US 9,427,872 B1Granted

Devices and methods for encoder calibration

AssigneeGoogle Inc.

InventorsJeffrey Thomas Bingham, Rob Wilson, Advait Jain, Miguel Rivas, Lee Magnusson

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Abstract

A device is provided that comprises a hardware segment and an actuator to adjust a position of the segment within a range of positions. The device also comprises an encoder to rotate about an encoder axis responsive to the actuator adjusting the position. The device also comprises data storage that includes a dataset indicating offset angles between a reference configuration and a plurality of configurations of the encoder. The device also comprises a controller to cause the actuator to adjust the position to an end of the range of positions, responsively identify a range of encoder positions of the encoder that corresponds to the range of positions of the segment, modify the dataset such that the reference configuration corresponds to an end of the range of encoder positions, and determine a mapping between the offset angles indicated by the modified dataset and the range of positions of the hardware segment.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A device comprising:

a hardware segment;
an actuator to adjust a position of the hardware segment within a range of positions;
an encoder to rotate about an encoder axis responsive to the actuator adjusting the position of the hardware segment, wherein the encoder includes a plurality of deformations separated by given offset angles;
data storage that includes a dataset indicating offset angles between a reference configuration and a plurality of configurations of the encoder, wherein the offset angles indicated in the dataset relate to the given offset angles between the plurality of deformations, and wherein the reference configuration is indicative of the encoder being at a given encoder position about the encoder axis;
and
a controller to cause the actuator to adjust the position of the hardware segment to an end of the range of positions, and to:
responsively identify a range of encoder positions that corresponds to the range of positions of the hardware segment;
modify the dataset such that the reference configuration is indicative of the encoder being at an end of the range of encoder positions;
and
determine a mapping between the offset angles indicated by the modified dataset and the range of positions of the hardware segment.

7 more elements

A method comprising:

adjusting, by a robotic device that includes one or more processors, a position of a hardware segment of the robotic device to an end of a range of positions of the hardware segment;
responsively identifying a range of encoder positions about an encoder axis of an encoder of the robotic device that corresponds to the range of positions of the hardware segment, wherein the encoder rotates about the encoder axis responsive to adjustment of the position of the hardware segment, and wherein the encoder includes a plurality of deformations separated by given offset angles;
modifying a dataset indicating offset angles between a reference configuration and a plurality of configurations of the encoder such that the reference configuration corresponds to an encoder position outside the range of encoder positions, wherein the offset angles indicated in the dataset relate to the given offset angles between the plurality of deformations;
and
determining a mapping between the offset angles indicated by the modified dataset and the range of positions of the hardware segment.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.