Mobile Robot Cleaning System

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020019156-A1
Application number	US-201916508705-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 11, 2019
Priority date	Jul 13, 2018
Publication date	Jan 16, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for operating or interacting with a mobile robot includes determining, using at least one processor, a mapping between a first coordinate system associated with a mobile device and a second coordinate system associated with the mobile robot, in which the first coordinate system is different from the second coordinate system. The method includes providing at the mobile device a user interface to enable a user to interact with the mobile robot in which the interaction involves usage of the mapping between the first coordinate system and the second coordinate system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
determining, using at least one processor, a mapping between a first coordinate system associated with a mobile device and a second coordinate system associated with a mobile robot, in which the first coordinate system is different from the second coordinate system; and providing at the mobile device a user interface to enable a user to interact with the mobile robot in which the interaction involves usage of the mapping between the first coordinate system and the second coordinate system.

2 . The method of claim 1 in which the user interface is configured to enable the user to use the mobile device to instruct the mobile robot to perform a specified action at a specified location.

3 . The method of claim 2 , comprising:
configuring the user interface to enable the user to specify a location on an image shown on a display module of the mobile device, identifying, using at least one processor, coordinates of the location specified by the user, and sending an instruction from the mobile device to the mobile robot to instruct the mobile robot to perform the cleaning operation at the location specified by the user, in which the instruction includes the coordinates of the location specified by the user.

4 . The method of claim 3 , comprising:
determining first coordinates of the location specified by the user, in which the first coordinates are based on the first coordinate system, converting the first coordinates to second coordinates using the mapping between the first coordinate system and the second coordinate system, in which the second coordinates are based on the second coordinate system, and sending the instruction including the second coordinates to the mobile robot.

5 . The method of claim 1 , comprising enabling the user to use the mobile device at a first location in an environment to interact with the mobile robot located at a second location in the environment, in which the second location is not within line of sight of the mobile device, and the interaction involves usage of the mapping between the first coordinate system and the second coordinate system.

6 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:
at the mobile device, receiving data about an environment from the mobile robot, the data including location information, and at the mobile device, displaying an image of the environment on a display module, and overlaying graphic elements on the image in which the graphic elements are derived based on the data received from the mobile robot.

7 . The method of claim 6 , comprising overlaying a representation of an area having a specified characteristic identified by the mobile robot on the image.

8 . The method of claim 7 in which the area having the specified characteristic represents at least one of (i) an area in the environment that has been processed by the mobile robot within a specified period of time, (ii) an area in the environment that has not been processed by the mobile robot within a specified period of time, (iii) an area in the environment that is scheduled to be processed and has not been processed by the mobile robot, (iv) a keep out zone, (v) an area that is traversable by the mobile robot, (vi) an area that is not traversable by the mobile robot, (vii) a signal strength map, or (viii) a foot traffic statistics map.

9 . The method of claim 7 , comprising overlaying a representation of an obstacle identified by the mobile robot on the image.

10 . The method of claim 9 , comprising:
determining positions of the area and the obstacle relative to a viewpoint of a camera of the mobile device, determining which portion of the area is occluded by the obstacle, and displaying the image on the display module with the portion of the area having the specified characteristic being occluded by the obstacle.

11 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:
executing an augmented reality tool to implement an augmented reality session on the mobile device, and configuring the user interface to enable the user to interact with the mobile device in the augmented reality session.

12 . The method of claim 11 , comprising using the augmented reality tool to establish the first coordinate system based on images captured by a camera of the mobile device.

13 . The method of claim 1 in which determining the mapping between the first coordinate system and the second coordinate system comprises:
comparing features derived from images captured by the camera of the mobile device with features derived from images captured by a camera of the mobile robot,
identifying a match between a first set of features derived from the images captured by the camera of the mobile device and a second set of features derived from images captured by a camera of the mobile robot,
identifying first coordinates associated with the first set of features, in which the first coordinates are based on the first coordinate system,
identifying second coordinates associated with the second set of features, in which the second coordinates are based on the second coordinate system, and
determining the mapping between the first coordinate system and the second coordinate system based on a relationship between the first coordinates and the second coordinates.

14 . The method of claim 13 , comprising applying an image transformation to the images captured by the camera of the mobile device to generate modified images that simulate images captured by the camera of the mobile robot from the viewpoint of the camera of the mobile device, in which the image transformation takes into account characteristics of the mobile device camera and characteristics of the mobile robot camera.

15 . The method of claim 14 in which comparing features derived from images captured by the camera of the mobile device with features derived from images captured by the camera of the mobile robot comprises comparing features derived from the modified images with features derived from the images captured by the camera of the mobile robot, and
identifying a match between a first set of features derived from the images captured by the camera of the mobile device and a second set of features derived from images captured by a camera of the mobile robot comprises identifying a match between a first set of features derived from the modified images and a second set of features derived from images captured by the camera of the mobile robot.

16 . A method comprising:
displaying, on a display module of a mobile device, an image of an environment captured by a camera of the mobile device, in which a representation of an area having a specified characteristic and a representation of an obstacle identified by a mobile robot are overlaid on the image, wherein in the image, the area is shown partly occluded by the obstacle, and the portion of the area occluded by the obstacle is determined based on positions of the area and the obstacle relative to a view point of the camera of the mobile device.

17 . The method of claim 16 in which the representation of an area having a specified characteristic comprises a representation of at least one of (i) an area in the environment that has been processed by the mobile robot, (ii) an area in the environment that has not been processed by the mobile robot within a specified period of time, (iii) an area in the environment that is scheduled to be processed and has not been processed by the mobile robot, (iv) a keep out zone, (v) an area that is traversable by the mobile robot, (vi) an area that is not traversable by the mobile r

Assignees

• Irobot Corp

Inventors

• Drew Kenrick E
• Wasserman Philip
• Jones Christopher V

Classifications

• A47L9/2894

  Details related to signal transmission in suction cleaners · CPC title

• A47L9/2852

  Elements for displacement of the vacuum cleaner or the accessories therefor, e.g. wheels, casters or nozzles · CPC title

• A47L9/2826

  the condition of the floor · CPC title

• A47L11/4011

  Regulation of the cleaning machine by electric means; Control systems and remote control systems therefor · CPC title

• A47L9/2857

  User input or output elements for control, e.g. buttons, switches or displays · CPC title