Virtual safety cages for robotic devices

• US 9,283,678 B2
• Filed: 07/16/2014
• Issued: 03/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Kuffner, James J. Jr., Anderson-Sprecher, Peter Elving
• Primary Examiner(s): Sample, Jonathan L
• Application Number:
  US14/333,173
• Publication Number:
  US 20160016315A1
• Time in Patent Office: 608 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 19/06 Safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1676 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40196 Projecting light on floor to delimit danger zone around robot
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40202 Human robot coexistence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40203 Detect position of operator, create non material barrier to protect operator
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/47 Optical
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/49 Protective device

Abstract

Methods and systems for determining and presenting virtual safety cages are provided. An example method may involve receiving an instruction for a robotic device to perform a physical action in a physical environment occupied by the robotic device. The method may also involve, responsive to receiving the instruction, and based on one or more parameters of one or more physical components of the robotic device, determining one or more estimated trajectories along which the one or more physical components of the robotic device are estimated to move as the robotic device performs the physical action. The method may further involve, based on the one or more estimated trajectories, determining a virtual representation of a space that the robotic device is estimated to occupy in the physical environment while performing the physical action. The method may then involve providing, into the physical environment, an indication of a location of the space.

Claims

1. A method performed by a computing system, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors of the computing system, an instruction requesting that a robotic device perform a physical action in a physical environment occupied by the robotic device;

in response to receiving the instruction, the one or more processors determining one or more estimated trajectories of one or more physical components of the robotic device, wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are one or more trajectories along which the one or more physical components are estimated to move as the robotic device performs the physical action, and wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are based on one or more parameters of the one or more physical components;

the one or more processors determining a virtual representation of a space that the robotic device is estimated to occupy in the physical environment while performing the physical action, wherein the space is determined based on the one or more estimated trajectories of the one or more physical components of the robotic device; and

the one or more processors causing at least one projecting device communicatively linked to the computing system to project, into the physical environment, an indication of a location of the space in the physical environment, the indication visually depicting the determined one or more estimated trajectories.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication includes a two-dimensional (2D) image of the space projected on a surface in the physical environment, wherein the 2D image depicts one or more 2D paths representative of the determined one or more estimated trajectories.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication includes a holographic three-dimensional (3D) indication of the space, wherein the holographic 3D indication depicts one or more 3D paths representative of the determined one or more estimated trajectories, and wherein the holographic 3D indication is projected within the space in the physical environment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the one or more processors providing the indication to at least one computing device located remotely from the robotic device,

wherein the indication includes a three-dimensional (3D) model of the space, wherein the 3D model depicts one or more 3D paths representative of the determined one or more estimated trajectories.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the instruction requesting that the robotic device perform the physical action includes an instruction requesting that the robotic device move a physical object, and

wherein the space represented by the virtual representation includes space that the physical object is estimated to occupy while the robotic device is moving the physical object.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

after receiving the instruction requesting that the robotic device move the physical object, the one or more processors causing the at least one projecting device to project a light onto the physical object.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more determined estimated trajectories include multiple determined estimated trajectories, the method further comprising:

the one or more processors associating respective probabilities to the robotic device moving along the multiple determined estimated trajectories,

wherein the virtual representation of the space is based on the multiple determined estimated trajectories and further based on the respective probabilities associated to the robotic device moving along the multiple determined estimated trajectories, and

wherein the space comprises a superposition of multiple spaces corresponding to respective estimated trajectories of the multiple determined estimated trajectories, the multiple spaces including multiple different spaces that the robotic device is estimated to occupy in the physical environment while performing the physical action.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, upon execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

receiving an instruction requesting that a robotic device perform a physical action in a physical environment occupied by the robotic device;

in response to receiving the instruction, determining one or more estimated trajectories of one or more physical components of the robotic device, wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are one or more trajectories along which the one or more physical components are estimated to move as the robotic device performs the physical action, and wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are based on one or more parameters of the one or more physical components;

determining a virtual representation of a space that the robotic device is estimated to occupy in the physical environment while performing the physical action, wherein the space is determined based on the one or more estimated trajectories of the one or more physical components of the robotic device; and

causing at least one projecting device communicatively linked to the computing device to project, into the physical environment, an indication of a location of the space in the physical environment, the indication visually depicting the determined one or more estimated trajectories.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, the functions further comprising:

identifying, by one or more sensors in the physical environment of the robotic device, a moving object in the physical environment;

in response to identifying the moving object in the physical environment, determining a plurality of parameters associated with the moving object, wherein the plurality of parameters include at least a current velocity of the moving object and a current direction of movement of the moving object;

based on the determined plurality of parameters associated with the moving object, determining an estimated trajectory of the moving object along which the moving object is estimated to travel over a predetermined period of time, wherein the predetermined period of time begins when the plurality of parameters are determined;

making a comparison between the determined estimated trajectory of the moving object and the determined one or more estimated trajectories of the one or more physical components of the robotic device;

based on an output of the comparison, adjusting the virtual representation of the space; and

providing, into the physical environment, an indication of a location of space associated with the adjusted virtual representation.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the moving object includes a human.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein adjusting the virtual representation of the space comprises adjusting the virtual representation of the space such that the virtual representation of the space is decreased.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the indication visually depicts a path representative of the determined estimated trajectory of the moving object.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, the functions further comprising:

identifying, by one or more sensors in the physical environment of the robotic device, a moving object in the physical environment;

identifying, by the one or more sensors, that the moving object is outside of a threshold distance from the robotic device;

in response to identifying that the moving object is outside of the threshold distance from the robotic device, expanding the virtual representation of the space such that the space is increased; and

providing, into the physical environment, an indication of a location of the increased space.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the functions are performed continuously so as to dynamically adjust the virtual representation and dynamically update the indication corresponding to the dynamically-adjusted virtual representation.

15. A system comprising:

a robotic device;

one or more projecting devices;

a wireless communication interface;

at least one processor; and

data storage comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the system to perform functions comprising;

receiving an instruction requesting that the robotic device perform a physical action in a physical environment occupied by the robotic device;

in response to receiving the instruction, determining one or more estimated trajectories of one or more physical components of the robotic device, wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are one or more trajectories along which the one or more physical components are estimated to move as the robotic device performs the physical action, and wherein the one or more estimated trajectories are based on one or more parameters of the one or more physical components;

determining a virtual representation of a space that the robotic device is estimated to occupy in the physical environment while performing the physical action, wherein the space is determined based on the one or more estimated trajectories of the one or more physical components of the robotic device; and

causing the one or more projecting devices to project an indication of a location of the space into the physical environment, the indication visually depicting the determined one or more estimated trajectories.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein determining the one or more estimated trajectories of the one or more physical components of the robotic device comprises determining one or more estimated trajectories of the one or more physical components along which the one or more physical components are estimated to move within a predetermined period of time, and

wherein the space represented by the virtual representation includes space that the robotic device is estimated to occupy in the physical environment while performing the physical action during the predetermined period of time.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the robotic device includes at least one robotic manipulator involved in performing the physical action, the method further comprising:

determining respective ranges of motion for the at least one robotic manipulator involved in performing the physical action,

wherein determining the virtual representation is further based on the determined respective ranges of motion for the at least one robotic manipulator involved in performing the physical action, and

wherein the indication includes an indication of the determined respective ranges of motion.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more parameters of the one or more physical components of the robotic device that are involved in performing the physical action include one or more of:

a maximum torque of the one or more physical components, a maximum power output of the one or more physical components, and a momentum of the one or more physical components.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the indication comprises one or more of a visual representation of the space indicating:

an open quadric surface, a closed quadric surface, and an isosurface.