NAVIGATING AUTONOMOUS COVERAGE ROBOTS
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Abstract
A method of navigating an autonomous coverage robot between bounded areas includes positioning a navigation beacon in a gateway between adjoining first and second bounded areas. The beacon configured to transmit a gateway marking emission across the gateway. In some example, the navigation beacon may also transmit a proximity emission laterally about the beacon, where the robot avoids cleaning and migration within the proximity emission. The method also includes placing the coverage robot within the first bounded area. The robot autonomously traverses the first bounded area in a cleaning mode and upon encountering the gateway marking emission in the gateway, the robot remains in the first bounded area, thereby avoiding the robot migration into the second area. Upon termination of the cleaning mode in the first area, the robot autonomously initiates a migration mode to move through the gateway, past the beacon, into the second bounded area.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1-31. -31. (canceled)
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32. A robot comprising:
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a chassis; a wheeled drive supporting the chassis and operable to maneuver the robot; one or more sensors responsive to an environment about the robot; a memory storing instructions to generate an internal map configured to be used to navigate between bounded regions; and a controller in communication with the wheeled drive, the sensors, and the memory, the controller executing the instructions to navigate the robot from a first bounded region to a second bounded region by navigating from a first navigation beacon to a second navigation beacon based on line-of-sight directions to distant observed objects, the first and second navigation beacons comprising passive physical objects having one or more features identifiable in the environment by the sensors. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification