Method for establishing a desired area of confinement for an autonomous robot and autonomous robot implementing a control system for executing the same
First Claim
1. A method of defining an area of confinement for an autonomous robot comprising;
- a) positioning the autonomous robot at a starting point P0 and recording the starting point P0 as a reference point within a memory device of the autonomous robot;
b) moving the autonomous robot from the starting point P0 about a perimeter of the area of confinement in a desired direction, wherein said movement of the autonomous robot is controlled by a user;
c) continuously tracking location of the autonomous robot relative to the reference point Po during said movement using a distance-traveled measuring mechanism and a directional indicating instrument;
d) recording the tracked location of the autonomous robot as a map in the memory device; and
e) upon detecting that the map includes a dosed-geometry, defining the closed-geometry as the perimeter of the area of confinement within the memory device;
wherein the area of confinement, is defined without marking the perimeter of the area of confinement with a physical barrier.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of establishing an area of confinement and an autonomous robot for performing a task within the area of confinement. In one aspect, the invention can be a method of defining an area of confinement comprising: positioning the autonomous robot at a starting point P0 and recording the starting point P0 as a reference point within a memory device; moving the autonomous robot from the starting point P0 about a perimeter of the area of confinement, wherein said movement of the autonomous robot is controlled by a user; continuously tracking location of the autonomous robot relative to the reference point P0 during said movement using a distance-traveled measuring mechanism and a directional indicating instrument; recording the tracked location as a map in the memory device; and upon detecting that the map includes a closed-geometry, defining the closed-geometry as the perimeter of the area of confinement within the memory device.
78 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of defining an area of confinement for an autonomous robot comprising;
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a) positioning the autonomous robot at a starting point P0 and recording the starting point P0 as a reference point within a memory device of the autonomous robot; b) moving the autonomous robot from the starting point P0 about a perimeter of the area of confinement in a desired direction, wherein said movement of the autonomous robot is controlled by a user; c) continuously tracking location of the autonomous robot relative to the reference point Po during said movement using a distance-traveled measuring mechanism and a directional indicating instrument; d) recording the tracked location of the autonomous robot as a map in the memory device; and e) upon detecting that the map includes a dosed-geometry, defining the closed-geometry as the perimeter of the area of confinement within the memory device; wherein the area of confinement, is defined without marking the perimeter of the area of confinement with a physical barrier. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 7, 8, 9)
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2. The method of claim I further comprising:
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f) positioning the autonomous robot at a point P1 along a perimeter of an area of exclusion and recording the point P1 as a location relative to the reference point P0, wherein the point P1 is located within the perimeter of the area of confinement; g) moving the autonomous robot from the point P1 about the perimeter of the area of exclusion in a desired direction, wherein said movement of the autonomous robot is controlled by the user; h) continuously tracking location of the autonomous robot relative to the reference point P0 during, said movement using a distance-traveled measuring mechanism and a directional indicating instrument; and i) recording;
the tracked location of the autonomous robot as a portion of the map in the memory device. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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6. The method of claim wherein the starting point P0 is stored within the memory device as a coordinate in an XY or Xθ
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10. An autonomous robot comprising:
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a housing, a control system, and a plurality of drive wheels, the control system comprising a distance-traveled measuring mechanism, a directional indicating instrument, a memory device, a data receiving port for receiving signals from an external device, and a central processing unit; and the central processing unit configured to (1) track the location of the autonomous robot relative to a reference point based on output generated by the distance-traveled measuring mechanism and the directional indicating instrument during user-controlled movement of the autonomous robot around a perimeter of an area of confinement using the external device, wherein the perimeter of the area of confinement is not marked by a physical barrier;
(2) record the tracked location of the autonomous robot as a map within the memory device; and
(3) define a closed-geometry formed by the tracked location as the perimeter of the area of confinement within the memory device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of defining an area of confinement for an autonomous robot comprising;
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a) positioning the autonomous robot at a starting point P0 and recording the starting point P0 as a reference point within a memory device of the autonomous robot, wherein the starting point P0 is recorded upon the autonomous robot receiving a record. starting point signal from an eternal device; b) moving the autonomous robot from the starting point P0 about a perimeter of the area of confinement in a desired direction, wherein said movement of the autonomous robot is controlled by a user transmitting signals from the external device which enables the user to move and steer the autonomous robot in a desired direction; c) continuously tracking location of the autonomous robot relative to the reference point P0 during said movement; d) recording the tracked location of the autonomous robot as a map in the memory device; and e) upon detecting that the map includes a closed-geometry, defining the closed-geometry as the perimeter of the area of confinement within the memory device.
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Specification