Autonomous mobile sensor movement path simulation with an integrated developer environment

• US 10,114,618 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2016
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wee, Susie, Abuduweili, Aikepaer, Kamel, Wael, Malegaonkar, Ashutosh A., Zhang, Yajun
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Philip
• Application Number:
  US15/176,946
• Publication Number:
  US 20160357525A1
• Time in Patent Office: 874 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/33 Intelligent editors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/455 Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines

Abstract

According to one or more embodiments of the disclosure, autonomous mobile sensor movement path simulation with an integrated developer environment (IDE) is shown and described. In one embodiment, a computer operates an Internet of Things (IoT) IDE having a virtualized map view illustrating a locational relationship between objects of an IoT application within a represented physical space, where a mobile sensor is virtually represented within the IoT IDE and is configured with navigation control logic affected by external influences and controlled according to the IoT application. Virtualized external influences may be modelled within the IoT IDE that represent physical external influences within the physical space, and the navigation control logic of the mobile sensor may be operated within the IoT IDE according to the IoT application, the virtually represented mobile sensor configured to navigate within the virtual space based on the navigation control logic reacting to the virtual external influences.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

operating, by a computer, an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated developer environment (IDE) having a virtualized map view illustrating a locational relationship between objects of an IoT application within a represented physical space, wherein IDE produces an executable graph that operates as a flow-based programmable framework virtualized across a plurality of IoT layers;

virtually representing a mobile sensor within the IoT IDE, the mobile sensor configured with navigation control logic affected by external influences and controlled according to the IoT application;

modelling virtualized external influences within the IoT IDE that represent physical external influences within the physical space;

developing, by the IoT IDE, an IoT IDE environment based on the modeled virtualized influences;

operating the navigation control logic of the mobile sensor within the IoT IDE according to the IoT application, the virtually represented mobile sensor configured to navigate within the virtual space based on the navigation control logic reacting to the virtual external influences prior to navigating the mobile sensor in the physical space;

based on how the mobile sensor navigates through the virtual space, determining, by the IoT IDE, a success or failure of the navigation control logic within the virtual space; and

adjusting, by the IoT IDE, the IoT IDE environment based on the success or failure.

2. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

displaying navigation of the mobile sensor within the virtual space in a graphical user interface (GUI) of the IoT IDE.

3. The method as in claim 1, wherein operating the navigation control logic further comprises:

controlling a real-world physical mobile sensor using the IoT IDE.

4. The method as in claim 3, wherein controlling comprises:

receiving directional inputs at the IoT IDE from a user, wherein the navigation control logic of the mobile sensor reacts to external influences.

5. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

determining a path for the mobile sensor to traverse through the virtual space within the IoT IDE; and

deploying the determined path to a real-world physical mobile sensor for traversing the represented physical space.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein the represented physical space contains virtualized wireless signal strengths that affect the mobile sensor navigation control logic.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein the represented physical space contains virtualized physical obstructions around which the mobile sensor must traverse based on the navigation control logic.

8. The method as in claim 1, wherein the represented physical space is a virtual representation of a real-world physical space.

9. The method as in claim 1, wherein the mobile sensor is selected from a group consisting of:

a robot;

a drone;

an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); and

an autonomous vehicle.

10. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media comprising program instructions, which when executed on a processor are configured to:

operate an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated developer environment (IDE) having a virtualized map view illustrating a locational relationship between objects of an IoT application within a represented physical space, wherein IDE produces an executable graph that operates as a flow-based programmable framework virtualized across a plurality of IoT layers;

virtually represent a mobile sensor within the IoT IDE, the mobile sensor configured with navigation control logic affected by external influences and controlled according to the IoT application;

model virtualized external influences within the IoT IDE that represent physical external influences within the physical space;

develop an IoT IDE environment based on the modeled virtualized influences;

operate the navigation control logic of the mobile sensor within the IoT IDE according to the IoT application, the virtually represented mobile sensor configured to navigate within the virtual space based on the navigation control logic reacting to the virtual external influences prior to navigating the mobile sensor in the physical space;

based on how the mobile sensor navigates through the virtual space, determine a success or failure of the navigation control logic within the virtual space; and

adjust the IoT IDE environment based on the success or failure.

11. The computer-readable media as in claim 10, wherein the program instructions when executed are further configured to:

display navigation of the mobile sensor within the virtual space in a graphical user interface (GUI) of the IoT IDE.

12. The computer-readable media as in claim 10, wherein the program instructions when executed to operate the navigation control logic are further configured to:

control a real-world physical mobile sensor using the IoT IDE.

13. The computer-readable media as in claim 12, wherein the program instructions when executed to control are further configured to:

receive directional inputs at the IoT IDE from a user, wherein the navigation control logic of the mobile sensor reacts to external influences.

14. The computer-readable media as in claim 10, wherein the program instructions when executed are further configured to:

determine a path for the mobile sensor to traverse through the virtual space within the IoT IDE; and

deploy the determined path to a real-world physical mobile sensor for traversing the represented physical space.

15. The computer-readable media as in claim 10, wherein the represented physical space contains one or more of virtualized wireless signal strengths that affect the mobile sensor navigation control logic or virtualized physical obstructions around which the mobile sensor must traverse based on the navigation control logic.

16. The computer-readable media as in claim 10, wherein the mobile sensor is selected from a group consisting of:

a robot;

a drone;

an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); and

an autonomous vehicle.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor adapted to execute one or more processes; and

a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to;

operate an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated developer environment (IDE) having a virtualized map view illustrating a locational relationship between objects of an IoT application within a represented physical space, wherein IDE produces an executable graph that operates as a flow-based programmable framework virtualized across a plurality of IoT layers;

virtually represent a mobile sensor within the IoT IDE, the mobile sensor configured with navigation control logic affected by external influences and controlled according to the IoT application;

model virtualized external influences within the IoT IDE that represent physical external influences within the physical space;

develop an IoT IDE environment based on the modeled virtualized influences;

operate the navigation control logic of the mobile sensor within the IoT IDE according to the IoT application, the virtually represented mobile sensor configured to navigate within the virtual space based on the navigation control logic reacting to the virtual external influences prior to navigating the mobile sensor in the physical space;

based on how the mobile sensor navigates through the virtual space, determine a success or failure of the navigation control logic within the virtual space; and

adjust the IoT IDE environment based on the success or failure.

18. The apparatus as in claim 17, wherein the process when executed to operate the navigation control logic is further operable to:

control a real-world physical mobile sensor using the IoT IDE.