Robot system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9901236-B2
Application number	US-201715417997-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2017
Priority date	Dec 2, 2005
Publication date	Feb 27, 2018
Grant date	Feb 27, 2018

Abstract

A power-saving robot system includes at least one peripheral device and a mobile robot. The peripheral device includes a controller having an active mode and a hibernation mode, and a wireless communication component capable of activation in the hibernation mode. A controller of the robot has an activating routine that communicates with and temporarily activates the peripheral device, via wireless communication, from the hibernation mode. In another aspect, a robot system includes a network data bridge and a mobile robot. The network data bridge includes a broadband network interface, a wireless command interface, and a data bridge component. The data bridge component extracts serial commands received via the broadband network interface from an internet protocol, applies a command protocol thereto, and broadcasts the serial commands via the wireless interface. The mobile robot includes a wireless command communication component that receives the serial commands transmitted from the network data bridge.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile cleaning robot comprising:
a drive system to move the robot on a floor surface;
a cleaning unit to clean the floor surface;
an audio output device to emit audio content;
a display system operable to present visual indications;
a controller configured to,
in an operational mode, operate the display system to present a first indicator indicative an operating state of the robot, the first indicator being indicative of one or more of a power state of the robot, a dormant state of the robot, a charging state of the robot, and a behavior of the robot, and
in a training mode, operate the display system to present a second indicator and operate the audio output device to audibly emit content in coordination with the second indicator to provide a user with one or more of an audible tutorial, technical support, a training program, instructions to demonstrate operational features of the robot, and instructions to interact with the robot.

2. The robot of claim 1 , further comprising:
a receiver to wirelessly receive data representing the content from a remote computing device, and
a transmitter to wirelessly transmit data representing the operating state of the robot to the remote computing device.

3. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to
operate the display system to present the first indicator in accordance to an operative pattern corresponding to a state of the robot,
operate the display system to present the second indicator according to a training pattern in timed coordination with the audibly emitted content, the operative pattern being distinct from the training pattern.

4. The robot of claim 1 , further comprising a bin in communication with the controller, wherein the first indicator is indicative of information representing an amount of substance in the bin.

5. The robot of claim 4 , wherein the bin is a consumable fluid bin, and the audibly emitted content includes information representing an amount of fluid in the bin.

6. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to
receive a customization selection indicative of one more of audible content, visual content, multimedia content, a choreographic routine, or a movement routine, and
operate the robot based on the customization selection.

7. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to navigate the robot across the floor surface based on signals from a camera.

8. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the display system includes an illuminable maintenance display substantially mimicking an appearance of the robot.

9. The robot of claim 1 , further comprising a microphone configured to receive an audible command for a function performable by the robot, and the controller is configured to use speech recognition to cause the robot to perform the function provided by the received audible command.

10. A mobile cleaning robot comprising:
a drive system to move the robot on a floor surface;
a cleaning unit to clean the floor surface;
an audio output device to emit audio content;
a display system operable to present visual indications;
a controller configured to, in a training mode, operate the display system to present one or more indicators and operate the audio output device to audibly emit content in coordination with the presented one or more indicators to provide a user with one or more of an audible tutorial, technical support, a training program, and instructions to demonstrate operational features of the robot.

11. The robot of claim 10 , further comprising:
a receiver to wirelessly receive data representing the content from a remote computing device, and
a transmitter to wirelessly transmit data representing an operating state of the robot to the remote computing device.

12. The robot of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to operate the audio output device to instruct the user to interact with the mobile cleaning robot.

13. The robot of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to operate the display system to present the one or more indicators according to a training pattern in timed coordination with the audibly emitted content.

14. The robot of claim 10 , wherein, in an operational mode, the controller is configured to operate the display system to present an indicator indicative of an operational state of the robot.

15. The robot of claim 14 , wherein the indicator is indicative of a power state of the robot in the operational mode.

16. The robot of claim 14 , further comprising a bin in communication with the controller, wherein the indicator is indicative of information representing an amount of substance in the bin.

17. The robot of claim 16 , wherein the bin is a consumable fluid bin, and the audibly emitted content includes information representing an amount of fluid in the bin.

18. The robot of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to
receive a customization selection indicative of one more of audible content, visual content, multimedia content, a choreographic routine, or a movement routine, and
operate the robot based on the customization selection.

19. The robot of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to navigate the robot across the floor surface based on signals from a camera.

20. The robot of claim 10 , wherein the display system includes an illuminable maintenance display substantially mimicking an appearance of the robot.

21. The robot of claim 10 , further comprising a microphone configured to receive an audible command for a function performable by the robot, and the controller is configured to use speech recognition to cause the robot to perform the function provided by the received audible command.

Assignees

• Irobot Corp

Inventors

• Halloran Michael J
• Mammen Jeffrey W
• Campbell Tony L
• Walker Jason S
• Sandin Paul E
• Billington Jr John N
• Ozick Daniel N

Classifications

• A47L2201/04

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

• A47L9/0466

  Rotating tools · CPC title

• B60L2250/10

  by alarm · CPC title

• H04B1/02

  Transmitters · CPC title

• A47L11/24

  Floor-sweeping machines, motor-driven · CPC title