Autonomous mobile robot
First Claim
1. A robot lawnmower comprising:
- a robot body;
a drive system supporting the robot body and configured to maneuver the robot lawnmower over a lawn;
a localizing system configured to determine perimeter positions of the robot lawnmower with respect to an origin;
a teach monitor in communication with the localizing system and configured to determine whether the robot lawnmower is in a teachable state or in an unteachable state, the robot lawnmower being in the teachable state when the robot lawnmower is localized and on traversable terrain;
a controller in communication with the drive system, the localizing system, and the teach monitor, the controller comprising;
a data processing device; and
non-transitory memory in communication with the data processing device;
wherein the controller is configured to execute a teach routine when the controller is in a teach mode for tracing a confinement perimeter around the lawn as a human operator pilots the robot lawnmower with the robot lawnmower in the teachable state, wherein the teach routine stores perimeter positions determined by the localizing system in the non-transitory memory, and wherein the teach monitor of the robot lawnmower determines whether the robot lawnmower is in the teachable state or the unteachable state; and
an operator feedback unit in communication with the teach monitor or the controller and configured to emit an unteachable state indication when the teach monitor determines the robot lawnmower is in the unteachable state, the unteachable state indication configured to alert the human operator to the unteachable state and to further indicate a piloting correction of the robot lawnmower to return the robot lawnmower to the teachable state.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A robot lawnmower includes a robot body, a drive system, a localizing system, a teach monitor, and a controller in communication with one another. The drive system is configured to maneuver the robot lawnmower over a lawn. The teach monitor determines whether the robot lawnmower is in a teachable state. The controller includes a data processing device and non-transitory memory in communication with the data processing device. The data processing device executes a teach routine when the controller is in a teach mode for tracing a confinement perimeter around the lawn as a human operator pilots the robot lawn mower, when the robot lawnmower is in the teachable state, the teach routine stores global positions determined by the localizing system in the non-transitory memory, and when the robot lawnmower is in the unteachable state, the teach routine issues an indication of the unteachable state.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A robot lawnmower comprising:
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a robot body; a drive system supporting the robot body and configured to maneuver the robot lawnmower over a lawn; a localizing system configured to determine perimeter positions of the robot lawnmower with respect to an origin; a teach monitor in communication with the localizing system and configured to determine whether the robot lawnmower is in a teachable state or in an unteachable state, the robot lawnmower being in the teachable state when the robot lawnmower is localized and on traversable terrain; a controller in communication with the drive system, the localizing system, and the teach monitor, the controller comprising; a data processing device; and non-transitory memory in communication with the data processing device; wherein the controller is configured to execute a teach routine when the controller is in a teach mode for tracing a confinement perimeter around the lawn as a human operator pilots the robot lawnmower with the robot lawnmower in the teachable state, wherein the teach routine stores perimeter positions determined by the localizing system in the non-transitory memory, and wherein the teach monitor of the robot lawnmower determines whether the robot lawnmower is in the teachable state or the unteachable state; and an operator feedback unit in communication with the teach monitor or the controller and configured to emit an unteachable state indication when the teach monitor determines the robot lawnmower is in the unteachable state, the unteachable state indication configured to alert the human operator to the unteachable state and to further indicate a piloting correction of the robot lawnmower to return the robot lawnmower to the teachable state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of configuring a robotic lawnmowing system for autonomous operation, the method comprising:
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receiving perimeter positions of a robot lawnmower with respect to an origin; receiving a state of the robot lawnmower indicating whether the robot lawnmower is in a teachable state or in an unteachable state, the robot lawnmower being in the teachable state when the robot lawnmower is localized and on traversable terrain; and executing, a teach routine that traces a confinement perimeter around a lawn as a human operator pilots the robot lawnmower, wherein the teach routine stores the received perimeter positions in non-transitory memory when the received state indicates that the robot lawnmower is in the teachable state and issues an unteachable state indication when the received state indicates that the robot lawnmower is in the unteachable state, wherein the unteachable state indication includes a human-perceptible signal emitted by an operational feedback unit to alert the human operator of the unteachable state and to further indicate a piloting correction of the robot lawnmower to return the robot lawnmower to the teachable state. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A robotic lawnmower system, comprising:
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a localizing system that records each global position of a robot lawnmower with respect to a global origin as a human operator pilots the robot lawnmower to trace a confinement perimeter around a lawn in a manual confinement perimeter teaching mode; contour memory in which a geometric contour of the confinement perimeter is recorded while the human operator pilots the robot lawnmower for a duration of operation in the manual confinement perimeter teaching mode, the geometric contour defining a perimeter that the robot lawnmower is to avoid crossing in an autonomous mode; a teaching property monitor configured to detect whether or not the robot lawnmower is piloted in a recordable state and on traversable terrain; and an operator feedback unit in communication with the teaching property monitor and comprising a progress indicator configured to, as the human operator pilots the robot lawnmower in the manual confinement perimeter teaching mode, emit a human-perceptible signal when the teaching property monitor detects that the robot lawnmower is not piloted in the recordable state or is not on traversable terrain, the human-perceptible signal being configured to alert the human operator to an unrecordable state or to an untraversable terrain and to further indicate a piloting correction to return the robot lawnmower to a recordable state or traversable terrain. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification