MOBILE ROBOT

• US 20150120056A1
• Filed: 10/29/2014
• Published: 04/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Noh, Dongki, Baek, Seungmin, Ku, Younguk
• Granted Patent: US 9,440,355 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/259
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/04 Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1676 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1697 Vision controlled systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/46 Indirect determination of position data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4814 of transmitters alone
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/74 Projection arrangements for image reproduction, e.g. using eidophor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/01 Mobile robot

Abstract

Disclosed is a mobile robot including a main body and a pattern irradiation unit emitting a cross-shaped optical pattern including a horizontal line optical pattern and a vertical line optical pattern intersecting the horizontal line optical pattern. The pattern irradiation unit includes a light source and a lens converting light emitted from the light source into the cross-shaped optical pattern, the lens includes convex cells on an incidence surface upon which the emitted light is incident, the incidence surface is divided into a first area converting the light emitted from the light source into the horizontal line optical pattern and a second area converting the light emitted from the light source into the vertical line optical pattern, vertical convex cells extended in parallel in the vertical direction are formed in the first area, and horizontal convex cells extended in parallel in the horizontal direction are formed in the second area.

Claims

1. A mobile robot comprising:

a mobile main body; and

a pattern irradiation unit to emit an optical pattern, including a first pattern comprising a line extending in a first direction and a second pattern comprising a line extending in a second direction intersecting the first pattern, to a region around the main body,

wherein the pattern irradiation unit includes;

a light source to emit light; and

a lens to convert the light emitted from the light source into the optical pattern,

wherein the lens includes convex cells on an incidence surface upon which light emitted from the light source is incident, the incidence surface is divided into a first area to convert the light emitted from the light source into the first pattern and a second area to convert the light emitted from the light source into the second pattern,

wherein a first plurality of first convex cells, wherein the first plurality extends in a direction orthogonal to the first direction, are formed in parallel in the first area and a second plurality of second convex cells, wherein the second plurality extends in a direction orthogonal to the second direction, are formed in parallel in the second area.

2. The mobile robot according to claim 1 wherein:

the optical pattern is a cross-shaped optical pattern;

the first direction is the horizontal direction and the first pattern comprising a line extending in the first direction is a horizontal line optical pattern;

the second direction is the vertical direction and the second pattern comprising a line extending in the second direction is a vertical line optical pattern;

the first convex cells are vertical convex cells; and

the second convex cells are horizontal convex cells.

3. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein a center of the lens is located in the first area.

4. The mobile robot according to claim 2, wherein the first area is greater than the second area.

5. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein an angle of view of the lens with respect to the first pattern is greater than an angle of view of the lens with respect to the second pattern.

6. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein a height of the first vertical convex cells is greater than a height of the second convex cells.

7. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein peaks of the first convex cells and peaks of the second convex cells are located at the same height from an exit surface of the lens.

8. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein a height to pitch ratio of the first convex cells is greater than a height to pitch ratio of the second convex cells.

9. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein an angle formed between a line connecting a common valley of adjacent first convex cells to a peak of one of the adjacent first convex cells and a line connecting the common valley to a peak of the other adjacent first convex cell is within 43 degrees.

10. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein an angle formed between a line connecting a common valley of adjacent first convex cells to a point corresponding to ¼

of the height from a peak of one of the adjacent first convex cells and a line connecting the common valley to a point corresponding to ¼

of the height from a peak of the other adjacent first convex cell is within 30 degrees, wherein the height is defined as the distance from the valley of a first convex cell to the peak of the first convex cell.

11. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein an angle formed between a line connecting a common valley of adjacent first convex cells to a point corresponding to ¾

of the height from a peak of one of the adjacent first convex cell and a line connecting the common valley to a point corresponding to ¾

of the height from a peak of the other adjacent first convex cell is within 26 degrees, wherein the height is defined as the distance from the valley of the convex cell to the peak of the first convex cell.

12. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the second convex cells contact the first convex cell closest to the second area.

13. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein valleys of the first convex cells are deeper than valleys of the second convex cells at a boundary between the first area and the second area.

14. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the light source includes an exit surface formed in a closed band type.

15. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the light source includes a laser diode.

16. The mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein a main axis of the lens is downward from a horizontal line.

17. The mobile robot according to claim 1, further comprising a pattern image acquisition unit to acquire an input image of an area to which the optical pattern is emitted.

18. The mobile robot according to claim 17, wherein the lens of the pattern irradiation unit and a lens of the pattern image acquisition unit are aligned on a vertical line.

19. The mobile robot according to claim 17, further comprising a pattern extraction unit to extract a designated pattern from the first input image acquired by the pattern image acquisition unit.

20. The mobile robot according to claim 19, wherein, if, after the cross-shaped pattern is extracted from the first input image by the pattern extraction unit, no cross-shaped pattern is extracted from a second input image acquired again at a random position by the pattern image acquisition unit, the mobile robot performs avoidance traveling before the mobile robot moves by a predetermined distance from the random position.

21. The mobile robot according to claim 19, wherein, if a proximal end of the vertical line optical pattern having the shortest distance from the mobile main body is not detected from the input image by the pattern extraction unit, the mobile robot performs avoidance traveling before the mobile robot moves by a predetermined distance.