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US 12,539,522 B2Granted
Automated mobile sprayer spraying and navigation
AssigneeGraco Minnesota Inc.
InventorsCharles W. Dawson, Barry W. Mattson, Nicholas H. Reath, Dale C. Pemberton, John P. Saunders, Andrew V. Lindenfelser
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automated mobile sprayer (AMS) (12) is configured to apply stripes of fluid to target surfaces to coat those target surfaces with the fluid. A control module (24) of the AMS (12) controls movement and spraying by the AMS. The control module (24) causes the AMS (12) to follow a target surface based on distance data from distance sensors configured to detect the target surface.
Claims18
An automated mobile sprayer (AMS) configured to spray fluids onto a target surface, the AMS comprising:
- a mobile base having a lateral axis and a longitudinal axis;
- a spray module supported by the mobile base, the spray module movable vertically relative to the target surface, the spray module including a nozzle configured to spray the fluid towards the target surface;
- at least one sensor configured to generate data profiling the target surface;
- and
- a control module having control circuitry and a memory, wherein a maneuver library including a plurality of different transition maneuvers is stored in the memory, wherein each transition maneuver of the plurality of transition maneuvers comprises a predetermined sequence of turning and spraying steps, the control module configured to:
- receive the data from the at least one sensor;
- detect a transition in the target surface based on the data, the transition being between walls of the target surface;
- identify a transition type of the transition as one of a plurality of transition types stored in the memory;
- select a first transition maneuver from the plurality of different transition maneuvers stored in the maneuver library based on the identification of the transition type of the transition and based on the identified transition type being associated with the first transition maneuver;
- and
- control movement of the AMS and spraying by the AMS relative to the transition based on the identification of the transition type of the transition and by executing the first transition maneuver selected from the maneuver library.
8 more elements
An autonomous mobile sprayer (AMS) configured to spray fluids onto a target surface, the AMS comprising:
- a mobile base having a lateral axis and a longitudinal axis;
- a spray module supported by the mobile base, the spray module movable vertically relative to the target surface, the spray module including a nozzle configured to spray the fluid towards the target surface;
- at least one sensor configured to generate data profiling the target surface;
- and
- a control module configured to:
- receive the data from the at least one sensor;
- detect a transition in the target surface based on the data;
- identify a transition type of the transition as one of a plurality of transition types stored in a memory;
- select a transition maneuver from a maneuver library comprising a plurality of different transition maneuvers, wherein the selection is based on the identification of the transition type of the transition;
- and
- control movement of the AMS and spraying by the AMS relative to the transition based on the identification of the transition type of the transition;
- wherein the at least one sensor is a navigation sensor and the control module is configured to control movement of the AMS relative to the transition based at least in part on orientation data from the navigation sensor;
- wherein the control module is further configured to:
- determine an actual degree of rotation of the mobile base of the AMS based on the orientation data;
- compare the degree of rotation to a maximum allowable degree of rotation of the mobile base;
- and
- control pivoting of the mobile base of the AMS relative to the transition based on a comparison of the actual degree of rotation of the mobile base and the maximum allowable degree of rotation of the mobile base.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.