Restricting movement of a mobile robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11465284-B2
Application number	US-202016849241-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2020
Priority date	Apr 9, 2015
Publication date	Oct 11, 2022
Grant date	Oct 11, 2022

Abstract

A robot includes a body that is movable relative to a surface one or more measurement devices within the body to output information based on an orientation of the body at an initial location on the surface, and a controller within the body to determine an orientation of the body based on the information and to restrict movement of the body to an area by preventing movement of the body beyond a barrier that is based on the orientation of the body and the initial location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An autonomous mobile robot comprising:
a drive system to move the autonomous mobile robot across a floor surface;
a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a mobile computing device; and
a controller configured to execute operations comprising:
generating a virtual barrier in response to receiving, at the wireless transceiver and from the mobile computing device, data indicative of one or more user instructions to at least partially define the virtual barrier, the virtual barrier having a length selected based on a value input by a user of the mobile computing device through an interface of the mobile computing device; and
restricting movement of the autonomous mobile robot beyond the virtual barrier as the autonomous mobile robot maneuvers about the floor surface.

2. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , wherein the data indicative of the one or more user instructions comprise data indicative of at least one of a location or an orientation of the virtual barrier.

3. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , wherein the data indicative of the one or more user instructions comprise data indicative of at least one of a dimension or a shape of the virtual barrier.

4. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise providing a visual or audible indication in response to generating the virtual barrier.

5. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 4 , wherein the visual or audible indication is indicative of a location or an orientation of the virtual barrier.

6. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
maneuvering the autonomous mobile robot about the floor surface while restricting the movement of the autonomous mobile robot beyond the virtual barrier, and
transmitting, to the mobile computing device, mapping data collected by the autonomous mobile robot as the autonomous mobile robot is maneuvered about the floor surface to cause the mobile computing device to present a representation of a map of the floor surface.

7. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , wherein the virtual barrier divides the floor surface into a first area and a second area, and the operations comprise:
initiating, based on the data indicative of the one or more user instructions, a first cleaning operation to clean the first area at a first time, and
initiating, based on the data indicative of the one or more user instructions, a second cleaning operation to clean the second area at a second time.

8. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , wherein generating the virtual barrier comprises generating an entirety of the virtual barrier.

9. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , further comprising a cleaning system configured to clean the floor surface during the movement of the autonomous mobile robot.

10. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 9 , wherein the cleaning system comprises a wet cleaning system configured to support a cleaning pad on a forward portion of the autonomous mobile robot.

11. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise illuminating an indicator light of the autonomous mobile robot or issuing an audible alert in response to generating the virtual barrier.

12. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , wherein generating the virtual barrier comprises defining the virtual barrier based on an orientation or a location of the autonomous mobile robot.

13. The autonomous mobile robot of claim 1 , wherein the virtual barrier extends to one or more locations untraversed by the autonomous mobile robot during the generation of the virtual barrier.

14. A mobile computing device comprising:
a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with an autonomous mobile robot movable about a floor surface;
a user input device operable by a user to provide one or more user instructions to generate a virtual barrier beyond which movement of the autonomous mobile robot is restricted, the virtual barrier having a length selected based on a value input by the user through the user input device; and
one or more processors configured to execute operations comprising:
receiving the one or more user instructions to generate the virtual barrier; and
initiating transmission of, from the wireless transceiver of the mobile computing device to the autonomous mobile robot, data indicative of the virtual barrier to establish the virtual barrier such that, during an autonomous operation of the autonomous mobile robot, movement of the autonomous mobile robot beyond the virtual barrier is restricted.

15. The mobile computing device of claim 14 , wherein the data indicative of the one or more user instructions comprises data indicative of at least one of a location or an orientation of the virtual barrier.

16. The mobile computing device of claim 14 , wherein the data indicative of the one or more user instructions comprises data indicative of at least one of a dimension or a geometry of the virtual barrier.

17. The mobile computing device of claim 14 , further comprising a user interface, and wherein the operations comprise:
receiving mapping data collected by the autonomous mobile robot as the autonomous mobile robot is maneuvered about the floor surface, and
presenting, on the user interface, a representation of a map of the floor surface based on the mapping data.

18. The mobile computing device of claim 14 , wherein the virtual barrier divides the floor surface into a first area and a second area, and wherein the operations comprise:
transmitting an instruction to cause the autonomous mobile robot to
initiate a first cleaning operation to clean the first area at a first time, and
initiate a second cleaning operation to clean the second area at a second time.

19. A method comprising:
receiving, at a mobile computing device, data indicative of one or more user instructions to generate a virtual barrier, the virtual barrier having a length selected based on a value input by a user of the mobile computing device through an interface of the mobile computing device; and
transmitting, from the mobile computing device to an autonomous mobile robot movable about a floor surface, data indicative of the virtual barrier to establish the virtual barrier such that, during an autonomous operation of the autonomous mobile robot, movement of the autonomous mobile robot beyond the virtual barrier is restricted.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the data indicative of the one or more user instructions comprises data indicative of at least one of a location or an orientation of the virtual barrier.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the data indicative of the one or more user instructions comprises data indicative of at least one of a dimension or a geometry of the virtual barrier.

22. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
receiving mapping data collected by the autonomous mobile robot as the autonomous mobile robot is maneuvered about the floor surface, and
presenting a representation of a map of the floor surface based on the mapping data.

23. The method of claim 19 , wherein the virtual barrier divides the floor surface into a first area and a second area, and wherein the operations comprise:
transmitting an instruction to cause the autonomous mobile robot to
initiate a first cleaning operation to clean the first area at a first time, and
initiate a second cleaning operation to clean the second area at a second time.

Assignees

• Irobot Corp

Inventors

• Williams Marcus
• Lu Ping-Hong
• Johnson Joseph M
• Santini Fabrizio

Classifications

• B25J5/00

  Manipulators mounted on wheels or on carriages (B25J1/00 takes precedence; programme-controlled manipulators B25J9/00 {; vehicle aspects B60, B62, e.g. remote-controlled steering for motor vehicles B62D1/24; control of position of vehicles G05D1/00}) · CPC title

• B25J9/1666 Primary

  Avoiding collision or forbidden zones · CPC title

• Y10S901/01

  Mobile robot · CPC title

• B25J9/1694

  characterised by use of sensors other than normal servo-feedback from position, speed or acceleration sensors, perception control, multi-sensor controlled systems, sensor fusion · CPC title

• B25J9/1697

  Vision controlled systems · CPC title