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Mobile robot

  • US 8,958,911 B2
  • Filed: 07/23/2012
  • Issued: 02/17/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2012
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A mobile robot comprising:

  • a robot body;

    a drive system supporting the robot body and configured to maneuver the robot over a floor surface, the drive system having a forward drive direction;

    a controller in communication with the drive system; and

    a sensor pod in communication with the controller, the sensor pod comprising;

    a first interface supported by the robot body;

    a second interface spaced from the first interface and configured to receive a payload;

    a collar rotatably supported between the first and second interfaces and having a curved wall formed at least partially as a surface of revolution about a vertical collar axis of rotation with respect to the floor surface;

    a volumetric point cloud sensor housed by the collar and observing the volume of space adjacent the robot from within the collar along an observation axis extending through the curved wall, the volumetric point cloud sensor capturing three dimensional volumetric point clouds representative of obstacles within the observed volume of space; and

    a collar actuator rotating the collar and the volumetric point cloud sensor together about the vertical collar axis of rotation relative to the first and second interfaces and the robot body;

    wherein all rotating portions of the volumetric point cloud sensor extend a lesser distance from the vertical collar axis than an outermost point of the collar.

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