US5467273A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Large area movement robot
Assignee: RAFAEL Ltd
•
Filing: 1993-01-11
•
Granted: 1995-11-14
•
Expires: 2013-01-11
Abstract
Abstract A large area movement robot including a chassis, controllable apparatus for displacement of the chassis, navigation apparatus for controlling the operation of the controllable apparatus, the navigation apparatus comprising a scanning range finder mounted on the chassis, apparatus associated with the scanning range finder for determining the azimuthal orientation of a retroreflecting object whose range is simultaneously determined by the scanning range finder and apparatus responsive to the sensed range and angular orientation of the retroreflecting object for providing operating instructions to the controllable apparatus.
Inventors
- 👤 Sorin Faibish
- 👤 Giora Yahav
- 👤 Shlomo Djerassi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 07:55
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S17/00; G01S17/02; G01S17/06; G01S17/88; G01S17/93; G01S17/931; G01S17/87; G05; G05D; G05D1/00; G05D1/02; G05D1/021; G05D1/0231; G05D1/0244; G05D1/0268; G05D1/027
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
157 words
A large area movement robot for displacement within a region delimited by a plurality of retroreflecting objects, the robot comprising: a chassis; a controllable apparatus operative to displace the chassis within the region delimited by the plurality of retroreflecting objects; a learning navigator operative to control the operation of the controllable apparatus, said navigator comprising: a scanning range finder mounted on the chassis and operative to measure initial azimuthal orientations and ranges of a plurality of retroreflecting objects; an azimuth and range matching device associated with the scanning range finder operative to determine the current azimuthal orientation of the plurality of retroreflecting objects whose ranges are determined by the scanning range finder and matching the azimuthal orientations and ranges with initial azimuthal orientations and ranges of said plurality of retroreflecting objects; and a self-position computation unit responsive to the output of the azimuth and range matching device and operative to provide operating instructions to the controllable apparatus.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
157 words
A large area movement robot for displacement within a region delimited by a plurality of retroreflecting objects, the robot comprising: a chassis; a controllable apparatus operative to displace the chassis within the region delimited by the plurality of retroreflecting objects; a learning navigator operative to control the operation of the controllable apparatus, said navigator comprising: a scanning range finder mounted on the chassis and operative to measure initial azimuthal orientations and ranges of a plurality of retroreflecting objects; an azimuth and range matching device associated with the scanning range finder operative to determine the current azimuthal orientation of the plurality of retroreflecting objects whose ranges are determined by the scanning range finder and matching the azimuthal orientations and ranges with initial azimuthal orientations and ranges of said plurality of retroreflecting objects; and a self-position computation unit responsive to the output of the azimuth and range matching device and operative to provide operating instructions to the controllable apparatus.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
The large area movement robot according to claim 1 and wherein said scanning range finder includes apparatus for range finding according to time of flight of a laser pulse.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
142 words
A large area movement robot comprising: a chassis; controllable apparatus operative to displace the chassis within a region; a learning navigator operative to control the operation of the controllable apparatus, said navigator comprising: a plurality of selectably placeable retroreflectors delimiting a region; a scanning range finder mounted on the chassis and operative to measure initial azimuthal orientations and ranges of the plurality of retroreflectors; an azimuth and range matching device associated with the scanning range finder and operative to determine the azimuthal orientation of the plurality of retroreflectors whose ranges are determined by the scanning range finder and matching the azimuthal orientations and ranges with initial azimuthal orientations and ranges of said plurality of retroreflecting objects; and a self-position computation unit responsive to the output of the azimuth and range matching device and operative to provide operating instructions to the controllable apparatus.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
142 words
A large area movement robot comprising: a chassis; controllable apparatus operative to displace the chassis within a region; a learning navigator operative to control the operation of the controllable apparatus, said navigator comprising: a plurality of selectably placeable retroreflectors delimiting a region; a scanning range finder mounted on the chassis and operative to measure initial azimuthal orientations and ranges of the plurality of retroreflectors; an azimuth and range matching device associated with the scanning range finder and operative to determine the azimuthal orientation of the plurality of retroreflectors whose ranges are determined by the scanning range finder and matching the azimuthal orientations and ranges with initial azimuthal orientations and ranges of said plurality of retroreflecting objects; and a self-position computation unit responsive to the output of the azimuth and range matching device and operative to provide operating instructions to the controllable apparatus.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
The large area movement robot according to claim 3 and wherein said scanning range finder includes apparatus for range finding according to time of flight of a laser pulse.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
106 words
A navigation apparatus operative to control the operation of a chassis displacement device, said navigation apparatus comprising: a scanning range finder mounted on the chassis; an azimuth and range matching device associated with the scanning range finder and operative to determine the azimuthal orientation of a plurality of retroreflecting objects whose ranges are simultaneously determined by the scanning range finder and matching the azimuthal orientations and ranges with learned azimuthal orientations and ranges of said plurality of retroreflecting objects; and a self-position computation unit responsive to the output of the azimuth and range matching device and operative to provide operative instructions to the chassis displacement device.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
106 words
A navigation apparatus operative to control the operation of a chassis displacement device, said navigation apparatus comprising: a scanning range finder mounted on the chassis; an azimuth and range matching device associated with the scanning range finder and operative to determine the azimuthal orientation of a plurality of retroreflecting objects whose ranges are simultaneously determined by the scanning range finder and matching the azimuthal orientations and ranges with learned azimuthal orientations and ranges of said plurality of retroreflecting objects; and a self-position computation unit responsive to the output of the azimuth and range matching device and operative to provide operative instructions to the chassis displacement device.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
96 words
A navigation apparatus comprising: a reference template memory operative to store a reference template comprising range and angular azimuthal orientation data for a plurality of retroreflective objects at an initial time t0; a ranging device for providing current range and angular orientation values of the plurality of retroreflective objects; and a self-position computing device operative to repeatedly receive the current range and angular orientation values of the plurality of retroreflective objects and to repeatedly compute the position and angular orientation of the navigation apparatus by comparing the received ranges and angular orientations to the reference template.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
96 words
A navigation apparatus comprising: a reference template memory operative to store a reference template comprising range and angular azimuthal orientation data for a plurality of retroreflective objects at an initial time t0; a ranging device for providing current range and angular orientation values of the plurality of retroreflective objects; and a self-position computing device operative to repeatedly receive the current range and angular orientation values of the plurality of retroreflective objects and to repeatedly compute the position and angular orientation of the navigation apparatus by comparing the received ranges and angular orientations to the reference template.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
99 words
The navigation apparatus according to claim 6 and wherein said ranging device comprises: a laser source emitting pulsed light comprising a sequence of light pulses; a scanner operatively associated with the laser and operative to direct the pulsed light toward a plurality of locations; a photodiode operative to detect light reflected back from the plurality of retroreflective objects; a range finder operative to determine ranges of the plurality of retroreflective objects; and an angle sensor operative to measure the angular orientation of an individual retroreflective object encountered by a pulse at the time the pulse returns to the photodiode.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4218172A
Cited
US4307891A
Cited
US4453085A
Cited
US4647784A
Cited
US4811228A
Cited
US4788441A
Cited
US4817000A
Cited
US4829172A
Cited
US4941106A
Cited
US5005128A
Cited
US5011288A
Cited
US5068795A
Cited
US5155684A
Cited
US5051906A
Cited
US4967064A
Cited
US5170352A
Cited
US5202742A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1998-11-13 | 1999-05-15 | 1999-11-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2002-11-13 | 2003-05-15 | 2003-11-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2006-11-13 | 2007-05-15 | 2007-11-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |