Mobile robot, and system and method for autonomous navigation of the same

A system for autonomous navigation of a mobile robot, comprising:

• a landmark array comprising a plurality of light sources disposed in a working space to selectively flicker;
• a landmark array control module for separately controlling each of the light sources of the plurality of light sources of the landmark array to flicker;
• and
• a mobile robot equipped with a pose calculation module for selectively controlling each of the light sources in the plurality of light sources of the landmark array to flicker such that each of said plurality of light sources can be separately detected by transmitting a light source control signal to the landmark array control module and recognizing a world position of the mobile robot in a working space using image coordinates of detected light sources, controlled to flicker in response to the light source control signal, extracted from an image signal.

A method for autonomous navigation of a mobile robot, comprising the steps of:

• (1) the mobile robot selectively controlling each of a plurality of light sources of a landmark array arranged across a certain working space to flicker by transmitting a light source control signal to the landmark array such that each of the light sources can be separately detected;
• (2) extracting image coordinates of at least one of the plurality of the light sources by detecting a light source by the selectively controlled flickering the light source, controlled to flicker in response to the light source control signal, from an image signal input from a camera;
• and
• (3) calculating a current world position of the mobile robot with reference to the extracted image coordinates and previously stored world coordinates of the detected light source.