Path guidance method for autonomous mobile device

• US 20080009984A1
• Filed: 08/04/2006
• Published: 01/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Lee, Shih-Ping, Chung, Yu-Liang, Wu, Tung-Chuan, Yu, Hung-Hsiu
• Granted Patent: US 7,636,621 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/23
• 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 1/028 using a RF signal

Abstract

A path guidance method for autonomous mobile device, by which a directional wireless reception unit, arranged on the autonomous mobile device, is enabled to receive a radio wave guidance signal issued by a call unit while the direction pointing to the call unit can be determined with respect to the intensity and direction of the received radio wave guidance signal, and thus the autonomous mobile device is directed to move toward the pointing direction until the autonomous mobile device reaches a location specified by the call unit. In a preferred aspect, the autonomous mobile device is determined to be not far from the call unit when the intensity of the radio wave guidance signal, received by the directional wireless reception unit, is larger than a predefined value.

Claims

1. A path guidance method capable guiding an autonomous mobile device to a location specified by a call unit for enabling the autonomous mobile device to perform a predetermined operation thereat, whereas the autonomous mobile device is configured with a directional wireless reception unit while the call unit is configured with a wireless transmission unit, path guidance method comprising steps of:

(a) enabling the wireless transmission unit to issue a radio wave guidance signal;

(b)enabling the wireless reception unit to receive the radio wave guidance signal; and

(c) enabling the autonomous mobile device to evaluate and determine a moving direction with respect to the intensity and direction of the received radio wave guidance signal, and thus directing the autonomous mobile device to move accordingly.

2. The path guidance method of claim 1, wherein the step (b) further comprises a step of:

enabling the autonomous mobile device to rotate without moving.

3. The path guidance method of claim 1, wherein the moving direction of the step (c) is determined with respect to the maximum of the intensity of the received radio wave guidance signal.

4. The path guidance method of claim 1, wherein the moving direction of the step (c) is determined with respect to the minimum of the intensity of the received radio wave guidance signal.

5. The path guidance method of claim 1, wherein the moving direction of the step (c) is determined with respect to the maximum and the minimum of the intensity of the received radio wave guidance signal.

6. The path guidance method of claim 1, further comprising a step of:

making an evaluation, after the performing of the step (c) is accomplished, to determine whether the autonomous mobile device is coming into contact with an obstacle, and enable the autonomous mobile device to perform a displacement action if so.

7. The path guidance method of claim 1, further comprising a step of:

making an evaluation, after the performing of the step (c) is accomplished, to determine whether the intensity of the received radio wave guidance signal is higher than a first predefined value, and enable the autonomous mobile device to perform a predetermined action if so.

8. The path guidance method of claim 7, wherein the first predefined value is specified as the intensity of the received radio wave guidance signal while the autonomous mobile device is situated at a specific distance not far away from the call unit.

9. The path guidance method of claim 7, wherein the predetermined action is defined as to reduce the speed of the autonomous mobile device.

10. The path guidance method of claim 7, wherein the predetermined action is defined as to enable the autonomous mobile device to perform a turn.

11. The path guidance method of claim 7, wherein he predetermined action is defined as to enable the autonomous mobile device to standby.

12. The path guidance method of claim 1, wherein further comprising a step of:

making an evaluation to determine whether the autonomous mobile device had reached a location specified by the call unit, after the performing of the step (c) is accomplished,

13. The path guidance method of claim 12, wherein a second predefined value is defined to be larger than the intensity of the received radio wave guidance signal when the autonomous mobile device has not yet reached the location specified by the call unit and is still a significant distance away from the call unit.

14. The path guidance method of claim 13, wherein the second predefined value is specified as the intensity of the received radio wave guidance signal while the autonomous mobile device is situated at a specific distance not far away from the call unit.

15. The path guidance method of claim 1, wherein the call unit is configured with a charging station while the autonomous mobile device is comprised of a capacity inspection unit.

16. The path guidance method of claim 15, further comprising step of:

before the performing of the step (a), enabling a wireless transmission unit of the autonomous mobile device to issue a charging request signal as the capacity inspection unit detects that the power of a power unit is not sufficient, and then enabling the step (a) to be performed after the charging request signal is received by a wireless reception unit of the charging station.

17. The path guidance method of claim 1, wherein the wireless reception unit is a directional antenna.

18. The path guidance method of claim 17, wherein the directional antenna is an antenna selected from the group consisting of a Yagi antenna, a horn antenna, and a panel antenna.

19. The path guidance method of claim 1, wherein the wireless reception unit is an omni-directional antenna having a metal shielding layer arranged at the exterior thereof while the metal shielding layer is capable of orientating the omni-directional antenna to receive the radio wave guidance signal at its maximum only from a specified direction.

20. The path guidance method of claim 16, wherein the wireless transmission unit is an omni-directional antenna.

21. The path guidance method of claim 1, wherein the wireless transmission unit is an omni-directional antenna.

22. The path guidance method of claim 16, wherein the wireless reception unit is an omni-directional antenna.