Method and apparatus for controlling the movement of a guided object
First Claim
1. A method for controlling a movement of a first object with respect to a second object, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) first representing at least part of a geometrical outline of said second object by a first set of interpenetrating spherical bubbles that each contain a fraction of said part and which together contain all of said part;
(b) second representing said first set by a second set of spherical bubbles that contains the bubbles of said first set and have larger diameters than the bubbles of said first set, so that said second set contains less bubbles than said first set; and
(c) calculating the movement of said first object for predicting an impending collision with said second object comprising;
(i) first determining whether there is an impending penetration of any bubble of said second set; and
(ii) in case of a positive outcome of said first determining step, second determining whether there is a further impending penetration of any bubble of said first set, whereby a number of calculations is reduced in case of a negative outcome of said second determining step.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method is provided for controlling the movement of an object 1, 61, in an environment 64. The method involves making predictions of collisions, given the outlines of the object and the environment, so that avoiding action can be taken. The object and environment are modelled as clusters of interpenetrating spherical bubbles, the model comprising the relative positions of the centers 6, 7, 8, 9, and 21 to 28 inclusive of the bubbles and their respective radii. The model simplifies the prediction of the point of collision of two such modelled objects by examining the collisions between bubbles only. An early, safe, approximate prediction of the collision can be obtained using Newton'"'"'s approximation.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for controlling a movement of a first object with respect to a second object, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) first representing at least part of a geometrical outline of said second object by a first set of interpenetrating spherical bubbles that each contain a fraction of said part and which together contain all of said part; (b) second representing said first set by a second set of spherical bubbles that contains the bubbles of said first set and have larger diameters than the bubbles of said first set, so that said second set contains less bubbles than said first set; and (c) calculating the movement of said first object for predicting an impending collision with said second object comprising; (i) first determining whether there is an impending penetration of any bubble of said second set; and (ii) in case of a positive outcome of said first determining step, second determining whether there is a further impending penetration of any bubble of said first set, whereby a number of calculations is reduced in case of a negative outcome of said second determining step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 6, 7)
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3. A method for controlling a movement of a first object with respect to a second object, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) first representing at least part of a geometrical outline of said first object by a first set of interpenetrating spherical bubbles that each contain a fraction of said part and which together contain all of said part; (b) second representing said first set by a second set of spherical bubbles that contain the bubbles of said first set and have larger diameters than the bubbles of said first set, so that said second set contains less bubbles than said first set; and (c) calculating the movement of said first object for predicting an impending collision with said second object comprising; (i) first determining whether there is an impending penetration of any bubble of said second set; and (ii) in case of a positive outcome of said first determining step, second determining whether there is a further impending penetration of any bubble of said first set, whereby a number of calculations is reduced in case of a negative outcome of said second determining step. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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8. Appparatus for controlling movement of a first object with respect to a second object said apparatus comprising
(a) means for guiding the first object relative to the second object; -
(b) means for storing respective shape and size information for each of the first and second objects, said shape and size information including, for a respective at least one of said first and second objects; (i) data defining a first set of interpenetrating spherical bubbles that each contain a fraction of a part of a geometrical outline of the respective at least one object, such that the spherical bubbles together contain all of said part; (ii) data defining a second set of spherical bubbles that contain the bubbles of said first set and have larger diameters than the bubbles of said first set, so that said second set contains less bubbles than said first set; and (c) means for calculating the movement of said first object for predicting an impending collision with said second object the calculating including; (i) first determining whether there is an impending penetration of any bubble of said second set; and (ii) in case of a positive outcome of said first determining step, second determining whether there is a further impending penetration of any bubble of said first set, whereby a number of calculations is reduced in case of a negative outcome of said second determining step. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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Specification