection of the object by the sensor, including turning the robot toward the lateral side while decreasing the robot turning radius in response to cessation of detection of the object proximate the lateral side. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A mobile robot comprising:
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a robot housing; a drive mechanism that both drives the robot housing forward in a drive direction and turns the robot housing to change the drive direction; a bump sensor responsive to the robot bumping into an object in the drive direction; a proximity sensor responsive to proximity of a wall to be followed on a lateral side of the robot housing; a side brush extending beyond a lateral extent of the housing, the side brush driven to sweep debris from a floor surface beyond the lateral extent of the housing, for collection by the robot; and a drive controller that controls the drive mechanism to follow the wall on the lateral side of the robot, the drive controller configured to monitor the sensor to detect when the wall is no longer proximate the lateral side of the robot, in response to detecting that the wall is no longer proximate the lateral side, initiate a turn of the robot toward the lateral side in accordance with a turning radius in response to detecting that the followed wall is no longer proximate the lateral side, and then progressively decrease the turning radius of the robot over time while driving the robot forward, thereby causing the robot to turn more sharply until one of the sensors detects a wall on the lateral side.
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Specification