Position sensing system for a moving object wherein a lens focuses light onto a radiation sensitive matrix
First Claim
1. An electro-optic position system for a mobile robot moving in a plane comprising at least one light source mounted in a fixed position and emitting light, a light receiver on said robot having a lens arrangement, means in said system for calculating the position of said robot relative to said light source, said light source so mounted and arranged whereby the radiation field of the light source covers the complete area within which said robot is capable of movement, said light receiver being provided with a matrix of radiation sensitive elements, said lens arrangement focusing incident light from said light source to a light spot on said matrix whereby said elements thus illuminated responding by emitting corresponding electric signals, means being provided for sensing the matrix to determine the position of said light spot from the element which unambiguously reacts to incident light, and calculating means for calculating the position coordinates of the robot in the plane of movement from the position of said unambiguously reacting element in said matrix, said calculating means being arranged to present the position coordinates in a polar form, and means being provided which during movement of the robot in a predetermined direction repeatedly compares each value of the polar angle coordinates with the immediately preceding value in order to detect and correct a turning of the robot relative to a predetermined direction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an electrooptic position sensing system for an object (11) moving in a plane at least one light source (10) is fixedly disposed such that the radiation field of the light source covers the area within which the object (11) is intended to move. The object, for instance being a mobile robot, is provided with a matrix (18) of light-sensitive elements intended to receive radiation from the light source (10). A lens arrangement (12) focuses the incident radiation to a light spot on the matrix (18) which then emits corresponding electric signals. Means (20,21) are arranged to sense the matrix (18) to determine the position of the light spot from the element which most unambiguously reacts on the incident radiation. Further, means (24) are provided to calculate the coordinates of the position of the moving object in the plane of movement from the position of the most heavily reacting element.
132 Citations
4 Claims
- 1. An electro-optic position system for a mobile robot moving in a plane comprising at least one light source mounted in a fixed position and emitting light, a light receiver on said robot having a lens arrangement, means in said system for calculating the position of said robot relative to said light source, said light source so mounted and arranged whereby the radiation field of the light source covers the complete area within which said robot is capable of movement, said light receiver being provided with a matrix of radiation sensitive elements, said lens arrangement focusing incident light from said light source to a light spot on said matrix whereby said elements thus illuminated responding by emitting corresponding electric signals, means being provided for sensing the matrix to determine the position of said light spot from the element which unambiguously reacts to incident light, and calculating means for calculating the position coordinates of the robot in the plane of movement from the position of said unambiguously reacting element in said matrix, said calculating means being arranged to present the position coordinates in a polar form, and means being provided which during movement of the robot in a predetermined direction repeatedly compares each value of the polar angle coordinates with the immediately preceding value in order to detect and correct a turning of the robot relative to a predetermined direction.
Specification