Robotic golf caddy apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An autonomous robotic apparatus comprising:
- a powered movable frame assembly;
a computer control assembly carried by said frame assembly and coupled to control movement of said frame assembly, said computer control assembly having a map of an environment in which said robotic apparatus is to move stored therein and having navigational rules stored therein;
a communications assembly carried by said frame assembly and coupled to communicate signals to said computer control assembly, said communications assembly being formed to sense the position of said robotic apparatus in said environment using differential GPS signals from a combination of GPS satellites and a fixed ground station and being formed to communicate resulting robot position signals to said computer control apparatus, and said communications assembly being further formed to sense communication signals from at least one golfer and being responsive thereto to communicate golfer position signals to said computer control assembly; and
said computer control apparatus being responsive to said robot position signals and to said golfer position signals to employ said map and said navigational rules to control movement of said robotic apparatus in said environment as a function of the sensed position of said robotic apparatus and said golfer in said environment.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An autonomous personal service robotic apparatus, such as a robotic golf caddy, including a drive assembly for movement of the robotic caddy, a digital computer having memory devices in which are stored a digital map and navigation rules, and having a operations program for the control of performance of personal services, including movement and navigation of the caddy in the environment, and a position determination assembly for determining the position of the robotic device in the environment. The position determination assembly also dynamically determines the position of unmapped elements in the environment and super imposes or overlays them with the mapped elements and position of the robotic apparatus. Position preferably is determined by differential GPS techniques. The navigational rules for the robotic device control its movement in the environment in response to its sensed position in the mapped environment, the sensed unmapped elements and preferably the sensed relative position of the user. A method of providing an autonomous, personal services robot which is well suited to provide a robotic golf caddy.
72 Citations
42 Claims
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1. An autonomous robotic apparatus comprising:
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a powered movable frame assembly; a computer control assembly carried by said frame assembly and coupled to control movement of said frame assembly, said computer control assembly having a map of an environment in which said robotic apparatus is to move stored therein and having navigational rules stored therein; a communications assembly carried by said frame assembly and coupled to communicate signals to said computer control assembly, said communications assembly being formed to sense the position of said robotic apparatus in said environment using differential GPS signals from a combination of GPS satellites and a fixed ground station and being formed to communicate resulting robot position signals to said computer control apparatus, and said communications assembly being further formed to sense communication signals from at least one golfer and being responsive thereto to communicate golfer position signals to said computer control assembly; and said computer control apparatus being responsive to said robot position signals and to said golfer position signals to employ said map and said navigational rules to control movement of said robotic apparatus in said environment as a function of the sensed position of said robotic apparatus and said golfer in said environment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An autonomous, robotic, golf caddy apparatus comprising:
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a frame formed to carry a set of golf clubs thereon; a wheel assembly rotatably mounted to said frame for rolling support of said frame over a golf course; a drive assembly carried by said frame and coupled to drive said wheel assembly, said drive assembly including a source of power; a computer assembly carried by said frame and including a memory device, said computer assembly being coupled to control operation of said drive assembly; map data comprising a map of said golf course stored in said memory device; rules data comprising a set of operational rules for caddying on said golf course stored in said memory device; a communications apparatus carried by said frame and formed to receive communication signals from a remote caddy position determining transmitter and responsive to said communication signals to generate a caddy position signal, said communication apparatus being coupled to communicate caddy position signals to said computer assembly; an operations program stored in said computer and responsive to receipt of position signals to determine the location of said caddy apparatus on said golf course using said map data, and said operations program further being responsive to the determined location of said caddy apparatus to control movement of said caddy apparatus over said golf course using said rules data; said communications apparatus is further formed for receipt of communication signals from a transmitter carried by a golfer and is responsive thereto to generate a golfer position signal, said communication apparatus is further coupled for communication of said golfer position signal to said computer assembly; and said operations program is further responsive to receipt of golfer position signals by said computer assembly to determine the location of said golfer on said golf course using said map data, and said operations program is further responsive to the determined locations of both said golfer and said caddy apparatus to control movement of said caddy apparatus over said golf course using said rules data. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. An autonomous robotic caddy apparatus comprising:
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a powered rolling caddy frame assembly adapted to carry at least one golf bag, a computer control assembly carried by said frame assembly and coupled to control powered movement of said frame assembly, and communications assembly carried by said frame assembly and coupled to said computer control assembly, said communications assembly being formed to determine the position of said caddy apparatus using differential GPS signals, and said computer control assembly having a stored golf course map and stored navigational rules therein, said computer control assembly being responsive to signals from said communications assembly to control of the movement of said caddy apparatus at least in part based upon the position of said caddy apparatus on said golf course and said navigational rules wherein, said communications assembly is further formed to receive position signals from a golfer transmitter and is adapted to determine the position of a golfer therefrom; and said navigational rules in said computer control assembly further control movement of said caddy apparatus at least in part based upon the position of said golfer. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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32. A robotic caddy system for a golf course comprising:
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(a) a plurality of powered robotic caddy apparatus each carrying and controlled by a central processing unit and a communications assembly, each said central processing unit having a navigational program therein adapted to control movement of each caddy apparatus based upon a combination of differential GPS signals and golfer position signals received by said communication assembly, a map of said golf course, and rules of movement stored in said central processing unit; (b) a fixed differential GPS station positioned proximate said golf course and formed to receive GPS signals from satellites and transmit differential GPS signals to said caddy apparatus while on said golf course; and (c) at least one golfer position transmitting beacon for each caddy apparatus and having a size suitable for carrying by a golfer. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of controlling the movement of a robotic golf caddy apparatus over a golf course comprising the steps of:
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receiving GPS positioning signals at a powered autonomous robotic caddy apparatus having a GPS signal receiver and a computer control assembly with data comprising a map of said golf course and location-based navigational rules stored therein; receiving a golfer position signal at said caddy apparatus; and moving said caddy apparatus under control of said computer control assembly based upon determination of the locations of said caddy apparatus and said golfer on said golf course from the received signals and applying said navigational rules as a function of the determined locations. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification