METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR POSITION ESTIMATION USING REFLECTED LIGHT SOURCES
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is generally related to the estimation of position and orientation of an object with respect to a local or a global coordinate system using reflected light sources. A typical application of the method and apparatus includes estimation and tracking of the position of a mobile autonomous robot. Other applications include estimation and tracking of an object for position-aware, ubiquitous devices. Additional applications include tracking of the positions of people or pets in an indoor environment. The methods and apparatus comprise one or more optical emitters, one or more optical sensors, signal processing circuitry, and signal processing methods to determine the position and orientation of at least one of the optical sensors based at least in part on the detection of the signal of one or more emitted light sources reflected from a surface.
42 Citations
21 Claims
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1. (canceled)
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2. A mobile robot system, the system comprising:
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a mobile robot; a modulator; a first illumination projector coupled to the modulator, wherein the modulator is configured to modulate light from the first illumination projector, wherein the first illumination projector is configured to project modulated light, whereby at least one projected illumination spot is projected onto at least one non-vertical surface positioned above the first illumination projector when the first illumination projector is positioned for operation with the mobile robot; a detector configured to detect the at least one projected illumination spot based at least in part on the modulation; and a data processing unit configured to; determine a direction of the detected at least one projected illumination spot with respect to a first reference point, and determine a location of the mobile robot based at least in part on the determined direction, wherein the detector is configured to detect the at least one projected illumination spot without having a line of sight view of the first illumination projector. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A mobile robot system, the system comprising:
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a mobile robot; a modulator; a first illumination projector coupled to the modulator, wherein the modulator is configured to modulate light from the first illumination projector, wherein the first illumination projector is configured to project modulated light from a location different than that of the mobile robot, whereby at least one projected illumination spot is projected onto at least one non-vertical surface positioned above the first illumination projector when the first illumination projector is positioned for operation with the mobile robot, wherein the first illumination projector stays at one location while the mobile robot moves about an environment; a detector configured to detect the at least one projected illumination spot based at least in part on the modulation; and a data processing unit configured to; determine a direction of the detected at least one projected illumination spot with respect to a first reference point, and determine a location of the mobile robot based at least in part on the determined direction. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A mobile robot system, the system comprising:
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a mobile robot; a modulator; at least a first illumination projector coupled to the modulator, wherein the modulator is configured to modulate light from the at least first illumination projector, wherein the at least first illumination projector is configured to project first and second projected illumination spots onto different locations from one another on at least one non-vertical surface when the at least first illumination projector is positioned for operation with the mobile robot, wherein the first projected illumination spot has a first optical signature and the second projected illumination spot has a second optical signature; a detector configured to detect the first and second projected illumination spots based at least in part on the first and second signatures; and a data processing unit configured to determine a location of the mobile robot based at least in part on the detection of; the first projected illumination spot, and the second projected illumination spot. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification