Robotic texture

US9067320B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Disney Enterprises, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Paul Beardsley · Cambridge, US
• Javier Alonso Mora · Somerville, US
• Andreas Breitenmoser · Zürich, CH
• Federico Perazzi · San Francisco, US
• Alexander Sorkine Hornung · Zürich, CH

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 27, 2012
• Grant date: Jun 30, 2015
• Expiry date: Oct 9, 2033

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06T11/001
• WIPO field: Handling
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for controlling robot pixels to display a visual representation of a real-world video texture. Mobile robots with controllable color may generate visual representations of the real-world video texture to create an effect like fire, sunlight on water, leaves fluttering in sunlight, a wheat field swaying in the wind, crowd flow in a busy city, and clouds in the sky. The robot pixels function as a display device for a given allocation of robot pixels. Techniques are also disclosed for distributed collision avoidance among multiple non-holonomic and holonomic robots to guarantee smooth and collision-free motions.