Autonomous vehicle for working on a surface and method of controlling same
First Claim
1. A method of controlling the movement of an autonomous vehicle working on a surface, said vehicle having means for moving the vehicle, means for turning the vehicle, means for determining the distance traversed by the vehicle and means for sensing contact of the vehicle with an obstacle, comprising:
- a. establishing a starting point for the vehicle to work on the surface;
b. from an origin point, initially at the starting point, causing the vehicle to traverse a distance "R", or until the vehicle encounters an obstacle;
c. causing the vehicle to return to the origin after traversing the distance "R" or encountering an obstacle;
d. upon completion of the return in the step c, at the origin, turning the vehicle through an angle; and
e. in an "iteration", repeating the steps b, c and d until the total of the angles turned in the step d reaches a predetermined limit.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A means and method for control of an autonomous vehicle while working on a surface, specifically for operation of an automatic floor cleaning machine using power derived from line power through a wall plug and cord. The vehicle uses information derived from contact between bumpers and objects in the environment to sense the geometry of its environment and utilizes a recursively applied algorithm to systematically and efficiently cover the floor area.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of controlling the movement of an autonomous vehicle working on a surface, said vehicle having means for moving the vehicle, means for turning the vehicle, means for determining the distance traversed by the vehicle and means for sensing contact of the vehicle with an obstacle, comprising:
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a. establishing a starting point for the vehicle to work on the surface; b. from an origin point, initially at the starting point, causing the vehicle to traverse a distance "R", or until the vehicle encounters an obstacle; c. causing the vehicle to return to the origin after traversing the distance "R" or encountering an obstacle; d. upon completion of the return in the step c, at the origin, turning the vehicle through an angle; and e. in an "iteration", repeating the steps b, c and d until the total of the angles turned in the step d reaches a predetermined limit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. Apparatus for working on a surface, comprising:
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a vehicle; means for moving of the vehicle; means for turning the vehicle; means for determining distance traversed by the vehicle; means for sensing contact of the vehicle with an obstacle; and means, responsive to the means for determining distance and the means for sensing contact, for controlling the movement of the vehicle from an origin point, and for controlling the turning of the vehicle at the origin point; wherein the means for controlling causes the vehicle to traverse from an origin point a distance "R", or until the vehicle encounters an obstacle, and to return to the origin point; wherein, after a traverse and return, the means for controlling causes the vehicle to turn through an angle at the origin point and then traverse from the origin point a distance "R", or until the vehicle encounters an obstacle, and to return to the origin point, repeatedly, until the cumulative angle turned through at the origin by the vehicle reaches a limit. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification