Controlling a robot in the presence of a moving object
AssigneeMicrosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
InventorsHarshavardhana Kikkeri, Bryan J. Thibodeau
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method, system, and one or more computer-readable storage media for controlling a robot in the presence of a moving object are provided herein. The method includes capturing a number of frames from a three-dimensional camera system and analyzing a frame to identify a connected object. The frame is compared to a previous frame to identify a moving connected object (MCO). If an unexpected MCO is in the frame a determination is made if the unexpected MCO is in an actionable region. If so, the robot is instructed to take an action.
Claims20
A method, performed by a processor, for controlling a robot in the presence of a moving object, comprising:
- analyzing a frame captured by a three-dimensional camera to identify a connected object comprising substantially proximate voxels;
- determining motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels based at least in part on the frame and a previous frame captured by the three-dimensional camera, wherein the frame and the previous frame are captured consecutively or non-consecutively;
- identifying a moving connected object (MCO) comprising the substantially proximate voxels, based at least in part on whether the motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels are consistent;
- determining if the MCO is an unexpected MCO based at least in part on an expected motion of the robot;
- and
- instructing the robot to perform an action in response to determining the MCO is unexpected.
A system for controlling a robot in a presence of a moving object, comprising:
- a three-dimensional camera;
- a processor;
- and
- a system memory comprising code that, based at least in part on execution by the processor, is to:
- analyze a frame captured by the three-dimensional camera to identify a connected object comprising substantially proximate voxels;
- determine motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels based at least in part on the frame and a previous frame captured by the three-dimensional camera, wherein the frame and the previous frame are captured consecutively or non-consecutively;
- identify a moving connected object (MCO) comprising the substantially proximate voxels, based at least in part on whether the motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels are consistent;
- determine if the MCO is an unexpected MCO based at least in part on an expected motion of the robot;
- and
- instruct the robot to perform an action in response to determining the MCO is unexpected.
One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media for storing computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions providing a system for controlling a robot in a presence of a moving object, the computer-readable instructions to cause a processor to:
- analyze a frame captured by a three-dimensional camera to identify a connected object comprising substantially proximate voxels;
- determine motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels based at least in part on the frame and a previous frame captured by the three-dimensional camera, wherein the frame and the previous frame are captured consecutively or non-consecutively;
- identify a moving connected object (MCO) comprising the substantially proximate voxels, based at least in part on whether the motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels are consistent;
- determine if the MCO is an unexpected MCO based at least in part on an expected motion of the robot;
- and
- instruct the robot to perform an action in response to determining the MCO is unexpected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.