Irobot Corporation

Labrador Systems, Inc.

James Philip Case

Michael J Dooley

Nikolai Romanov

Dhiraj Goel

Paolo Pirjanian

Gabriel Francis Brisson

Enrico Di Bernardo

Michael S Stout

Collin Johnson

Steffen Gutmann

David Orrin Swett

Kenneth Griest

A robotic cleaner includes a cleaning assembly for cleaning a surface and a main robot body. The main robot body houses a drive system to cause movement of the robotic cleaner and a microcontroller to control the movement of the robotic cleaner. The cleaning assembly is located in front of the drive system and a width of the cleaning assembly is greater than a width of the main robot body. A robotic cleaning system includes a main robot body and a plurality of cleaning assemblies for cleaning a surface. The main robot body houses a drive system to cause movement of the robotic cleaner and a microcontroller to control the movement of the robotic cleaner. The cleaning assembly is located in front of the drive system and each of the cleaning assemblies is detachable from the main robot body and each of the cleaning assemblies has a unique cleaning function.

Mobile robot for cleaning

A visual positioning system for mobile devices includes at least one infrared camera, at least one infrared illumination source, and a processor that coordinates operation of the at least one camera and illumination sources. A flood IR infrared illumination source illuminates environmental objects for localization of the mobile device during a first camera exposure window, and a structured IR illumination source illuminate environmental objects for detection and mapping of obstacles during a second camera exposure window. A visual SLAM map is constructed with images obtained from a first camera, with a single map being useable for positioning and navigation across a variety of environmental lighting conditions. A method for training a robot includes receiving operator input signals configured to start and stop recording of defined routes during the guiding of the mobile robot along paths between different pairs of desired robot destinations, such that routes for subsequent use by the robot are generated for paths imaged while recording is active.

Visual navigation for mobile devices operable in differing environmental lighting conditions

A mobile robot configured to travel across a residential floor or other surface while cleaning the surface with a cleaning pad and cleaning solvent is disclosed. The robot includes a controller for managing the movement of the robot as well as the treatment of the surface with a cleaning solvent. The movement of the robot can be characterized by a class of trajectories that achieve effective cleaning. The trajectories include sequences of steps that are repeated, the sequences including forward and backward motion and optional left and right motion along arcuate paths.

System and method for autonomous mopping of a floor surface

A robot configured to navigate a surface, the robot comprising a movement mechanism; a logical map representing data about the surface and associating locations with one or more properties observed during navigation; an initialization module configured to establish an initial pose comprising an initial location and an initial orientation; a region covering module configured to cause the robot to move so as to cover a region; an edge-following module configured to cause the robot to follow unfollowed edges; a control module configured to invoke region covering on a first region defined at least in part based at least part of the initial pose, to invoke region covering on least one additional region, to invoke edge-following, and to invoke region covering cause the mapping module to mark followed edges as followed, and cause a third region covering on regions discovered during edge-following.

Methods and systems for complete coverage of a surface by an autonomous robot

A method of cleaning a floor near a vertical surface with a mobile robot. The robot includes a cleaning assembly and a drive assembly having a first wheel and a second wheel. The method includes aligning the robot such that the first wheel and second wheel are configured to roll in a direction substantially parallel to the surface. The method includes driving the robot forward in a direction substantially parallel to the surface. The method further includes: i) turning the first wheel, proximate to the surface, with a first angular velocity, and ii) turning the second wheel, further from the surface, with a second angular velocity. The second angular velocity is greater than the first angular velocity. The robot pushes against the surface while sliding along the same surface.

Systems and methods for use of optical odometry sensor systems in a mobile robot. The optical odometry sensor system is positioned within a recessed structure on an underside of the mobile robot body and configured to output optical odometry data. The optical odometry sensor system includes an optical odometry camera that includes a telecentric lens configured to capture images of a tracking surface beneath the body and having a depth of field that provides a range of viewing distances at which a tracking surface is captured in focus from a first distance within the recessed structure to a second distance below the underside of the mobile robot body.

Systems and methods for use of optical odometry sensors in a mobile robot

A localization and obstacle detection system includes a first signal projector configured to project a first signal into an environment and a robot configured to move in the environment. The robot includes a second signal projector configured to project a second signal into the environment; a signal receiver configured to receive the first signal and the second signal; a localizer configured to determine a location of the robot in the environment based at least in part on the received first signal; and a detector configured to determine the presence of an obstacle in the environment based at least in part on the intensity and bearing of the received second signal and without touching the obstacle; wherein the second signal is distinct from the first signal in at least one characteristic.

Growing community of inventors

Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

James Philip Case