Communicative lighting system for a floor cleaning device
AssigneeKärcher North America, Inc.
InventorsAdam Bearup, Justin LaMar, Nicole Willer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Robotic devices are provided that can be operated in an autonomous mode. In various embodiments, the devices comprise lighting elements that are capable of displaying information to humans within a robotic environment. A variety of future and near-future actions are expressed through different operations and sequences of the lighting elements. The lighting elements further enable the device to express a current status.
Claims20
A floor cleaning device capable of autonomous operations and operable to communicate with nearby persons, the device comprising:
- a chassis comprising a front, a back, a lower surface, a front surface adjacent the front, an upper surface, a rear surface located behind a center point of the chassis, a left surface, and a right surface;
- a platform provided laterally between the left surface and the right surface and wherein the platform is operable to receive a user when the device is selectively operated in a non-autonomous or semi-autonomous mode;
- a powered drive-wheel operable to convey the device;
- a plurality of multi-colored lights, and wherein at least one of the plurality of multi-colored lights is operable to be illuminated in a manner that corresponds to at least one of an upcoming action and a current status of the device;
- a controller operable to cause at least some of the plurality of multi-colored lights to perform different functions;
- and
- wherein the plurality of multi-colored lights and the controller are operable to produce a unique identifier for each of:
- an upcoming action of the device, an error status, a task-completion status, a current action of the device, and a warning indication.
A floor cleaning device capable of autonomous operations and operable to communicate with nearby persons, the device comprising:
- a chassis comprising a front, a back, a lower surface, a front surface adjacent the front, an upper surface, a rear surface located behind a center point of the chassis, a left surface, and a right surface;
- a powered drive-wheel operable to convey the device;
- a plurality of lighting elements distributed about the chassis, and wherein at least one of the plurality of lighting elements is operable to be illuminated in a manner that corresponds to at least one of an upcoming action and a current status of the device;
- a controller operable to cause at least some of the lighting elements to perform different functions;
- and
- wherein the plurality of lighting elements and the controller are operable to produce a unique identifier for at least one of:
- an upcoming action of the device, an error status, a task-completion status, a current action of the device, and a warning indication.
A method of operating a robotic floor cleaning device for interaction with persons in a robotic environment, the method comprising:
- providing a device having a chassis comprising a front, a back, a lower surface, a front surface adjacent the front, an upper surface, a rear surface located behind a center point of the chassis, a left surface, and a right surface;
- a plurality of lighting elements operable to be illuminated in a manner that corresponds to at least one of an upcoming action and a current status of the device;
- a controller operable to cause at least some of the plurality of lighting elements to perform different functions;
- and
- producing a first unique identifier from at least one of the plurality of lighting elements for an upcoming action of the device;
- producing a second unique identifier from at least one of the plurality of lighting elements for an error status;
- producing a third unique identifier from at least one of the plurality of lighting elements for a task-completion status;
- and
- producing a fourth unique identifier from at least one of the plurality of lighting elements for a current action of the device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.