Robotic lawn mower with network sensors

• US 9,471,063 B2
• Filed: 08/10/2012
• Issued: 10/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chien Ouyang
• Original Assignee: Chien Ouyang
• Inventors: Ouyang, Chien
• Primary Examiner(s): Trivedi, Atul
• Application Number:
  US13/572,601
• Publication Number:
  US 20130041526A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,530 Days
• Field of Search: 76/821, 172 13- 22, 172/121, 172/552, 56/3, 56/5, 56/7, 56/102.A, 56/105, 701 23- 26, 701/400, 701408-412, 701420-421, 701/2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 34/008 for automated or remotely controlled operation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/14 using ultrasonic, sonic, or infrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0255 using acoustic signals, e.g. ultra-sonic singals sonar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S15/93
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0265 using buried wires
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/028 using a RF signal

Abstract

The smart robotic lawn mowing system utilizes the ultrasonic and RF devices placed on the robotic lawn mower and boundary stands to define the mowing area, to track the position of the robotic lawn mower, and to control and monitor the mowing routes. The installed devices form a network sensor for the mowing system to determine the relative distances in between boundary stands and robotic lawn mower. The couplings of robotic lawn mower and boundary stands may further define the mowing sequences of areas, the size of areas, and the mowing routes inside each area. The control of the robotic lawn mower may be wireless and users are able to monitor and modify the settings with a computer, a cell phone, and a tablet through a wireless network, a WIFI, or an internet.

Claims

1. A mowing system for mowing a lawn, comprising:

a robotic lawn mower and a plurality of boundary stands, wherein said boundary stands are configured to be placed near a boundary of the lawn, wherein said boundary stands enclose the lawn, the connection of said boundary stands outlines the lawn boundary and depicts the lawn shape, said boundary stands are placed at the lawn boundary the to identify the lawn boundary but the coordinates or exact positions of said boundary stands are not given and are not known;

an ultrasonic device and an RF device configured to be placed on each of said boundary stands and said robotic lawn mower, wherein said ultrasonic devices are configured transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, said RF devices are configured to transmit and receive data of traveling times and traveling distances of the ultrasonic waves, and to calibrate and synchronize clock times of said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands;

wherein said ultrasonic devices on said robotic lawn mower function as ultrasonic transmitters to transmit out the ultrasonic waves toward said boundary stands, said ultrasonic devices on said boundary stands to function as ultrasonic receivers to receive the ultrasonic waves from said robotic lawn mower, wherein, said boundary stands calculate distances in between said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands based on time-of-flight of the ultrasonic waves upon the receiving of the ultrasonic waves from said robotic lawn mower, then transmit the data of distances back to said robotic lawn mower, such that a group of relative distances in between said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands are determined, wherein the group of relative distances do not contain the coordinates or exact positions of said boundary stands;

wherein said robotic lawn mower obtains a first group of relative distances in between said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands at a first location, and said robotic lawn mower moves a predetermined length in a predetermined direction to a second location to obtain a second group of the relative distances in between said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands, the determinations of said first and second groups of relative distances and said mowing length from said first location to said second location continue as said robotic lawn mower travels to one or more new locations on the lawn, such that the relative positions in between said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands are determined by determining directions and distances of the boundary stands with respect to the robotic mower based on the first and second groups of relative distances, and said robotic lawn mower determines the relative distances and angles with respect to said boundary stands during a mowing operation;

wherein said robotic lawn mower, while traveling on the lawn doing the mowing operation, with the determinations of said relative distances and angles in between said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands, knows its position on the lawn, such that said robotic lawn mower defines a mowing route, thereby said robotic lawn mower mows the lawn to save mower'"'"'s battery energy.

2. The mowing system of claim 1, wherein said robotic lawn mower comprises:

a plurality of ultrasonic transmitters to transmit the ultrasonic waves toward to said boundary stands, wherein said boundary stands are able to calculate the relative distances in between said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands, based on the traveling times of the ultrasonic waves; and

an RF device to transmit RF signals to calibrate and synchronize the clock times of said boundary stands, and to receive the RF signals and data of the relative distances from said boundary stands;

wherein said ultrasonic transmitters and said RF device on said robotic lawn mower are coupled with said ultrasonic receivers and said RF devices on said boundary stands to determine the relative positions of said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands.

3. The mowing system of claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic transmitters on said robotic lawn mower comprise transmitters to transmit the ultrasonic waves in various directions, angles, and frequencies to said boundary stands, wherein each said boundary stand, upon receiving of the ultrasonic wave, calculates the relative distance in between said boundary stand and said robotic lawn mower,

wherein said ultrasonic transmitters on said robotic lawn mower are arranged to broadcast the ultrasonic waves to cover 360 degrees, such that when said robotic lawn mower enters into a mowing area, said boundary stands at the lawn boundary are able to detect the ultrasonic waves and transmit the data of distances to said robotic lawn mower.

4. The mowing system of claim 1, wherein each boundary stand comprises an ultrasonic receiver and an RF device, said ultrasonic receiver receives the ultrasonic waves from said robotic lawn mower,

said RF device receives RF signals from said robotic lawn mower for calibration and synchronization of the clock times, and to transmit the data of the relative distances to said robotic lawn mower, said ultrasonic receivers and RF devices on said boundary stands couple with said ultrasonic transmitters and said RF devices on said robotic lawn mower to form a network of sensors for identifications of relative positions of said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands.

5. The mowing system of claim 1, wherein

said RF device on said robotic lawn mower firstly transmits an RF signal to synchronize and to calibrate the clock times of said boundary stands then said ultrasonic transmitters on said robotic lawn mower sends out an ultrasonic signal to said boundary stands, wherein each boundary stand upon receiving of the ultrasonic signal from said robotic lawn mower calculates the relative positions in between said boundary stand and said robotic lawn mower then transmits the data of the relative positions to said robotic lawn mower through said RF device on said boundary stand;

or

said ultrasonic devices on said robotic lawn mower firstly transmit an ultrasonic wave to said boundary stands, then said RF device on said robotic lawn mower sends out an RF signal to synchronize and calibrate the clock times of said boundary stands, wherein each boundary stand upon receiving of ultrasonic signal from said robotic lawn mower calculate the relative positions in between said boundary stand and said robotic lawn mower, and then transmits the data of the relative positions to said robotic lawn mower through said RF device on said boundary stand;

such that said robotic lawn mower determines the relative positions in between said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands during its mowing operation inside the lawn.

6. The mowing system of claim 1, wherein each boundary stand comprises a solar cell and a battery to provide electric power to said RF device and said ultrasonic device, said solar cell is to recharge battery power through solar lights,

said ultrasonic device and said RF devices on said boundary stands are in sleep mode to save electric power while said robotic lawn mower is not doing mowing work, while said robotic lawn mower is not inside a specific area, or when said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands are not coupled with each other for work of a mowing area,

said ultrasonic device and said RF devices on said boundary stands are commanded by said robotic lawn mower to be in sleep or awaked mode with a networking communication, such that said robotic lawn mower mows the lawn with an area-by-area scheme depending on the location of said robotic lawn mower, determines said robotic lawn mower'"'"'s position with respect to said boundary stands, and defines the mowing route.

7. The mowing system of claim 1, wherein said boundary stands comprise fixed boundary stands or floating boundary stands to be placed near the boundary of the lawn,

wherein said floating boundary stands define positions of a portion of lawn border and are reusable and can be relocated to different locations of the lawn to define different positions of the lawn border,

wherein said fixed boundary stands are used to stay at fixed locations and not to be removed or relocated to other positions,

wherein floating and fixed boundary stands are used to determine the boundary and areas of the lawn, to determine relative positions of said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands, to identify an object inside the lawn, and to define a mowing route across mowing areas.

8. The mowing system of claim 1, comprising a microcontroller to control and monitor a position of said robotic lawn mower inside the lawn through a wireless communication selected from the group including internet, WIFI, RF, and Bluetooth, and with a gadget selected from the group including a desktop computer, a cell phone, a tablet, a notebook computer, and a handheld mobile device,

wherein the mowing system is able to identify the relative positions of said robotic lawn mower with respect to said boundary stands during mowing operation, such that a lawn map and a mowing route are sent to users through wireless devices.

9. The mowing system of claim 1, wherein said boundary stands comprise a plurality of microcontrollers to define their addresses and IDs with a method consisting of hardware and software approaches, such that when said boundary stands transfer RF signals toward said robotic lawn mower, said robotic lawn mower identifies and differentiates RF signals originating from which of said boundary stands, and said robotic lawn mower associates the relative distances in between said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands with the addresses and IDs of said boundary stands, such that said robotic lawn mower determines a relative position of said robotic lawn mower with respect to said boundary stands, and controls and monitors the mowing route.

10. The mowing system of claim 1, further comprising a lighting device on said robotic lawn mower, and on each boundary stands to couple with said ultrasonic devices, wherein,

said lighting device on said robotic lawn mower sends a light signal toward said boundary stands to calibrate and synchronize the time clocks of said boundary stands,

said lighting device on said robotic lawn mower also receives the data of distances from said boundary stands to said robotic lawn mower,

said lighting devices on said boundary stands transmit the data of distances from said boundary stands to said robotic lawn mower,

said lighting devices on said boundary stands also receive the light signal from said robotic lawn mower for calibration and synchronization of time clocks,

said lighting devices couple with said ultrasonic devices to track and control the relative positions of said robotic lawn mower and said boundary stands.

11. A method for determining a boundary of a lawn, comprising:

broadcasting, from an ultrasonic transmitter of a robotic lawn mower at a first location, a first ultrasonic wave signal;

receiving the first ultrasonic wave signal, by ultrasonic receivers of a plurality of boundary devices that are configured to be placed near the boundary of the lawn, wherein the boundary devices enclose the lawn, the connection of the boundary devices outlines the lawn boundary and depicts the lawn shape, the boundary devices are placed at the lawn boundary to identify the lawn boundary but the coordinates or exact positions of the boundary devices are not given and are not known;

for each individual boundary device, determining, by a processor of the individual boundary device, a first distance between the robotic lawn mower and the individual boundary device based on the received first ultrasonic wave signal;

receiving, at an RF component of the robotic lawn mower, RF signals from each of the individual boundary devices;

calculating, based on the received RF signals, the first distances between the robotic lawn mower and the boundary devices;

moving the robotic lawn mower to a second location;

broadcasting, from the ultrasonic transmitter of a robotic lawn mower at the second location, a second ultrasonic wave signal;

receiving the second ultrasonic wave signal, by ultrasonic receivers of the boundary devices;

for each individual boundary device, determining, by the processor of the individual boundary device, a second distance between the robotic lawn mower and the individual boundary device based on the received second ultrasonic wave signal;

receiving, at the RF component of the robotic lawn mower, RF signals from each individual boundary device;

calculating, based on the received RF signals, the second distances between the robotic lawn mower and the boundary devices, wherein the first distances and second distances do not contain coordinates or exact positions of the boundary devices; and

determining, by a processor of the robotic lawn mower, locations of the boundary devices based on the received first and second distances for the robotic lawn mower moving to the first and second locations, wherein the locations of the boundary devices are determined by determining directions and distances of the boundary devices with respect to the robotic lawn mower based on the first and second distances.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting, from the RF component of the robotic lawn mower, a calibration RF signal for clock time calibration;

receiving, by RF receivers of the boundary devices, the calibration RF signal; and

calibrating clock times of processors of the boundary devices based on the calibration RF signal for clock time calibration, such that the clock times of the processors of the boundary devices are the same as a clock time of a processor of the robotic lawn mower.