CONTROLLING ROBOTIC LAWNMOWERS

• US 20170020064A1
• Filed: 07/24/2015
• Published: 01/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Original Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Inventors: Likhite, Alec, Steltz, Erik, Doughty, Brian, Beaulieu, Andrew, Yamauchi, Brian
• Granted Patent: US 10,034,421 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/008 for automated or remotely controlled operation
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/09 Watering arrangements making use of movable installations on wheels or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0044 by providing the operator with a computer generated representation of the environment of the vehicle, e.g. virtual reality, maps maps used for automatic navigation G05D1/0274; flight directors G01C23/005
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/01 Mobile robot

Abstract

A method of mowing with an autonomous robot lawnmower includes traversing a mowable area with the autonomous robot lawnmower carrying a cutter and a vegetation characteristic sensor. The vegetation characteristic sensor is configured to generate sensor data in response to detecting a vegetation characteristic of the mowable area. The vegetation characteristic is selected from the group consisting of a moisture content, a grass height, and a color. The method includes storing position-referenced data representing the vegetation characteristic detected across the mowable area. The position-referenced data is based at least in part on the sensor data and position data. The method includes sending data to a remote device to cause the remote device to display a map including information based on the position-referenced data.

Claims

1. A method of mowing with an autonomous robot lawnmower, comprising

traversing a mowable area with the autonomous robot lawnmower carrying a cutter and a vegetation characteristic sensor, the vegetation characteristic sensor configured to generate sensor data in response to detecting a vegetation characteristic of the mowable area, the vegetation characteristic being selected from the group consisting of a moisture content, a grass height, and a color,

storing position-referenced data representing the vegetation characteristic detected across the mowable area, the position-referenced data based at least in part on the sensor data and position data;

and

sending data to a remote device to cause the remote device to display a map including information based on the position-referenced data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the vegetation characteristic comprises the color,

the map comprises a representation of the mowable area color-coded based on the color of the vegetation, and

the method further comprises sending data to the remote device to cause the remote device to display a recommendation based on the color of the vegetation, the recommendation selected from the group consisting of a recommendation to water one or more portions of the mowable area and a recommendation to modify the mowing frequency.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the vegetation characteristic comprises the grass height,

the map comprises a representation of the mowable area color-coded based on the grass height of the vegetation, and

the method further comprises sending data to the remote device to cause the remote device to display a recommendation based on the grass height of the vegetation, the recommendation selected from the group consisting of a recommendation to water one or more portions of the mowable area and a recommendation to modify the mowing frequency.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the vegetation characteristic comprises the moisture content,

the map comprises a representation of the mowable area color-coded based on the moisture content, and

the method further comprises sending data to the remote device to cause the remote device to display a recommendation based on the moisture content of the vegetation, the recommendation selected from the group consisting of a recommendation to water one or more portions of the mowable area and a recommendation to modify the mowing frequency.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling the robot to mow the area based on the position-referenced data.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

generating an adjusted mowing schedule based on the position-referenced data representing the vegetation characteristic and a current mowing schedule;

sending data to a remote device to cause the remote device to display the adjusted mowing schedule; and

receiving from the remote device a confirmation of the adjusted mowing schedule.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

while controlling the robot to mow the mowable area, sensing an obstacle encountered by the robot and storing position-referenced data related to the sensed obstacle;

comparing the stored position-referenced data related to the sensed obstacle with previously stored position-referenced data; and

communicating an alert in response to a difference between the stored position-referenced data related to the sensed obstacle and the previously stored position-referenced data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein traversing the mowable area is performed on one date, and controlling the robot to mow the mowable area based on the position-referenced data is performed on another date.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a grass health score for the mowable area based on the position-referenced data; and

sending data to the remote device to cause the remote device to display the grass health score.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving grass health scores for other mowable areas;

comparing the other grass health scores to the grass health score; and

communicating the comparison between the calculated grass health score for the mowable area and the other grass health scores for other mowable areas.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein calculating the grass health score comprises:

comparing the position-referenced data representing the vegetation characteristic to baseline data representing vegetation characteristics.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the vegetation characteristic sensor comprises a sensor to monitor power expended to drive a cutter of the robot.

13. An autonomous mowing robot, comprising

a chassis suspending a grass cutter;

a wheeled drive system supporting the chassis and operable to navigate the robot across an mowable area;

a vegetation characteristic sensor configured to generate sensor data in response to detecting a vegetation characteristic of the mowable area, the vegetation characteristic being selected from the group consisting of color, grass height, and moisture content;

electronic memory configured to store position-referenced data representing the vegetation characteristic across the mowable area, the position-referenced data being based at least in part on the sensor data from the vegetation characteristic sensor and position data; and

an electronic processor connected to the memory and configured to;

receive via a wireless receiver on the robot from a remote system information about a fluctuating weather condition related to a mowable area;

adjust a mowing schedule based on the information about the fluctuating weather condition; and

control the autonomous mowing robot to mow the mowable area based on the mowing schedule.

14. The autonomous mowing robot of claim 13, wherein the electronic processor is configured to:

control the wheeled drive system and the grass cutter based on the position-referenced data, and

send data to a remote device to cause the remote device to display a map including information based on the position-referenced data.

15. The autonomous mowing robot of claim 13, wherein the vegetation characteristic sensor comprises at least one of an optical sensor configured to detect the color, a pressure sensor configured to detect the grass height, and a capacitance sensor configured to detect the moisture content.

16. The autonomous mowing robot of claim 13, wherein the vegetation characteristic sensor comprises a sensor to monitor power expended to drive a cutter of the robot.

17. A method of mowing with an autonomous robot lawnmower, comprising

receiving via a wireless receiver on the robot from a remote system information about a fluctuating weather condition related to a mowable area;

adjusting a mowing schedule based on the information about the fluctuating weather condition; and

controlling an autonomous mowing robot to mow the mowable area based on the mowing schedule.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the fluctuating weather condition comprises a weather forecast at the mowable area, and

adjusting the mowing schedule comprises adjusting the mowing schedule based on an expected rainfall for the mowable area.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining a vegetation characteristic of the mowable area based on sensor data from a vegetation characteristic sensor on the robot configured to generate the sensor data in response to detecting the vegetation characteristic, the vegetation characteristic being selected from the group consisting of a moisture content, a grass height, and a color,

wherein adjusting the mowing schedule further comprises adjusting the mowing schedule based on the fluctuating weather condition and the determined vegetation characteristic.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining a level of power expended to drive a cutter of the robot,

wherein adjusting the mowing schedule further comprises adjusting the mowing schedule based on the fluctuating weather condition and the determined level of power expended to drive the cutter of the robot.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising, prior to adjusting the mowing schedule:

forwarding information about the fluctuating weather condition to a remote device; and

waiting for a prompt from the remote device before adjusting the mowing schedule.