TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to robotics and, in particular, to navigation and operational modes for domestic or home robotics.

BACKGROUND

The use of automated devices is widespread nowadays, and finds countless applications. For instance, robots perform very precise and delicate tasks in the construction of electronic devices, or in medicine and aviation. Robots are also used in applications which require motion, notably, for automatic warehouses, where goods are retrieved and stored by means of computed-actuated robots. Other applications include, e.g., fetching raw materials in the course of industrial manufacturing, and removing and packaging finished pieces. In home, or domestic robotics, attempts have also been made to exploit robots for such tasks as lawn mowing, snow-blowing, leaf-clearing, floor cleaning, pool cleaning and vacuum cleaning. Hereinafter, the terms domestic robotics and home robotics are used in contradistinction to industrial robotics; thus, the user of a home or domestic robotic system will be an average consumer and cannot be presumed to have the skills required to carry out complex maintenance or setup of the system, as might be the case in industrial robotics. In addition, ease of use and simple and robust setup procedures may be particularly important in home or domestic robotic systems. It will therefore be noted that a sub-category of such domestic robots is garden-based robots, which include robots able to perform the aforementioned tasks of lawn mowing, snow-blowing and leaf-clearing. Robotic lawnmowers are a particularly commercially successful example of such an autonomous machine, substantially reducing the time and effort required on the user's part in order to maintain a neatly-kept lawn.

By their very nature, autonomous machines such as robots represent a significant labour-saving for consumers. Repetitive and time-consuming tasks may now be carried out without significant supervision or instruction by the user of such autonomous machines. In order to further reduce the amount of supervision and instruction necessary, sophisticated control systems have been proposed that further increase the independence of the machines. Area coverage by robotic appliances is used in a growing number of applications, such as robotic lawn mowers, robotic vacuum cleaners, robotic window cleaners, robotic painting and the like. In such applications the robot is typically moving within a working area (such as the floor of a room, in the case of a robotic vacuum cleaner, or a lawn or garden in the case of a robotic lawnmower or snowblower) defined by a boundary. The robot may be provided with sensors (such as tactile, optical, electromagnetic sensors etc.) to detect this boundary directly.

The robot typically carries a payload (which may include one or more cutting blades, vacuuming nozzles, rotating brushes, painting brushes etc., depending on the function that the payload is intended to provide) across the entire area until adequately covered. There are various strategies of area coverage, such as random and systematic coverage and various paths of movement used for the actual scanning such as straight lines (either parallel or with varying directions), spirals etc.

Even with the numerous control systems and methods for autonomous navigation by robots within a working area, navigation of a domestic robot within a working area has not yet been perfected; for example, issues in terms of efficient coverage of the area, ease of setup of the system and safety remain. Aspects of the invention may address one or more of these issues and may additionally or instead address other issues in domestic robotics.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

According to an aspect of the following disclosure there is provided a domestic robotic system including a robot having a payload for carrying out a domestic task within a working area. The robot also includes a plurality of sensors, including one or more local environment sensors that are configured to receive signals from exterior sources local to the robot. The system further includes data storage, which is operable to store boundary information that defines the path of a predetermined boundary within which the robot is permitted to move. The robot is programmed to operate in at a reference trail recording mode and a navigation mode. In the reference trail recording mode, the robot moves along a reference trail while receiving sensor information from its sensors, with the path of the reference trail being calculated by the system based on the stored boundary information so as to be spaced apart from the path of the predetermined boundary. Also in the reference trail recording mode, the system stores reference trail information corresponding to a first plurality of points along the reference trail. This reference trail information is derived from the sensor information corresponding to the first plurality of points. In the navigation mode, the robot moves within the working area and navigates by: receiving current sensor information from its sensors; and, when it is in the vicinity of the reference trail, comparing the current sensor information with the reference trail information in order to determine its current position.

According to a further aspect of the following disclosure there is provided a garden-based robotic system including a robot and data storage operable to store data defining the boundary of a working area within the garden, the robot including: a payload actuable to perform work on a portion of the garden adjacent the robot; and one or more positioning systems. The robot is programmed to operate in at least a perimeter coverage mode and an internal area coverage mode. In the perimeter coverage mode, the robot, using the one or more positioning systems, moves within a perimeter area with its payload active, the perimeter area being defined within the robot's programming such that it is adjacent to and generally follows the path of the boundary. In the internal area coverage mode, the robot, using the one or more positioning systems and the data defining the boundary of the working area, moves within an interior area with its payload active. The interior area is defined within the robot's programming such that it is generally located within the perimeter area. The accuracy of the one or more positioning systems is greater during the perimeter coverage mode than during the internal area coverage mode. The interior area and the perimeter area are further defined within the robot's programming such that the interior area approaches to or overlaps with the perimeter area sufficiently to substantially avoid gaps between the area that is in practice covered by the payload during the internal area coverage mode, taking into account the accuracy of the one or more positioning systems during the internal area coverage mode, and the area that is in practice covered by the payload during the perimeter coverage mode, taking into account the accuracy of the one or more positioning systems during the perimeter coverage mode. The interior area is further defined within the robot's programming to be sufficiently distant from the boundary of the working area to substantially avoid the robot in practice moving beyond the boundary during the internal area coverage mode, taking into account the accuracy of the one or more positioning systems during the internal area coverage mode.

According to a still further aspect of the following disclosure there is provided a domestic robotic system comprising a robot having a payload for carrying out a domestic task within a working area. The robot is programmed to operate in at least a reference trail recording mode and a navigation mode. In the reference trail recording mode, the robot is guided along a reference trail while receiving sensor information from one or more sensors provided on the robot, at least some of which are local environment sensors that are configured to receive signals from one or more exterior sources local to the robot. Also in the reference trail recording mode, the system stores reference trail information corresponding to a first plurality of points along the reference trail, with the reference trail information including local environment information at the first plurality of points, the local environment information being sensor information from the local environment sensors that has either been partially processed, in that the position of the robot is not determined, or that is unprocessed. In the navigation mode, the robot moves within the working area and navigates by: receiving current sensor information from one or more sensors provided on the robot, at least some of which are local environment sensors that are configured to receive signals from one or more exterior sources local to the robot; and by determining information concerning the robot's current position relative to at least one of the first plurality of points along the reference trail including by comparing the current sensor information from the local environment sensors with the local environment information corresponding to the at least one of the first plurality of points.

According to yet a further aspect of the following disclosure there is provided a domestic robotic system comprising a robot having a payload for carrying out a domestic task within a working area. The robot is programmed to operate in at least a reference trail recording mode and a navigation mode. In the reference trail recording mode, the robot is guided along a reference trail while receiving sensor information from one or more sensors provided on the robot. Further, in the reference trail recording mode, the system stores intermediate information corresponding to a first plurality of points along the reference trail, the intermediate information including unprocessed and/or processed sensor information corresponding to the first plurality of points. Still further, in the reference trail recording mode, the system retrieves and post-processes the intermediate information so as to provide post-processed information corresponding to a second plurality of points along the reference trail. Furthermore, in the reference trail recording mode, the system stores reference trail information, the reference trail information including the post-processed information corresponding to the second plurality of points along the reference trail. In the navigation mode, the robot moves within the working area with the payload active and navigates by: receiving current sensor information from one or more sensors provided on the robot; and by determining information concerning the robot's current position relative to at least one of the second plurality of points along the reference trail using the current sensor information and the post-processed information.

According to a still further aspect of the following disclosure there is provided a method for preparing navigation information for a robot having a payload for carrying out a domestic task within a working area comprising: receiving sensor information relating to the working area, including one or more arrays of sensor data, each array corresponding to sensor readings at different locations and/or orientations with respect to the working area by one or more similar arrays of like sensors; receiving user-provided information designating a reference trail within the working area; processing: the sensor information relating to the working area, including the plurality of arrays of sensor data; and the information from the user designating the reference trail; the processing step producing navigation information for the robot that sufficiently defines the reference trail such that the robot can move along the reference trail substantially autonomously.

According to a still further aspect of the following disclosure there is provided a domestic robotic system comprising a robot having a payload for carrying out a domestic task within a working area; the robot being programmed to operate in at least a reference trail recording mode and an area coverage mode. In the a reference trail recording mode: the robot is guided along a reference trail while receiving sensor information from one or more sensors provided on the robot; the system stores reference trail information corresponding to a first plurality of points along the reference trail, the reference trail information being derived from the sensor information corresponding to the first plurality of points. In the area coverage mode, the robot moves within the working area with the payload active, during which the robot navigates by: receiving current sensor information from one or more sensors provided on the robot; and using the current sensor information the robot to follow, with the payload active, one or more paths upon each of which the robot is a respective, substantially constant distance from the reference trail defined by the stored reference trail information. One of the one or more paths is selected as a new reference trail, with new reference trail information corresponding to a first plurality of points along the new reference trail being derived from sensor information from the same one or more sensors utilised during the area coverage mode and stored by the system, with further navigation in the area coverage mode being based on the new reference trail.

According to yet a further aspect of the following disclosure there is provided a domestic robotic system comprising a robot and data storage operable to store data defining the boundary of a working area, the robot comprising: a payload actuable to perform work on a portion of the garden adjacent the robot; a first positioning system; and a second positioning system that uses one or more sensors operable to sense directly the boundary of the working area and the robot's current distance thereto. The robot is programmed to operate in at least an area coverage mode and a boundary proximity mode. In the area coverage mode, the robot navigates within the working area, with the payload active, using the first positioning system and the stored data defining the boundary of the working area. In the boundary proximity mode, the robot navigates within the working area using the second positioning system. The robot is further programmed to switch between the area coverage mode and the boundary proximity mode when the second positioning system detects the boundary of the working area with a confidence level greater than a predetermined value. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and/or scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the invention, exemplary methods and/or materials are described below. In case of conflict, the patent specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be necessarily limiting.

