US 11,529,740 B2Granted

Magnetic receptive sensor and optimized drawing and erasing for vertically driving robot

AssigneePresident and Fellows of Harvard College

InventorsZivthan A. Dubrovsky, Raphael Gerard Cherney, Hani M. Sallum, Julian U. da Silva Gillig

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A vertically driving marking robot includes a robot body; at least one magnet constraining the robot to move parallel to a vertical, magnetically responsive surface; a drive configured to displace the robot relative to the surface while the robot is held to the surface; a holder configured to hold a marker; an accelerometer measuring a gravity vector; a computing device in communication with the optical sensors, the accelerometer, and the drive. The computing device includes a processor and computer-readable memory, wherein the computer-readable memory includes non-transitory program code for at least one of the following actions: (a) generating a drift correction to compensate for drive slippage drift in response to and as a function of the gravity vector and (b) commanding the drive to displace the robot along a desired trajectory in response to the drift correction.

A vertically driving marking robot, comprising;

a robot body;
at least one magnet in or coupled with the robot body constraining the robot to move parallel to a vertically oriented, magnetically responsive surface;
a drive configured to displace the robot relative to the vertically oriented, magnetically responsive surface while the robot is held to the vertically oriented, magnetically responsive surface;
a holder configured to hold a marker in or on the robot body;
an accelerometer configured to measure a gravity vector having a magnitude and a direction;
an array of optical sensors extending across the width of the robot and configured to detect reference markings on the vertically oriented, magnetically responsive surface as the robot is displaced across the vertically oriented, magnetically responsive surface;
a computing device in communication with the optical sensors, the accelerometer, and the drive, wherein the computing device includes a processor and computer-readable memory in communication with the processor;
and
an actuated linkage configured to move the holder between a marking position in which the marker draws upon the vertically oriented, magnetically responsive surface and a non-marking position in which the marker is not in contact with the vertically oriented, magnetically responsive surface, wherein the computer-readable memory further includes non-transitory program code for causing the actuated linkage to place the holder in a marking position to draw the reference markings along at least a part of the desired trajectory, for generating a drift correction to compensate for drive slippage in response to the detections of the reference markings at different locations across the width of the robot from the optical sensors and in response to and as a function of the gravity vector, and for commanding the drive to displace the robot along a desired trajectory in response to the drift correction.

6 more elements

Facts

Application

16/094,251Filed 17 Apr 2017 · continuation in part

Priority

2 Apr 2014

Published

US 2019/0126485 A12 May 2019

Granted

20 Dec 2022

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

B25J 9/1697
Characterised by use of sensors other than normal servo-feedback from position, speed or acceleration sensors, perception control, multi-sensor…:…
B25J 9/162
Characterised by special kind of manipulator, e.g. planar, scara, gantry, cantilever, space, closed chain, passive/active joints and tendon…
B43L 13/022
Draughting machines or drawing devices for keeping parallelism: automatic
B43L 19/0006
Erasers, rubbers, or erasing devices; Holders therefor: motor-driven

Family

Application61/973,936Us provisional application · filed 2 Apr 2014

PCT/US2015/023952Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 1 Apr 2015

Application62/323,770Us provisional application · filed 17 Apr 2016

Application15/281,382Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 30 Sep 2016

US 10,086,516 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 2 Oct 2018

US 2019/0126485 A1Pre-grant publication · published 2 May 2019

US 2017/0036349 A1Published application

US 11,529,740 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Abstract

Claims18