Mobile cleaning robot teaming and persistent mapping

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11614746-B2
Application number	US-201815863681-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 5, 2018
Priority date	Jan 5, 2018
Publication date	Mar 28, 2023
Grant date	Mar 28, 2023

Abstract

A multi-robot system includes a first a mobile cleaning robot that has a local storage device to store a persistent map of an environment, at least one sensor to sense the environment, and a control module. The control module is configured to: control the mobile cleaning robot to navigate in the environment using the persistent map and sensing data provided by the at least one sensor, share the persistent map with a second mobile cleaning robot, and coordinate with the second mobile cleaning robot to perform cleaning tasks.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a mobile cleaning robot comprising:
a local storage device to store a persistent map representative of a configuration of an environment;
at least one sensor to sense the environment; and
a control module configured to:
control the mobile cleaning robot to navigate in the environment using the persistent map and sensing data provided by the at least one sensor,
transmit the persistent map representative of the configuration of the environment to a second mobile cleaning robot, and
coordinate with the second mobile cleaning robot to perform cleaning tasks.

2. The system of claim 1 in which the control module is configured to:
control the at least one sensor to sense the environment to identify a set of features in the environment,
update the persistent map to add representations of the features sensed by the at least one sensor that are not already on the persistent map, and
transmit the updated persistent map to the second mobile cleaning robot.

3. The system of claim 1 in which the mobile cleaning robot is configured to:
perform multiple cleaning sessions, and prior to the start of each cleaning session, receive at least one of a version of the persistent map or a persistent map update from a remote storage device, and perform at least one of (i) store the received persistent map in the local storage device, or (ii) update a locally stored persistent map using the received persistent map update; and
during each cleaning session, localize the second mobile cleaning robot on the persistent map, sense features in the environment, update the persistent map to add representations of the features sensed by the second mobile cleaning robot that are not already on the map, and store the updated persistent map in the remote storage device.

4. A system comprising:
a server computer comprising:
a storage device configured to store at least one of multiple versions of a persistent map of an environment or multiple versions of a persistent map update for the environment; and
one or more data processors configured to execute instructions to perform:
managing the at least one of the multiple versions of the persistent map or multiple versions of the persistent map update;
upon receiving a request from a first mobile cleaning robot requesting access to the persistent map or the persistent map update, providing one of the versions of the persistent map or the persistent map update to the first mobile cleaning robot; and
upon receiving a request from a second mobile cleaning robot requesting access to the persistent map or the persistent map update, providing one of the versions of the persistent map or the persistent map update to the second mobile cleaning robot.

5. The system of claim 4 in which the server computer is configured to provide a latest version of the persistent map or the persistent map update to each of the mobile cleaning robots upon receiving the request from the second mobile cleaning robot.

6. The system of claim 4 in which the server computer is configured to receive an updated persistent map or an additional persistent map update from the first mobile cleaning robot, and provide the updated persistent map or the additional persistent map update to the second mobile cleaning robot upon receiving the request from the second mobile cleaning robot.

7. The system of claim 4 in which the server computer is configured to receive a first updated persistent map or a first persistent map update from the first mobile cleaning robot, receive a second updated persistent map or a second persistent map update from the second mobile cleaning robot, and merge (i) the first updated persistent map or the first persistent map update with (ii) the second updated persistent map or the second persistent map update, to generate a new version of the persistent map or the persistent map update.

8. A system of mobile cleaning robots comprising:
a first mobile cleaning robot configured to navigate in an environment and perform a first set of cleaning tasks; and
a second mobile cleaning robot configured to navigate in the environment and perform a second set of cleaning tasks,
wherein the first mobile cleaning robot and the second mobile cleaning robot are configured to:
transmit, to each other, a persistent map for navigation, the persistent map being representative of a configuration of the environment, and
coordinate with each other when performing the first set of cleaning tasks and the second set of cleaning tasks.

9. The system of claim 8 in which the first mobile cleaning robot and the second mobile cleaning robot communicates directly with each other to coordinate performance of the first set of cleaning tasks and the second set of cleaning tasks.

10. The system of claim 8 , comprising a central server, in which each of the first mobile cleaning robot and the second mobile cleaning robot communicates with the central server, and the central server coordinates the first mobile cleaning robot and the second mobile cleaning robot in performing the first set of cleaning tasks and the second set of cleaning tasks.

11. The system of claim 8 in which the first mobile cleaning robot is configured to perform a first cleaning task that cleans a first portion of the environment, end the cleaning task at a first location, and provide coordinates of the first location to the second mobile cleaning robot, and
the second mobile cleaning robot is configured to, upon receiving the coordinates of the first location, perform a second cleaning task starting from the first location, the second cleaning task involving cleaning a second portion of the environment.

12. The system of claim 8 in which the first mobile cleaning robot and the second mobile cleaning robot are configured to perform a first cleaning task and a second cleaning task, respectively, in parallel, wherein the first cleaning task involves cleaning a first portion of the environment, and the second cleaning task involves cleaning a second portion of the environment.

13. The system of claim 8 in which the first mobile cleaning robot has a first type of cleaning head, the second mobile cleaning robot has a second type of cleaning head,
the first mobile cleaning robot is configured to clean a first region in the environment using the first type of cleaning head, send a message indicating that the first region has been cleaned, and clean a second region in the environment after cleaning the first region, and
the second mobile cleaning robot is configured to, after receive a message indicating that the first region has been cleaned, clean the first region using the second type of cleaning head while the first mobile cleaning robot cleans the second region.

14. The system of claim 8 , comprising a server computer configured to:
manage multiple versions of the persistent map or multiple versions of a persistent map update, the server computer having a storage device to store the multiple versions of the persistent map or the multiple versions of the persistent map update;
upon receiving a request from the first mobile cleaning robot requesting access to the persistent map or the persistent map update, providing one of the versions of the persistent map or the persistent map update to the first mobile cleaning robot; and
upon receiving a request from the second mobile cleaning robot requesting access to the persistent map or the persistent map update, providing one of the versions of the persistent map or the persistent map update to the second mobile cleaning robot.

15. The system of claim 14 in which

Assignees

• Irobot Corp

Inventors

• Fong Philip
• Smith Clifton Eric
• Munich Mario
• O'Dea Stephen Ernest

Classifications

• G05D2111/10

  Optical signals · CPC title

• G05D1/2462

  using feature-based mapping · CPC title

• G05D1/6987

  by centralised control off-board any of the vehicles · CPC title

• G05D2107/40

  Indoor domestic environment · CPC title

• G05D2105/10

  for cleaning, vacuuming or polishing · CPC title