Recharge station for mobile robot

• US 10,698,411 B1
• Filed: 12/13/2016
• Issued: 06/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ai Incorprated
• Original Assignee: Ai Incorprated
• Inventors: Ebrahimi Afrouzi, Ali
• Primary Examiner(s): Oh, Harry Y
• Application Number:
  US15/377,674
• Time in Patent Office: 1,295 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 19/005 using batteries, e.g. as a back-up power source
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0003 Home robots, i.e. small robots for domestic use
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/14 Conductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/30 Constructional details of charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0234 using optical markers or beacons optical beacons per se G01S1/70
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/01 Mobile robot

Abstract

A recharge station for a mobile robot and method for navigating to a recharge station. Two signal emitters on the recharge station emit uniquely identifiable signals in two separate ranges. A mobile robot is configured to look for the signals with two signal receivers, a left receiver looking for the signals of the left emitter and a right receiver looking for the signals of the right receiver. Upon sensing the left emitter signals with the left receiver and the right emitter signals with the right receiver, the mobile robot is aligned with the recharge station. The mobile robot is configured to then drive forward until charging contacts on the mobile robot make contact with charging contacts on the recharge station.

Claims

1. A mobile robot recharging system comprising:

a mobile robot comprising;

a housing;

a set of wheels for driving;

a motor for driving the wheels;

a processor;

a rechargeable battery;

two charging contacts for recharging said battery;

a first signal receiver; and

a second signal receiver; and

a recharge station comprising;

a housing;

two charging contacts positioned on the surface of the housing such that they complete a battery circuit when they make contact with the two charging contacts of the mobile robot;

a power supply electrically coupled with the charging contacts to provide electrical power thereto;

a first signal emitter positioned within a first channel emitting a first signal in a predetermined range; and

,

a second signal emitter positioned within a second channel emitting a second signal, distinguishable from the first signal, in a predetermined range, separate from the predetermined range of the first signal;

wherein the mobile robot is configured to align with the recharge station by detecting the first signal with the first signal receiver and the second signal with the second signal receiver simultaneously, and wherein the first channel and second channel limit the range of the first signal emitter and second signal emitter, respectively, such that the signals from the first signal emitter and the signals from the second signal emitter do not overlap.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile robot is configured to differentiate the first and second signals from one another by any of a color of a signal, a carrier frequency of a signal, a modulation of a signal, a bit pattern of a signal and a wavelength of a signal.

3. A method for recharging a mobile robot comprising:

providing a recharge station comprised of;

a housing;

two charging contacts positioned on the surface of the housing such that they complete a battery circuit when they make contact with corresponding charging contacts on a mobile robot positioned adjacent to the recharge station;

a power supply electrically coupled with the charging contacts to provide electrical power thereto;

a left signal emitter positioned in a first channel and emitting a first signal in a predetermined range limited by the first channel; and

,

a right signal emitter positioned in a second channel and emitting a second signal, distinguishable from the first signal, in a predetermined range limited by the second channel, separate from the predetermined range of the first signal such that the first signal from the first signal receiver and the second signal from the second signal receiver do not overlap;

providing the mobile robot comprising a housing including a set of wheels for driving, a motor for driving the wheels, a processor or control unit for controlling said wheels, a rechargeable battery, at least two charging contacts for recharging said battery, and a left signal receiver and a right signal receiver for receiving signals emitted by the signal emitters of the recharge station;

configuring the processor of the mobile robot to seek a state in which the left signal receiver detects the first emitted signal and the right signal receiver detects the second emitted signal simultaneously when the mobile robot is in a recharge seeking mode;

upon detecting the first emitted signal by the left signal receiver and the second emitted signal by the right signal receiver simultaneously, controlling the mobile robot to drive forward.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first and second signals are differentiated from one another by any of a color of a signal, a carrier frequency of a signal, a modulation of a signal, a bit pattern of a signal and a wavelength of a signal.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising, reducing the speed of the mobile robot to a predetermined speed upon detecting the first emitted signal by the left signal receiver and the second emitted signal by the right signal receiver simultaneously.

6. The method of claim 3 further comprising, halting movement of the robot upon detecting that the charging contacts of the mobile robot have made contact with the charging contacts of the recharge station.

7. The method of claim 3 further comprising, if the step of configuring the processor is not successfully completed, seeking instead either the first or second signal with both the left and right receiver of the mobile robot, and then following a set of predetermined navigation instructions based on the signal input received in order to bring the mobile robot to a state in which the left signal receiver detects the first emitted signal and the right signal receiver detects the second emitted signal, then proceeding with the step of controlling the mobile robot to drive forward.

8. The method of claim 3 further comprising, if the right signal receiver detects the first emitted signal and the left signal receiver detects no signal, turning the mobile robot clockwise a predetermined number of degrees or until the left signal receiver detects the first emitted signal, then driving the mobile robot forward a predetermined distance, then turning the mobile robot counterclockwise until the left signal receiver detects the first emitted signal again and the right signal receiver detects the second emitted signal, then proceeding with the step of controlling the mobile robot to drive forward.

9. The method of claim 3 further comprising, if the left signal receiver detects the second emitted signal and the right signal receiver detects no signal, turning the mobile robot counterclockwise a predetermined number of degrees or until the right signal receiver detects the second emitted signal, then driving the mobile robot forward a predetermined distance, then turning the mobile robot clockwise until the right signal receiver detects the second emitted signal again and the left receiver detects the first emitted signal, then proceeding with the step of controlling the mobile robot to drive forward.

10. The method of claim 3 wherein, seeking the described state is comprised of driving the mobile robot in either a predetermined pattern or a random pattern until the state is detected.