Method and device for sensing of obstacles for an autonomous device

A system for sensing proximity for an autonomous device, said autonomous device including wheels, a motor, and a microprocessor and proximity sensing system for orientation and guidance of said autonomous device, said proximity sensing system including at least a transmitter and a plurality of receivers, said receivers having signal interfaces for transmitting digital signals to said microprocessor and being arranged in one of a slanted plane and along a curved baseline for obtaining direction resolution to obstacles having reflected a wave of slow propagation, said transmitter being structured and arranged to transmit said wave, said wave having a slow propagation and being transmittable within a continuous sector of a normal travelling direction of said autonomous device;

• said receivers being structured and arranged to detect reflections of said wave during a predetermined time slot, corresponding to a proximate area, thereby obtaining a three-dimensional direction to an obstacle;
• said receivers further being structured and arranged to transmit digital signals from said receivers to said microprocessor in response to said reflections;
• said microprocessor being structured and arranged to process said digital signals and create an orientation data base within said proximate area which is utilized continuously for orientation and guidance of said autonomous device with respect to detected obstacles during continued automatic motion of said autonomous device, and which is used in combination with further proximity data for orientation and guidance of said autonomous device during said continued automatic motion by processing further digital signals transmitted from a number of said receivers to said microprocessor in response to further transmission and detection on the same wave frequency within said predetermined time slot during said continued automatic motion.