Mobile Body Route Guidance for Adaptive Autonomous Navigation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current mobile body systems, such as telepresence robots, lack user convenience in terms of efficient route planning and navigation, particularly in diverse environments and applications, requiring improved methods for generating and utilizing route guidance information.

Innovation Solution

The mobile body system incorporates an information processor and a mobile body with an imaging unit and movement mechanism, featuring an information generator that creates route guidance information based on external and user-input data, allowing for various move modes and automatic route planning, including consideration of environmental factors like weather, electric power, and user preferences.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If manual route selection is required for mobile body navigation, then user control flexibility is improved, but user convenience and operational efficiency deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser convenienceVSAvoidroute planning complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The mobile body autonomously generates route guidance information using its onboard information generator, which processes external information (maps, weather, traffic) and internal information (battery status, movement constraints) to create navigation routes without requiring manual user input for route planning

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system pre-generates multiple candidate routes in advance based on current conditions and user preferences, allowing the mobile body to automatically select and execute the most appropriate route before movement begins, eliminating the need for real-time manual route selection

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If comprehensive environmental factors are considered in route generation, then navigation accuracy and adaptability are improved, but information processing complexity and energy consumption worsen

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveenvironmental adaptabilityVSAvoidenergy consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The information generator divides environmental factors into distinct categories (external information such as maps and weather, and internal information such as battery status and movement constraints), processing each segment independently and combining results to generate comprehensive routes while managing computational energy consumption

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts the level of detail and processing depth for different environmental factors based on current operational context, prioritizing critical factors (e.g., battery level for range-constrained routes) while reducing processing for less critical factors to optimize energy usage

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Adaptability or versatility

If multiple move modes are supported for different applications, then system versatility is improved, but control complexity and device configuration worsen

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemove mode versatilityVSAvoidcontrol system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The information generator is designed as a universal system that handles multiple move modes (autonomous movement, remote control,, following movement) through a single integrated architecture, using the same information processing framework to generate route guidance information adapted to each specific move mode's requirements

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP3336642B1Mobile body and mobile body system
Publication Date: 2022.09.28 SONY GROUP CORP
  • EP3336642B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3336642B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2C
  • EP3336642B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A mobile body includes: an imaging unit; a movement mechanism that moves itself; a wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication; and an information generator that generates, on a basis of external information received from outside by the wireless communication unit, route guidance information for use in allowing the movement mechanism to move itself.