Robots, charging stations and landmark devices for robots
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- GROOVE X INC
- Filing Date
- 2026-03-16
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-09
AI Technical Summary
【0013】 本発明によれば、ロボットが充電ステーションの所在地点を特定しやすくなる。
Smart Images
Figure 2026094463000001_ABST
Abstract
Claims
1. A charging space with a power supply terminal, When the robot and the power supply terminal are connected in the charging space, a charging control unit charges the secondary battery built into the robot, Light source and A light emission instruction receiving unit receives a light emission signal from the robot that specifies the light emission mode, A charging station comprising: a light emission control unit that changes the light emission mode of the light source according to the specified light emission mode.
2. The charging station according to claim 1, characterized in that the light emission instruction receiving unit is specified by the light emission signal to have one or more of the light emission amount, flashing period, light emission color, and light emission pattern of the light source as the light emission mode.
3. The light source includes a first light source and a second light source, The charging station according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, when the charging station is viewed from the front, the first light source is installed in front of the second light source.
4. A charging station according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it has multiple charging spaces and is capable of simultaneously charging multiple robots.
5. A storage request receiving unit receives a storage request signal from the first robot requesting it to enter the charging space, An entry determination unit that determines whether the first robot can be entered into the charging space, The system further includes a storage acceptance / rejection transmission unit that transmits a storage acceptance / rejection signal to the first robot indicating whether or not storage is permitted, The charging station according to claim 4, characterized in that the storage determination unit refuses to allow the first robot to enter the storage station when the second robot is returning to the charging station and the second robot has not started charging in any of the charging spaces.
6. Formed integrally with the server device that controls the operation of the robot, The server device is The robot receives event information recognized by the robot, and the event receiving unit A charging station according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising: an motion control unit that selects the motion of the robot according to the event information.
7. A motion control unit that selects the robot's motion, A drive mechanism that executes the motion selected by the motion control unit, A light emission instruction transmission unit that transmits a light emission signal specifying the light emission mode, It comprises a light recognition unit that recognizes external light, The light emission instruction transmitting unit transmits the light emission signal when charging the secondary battery built into the robot. The light recognition unit identifies external light corresponding to the specified emission mode, The aforementioned motion control unit determines the direction of movement of the robot using the location of the external light emission point as the location of the charging station, thereby enabling autonomous robot movement.
8. Image acquisition unit that acquires captured images, An image feature acquisition unit that acquires image feature information by extracting feature points from the aforementioned captured image, The system further comprises a map management unit that generates a map based on the aforementioned image feature information, The autonomous robot according to claim 7, characterized in that the map management unit generates the map based on the light-emitting points of the charging station.
9. The autonomous robot according to claim 8, characterized in that the light emission instruction transmission unit transmits the light emission signal when it loses its current location on the map.
10. Light source and A light emission instruction receiving unit receives a light emission signal from a robot that specifies the light emission mode, A landmark device comprising: a light emission control unit that changes the light emission mode of the light source according to the specified light emission mode.
11. Includes robots, landmark devices and charging stations, The aforementioned robot, A light recognition unit that recognizes external light, A motion control unit that selects the robot's motion, A drive mechanism that executes the motion selected by the motion control unit, It comprises a light emission instruction transmission unit that transmits a light emission signal that specifies the light emission mode, The light emission instruction transmitting unit transmits the light emission signal when charging the secondary battery built into the robot. The light recognition unit identifies external light corresponding to the specified emission mode, The motion control unit determines the direction of movement of the robot using the point of emission of the external light as the target point for movement. The landmark device is Light source and The robot has a light emission instruction receiving unit that receives a light emission signal, The system includes a light emission control unit that changes the light emission mode of the light source according to the light emission mode specified by the light emission signal, The aforementioned charging station is A charging space with a power supply terminal, When the robot and the power supply terminal are connected in the charging space, a charging control unit charges the robot's secondary battery, Light source and A light emission instruction receiving unit that receives the light emission signal from the robot, The system includes a light emission control unit that changes the light emission mode of the light source according to the light emission mode specified by the light emission signal, The robot's light emission instruction transmission unit transmits a first light emission signal that specifies a first light emission mode. The light emission control unit of the landmark device changes the light emission mode of the light source according to the first light emission mode specified by the first light emission signal. The light recognition unit of the robot identifies external light according to the first emission mode, The robot's motion control unit determines the robot's direction of movement using the point of external light emission according to the first light emission mode as the target point for movement. The robot's light emission instruction transmitting unit transmits a second light emission signal specifying a second light emission mode when the robot reaches the location point of the landmark device. The light emission control unit of the charging station changes the light emission mode of the light source according to the second light emission mode specified by the second light emission signal. The light recognition unit of the robot identifies the external light according to the second emission mode, The robot's motion control unit is characterized by determining the robot's next direction of movement using the point of emission of external light according to the second emission mode as the target point for movement.
12. Including a first robot, a second robot, and a charging station, Both the first robot and the second robot are A light recognition unit that recognizes external light, A motion control unit that selects the robot's motion, A drive mechanism that executes the motion selected by the motion control unit, A light emission instruction transmission unit that transmits a light emission signal specifying the light emission mode, Light source and A light emission instruction receiving unit that receives light emission signals from other robots, The system includes a light emission control unit that changes the light emission mode of the light source according to the light emission mode specified by the light emission signal, The light emission instruction transmitting unit transmits the light emission signal when charging the secondary battery built into the robot. The light recognition unit identifies external light corresponding to the specified emission mode, The motion control unit determines the direction of movement of the robot using the point of emission of the external light as the target point for movement. The aforementioned charging station is A charging space with a power supply terminal, When the robot and the power supply terminal are connected in the charging space, a charging control unit charges the robot's secondary battery, Light source and A light emission instruction receiving unit that receives light emission signals from the robot, The system includes a light emission control unit that changes the light emission mode of the light source according to the light emission mode specified by the light emission signal, The light emission instruction transmitting unit of the first robot transmits a first light emission signal that specifies a first light emission mode. The light emission control unit of the second robot changes the light emission mode of the light source of the second robot according to the first light emission mode specified by the first light emission signal. The light recognition unit of the first robot identifies external light according to the first emission mode, The motion control unit of the first robot determines the direction of movement of the first robot, using the point of emission of external light according to the first emission mode as the target point of movement. The light emission instruction transmitting unit of the first robot transmits a second light emission signal specifying a second light emission mode when the first robot reaches the location of the second robot. The light emission control unit of the charging station changes the light emission mode of the light source according to the second light emission mode specified by the second light emission signal. The light recognition unit of the first robot identifies external light according to the second emission mode, The motion control unit of the first robot is characterized in that it determines the next direction of movement of the first robot using the point of emission of external light according to the second emission mode as the target point of movement.
13. Both the first robot and the second robot are, The system further includes a position determination unit that determines whether the robot's current location relative to the charging station satisfies predetermined positional conditions, The guidance system according to claim 12, characterized in that when the position condition is not met in the first robot, the motion control unit of the second robot sets the range in which the position condition is met as the range of action of the second robot.
14. A function to select the robot's motion, A function to cause the selected motion to be executed by the drive mechanism, A function to transmit a light emission signal that specifies the light emission mode, A function to recognize the source of external light emission according to the specified emission mode, An autonomous robot behavior control program characterized by causing a computer to perform the following functions: when external light emitting in a manner specified by the aforementioned light emission signal is recognized, the program determines the robot's direction of movement using the location of the charging station as the point of emission of the external light.