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Method and apparatus for anti-collision and collision protection for multiple robot system

  • US 5,150,452 A
  • Filed: 07/28/1989
  • Issued: 09/22/1992
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/28/1989
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A collision detection met robot system having at least two robots movable about a common surface of a predetermined size(a) providing a world map and a plurality of robot maps each divided into an xy grid of uniform sized squares, each map being the same size as said common surface for receiving two-dimensional representations, of robots projected onto said common surface;

  • (b) associating each of said squares of each maps with a predetermined memory cell in an associated memory;

    (c) installing the initial location of each robot in its associated map by setting each memory cell associated with a square in the associated robot map having at least a portion thereof occupied by said robot to a first binary state;

    (d) installing the initial location of each robot in the world map by combining the binary bit of each robot map memory cell with the binary bit of the associated memory cell of the world map;

    (e) removing the initial location of a predetermined robot from the world map by a logical combination of the memory cells of the robot map of said predetermined robot with the associated memory cells of the world map responsive to a move request for said predetermined robot;

    (f) installing the swept area representing movement from the initial position to a desired final position of said predetermined robot upon a swept area robot map by setting all of the memory cells occupied by the swept area to said predetermined state;

    combining the binary states of associated memory cells of said swept area robot map and said world map using a first type of logical OR operation;

    (h) combining the binary states of associated memory cells of said swept area map and said world map using a second type of logical OR operation different from said first type of logical OR operation;

    (i) indicating a collision if the binary states of any one of the associated memory cells of the logical combinations resulting from said first and second types of logical OR operations are unequal.

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