USER INTERFACE DEVICE OF REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR ROBOT DEVICE AND METHOD USING THE SAME

• US 20090157228A1
• Filed: 12/17/2008
• Published: 06/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Park, Jong Ho, Kim, Gi Oh, Hong, Soon Hyuk, Baek, Seung Hyun, Park, Ji Hyun
• Granted Patent: US 9,002,520 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/259
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1689 Teleoperation
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40161 Visual display of machining, operation, remote viewing
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40165 Sensor data to display depends on robot status

Abstract

A user interface device of a remote control system for a robot and a method using the same are provided. The user interface device includes: a radio frequency (RF) unit for receiving, from a remote control robot, camera data and at least one sensor data detecting a distance; a display unit having a main screen and at least one auxiliary screen; and a controller having an environment evaluation module for determining whether the received camera data are in a normal condition, and having a screen display mode change module for displaying, if the received camera data are in a normal condition, the camera data on the main screen and displaying, if the received camera data are in an abnormal condition, the sensor data on the main screen.

Claims

1. A user interface device comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) unit for receiving, from an external device, camera data and at least one sensor data having a remote location environment information;

a display unit having a main screen and at least one auxiliary screen; and

a controller having an environment evaluation module for determining whether the received camera data are in a normal condition for the remote location environment, and having a screen display mode change module for displaying the camera data on the main screen if the received camera data are in the normal condition, and displaying the received sensor data on the main screen if the received camera data are not in a normal condition.

2. The user interface device of claim 1, wherein the external device is a remote control robot comprising:

a camera;

a sensor unit having at least one sensor for sensing a least one sensor data by detecting a distance as the detected distance;

a data acquisition module for acquiring data from the camera and the sensor unit; and

an RF unit for transmitting the data acquired by the data acquisition module to the user interface device.

3. The user interface device of claim 1, wherein the environment evaluation module determines that the received camera data are in the normal condition for the remote location environment information when a brightness of the camera data is within a range between a first reference value and a second reference value for setting a brightness limit.

4. The user interface device of claim 1, wherein the environment evaluation module determines that the received camera data are not in the normal when the camera data is an error or when the camera data does not received data from the external device.

5. The user interface device of claim 2, wherein the sensor unit comprises one of an ultrasonic sensor and an infrared sensor.

6. The user interface device of claim 2, wherein the sensor unit comprises an ultrasonic sensor and an infrared sensor;

and the screen display mode change module displays, if the camera data are in the normal condition for the remote location environment information, the camera data on the main screen and displays, if the camera data are not in a normal condition, ultrasonic sensor data on the main screen.

7. The user interface device of claim 6, wherein the screen display mode change module displays, if an obstacle is detected by the infrared sensor, when the camera data are not in the normal condition, infrared sensor data on the main screen.

8. The user interface device of claim 1, wherein the radio frequency (RF) unit for receiving, from an external device, camera data and at least one sensor data having a remote location environment information, the received camera data and the at least one sensor data are transmitted through server or base-station from the external device.

12. The user interface method of claim 8, wherein the sensor data is one of ultrasonic sensor data and infrared sensor data.

13. The user interface method of claim 8, wherein the sensor data comprises ultrasonic sensor data and infrared sensor data.

14. The user interface method of claim 13, further comprising:

detecting an obstacle by the infrared sensor; and

displaying, if the camera data are not displayed on the main screen, the infrared sensor data on the main screen.

9. A user interface method, comprising:

receiving, from an external device, camera data and at least one sensor data having a remote location environment information;

determining whether the received camera data are in a normal condition for the remote location environment information;

displaying, if the received camera data are in a normal condition, the camera data on a main screen of a display having at least two of screen; and

displaying, if the received camera data are not in the normal condition, the at least one sensor data on the main screen.

10. The user interface method of claim 9, wherein the external device is a remote control robot comprising:

a camera;

a sensor unit having at least one sensor for detecting a distance;

a data acquisition module for acquiring data from the camera and the sensor unit; and

an RF unit for transmitting the data acquired by the data acquisition module to the user interface device.

11. The user interface method of claim 9, wherein the normal condition is a range of light intensity between a first reference value for setting a brightness limit and a second reference value for setting a darkness limit.

15. The user interface method of claim 11, further comprising:

detecting an obstacle by the ultrasonic sensor; and

displaying, if the camera data are not displayed on the main screen, the ultrasonic sensor data on the main screen.

16. The user interface method of claim 9, wherein the received camera data and the at least one sensor data are transmitted through server or base-station from the external device.

17. A method of providing a user interface comprising:

receiving camera data and at least one sensor data having a remote location environment information from an external device;

determining whether the received camera data are in a normal condition;

determining that the received camera data are not in the normal when the camera data is an error or when the camera data does not received data from the external device; and

displaying the camera data on a screen if the received camera data are in the normal condition, and displaying the received sensor data on the screen if the received camera data are not in a normal condition or when the camera data does not received from the external device.