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US 7,369,460 B2Granted
Sonar scanner
AssigneeiRobot Corporation
InventorsMark Chiappetta, James Allard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Detecting an object using sound waves includes outputting a sound wave from a transducer, receiving an echo after outputting the sound wave, obtaining a threshold value based on the echo and plural other echoes that are within a predetermined range of the echo, and determining if the echo is a result of the sound wave based on the threshold value.
Claims50
A method comprising:
- transmitting a sound wave comprised of a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprising a pulse signal and the second portion comprising a ring-down signal;
- obtaining a characteristic of the second portion;
- storing the characteristic;
- using the characteristic to detect an echo of another sound wave;
- and
- repeating transmitting, obtaining, storing and using periodically for different sound waves and corresponding first and second portions.
3 more elements
A pulse-echo sonar scanner for a mobile robot, comprising:
- a transmitter which generates a pulse signal;
- an acoustic transducer which transmits and receives acoustic signals;
- a receiver;
- means for determining performance characteristics of the transducer periodically during operation of the pulse-echo sonar scanner for a given pulse, the performance characteristics of the transducer comprising transducer ring-down;
- means for storing the performance characteristics;
- and
- means for determining threshold levels for an echo signal based on the stored performance characteristics.
4 more elements
A method of adjusting threshold levels on a mobile robot scanner, comprising:
- measuring ring-down characteristics of the mobile robot scanner periodically during operation of the mobile robot scanner;
- creating a dynamic threshold level based on the ring-down characteristics;
- and
- applying the dynamic threshold levels to received signals.
1 more element
An apparatus comprising:
- a transducer which transmits a sound wave comprised of a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprising a pulse signal and the second portion comprising a ring-down signal;
- and
- a processor which obtains a characteristic of the second portion, stores the characteristic, uses the characteristic to detect an echo of another sound wave, and repeats obtaining, storing, and using periodically for different sound waves and corresponding first and second portions.
A computer program stored on a computer-readable medium, the computer program comprising instructions that cause a processor to:
- obtain a characteristic of a second portion of a sound wave comprised of a first portion and a second portion, the first portion comprising a pulse signal and the second portion comprising a ring-down signal;
- store the characteristic;
- use the characteristic to detect an echo of another sound wave;
- and
- repeat obtaining, storing and using periodically for different sound waves and corresponding first and second portions.
2 more elements
A method comprising:
- receiving plural reflections of corresponding emissions;
- determining a threshold value based on the plural reflections;
- comparing a target reflection to the threshold value, the target reflection comprising one of the plural reflections;
- and
- determining if the target reflection is a valid reflection based on comparison to the threshold value;
- wherein the plural reflections comprise a first reflection, followed by a second reflection, followed by a third reflection;
- and
- wherein the target reflection comprises the second reflection.
5 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a transducer to receive plural reflections of corresponding emissions;
- and
- a processor to determine a threshold value based on the plural reflections, to compare a target reflection to the threshold value, the target reflection comprising one of the plural reflections, and to determine if the target reflection is a valid reflection based on comparison to the threshold value;
- wherein the plural reflections comprise a first reflection, followed by a second reflection, followed by a third reflection;
- and
- wherein the target reflection comprises the second reflection.
3 more elements
A machine-readable medium that stores executable instructions that cause a machine to:
- determine a threshold value based on plural reflections that correspond to plural emissions;
- compare a target reflection to the threshold value, the target reflection comprising one of the plural reflections;
- and
- determine if the target reflection is a valid reflection based on comparison to the threshold value;
- wherein the plural reflections comprise a first reflection, followed by a second reflection, followed by a third reflection;
- and
- wherein the target reflection comprises the second reflection.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.