Autonomous Versatile Vehicle System with Collaborative Task Handoff
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous robotic devices are typically designed for specific functions and operate independently, lacking the ability to collaborate or adapt to different tasks, which limits their versatility and efficiency in dynamic environments.
Innovation Solution
A system of autonomous versatile mobile robotic chassis equipped with wheels, sensors, processors, and machine-readable media that enable data capture, mapping, localization, and task execution, allowing for collaboration and adaptation by transmitting signals between robotic devices to share tasks and navigate to charging stations when power levels are low.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If autonomous robotic devices are designed for specific functions and operate independently, then device complexity is reduced and ease of manufacture is improved, but versatility and collaborative capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal robotic platform with a standardized chassis that can perform multiple functions by attaching different modular components (sensors, effectors, tools). This allows a single base design to serve various applications including exploration, manipulation, and transportation tasks, thereby improving versatility without requiring separate specialized designs for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic system is divided into modular components that can be independently designed, manufactured, and assembled. The chassis serves as a common platform that can be configured with different sensor suites, actuators, and functional modules depending on the specific task requirements, enabling easy reconfiguration and adaptation to new functions.
2Device complexity
If autonomous robotic devices operate independently, then device complexity is reduced, but collaborative capability and task completion efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple robotic devices are merged into a coordinated system that shares common communication protocols, navigation infrastructure, and task management frameworks. The robots collaborate by dividing tasks, sharing environmental maps, and coordinating their actions to achieve goals that would be difficult or impossible for individual robots to accomplish alone, thereby improving productivity while maintaining manageable individual device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
A centralized control system or communication network acts as an intermediary that coordinates between multiple autonomous robots. This mediator enables task allocation, information sharing, and collision avoidance without requiring complex peer-to-peer negotiation between each robot, thus enhancing collaborative productivity while keeping individual robot complexity low.
3Adaptability or versatility
If autonomous robotic devices are designed to be versatile and customizable, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system employs dynamic reconfiguration capabilities where the robot can change its functional configuration during operation by attaching or detaching modular components. This allows the same physical platform to adapt to different tasks by swapping sensors, tools, or effectors, providing high adaptability without requiring a completely different design for each function, thus managing device complexity through standardized interfaces.
4Device complexity
If autonomous robotic devices operate individually, then system simplicity is maintained, but collaborative task execution and resource sharing deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a standardized communication and control environment that acts as an inert framework for robotic collaboration. This standardized protocol layer isolates the complexity of inter-robot communication from individual robot designs, allowing robots to interact reliably through common interfaces while maintaining simple individual device architectures. The standardized environment enables reliable task completion through coordinated effort without significantly increasing individual device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a first robot including: a machine readable medium storing instructions that when executed by the processor of the first robot effectuates operations including: executing, with the processor of the first robot, a task; and transmitting, with the processor of the first robot, a signal to a processor of a second robot during execution of the task when its power supply level reduces below a predetermined threshold; and the second robot including: a machine readable medium storing instructions that when executed by the processor of the second robot effectuates operations including: executing, with the processor of the second robot, the remainder of the task upon receiving the signal transmitted from the processor of the first robot; and wherein the first robot navigates to a charging station when its power supply level reduces below the predetermined threshold and wherein the first robot and second robot provide the same services.