US 2018/0001476 A1Published application

Control system for coordinating robotic machines to collaborate on tasks

AssigneeGeneral Electric Company

InventorsHuan Tan, John Michael Lizzi, Charles Burton Theurer, Balajee Kannan, Romano Patrick

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Abstract

A system includes first and second robotic machines and a task manager. The first and second robotic machines have respective first and second sets of capabilities for interacting with a surrounding environment. The task manager selects the first and second robotic machines from a group to perform a task based on the first and second sets of capabilities of the robotic machines. The task involves manipulating and/or inspecting a target object of a vehicle. The task manager assigns a first sequence of sub-tasks to be performed by the first robotic machine and a second sequence of sub-tasks to be performed by the second robotic machine. The first and second robotic machines are configured to coordinate performance of the first sequence of sub-tasks by the first robotic machine with performance of the second sequence of sub-tasks by the second robotic machine to accomplish the task.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A system comprising:

a first robotic machine having a first set of capabilities for interacting with a surrounding environment;
a second robotic machine having a second set of capabilities for interacting with the surrounding environment;
and
a task manager having one or more processors, the task manager configured to select the first and second robotic machines from a group of robotic machines to perform a task that involves at least one of manipulating or inspecting a target object of a vehicle that is separate from the first and second robotic machines, the task manager configured to select the first and second robotic machines to perform the task based on the first and second sets of capabilities of the respective first and second robotic machines, the task manager assigning a first sequence of sub-tasks to the first robotic machine for performance by the first robotic machine and a second sequence of sub-tasks to the second robotic machine for performance by the second robotic machine,
wherein the first and second robotic machines are configured to coordinate performance of the first sequence of sub-tasks by the first robotic machine with performance of the second sequence of sub-tasks by the second robotic machine to accomplish the task.

2 more elements

A system comprising:

a first robotic machine having a first set of capabilities for interacting with a surrounding environment, the first robotic machine configured to receive a first sequence of sub-tasks related to the first set of capabilities of the first robotic machine;
and
a second robotic machine having a second set of capabilities for interacting with the surrounding environment, the second robotic machine configured to receive a second sequence of sub-tasks related to the second set of capabilities of the second robotic machine,
wherein the first and second robotic machines are configured to perform the first and second sequences of sub-tasks, respectively, to accomplish a task that involves at least one of manipulating or inspecting a target object of a vehicle that is separate from the first and second robotic machines, the first and second robotic machines configured to coordinate performance of the first sequence of sub-tasks by the first robotic machine with performance of the second sequence of sub-tasks by the second robotic machine.

1 more element

A system comprising:

a first robotic machine having a set of capabilities for interacting with a surrounding environment, the first robotic machine having a communication circuit configured to receive a first sequence of sub-tasks for performing a task that involves at least one of manipulating or inspecting a target object of a vehicle that is separate from the first robotic machine, the first sequence of sub-tasks related to the set of capabilities of the first robotic machine, the first robotic machine configured to perform the first sequence of sub-tasks, the first robotic machine further configured to communicate with a second robotic machine during the performance of the first sequence of sub-tasks, the second robotic machine being separate from the vehicle and configured to perform a second sequence of sub-tasks for performing the task, wherein completion of both the first and second sequences of sub-tasks accomplishes the task.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.