Mapping for autonomous mobile robots

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11249482-B2
Application number	US-201916537155-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 9, 2019
Priority date	Aug 9, 2019
Publication date	Feb 15, 2022
Grant date	Feb 15, 2022

Abstract

A method includes constructing a map of an environment based on mapping data produced by an autonomous cleaning robot in the environment during a first cleaning mission. Constructing the map includes providing a label associated with a portion of the mapping data. The method includes causing a remote computing device to present a visual representation of the environment based on the map, and a visual indicator of the label. The method includes causing the autonomous cleaning robot to initiate a behavior associated with the label during a second cleaning mission.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
constructing a map of an environment based on mapping data produced by an autonomous cleaning robot in the environment during a first cleaning mission, wherein constructing the map comprises providing a label associated with a feature in the environment associated with a portion of the mapping data, wherein the feature corresponds to a feature type that is associated with a plurality of defined discrete states comprising a first state and a second state;
causing a remote computing device to present a visual representation of the environment based on the map, a visual indicator of the label, and a visual indicator of the first state or the second state; and
causing the autonomous cleaning robot to initiate a behavior associated with the label and with the first state during a second cleaning mission, based on the feature being in the first state during the second cleaning mission.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the feature is a first feature, the label is a first label, and the portion of the mapping data is a first portion of the mapping data,
constructing the map comprises providing a second label associated with a second portion of the mapping data, the second label being associated with a second feature in the environment, the second feature corresponding to the feature type associated with the plurality of defined discrete states, and
the method further comprises causing the remote computing device to present a visual indicator of the second label.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
determining that the first feature and the second feature each correspond to the feature type based on imagery of the first feature and imagery of the second feature.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the imagery of the first feature and the imagery of the second feature are captured by the autonomous cleaning robot.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the imagery of the first feature and the imagery of the second feature are captured by one or more image capture devices in the environment.

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising causing the autonomous cleaning robot to initiate the behavior based on the second feature being in the first state during the second cleaning mission.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the behavior is a first behavior, and the method further comprises causing the autonomous cleaning robot to initiate a second behavior based on the second feature being in the second state during the second cleaning mission.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing the autonomous cleaning robot to initiate the behavior based on the feature being in the first state during the second cleaning mission comprises causing the autonomous cleaning robot to initiate the behavior in response to the autonomous cleaning robot detecting that the feature is in the first state.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the feature is a region of a floor surface in the environment, and
the first state is a first level of dirtiness of the region of the floor surface and the second state is a second level of dirtiness of the region.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the autonomous cleaning robot in a first behavior associated with the first state provides a first degree of cleaning in the region greater than a second degree of cleaning in the region in a second behavior associated with the second state.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein:
the region is a first region, the label is a first label, and the portion of the mapping data is a first portion of the mapping data, and
constructing the map comprises providing a second label associated with a second portion of the mapping data, the second label being associated with a second region in the environment having the plurality of defined discrete states.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein:
the label is a first label, and the region is a first region,
the first region is associated with a first object in the environment, and
the method further comprises providing a second label associated with a second region in the environment based on a type of a second object in the environment being identical to a type of the first object in the environment, the second region being associated with the second object.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the feature is a door in the environment between a first portion of the environment and a second portion of the environment, and
the first state is an open state of the door, and the second state is a closed state of the door.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the autonomous cleaning robot in a first behavior associated with the open state moves from the first portion of the environment to the second portion of the environment, and the autonomous cleaning robot in a second behavior associated with the closed state detects the door and provides an instruction to move the door to the open state.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein during the first cleaning mission, the door is in the open state, and during the second cleaning mission, the door is in the closed state.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein:
the door is a first door, the label is a first label, and the portion of the mapping data is a first portion of the mapping data, and
constructing the map comprises providing a second label associated with a second portion of the mapping data, the second label being associated with a second door in the environment having the plurality of defined discrete states.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising causing the remote computing device to issue a request for a user to operate the door in the closed state to be in the open state.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the door is an electronically controllable door, and causing the autonomous cleaning robot to initiate the behavior based on the feature being in the first state during the second cleaning mission comprises causing the autonomous cleaning robot to transmit data to cause the electronically controllable door to move from the closed state to the open state.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing the remote computing device to issue a request to change a state of the feature.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the label is associated with a region in the environment associated with a first navigational behavior of the autonomous cleaning robot during the first cleaning mission, and the behavior is a second navigational behavior selected based on the first navigational behavior.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein:
in the first navigational behavior, the autonomous cleaning robot does not traverse the region, and
the autonomous cleaning robot initiates the second navigational behavior to traverse the region.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein:
the mapping data is first mapping data,
the label is associated with a portion of second mapping data collected during a third cleaning mission, the portion of the second mapping data being associated with a third navigational behavior in which the autonomous cleaning robot traverses the region, and
a parameter of the second navigational behavior is selected to match a parameter of the third navigational behavior.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the parameter is a speed of the autonomous cleaning robot or an approach angle of the autonomous cleaning robot relative to the region.

24. The method of claim 20 , wherein:
in the first navigational behavior, t

Assignees

• Irobot Corp

Inventors

• Munich Mario
• Kolling Andreas
• Narayana Manjunath
• Fong Philip

Classifications

• G01C21/005

  with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching (G01C21/30 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01C21/3848

  Data obtained from both position sensors and additional sensors · CPC title

• A47L2201/04

  Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection · CPC title

• A47L11/4061

  Steering means; Means for avoiding obstacles; Details related to the place where the driver is accommodated · CPC title

• A47L2201/06

  Control of the cleaning action for autonomous devices; Automatic detection of the surface condition before, during or after cleaning · CPC title