Holonomic Construction Mobility Platform for Beacon-Free Site Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional autonomous systems in construction sites require constant human supervision, are prone to navigation errors, and have limited mobility, making them inefficient in performing tasks without additional navigational equipment or beacons.
Innovation Solution
A mobility platform equipped with multiple sensors (such as stereo cameras, inertial measurement units, and LiDAR) that can autonomously navigate and position tools by generating paths based on landmark detection, allowing for precise and repeated task execution without external beacons, using a holonomic drive system for three degrees of freedom and a controller to manage actuator and tool activation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional autonomous systems use total station surveying equipment or beaconed navigation systems, then navigation capability is provided, but the system requires placement of additional navigational equipment or beacons in the construction site
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the navigation functionality from external beacon systems and implements it using the construction site's existing structural landmarks (walls, columns, beams) as natural reference points. This eliminates the need to deploy additional navigational beacons while maintaining reliable navigation capability through sensor-based detection of permanent site features.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces sensors (cameras, LiDAR, inertial measurement units) as intermediaries between the mobility platform and the construction site environment. These sensors enable the platform to detect and utilize existing structural landmarks for navigation, replacing the need for direct beacon-based communication while maintaining navigation reliability.
2Productivity
If conventional autonomous systems are deployed in construction sites, then task performance is enabled, but constant human supervision is required
Solution Approach 1:
The mobility platform performs self-navigation and self-positioning by autonomously detecting landmarks and calculating its own position and orientation using sensor data. The platform independently executes tasks without requiring human operators to guide its movement, achieving a high degree of automation while maintaining task performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously receives feedback from sensors detecting structural landmarks and uses this information to correct navigation errors and maintain accurate positioning. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables autonomous operation by allowing the system to self-correct without human intervention, improving both automation extent and task performance reliability.
3Reliability
If conventional autonomous systems operate in construction sites, then navigation is provided, but navigation errors occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple sensing modalities (visual cameras, LiDAR for 3D mapping, inertial measurement units for motion tracking) into a unified navigation system. This sensor fusion approach combines the strengths of each sensor type to compensate for individual limitations, reducing navigation errors and improving position estimation accuracy through redundant measurement sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary scanning and mapping of the construction site to establish a database of structural landmarks before task execution. This pre-established reference framework enables more accurate real-time positioning by providing known reference points against which the platform can continuously measure and correct its position, reducing navigation errors during operation.
4Productivity
If conventional autonomous systems are used, then tasks can be performed, but mobility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The mobility platform employs dynamic, reconfigurable mechanical structures including articulated arms and adjustable end effectors that can adapt to different task requirements and spatial configurations. This dynamic design enables the platform to perform diverse tasks across various locations in the construction site, enhancing both mobility and task execution capability simultaneously.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances construction productivity by enabling autonomous task performance with improved precision and accuracy, reducing the need for human supervision and external navigational aids, and allowing the platform to reach extremities of the workspace.
Implementation Method 1
sensing the one or more landmarks with at least one selected from the group of a stereo camera, inertial measurement unit, optical flow sensor, and LiDAR unit
Implementation Method 2
sensing the one or more landmarks with at least one selected from the group of a stereo camera, inertial measurement unit, optical flow sensor, and LiDAR unit
Implementation Method 3
sensing the one or more landmarks with at least one selected from the group of a stereo camera, inertial measurement unit, optical flow sensor, and LiDAR unit
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous tool including a multi-sensor package enabling identification of the position of the tool in a construction site so that the tool may navigate to locations where tasks are performed. The tool may include at least one sensor from the group of a drive system encoder, stereo camera, inertial measurement unit, optical flow sensor, and LiDAR. The tool may include a holonomic drive allowing at least one tool of the mobility platform to reach the extremities of a construction site. The platform may be used as part of a system that receives design information relating to the construction site and tasks to be performed by the tool and then generates commands that control the tool to navigate along a path generated to include landmarks within range of and therefore detectable by the sensors for a large percentage of the path.