Patent · US Active

Autonomous coverage robot

US8972061B2 · kind B2 · utility

63Cited by
46References
59Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 8, 2013
Grant dateMar 3, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 14, 2033

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S901/01
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A mobile floor cleaning robot includes a robot body supported by a drive system configured to maneuver the robot over a floor surface. The robot also includes a cleaning system supported by the robot body, an imaging sensor disposed on the robot body, and a controller in communicates with the drive system and the imaging sensor. The controller receives a sequence of images of the floor surface; each image has an array of pixels. For each image, the controller segments the image into color blobs by color quantizing pixels of the image, determines a spatial distribution of each color of the image based on corresponding pixel locations; and for each image color, identifies areas of the image having a threshold spatial distribution for that color. The controller then tracks a location of the color blobs with respect to the imaging sensor across the sequence of images.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.