Autonomous Navigation Through Obstacles

• US 20140180526A1
• Filed: 12/21/2012
• Published: 06/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Oguchi, Kentaro, Deshpande, Anup Shrikantrao
• Granted Patent: US 9,709,990 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/25
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0248 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/01 Mobile robot

Abstract

A system and method for navigating a mobile automated system through obstacles is disclosed. The system includes a communication module, an estimation module, a density module, a vector module, a navigating module and a command module. The communication module receives image sensor data from one or more sensors. The estimation module estimates one or more obstacle parameters. The density module determines a left obstacle image density and a right obstacle image density for a path from a start point to a navigating destination based on the one or more obstacle parameters. The vector module generates a vector model to determine a navigating direction based on the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density. The navigating module determines a navigating velocity for navigating the mobile automated system to the navigating destination. The command module generates one or more navigating commands based on the navigating velocity.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for navigating a mobile automated system through obstacles, the method comprising:

receiving image sensor data from one or more sensors;

estimating one or more obstacle parameters based at least in part on the image sensor data;

determining a left obstacle image density and a right obstacle image density for a path from a start point to a navigating destination based at least in part on the one or more obstacle parameters;

generating a vector model to determine a navigating direction based at least in part on the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density;

determining a first navigating velocity for navigating the mobile automated system to the navigating destination based at least in part on the navigating direction; and

generating one or more first navigating commands to navigate the mobile automated system to the navigating destination based at least in part on the first navigating velocity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more obstacle parameters describe one or more moving objects.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile automated system is a robot.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an intermediate destination based at least in part on the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density; and

updating the navigating destination as the intermediate destination.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density comprises:

using the one or more obstacle parameters as one or more inputs to a utility function; and

applying the utility function to determine the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first navigating velocity includes an angular velocity and a linear velocity, and determining the first navigating velocity comprises:

determining the path from the start point to the navigating destination;

determining the linear velocity from the start point to the navigating destination based at least in part on the path; and

determining the angular velocity from the start point to the navigating destination based at least in part on the navigating direction.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the mobile automated system arrives at the navigating destination;

responsive to determining that the mobile automated system arrives at the navigating destination, determining whether the navigating destination is an intermediate destination; and

responsive to determining that the navigating destination is the intermediate destination, updating the start point using the intermediate destination and updating the navigating destination using a final destination of the navigation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the path is clear of obstacles;

responsive to determining that the path is clear, determining a second navigating velocity for navigating the mobile automated system along the path; and

generating one or more second navigating commands to navigate the mobile automated system along the path based at least in part on the second navigating velocity.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the navigating destination is one of a final destination and an intermediate destination.

10. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium encoding instructions that, in response to execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving image sensor data from one or more sensors;

estimating one or more obstacle parameters based at least in part on the image sensor data;

determining a left obstacle image density and a right obstacle image density for a path from a start point to a navigating destination based at least in part on the one or more obstacle parameters;

generating a vector model to determine a navigating direction based at least in part on the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density;

determining a first navigating velocity for navigating the mobile automated system to the navigating destination based at least in part on the navigating direction; and

generating one or more first navigating commands to navigate the mobile automated system to the navigating destination based at least in part on the first navigating velocity.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the one or more obstacle parameters describe one or more moving objects.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the mobile automated system is a robot.

13. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the computing device to perform operations further comprising:

determining an intermediate destination based at least in part on the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density; and

updating the navigating destination as the intermediate destination.

14. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein determining the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density comprises:

using the one or more obstacle parameters as one or more inputs to a utility function; and

applying the utility function to determine the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density.

15. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the first navigating velocity includes an angular velocity and a linear velocity, and determining the first navigating velocity comprises:

determining the path from the start point to the navigating destination;

determining the linear velocity from the start point to the navigating destination based at least in part on the path; and

determining the angular velocity from the start point to the navigating destination based at least in part on the navigating direction.

16. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the computing device to perform operations further comprising:

determining whether the mobile automated system arrives at the navigating destination;

responsive to determining that the mobile automated system arrives at the navigating destination, determining whether the navigating destination is an intermediate destination; and

responsive to determining that the navigating destination is the intermediate destination, updating the start point using the intermediate destination and updating the navigating destination using a final destination of the navigation.

17. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the computing device to perform operations further comprising:

determining whether the path is clear of obstacles;

responsive to determining that the path is clear, determining a second navigating velocity for navigating the mobile automated system along the path; and

generating one or more second navigating commands to navigate the mobile automated system along the path based at least in part on the second navigating velocity.

18. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the navigating destination is one of a final destination and an intermediate destination.

19. A system for navigating a mobile automated system through obstacles, the system comprising:

a communication module for receiving image sensor data from one or more sensors;

an estimation module communicatively coupled to the communication module, the estimation module estimating one or more obstacle parameters based at least in part on the image sensor data;

a density module communicatively coupled to the estimation module, the density module determining a left obstacle image density and a right obstacle image density for a path from a start point to a navigating destination based at least in part on the one or more obstacle parameters;

a vector module communicatively coupled to the density module, the vector module generating a vector model to determine a navigating direction based at least in part on the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density;

a navigating module communicatively coupled to the vector module, the navigating module determining a first navigating velocity for navigating the mobile automated system to the navigating destination based at least in part on the navigating direction; and

a command module communicatively coupled to the navigating module, the command module generating one or more first navigating commands to navigate the mobile automated system to the navigating destination based at least in part on the first navigating velocity.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the one or more obstacle parameters describe one or more moving objects.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the mobile automated system is a robot.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the navigating module is further configured to:

determine an intermediate destination based at least in part on the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density; and

update the navigating destination as the intermediate destination.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the density module is configured to:

use the one or more obstacle parameters as one or more inputs to a utility function; and

apply the utility function to determine the left obstacle image density and the right obstacle image density.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the first navigating velocity includes an angular velocity and a linear velocity, and the navigating module is configured to:

determine the linear velocity from the start point to the navigating destination based at least in part on the path; and

determine the angular velocity from the start point to the navigating destination based at least in part on the navigating direction.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the navigating module is further configured to:

determine whether the mobile automated system arrives at the navigating destination;

responsive to determining that the mobile automated system arrives at the navigating destination, determine whether the navigating destination is an intermediate destination; and

responsive to determining that the navigating destination is the intermediate destination, update the start point using the intermediate destination and update the navigating destination using a final destination of the navigation.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein:

the estimation module is further configured to determine whether the path is clear of obstacles;

the navigating module is further configured to determine a second navigating velocity for navigating the mobile automated system along the path responsive to determining that the path is clear; and

the command module is further configured to generate one or more second navigating commands to navigate the mobile automated system along the path based at least in part on the second navigating velocity.

27. The system of claim 19, wherein the navigating destination is one of a final destination and an intermediate destination.