Loading patent…
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorsHiroshi Osawa, Naoyasu Hosonuma
Estimating the term…
A charging system for a mobile robot includes the mobile robot that is battery-driven and moves in a self-controlled way within a work space, and a charging station for accommodating the mobile robot for a battery charging operation. The charging system includes visible recognition data arranged in a predetermined location of the charging station, an image pickup unit mounted on the mobile robot, a calculating unit for calculating a range and a bearing from the mobile robot to the charging station, based on an image picked up by the image pickup unit, and a searching unit for causing the mobile robot to search for the charging station, based on the calculation result provided by the calculating unit. Since the mobile robot searches for the charging station using a camera for recognizing the visible recognition data, a charging operation is automated.
A charging system for a mobile robot comprising the mobile robot that is battery-driven and moves in a self-controlled way within a work space, and a charging station for accommodating the mobile robot for a battery charging operation, the mobile robot being of the at least four-footed type which walks like an animal and has a power connector on the abdomen of a torso unit thereof, the charging system comprising:
A method for searching for a charging station, based on a signal wave transmitted by a transmitter arranged external to the charging station in a charging system comprising a mobile robot that is battery-driven and moves in a self-controlled way within a work space, and the charging station for accommodating the mobile robot for a battery charging operation, the mobile robot being ambulatory and having at least a torso unit and at least two foot units, comprising an electrode terminal for power feeding, on one of the abdomen of the torso unit and the back of the torso unit, the method comprising the steps of:
A method for searching for a charging station, based on a signal wave transmitted by a transmitter arranged external to the charging station in a charging system comprising a mobile robot that is battery-driven and moves in a self-controlled way within a work space, and the charging station for accommodating the mobile robot for a battery charging operation, the mobile robot being ambulatory and having at least a torso unit and at least two foot units, comprising an electrode terminal for power feeding, on one of the abdomen of the torso unit and the back of the torso unit, the method comprising the steps of:
A method for searching for a charging station, based on a signal wave transmitted by a transmitter arranged external to the charging station in a charging system comprising a mobile robot that is battery-driven and moves in a self-controlled way within a work space, and the charging station for accommodating the mobile robot for a battery charging operation, the mobile robot being ambulatory and having at least a torso unit and at least two foot units, comprising an electrode terminal for power feeding, on one of the abdomen of the torso unit and the back of the torso unit, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.