Scanning range finder
First Claim
1. A method of mowing an area with an autonomous mowing robot, the method comprising:
- controlling the mowing robot to autonomously traverse the area bounded by a predetermined boundary, including altering direction of the mowing robot at or near the predetermined boundary so as to redirect the mowing robot back into the bounded area; and
determining a pose of the mowing robot relative to locations of at least two retro-reflective beacons within the bounded area, wherein determining the pose of the mowing robot relative to the locations of the at least two retro-reflective beacons comprises;
pulsing a rotating laser range finder during a planar sweep about an axis of rotation;
monitoring an amplitude of a received signal strength (RSSI) responsive to the pulsing;
identifying a planar sweep angle at which the RSSI sharply transitions from a low level state to a high level state thereby indicating a presence of one of the at least two retro-reflective beacons; and
calculating a heading from the mowing robot to the at least two retro-reflective beacons,wherein the at least two retro-reflective beacons comprises three retro-reflective beacons, and wherein determining the pose further comprises performing triangulation to the three retro-reflective beacons to calculate the pose within the bounded area.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A scanning optical range finder in a mobile robot includes an optical emitter circuit, a non-imaging optical element, an optical detector circuit, and a ranging circuit. The non-imaging optical element is arranged to receive optical signals at an entrance aperture thereof responsive to operation of the optical emitter circuit, and to direct the optical signals to an output aperture thereof. The optical detector circuit is configured to receive the optical signals from the output aperture of the non-imaging optical element, and to generate detection signals based on respective phase differences of the optical signals relative to corresponding outputs of the optical emitter circuit. The ranging circuit is configured to calculate a range of a target from the phase differences indicated by the detection signals. Related devices and methods of operation are also discussed.
11 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method of mowing an area with an autonomous mowing robot, the method comprising:
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controlling the mowing robot to autonomously traverse the area bounded by a predetermined boundary, including altering direction of the mowing robot at or near the predetermined boundary so as to redirect the mowing robot back into the bounded area; and determining a pose of the mowing robot relative to locations of at least two retro-reflective beacons within the bounded area, wherein determining the pose of the mowing robot relative to the locations of the at least two retro-reflective beacons comprises; pulsing a rotating laser range finder during a planar sweep about an axis of rotation; monitoring an amplitude of a received signal strength (RSSI) responsive to the pulsing; identifying a planar sweep angle at which the RSSI sharply transitions from a low level state to a high level state thereby indicating a presence of one of the at least two retro-reflective beacons; and calculating a heading from the mowing robot to the at least two retro-reflective beacons, wherein the at least two retro-reflective beacons comprises three retro-reflective beacons, and wherein determining the pose further comprises performing triangulation to the three retro-reflective beacons to calculate the pose within the bounded area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A mowing robot, comprising:
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a controller; and a memory comprising computer program code stored therein, which, when executed by the controller, directs the controller to perform operations comprising; controlling the mowing robot to autonomously traverse an area that is bounded by a predetermined boundary, including altering direction of the mowing robot at or near the predetermined boundary so as to redirect the mowing robot back into the bounded area; and determining a pose of the mowing robot relative to locations of at least two retro-reflective beacons within the bounded area, wherein determining the pose of the mowing robot relative to the locations of the at least two retro-reflective beacons comprises; pulsing a rotating laser range finder of the mowing robot during a planar sweep about an axis of rotation; monitoring an amplitude of a received signal strength (RSSI) responsive to the pulsing; identifying a planar sweep angle at which the RSSI sharply transitions from a low level state to a high level state thereby indicating a presence of one of the at least two retro-reflective beacons; and calculating a heading from the mowing robot to the at least two retro-reflective beacons, wherein the at least two retro-reflective beacons comprises three retro-reflective beacons, and wherein determining the pose further comprises performing triangulation to the three retro-reflective beacons to calculate the pose within the bounded area.
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20. A method of mowing an area with an autonomous mowing robot, the method comprising:
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controlling the mowing robot to autonomously traverse the area bounded by a predetermined boundary, including altering direction of the mowing robot at or near the predetermined boundary so as to redirect the mowing robot back into the bounded area; and determining a pose of the mowing robot relative to locations of at least two retro-reflective beacons within the bounded area, wherein determining the pose of the mowing robot relative to the locations of the at least two retro-reflective beacons comprises; pulsing a rotating laser range finder during a planar sweep about an axis of rotation; monitoring an amplitude of a received signal strength (RSSI) responsive to the pulsing; identifying a planar sweep angle at which the RSSI sharply transitions from a low level state to a high level state thereby indicating a presence of one of the at least two retro-reflective beacons; and calculating a heading from the mowing robot to the at least two retro-reflective beacons; and reducing power applied to a laser diode of the rotating laser range finder to avoid reflection from diffuse targets at ranges closer than one of the at least two retro-reflective beacons, the diffuse targets having known signal strengths. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of mowing an area with an autonomous mowing robot, the method comprising:
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controlling the mowing robot to autonomously traverse the area bounded by a predetermined boundary, including altering direction of the mowing robot at or near the predetermined boundary so as to redirect the mowing robot back into the bounded area; and determining a pose of the mowing robot relative to locations of at least two retro-reflective beacons within the bounded area, wherein determining the pose of the mowing robot relative to the locations of the at least two retro-reflective beacons comprises; pulsing a rotating laser range finder during a planar sweep about an axis of rotation; monitoring an amplitude of a received signal strength (RSSI) responsive to the pulsing; identifying a planar sweep angle at which the RSSI sharply transitions from a low level state to a high level state thereby indicating a presence of one of the at least two retro-reflective beacons; and calculating a heading from the mowing robot to the at least two retro-reflective beacons; and dynamically increasing or decreasing power applied to a laser diode of the rotating laser range finder based on the amplitude of the RSSI relative to a threshold, wherein the amplitude of the RSSI is indicative of a reflectivity of respective targets in the bounded area. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method of mowing an area with an autonomous mowing robot, the method comprising:
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performing a planar sweep on initial power-up of the mowing robot in the area to verify boundaries and/or to compare detected boundaries to stored boundaries from a previous sweep, wherein the area is bounded by a predetermined boundary; controlling the mowing robot to autonomously traverse the bounded area, including altering direction of the mowing robot at or near the predetermined boundary so as to redirect the mowing robot back into the bounded area; determining a pose of the mowing robot relative to locations of at least two retro-reflective beacons within the bounded area, wherein determining the pose of the mowing robot relative to the locations of the at least two retro-reflective beacons comprises; pulsing a rotating laser range finder during the planar sweep about an axis of rotation; monitoring an amplitude of a received signal strength (RSSI) responsive to the pulsing; identifying a planar sweep angle at which the RSSI sharply transitions from a low level state to a high level state thereby indicating a presence of one of the at least two retro-reflective beacons; and calculating a heading from the mowing robot to the at least two retro-reflective beacons; and performing a subsequent planar sweep over the planar sweep angle responsive to identification thereof, wherein a rotational frequency of the rotating laser range finder for the subsequent planar sweep is reduced relative to the planar sweep. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification