Robot confinement
AssigneeiRobot Corporation
InventorsJoseph L. Jones, Philip R. Mass
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of confining a robot in a work space includes providing a portable barrier signal transmitting device including a primary emitter emitting a confinement beam primarily along an axis defining a directed barrier. A mobile robot including a detector, a drive motor and a control unit controlling the drive motor is caused to avoid the directed barrier upon detection by the detector on the robot. The detector on the robot has an omnidirectional field of view parallel to the plane of movement of the robot. The detector receives confinement light beams substantially in a plane at the height of the field of view while blocking or rejecting confinement light beams substantially above or substantially below the plane at the height of the field of view.
Claims25
A robot system comprising:
- a portable barrier signal device comprising an emitter configured to emit, primarily along an axis, an optical confinement signal to form a directed barrier;
- and
- a mobile robot comprising
- at least two wheels,
- two motors, each motor being connected to a wheel of the at least two wheels for moving the robot on a surface,
- a cleaner configured to clean the surface as the robot moves on the surface,
- a detector configured to detect the directed barrier formed by the optical confinement signal, the detector having an omnidirectional field of view such that the detector detects the directed barrier independent of an orientation of the robot relative to the axis defining the directed barrier, and
- a control unit to execute operations comprising
- determining whether the detector detects the directed barrier, and,
- upon determining that the detector detects the directed barrier, initiating one or more operations to move the robot until the optical confinement signal is undetected by the detector.
A robot system comprising:
- a portable barrier signal device comprising an emitter configured to emit, primarily along an axis, an optical confinement signal to form a directed barrier;
- and
- a mobile robot comprising
- at least two wheels,
- two motors, each motor being connected to a wheel of the at least two wheels for moving the robot on a surface,
- a cleaner configured to clean the surface as the robot moves on the surface,
- a detector configured to detect the directed barrier formed by the optical confinement signal, and
- a control unit to execute operations comprising
- determining whether the detector detects the directed barrier, and,
- upon determining that the detector detects the directed barrier, initiating one or more operations to cause the robot to avoid the directed barrier by turning the robot, until the optical confinement signal becomes undetected by the detector, by an amount to prevent the robot from re-encountering the optical confinement signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.