Tactile bumper for a mobile robot or platform
First Claim
1. A tactile bumper for obtaining sensory information, for impact detection and collision avoidance, from the entire perimeter of an associated autonomous mobile robot or platform, comprising:
- a housing;
a plurality of free-floating strips encased in said housing, and being disposed therein in a spring-loaded fashion so as to normally be in an extended position;
a plurality of microswitches affixed to said housing, and each being arranged behind portions of corresponding ones of said plurality of free-floating strips in such a fashion so that any displacement thereof will cause activation of the one of said plurality of microswitches nearest to the point of displacement; and
a plurality of free-floating corner pieces, each being configured with angled cuts at ends thereof so as to mate with complementary angled cuts in ends of juxtaposed ones of said plurality of free-floating strips so that any displacement of any one of said plurality of free-floating corner pieces will cause it to press against one of said juxtaposed ones of said plurality of free-float strips, causing it, in turn, to activate the one of said plurality of microswitches nearest to the point of displacement.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tactile bumper is configured to obtain sensory information for impact dction and collision avoidance from the entire perimeter of an associated autonomous mobile robot or platform. The tactile bumper comprises a plurality of free-floating strips encased in a housing and is disposed in a spring-loaded fashion so as to normally be in an extended position. A plurality of microswitches are affixed to the housing and are arranged behind the plurality of free-floating strips in such a fashion so as to be activated by any displacement thereof. The most significant component(s) of the tactile bumper are a plurality of free-floating corner pieces, each of which is configured with an angled cut at its ends so as to mate with complementary angled cuts of juxtaposed ones of the plurality of free-floating strips. Thus, when a free-floating corner piece comes into contact with another surface, it will press against the juxtaposed free-floating strip(s), aforementioned, causing it, in turn, to activate the microswitch nearest to the free-floating corner piece.
56 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A tactile bumper for obtaining sensory information, for impact detection and collision avoidance, from the entire perimeter of an associated autonomous mobile robot or platform, comprising:
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a housing; a plurality of free-floating strips encased in said housing, and being disposed therein in a spring-loaded fashion so as to normally be in an extended position; a plurality of microswitches affixed to said housing, and each being arranged behind portions of corresponding ones of said plurality of free-floating strips in such a fashion so that any displacement thereof will cause activation of the one of said plurality of microswitches nearest to the point of displacement; and a plurality of free-floating corner pieces, each being configured with angled cuts at ends thereof so as to mate with complementary angled cuts in ends of juxtaposed ones of said plurality of free-floating strips so that any displacement of any one of said plurality of free-floating corner pieces will cause it to press against one of said juxtaposed ones of said plurality of free-float strips, causing it, in turn, to activate the one of said plurality of microswitches nearest to the point of displacement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification