Robotic autonomous navigation and orientation tracking system and methods

A method for tracking a robotic platform comprising:

• obtaining a robotic platform comprising:
• a non-contact velocity sensor set for measuring local velocities of the robotic platform relative to a target surface;
• a communication unit for transmitting data collected from the non-contact velocity sensor for data processing;
• and
• a computer for processing data collected from the non-contact velocity sensor set;
• emitting laser beams from the non-contact velocity sensor to the target surface;
• collecting reflected laser beams from the target surface, where the reflected laser beams enters a diode laser cavity of the non-contact velocity sensor from which it was emitted to determine a position and an orientation of the robotic platform based on a change in intensity of the laser beams;
• and
• determining a velocity vector of the robotic platform based on a measured frequency of the change in intensity of the laser beams.

A tracking system comprising:

• a robotic platform comprising:
• a non-contact velocity sensor set comprising a first non-contact velocity sensor, a second non-contact velocity sensor, and a third non-contact velocity sensor each positioned on the robotic platform for measuring local velocities of the robotic platform relative to a target surface;
• a computer for processing data collected from the non-contact velocity sensor set to determine a position and orientation of the robotic platform at each selected time interval determined by the velocity measured;
• and
• a communication unit for transmitting data collected from the non-contact velocity sensor to the computer for data processing;
• wherein the non-contact velocity sensor set comprises laser interferometers utilizing laser beams reflected from the target surface to determine the velocity of the robotic platform by measuring frequencies of modulation of light intensities produced by the interferences of the reflected laser beams with incident beams;
• and
• a transceiver for communicating with the robotic platform to receive data collected from the non-contact velocity sensor set to monitor a trajectory path of the robotic platform and transmit navigation instructions to the robotic platform.

A robotic platform comprising:

• a non-contact velocity sensor set positioned on the robotic platform for measuring local velocities of the robotic platform relative to a target surface;
• a communication unit for transmitting data collected from the non-contact velocity sensor set to a computer for data processing;
• and
• a computer for processing data collected from the non-contact velocity sensor set;
• wherein the non-contact velocity sensor set comprises a coherent light source that is emitted towards the target surface and reflected back to the coherent light source;
• a first non-contact velocity sensor, a second non-contact velocity sensor, and a third non-contact velocity sensor where vectors of the first non-contact velocity sensor, the second non-contact velocity sensor, and the third non-contact velocity sensor are not coplanar;
• wherein the first non-contact velocity sensor, the second non-contact velocity sensor, and the third non-contact velocity sensor each comprises a set of laser self-mixing interferometers;
• wherein the set of laser self-mixing interferometers comprises three laser self-mixing interferometers;
• and
• wherein the three laser self-mixing interferometers on each of the first non-contact velocity sensor, the second non-contact velocity sensor, and the third non-contact velocity sensor are equally spaced apart in a plane and inclined at a same angle such that each laser beam from the three laser self-mixing interferometers is focused at a same point on the target surface.