Motion heat map

• US 9,434,069 B1
• Filed: 11/10/2014
• Issued: 09/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Edsinger, Aaron
• Primary Examiner(s): Patton, Spencer
• Application Number:
  US14/537,390
• Time in Patent Office: 666 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1607 Calculation of inertia, jacobian matrixes and inverses
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/161 Hardware, e.g. neural networks, fuzzy logic, interfaces, processor
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1664 characterised by motion, path, trajectory planning
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1674 characterised by safety, monitoring, diagnostic
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40318 Simulation of reaction force and moment, force simulation

Abstract

Examples are provided that describe a motion heat map. In one example, a method includes receiving, an input indicative of an environment including a robotic device. The method also includes receiving information associated with the robotic device such as operational characteristics of the robotic device and a range of motion associated with a component of the robotic device. The method also includes determining a motion per path metric associated with the component of the robotic device based on a simulated operation of the robotic device. The method also includes determining a force associated with the motion per path metric. Based on the force, determining a heat map to demonstrate a varying effect of motion of the component.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computing devices, an input indicative of an environment in which a robotic device resides, and wherein the robotic device is configured to function within the environment;

receiving information associated with the robotic device, wherein the information includes operational characteristics of the robotic device and a range of motion associated with a component of the robotic device;

determining a motion per path metric associated with the component of the robotic device based on a simulated operation of the robotic device moving the component along a given path within the range of motion for the component;

determining a force associated with the motion per path metric according to the simulated operation;

based on the force, determining, by the one or more computing devices, a heat map to demonstrate a varying effect of motion of the component along the given path, wherein regions of the heat map vary in one or more of color and luminous intensity according to the force, and wherein one or more regions of the heat map have a decreased luminous intensity based on an increasing distance from the given path associated with the component; and

providing for display, the heat map overlaid onto a representation of a geometric layout of the environment, wherein the heat map comprises a graphical image.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining characteristics of the heat map according to the force being above or below a threshold, wherein the threshold is determined according to a vertical measurement associated with the range of motion.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the motion per path metric associated with the component of the robotic device comprises calculating one or more of an inertia, velocity and radius of curvature associated with the component.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein one or more regions of the heat map along the given path comprise an increased luminous intensity with regard to the luminous intensity associated with a plurality of adjacent regions.

5. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions, that when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

receiving an input indicative of an environment in which a robotic device resides, and wherein the robotic device is configured to function within the environment;

receiving information associated with the robotic device, wherein the information includes operational characteristics of the robotic device and a range of motion associated with a component of the robotic device;

determining a motion per path metric associated with the component of the robotic device based on a simulated operation of the robotic device moving the component along a given path within the range of motion for the component;

determining a force associated with the motion per path metric according to the simulated operation;

based on the force, determining a heat map to demonstrate a varying effect of motion of the component along the given path, wherein regions of the heat map vary in one or more of color and luminous intensity according to the force, and wherein one or more regions of the heat map have a decreased luminous intensity based on an increasing distance from the given path associated with the component; and

providing for display, the heat map overlaid onto a representation of a geometric layout of the environment, wherein the heat map comprises a graphical image.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein providing for display, the heat map overlaid onto the representation of the geometric layout of the environment comprises providing the heat map overlaid onto the representation of the geometric layout according to a position of the robotic device within the geometric layout.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, further comprising:

determining an optimal path for the component to traverse based on safety so as to minimize risk during motion of the component along the optimal path.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, further comprising:

determining characteristics of the heat map according to the force being above or below a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on a vertical measurement of the range of motion.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein determining the characteristics of the heat map further comprises:

varying the characteristics according to the range of motion associated with the component of the robotic device.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the characteristics vary according to the simulated operation.

11. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computing devices, an input indicative of an environment in which a robotic device resides, and wherein the robotic device is configured to function within the environment;

determining a motion per path metric based on a simulated operation of the robotic device;

determining a force associated with the motion per path metric along one or more paths of the robotic device according to the simulated operation;

based on the force, determining, by the one or more computing devices, a heat map to demonstrate a varying effect of motion according to the simulated operation, wherein regions of the heat map vary in one or more of color and luminous intensity according to the force, and wherein one or more regions of the heat map have a decreased luminous intensity based on an increasing distance from the one or more paths of the robotic device; and

providing for display, the heat map of the force overlaid onto a three-dimensional representation of a geometric layout of the environment, wherein the heat map comprises a visual representation.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the heat map of the force overlaid onto the three-dimensional representation of the geometric layout comprises a plurality of forces associated with safety of motion of the robotic device along the one or more paths.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining characteristics of the heat map according to the force being above or below a threshold, wherein the threshold is determined according to a vertical measurement associated with the range of motion.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the heat map of the force comprises a plurality of voxels along an x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis based on a three-dimensional representation of a geometric layout of the environment, wherein the plurality of voxels vary in one or more of color and luminous intensity according to the force.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a second input indicative of a request to display one or more voxels of the plurality of voxels according to the force being above a threshold.