Controlling a robot in the presence of a moving object
AssigneeMicrosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
InventorsHarshavardhana Kikkeri, Bryan J. Thibodeau
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method, system, and one or more computer-readable storage media for controlling a robot in the presence of a moving object are provided herein. The method includes capturing a number of frames from a three-dimensional camera system and analyzing a frame to identify a connected object. The frame is compared to a previous frame to identify a moving connected object (MCO). If an unexpected MCO is in the frame a determination is made if the unexpected MCO is in an actionable region. If so, the robot is instructed to take an action.
Claims20
A method, performed by a computer processor, for controlling a robot in a presence of a moving object, comprising:
- capturing a plurality of frames from a three-dimensional camera system;
- analyzing a frame to identify a connected object comprising substantially proximate voxels;
- comparing a location of the connected object in the frame to a location of the connected object in a previous frame to determine motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels;
- comparing the frame to the previous frame to identify a moving connected object (MCO) comprising the substantially proximate voxels, wherein the motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels are consistent;
- determining if an unexpected MCO is in the frame;
- and, if so,
- instructing the robot to take an action.
A system for controlling a robot in a presence of a moving object, comprising:
- a three dimensional camera;
- a processor;
- and
- a system memory comprising code that, when executed by the processor, is configured to:
- collect a plurality of frames from the three dimensional camera;
- analyze a frame to identify connected objects comprising substantially proximate voxels;
- compare a location of the connected object in the frame to a location of the connected object in a previous frame to determine motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels;
- compare the frame to a previous frame to identify a moving connected object (MCO) comprising the substantially proximate voxels, wherein the motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels are consistent;
- determine if the MCO is not expected to be present;
- and, if so,
- send a signal to a robot controller, the robot controller causing the robot to take an action based on the signal.
One or more computer-readable storage media for storing computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions providing a system for controlling a robot in a presence of a moving object, the computer-readable instructions being executable by a computer processor to:
- capture a plurality of frames from a three-dimensional camera system;
- analyze a frame to identify a connected object comprising substantially proximate voxels;
- compare a location of the connected object in the frame to a location of the connected object in a previous frame to determine motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels;
- compare the frame to a previous frame to identify a moving connected object (MCO) comprising the substantially proximate voxels, wherein the motion vectors for the substantially proximate voxels are having consistent motion vectors;
- determine if an unexpected MCO is in the frame;
- and, if so,
- instruct a robot to take an action.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.