MANUALLY DRIVEN DETERMINATION OF A REGION OF INTEREST (ROI) OR A PATH OF INTEREST (POI) FOR A ROBOTIC DEVICE

• US 20100076599A1
• Filed: 09/20/2008
• Published: 03/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: David Wood, Kipp Knutson, Steven Jacobs
• Original Assignee: David Wood, Kipp Knutson, Steven Jacobs
• Inventors: Wood, David, Jacobs, Steven, Knutson, Kipp
• Application Number:
  US12/234,633
• Publication Number:
  US 20100076599A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/258
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0221 involving a learning process
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0255 using acoustic signals, e.g. ultra-sonic singals sonar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S15/93
• 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 1/028 using a RF signal

Abstract

A robotic device is manually driven along a perimeter of a Region Of Interest (ROI) or along a Path Of Interest (POI) for future autonomous operation. An Initial Point (IP) is established by identifying a unique machine recognizable feature, for example, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag located at the IP. The robotic device is then manually driven along the perimeter or along the path and sensors carried by the robotic device collects data to characterize the ROI or POI. The sensors may include sonar, vision systems, laser, or radar devices for measuring relative positions of a wall, stairs, or obstacles. Wheel odometry may be used to track distances traveled and data fusion exercised to combine the odometry data with the sonar and/or laser measurements to model the ROI or POI. Characterization is performed by collecting points along a wall, fitting a line to the points, and finding the intersections of consecutive lines.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a path for operation of a robotic device, the method comprising:

manually positioning the robotic device at an Initial Point (IP) along a first boundary;

manually turning the robotic device to a first heading approximately parallel to the first boundary;

manually driving the robotic device along the first heading approximately parallel to the first boundary;

automatically collecting a set of first data points corresponding to points along the first boundary;

manually turning the robotic device at a first boundary end towards a second heading approximately parallel to a secondary boundary;

automatically fitting a first line to the set of first data points;

manually driving the robotic device along the second heading approximately parallel to the secondary boundary;

automatically collecting a set of second data points corresponding to points along the second boundary;

manually turning the robotic device at a second boundary end;

automatically fitting a second line to the set of second data points;

setting a first corner position to the intersection of the first line and the second line; and

completing manually driving the path and automatically saving the lines and the corners to characterize the path.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the robotic device includes at least two wheels and the method further including using wheel odometry to measure a distance traveled by the robotic device and measure a heading of the robotic device.

3. The method of claim 2, further including comparing rotations of two of the at least two wheels to measure a change in the heading of the robotic device and combining heading with distance traveled to determine the position and heading of the robotic device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein fitting the lines to the sets of data points comprises performing a linear regression on each set of data points.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein fitting the lines to the sets of data points comprises performing a linear least squares curve fit on each set of data points.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein completing manually driving the path comprises completing manually driving each segment of a closed path to characterize a Region Of Interest (ROI).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein completing manually driving the path comprises completing manually driving a path between a start point and an end point to characterize a Path Of Interest (POI).

8. The method of claim 1, wherein positioning the robotic device at the IP comprises positioning the robotic device proximal to a machine recognizable feature to identify the starting point of one of an ROI and a POI being characterized for later autonomous operation.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein positioning the robotic device proximal to a machine recognizable feature comprises positioning the robotic device proximal to a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag to identify the starting point of one of an ROI and a POI being characterized for later autonomous operation.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein collecting the set of first data points comprises:

transmitting a sonar signal on a sonar beam pointed towards the first boundary;

receiving a reflection of the sonar signal;

measuring the distance to the first boundary based on a time between transmitting and receiving the sonar signal; and

computing the points along the first boundary based on a position and a heading of the robotic device, the pointing direction of the sonar beam, and the measured distance.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein collecting the set of first data points comprises:

reading distance data from a distance measuring device; and

computing the points along the first boundary based on a position and a heading of the robotic device, the pointing direction of the distance measuring device, and the measured distance.

12. A method for characterizing a Region Of Interest (ROI) defining a number N boundaries, for operation of a robotic device, the method comprising:

positioning the robotic device at an Initial Point (IP) proximal to at least one of a machine recognizable feature and a location identifying tag residing along a first boundary of the ROI;

manually turning the robotic device to a first heading approximately parallel to the first boundary;

manually driving the robotic device along the first heading approximately parallel to the first boundary;

automatically collecting a set of first data points corresponding to points along the first boundary, the first data points determined using a position and a heading of the robotic device and at least one distance measuring sensor carried by the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a first boundary end towards a second heading approximately parallel to a second boundary of the ROI;

automatically fitting a first line to the set of first data points;

manually driving the robotic device along the second heading approximately parallel to the secondary boundary;

automatically collecting a set of second data points corresponding to points along the second boundary, the second data points determined using the position and the heading of the robotic device and the at least one distance measuring sensor carried by the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a second boundary end towards a third heading approximately parallel to a third boundary;

automatically fitting a second line to the set of second data points;

automatically setting a first corner position to the intersection of the first line and the second line;

manually driving the robotic device along the third heading approximately parallel to the third boundary;

completing manually driving remaining boundaries of the ROI, collecting data points, fitting lines, and setting corners; and

saving the characterization of the ROI for later autonomous operation of the robotic device.

13. A method for characterizing a Path Of Interest (POI) defining a number N boundaries, for operation of a robotic device, the method comprising:

positioning the robotic device at an Initial Point (IP) proximal to at least one of a machine recognizable feature and a location identifying tag residing along a first boundary of the POI;

manually turning the robotic device to a first heading approximately parallel to the first boundary;

manually driving the robotic device along the first heading approximately parallel to the first boundary;

automatically collecting a set of first data points corresponding to points along the first boundary, the first data points determined using a position and a heading of the robotic device and at least one distance measuring sensor carried by the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a first boundary end towards a second heading approximately parallel to a second boundary of the POI;

automatically fitting a first line to the set of first data points;

manually driving the robotic device along the second heading approximately parallel to the secondary boundary;

automatically collecting a set of second data points corresponding to points along the second boundary, the second data points determined using the position and the heading of the robotic device and the at least one distance measuring sensor carried by the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a second boundary end towards a third heading approximately parallel to a third boundary;

automatically fitting a second line to the set of second data points;

automatically setting a first corner position to the intersection of the first line and the second line;

manually driving the robotic device along the third heading approximately parallel to the third boundary;

completing manually driving remaining boundaries of the POI, collecting data points, fitting lines, and setting corners; and

saving the characterization of the POI for later autonomous operation of the robotic device.

14. A method for characterizing a Path Of Interest (POI) defining a number N boundaries, for operation of a robotic device, the method comprising:

positioning a robotic device at an Initial Point (IP) proximal to a machine recognizable feature residing along a first boundary of the POI;

manually turning the robotic device to a first heading approximately parallel to the first boundary;

manually driving the robotic device along the first heading;

automatically collecting a set of first data points corresponding to points along the first path, wherein the data points may be determined using a calculated offset distance from the centerline of the machine and a position and heading of the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a first boundary end to a second heading approximately parallel to a second boundary of the POI;

automatically fitting a first line to the set of first data points;

manually driving the robotic device along the second heading approximately parallel to the secondary boundary;

automatically collecting a set of second data points corresponding to points along the second boundary, the second data points determined using the position and the heading of the robotic device and a calculated offset distance from the side of the machine carried by the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a second boundary end to a third heading approximately parallel to a third boundary;

automatically fitting a second line to the set of second data points;

automatically setting a first corner position to the intersection of the first line and the second line;

manually driving the robotic device along the third heading approximately parallel to the third boundary;

completing manually driving remaining boundaries of the POI, collecting data points, fitting lines, and setting corners; and

saving the characterization of the POI for later autonomous operation of the robotic device.

15. A method for characterizing a Path Of Interest (POI) defining a number N paths, for operation of a robotic device, the method comprising:

positioning a robotic device at an Initial Point (IP) proximal to a machine recognizable feature residing along a first boundary of the POI;

manually turning the robotic device to a first heading approximately parallel to the first boundary;

manually driving the robotic device along the first heading;

automatically collecting a set of first data points corresponding to points along the first path, wherein the data points may be determined using a calculated offset distance from the centerline of the machine and a position and heading of the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a first heading end.

automatically fitting a first line to the set of first data points;

manually driving the robotic device along the second heading;

automatically collecting a set of second data points corresponding to points along the second heading, using the position and the heading of the robotic device and a calculated offset distance from the side of the machine carried by the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a second heading end to a third heading;

automatically fitting a second line to the set of second data points;

automatically setting a first corner position to the intersection of the first line and the second line;

manually driving the robotic device along the third heading;

completing manually driving remaining headings of the POI, collecting data points, fitting lines, and setting corners; and

saving the characterization of the POI for later autonomous operation of the robotic device.

16. A method for characterizing a Virtual Walled Area (VWA) defining a number N paths, for operation of a robotic device, the method comprising:

positioning a robotic device at an Initial Point (IP) proximal to a machine recognizable feature residing along a first boundary of the POI;

manually turning the robotic device to a first heading approximately parallel to the first boundary;

automatically collecting a set of first data points corresponding to points along the first boundary using a position and a heading of the robotic device and at least one distance measuring sensor carried by the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device to a second heading;

automatically fitting a line to the first set of points;

manually selecting the virtual wall function;

manually driving the robotic device along the second heading;

automatically collecting a set of second data points corresponding to points along the second path, wherein the data points may be determined using a calculated offset distance from the centerline of the machine and a position and heading of the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a second heading end.

automatically fitting a second line to the set of second data points;

automatically setting a first corner position to the intersection of the first line and the second line;

manually turning the machine to a third heading.

manually selecting the virtual wall function;

automatically collecting a set of third data points corresponding to points along the third heading, using the position and the heading of the robotic device and a calculated offset distance from the side of the machine carried by the robotic device;

manually turning the robotic device at a third heading end;

automatically fitting a third line to the set of third data points;

automatically setting a second corner position to the intersection of the second line and the third line;

manually selecting the virtual wall function;

manually driving the robotic device along the third heading;

completing manually driving remaining headings of the VWA, collecting data points, fitting lines, assigning virtual walls if desired, and setting corners; and

saving the characterization of the VWA for later autonomous operation of the robotic device.