Virtual representations of physical agents

A method for using mobile computing devices to control physical agents within a robotic system, the physical agents being configured for interaction with one another, the method comprising, at a host device, performing the steps of:

• receiving signals indicative of the physical state of the physical agents in a physical environment;
• transmitting signals specifying physical actions to be taken by the physical agents in the physical environment;
• storing virtual representations of the physical agents, the virtual representations of the physical agents being configured for interaction with one another;
• and
• maintaining substantial parity between the physical states of the physical agents and the states of the corresponding stored virtual representations of the physical agents;
• wherein the physical agents are further configured to perform physical actions in response to signals received from mobile computing devices acting as user-operated controllers;
• and wherein maintaining substantial parity between the physical states of the physical agents and the states of the corresponding stored virtual representations of the physical agents comprises:
• determining whether there is disparity between the physical states of the physical agents and the states of the corresponding stored virtual representations of the physical agents;
• and
• responsive to a disparity, automatically reducing the disparity by performing at least one selected from the group consisting of:
• transmitting a signal to at least one physical agent to change the physical state of the at least one physical agent to reduce the disparity;
• and
• modifying at least one stored virtual representation of a physical agent to reduce the disparity.

A computer program product for using mobile computing devices to control physical agents within a robotic system, the physical agents being configured for interaction with one another, the computer program product comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium;
• and
• computer program code, encoded on the medium, configured to cause at least one processor at a host device to perform the steps of:
• receiving signals indicative of the physical state of the physical agents in a physical environment;
• transmitting signals specifying physical actions to be taken by the physical agents in the physical environment;
• storing virtual representations of the physical agents, the virtual representations of the physical agents being configured for interaction with one another;
• and
• maintaining substantial parity between the physical states of the physical agents and the states of the corresponding stored virtual representations of the physical agents;
• wherein the physical agents are further configured to perform physical actions in response to signals received from mobile computing devices acting as user-operated controllers;
• and wherein the computer program code configured to maintain substantial parity between the physical states of the physical agents and the states of the corresponding stored virtual representations of the physical agents comprises computer program code configured to perform the steps of:
• determining whether there is disparity between the physical states of the physical agents and the states of the corresponding stored virtual representations of the physical agents;
• and
• responsive to a disparity, automatically reducing the disparity by performing at least one selected from the group consisting of:
• transmitting a signal to at least one physical agent to change the physical state of the at least one physical agent to reduce the disparity;
• and
• modifying at least one stored virtual representation of a physical agent to reduce the disparity.