Mobile robot navigation employing retroreflective ceiling features
US5051906A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 7, 1989 |
| Grant date | Sep 24, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 7, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG05D1/0255
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Apparatus and method which provides for the determination of a vehicle's orientation and position in an environment, such as a hallway, from an image of a retroreflective ceiling feature. A mobile robot 10 includes a light source 28 and a camera 12 that are pitched up obliquely at an intermediate angle between a horizon and a zenith. The camera views a ceiling having one or more strip-like retroreflective features 16 which are preferably aligned with an axis of the hallway. In that the feature presents a pattern or alignment which is substantially parallel to a long axis of the hallway the pattern is detected and processed to derive robot navigation information therefrom.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.