Real-time navigating method for mobile robot

• US 9,971,350 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2016
• Issued: 05/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kinpo Electronics Incorporated (Cal-Comp Electronics Public Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Kinpo Electronics Incorporated (Cal-Comp Electronics Public Company Limited)
• Inventors: Wu, Sheng-Hui
• Primary Examiner(s): Camby, Richard M
• Application Number:
  US15/340,897
• Publication Number:
  US 20180052466A1
• Time in Patent Office: 560 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 19/06 Safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4808 Evaluating distance, position or velocity data
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0231 using optical position detecting means position-fixing by using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. optical position detecting means G01S5/16
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0276 using signals provided by a source external to the vehicle involving a plurality of vehicles G05D1/0287; automatically controlling vehicle speed responsive to externally generated signals B60K31/0058

Abstract

A real-time navigating method for mobile robot is provided. The method comprises the following steps of: retrieving a target position at a mobile robot; receiving a position signal from an external beacon device by an ultra-wideband communication module and calculating a current position of the mobile robot; calculating a moving direction according to the target position and the current position; calibrating the moving direction when detecting any obstacle by a laser range sensing module and moving towards the calibrated moving direction for dodging the obstacle; and, repeatedly executing above detection, calibration and movement until arriving the target position. The present disclosed example can effectively prevent the mobile robot from straying into the region without the positioning signal and failure in navigation via detecting the obstacle actively.

Claims

1. A real-time navigating method for mobile robot, the method comprising:

a) retrieving a target position at a mobile robot;

b) determining a current position of the mobile robot according to a position signal received by an ultra-wideband communication module;

c) calculating a moving direction according to the target position and the current position;

d) calibrating the moving direction when detecting any obstacle by a laser range sensing module, and controlling the mobile robot to move towards the calibrated moving direction; and

e) repeatedly executing the step b to the step d until the mobile robot arrives the target position.

2. The real-time navigating method for mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the step d comprises a step d1:

calibrating the moving direction according to a ratio of a range of the obstacle to a scan range of the laser range sensing module when a number of the detected obstacle is less than an obstacle threshold.

3. The real-time navigating method for mobile robot according to claim 2, wherein the step 1 is to calibrate the moving direction according to the ratio of the range of the obstacle to the scan range of the laser range sensing module when the number of the detected obstacle is less than 2 and the obstacle locates at an edge of the scan range.

4. The real-time navigating method for mobile robot according to claim 2, wherein the step d1 is to calibrate the moving direction according to an angle ratio of the range of the obstacle to the scan range of the laser range sensing module and an amplification factor, the amplification factor corresponds to an aisle width which the mobile robot locates.

5. The real-time navigating method for mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the step d comprises a step d2:

recognizing an accessible direction without the obstacles in front when the number of the obstacles is not less than an obstacle threshold, and making the accessible direction as the new moving direction.

6. The real-time navigating method for mobile robot according to claim 5, wherein the step d further comprises a step d3:

controlling the mobile robot to stop moving when failing to recognize the accessible direction in a scan range of the laser range sensing module.

7. The real-time navigating method for mobile robot according to claim 1, further comprising a step f:

controlling the mobile robot to stop moving when detecting the obstacle by a proximity sensing module.

8. The real-time navigating method for mobile robot according to claim 7, further comprising a step g after the step f:

sending a warning message when the mobile robot stops moving.

9. The real-time navigating method for mobile robot according to claim 8, further comprising a step h after the step g:

controlling the mobile robot to move backwards when a warning time elapses after the warning message is sent and still detecting the obstacles by the proximity sensing module.

10. The real-time navigating method for mobile robot according to claim 7, wherein further comprising the following steps after the step f:

i) controlling the mobile robot to switch to a sleep mode when stopping moving for a stop time and detecting the obstacles by the proximity sensing module; and

j) re-recognizing the accessible direction in the scan range of the laser range sensing module when switching to the sleep mode for a sleep time.