Back to results
US 9,283,677 B2Granted
Visual indication of target tracking
AssigneeRethink Robotics, Inc.
InventorStephen Hersey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Awareness of a device, such as a robot, to proximate humans (or other moving object) is manifested by a visual signal aligned with—i.e., aimed at—the human. For example, an illumination system may take the form of a closed or partial ring around which lighting elements may be selectively activated.
Claims17
A method for providing a visual tracking indication to a moving observer, the method comprising:
- tracking, by a tracking device on a robot system comprising an appendage operative within a working envelope and which might cause danger to objects within the envelope, a location of the observer moving within a defined space relative to the robot system;
- and
- responsive to the tracked location, providing a visual tracking signal on the robot system continually visible to the moving observer within the space and varying with the tracked location relative to the robot system, the signal visually indicating, to the observer, a position of the observer relative to the robot system.
A system for tracking movement, the system comprising:
- a robot system comprising an appendage operative within a working envelope and which might cause danger to objects within the envelope;
- a robot controller on the robot system;
- a tracking system on the robot system for tracking a location of an observer moving within a defined space relative to the robot system;
- an illumination device having an arcuate profile and an angularly variable illumination output;
- and
- an illumination controller, responsive to the tracking system, for controlling the illumination device to provide a visual tracking signal continually visible to the moving observer within the space and varying with the tracked location relative to the robot system, the signal visually indicating, to the observer, a position of the observer relative to the robot system.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.