Mobile Robot Guidance with Obstacle Avoidance and Speed Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guidance systems in public places, such as airports and stations, lack the ability to provide personalized and efficient guidance services to individuals, as they are unidirectional and often require user interaction, which can be inconvenient for those who have difficulty using them.
Innovation Solution
A mobile robot system that receives guidance destination inputs, generates optimal paths, detects and avoids obstacles, and adjusts speed based on the guidance target's position and speed, allowing for comfortable and safe escorting to a destination while providing information through displays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional electric bulletin boards or guidance signs are used, then information can be provided to users, but the system cannot satisfy individual user demands and provides only unidirectional information selected by service providers
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile robot autonomously tracks and follows the guidance target without requiring user manipulation. The robot independently detects obstacles, calculates avoidance paths, and adjusts its speed based on the target's position and speed, enabling self-service guidance that adapts to individual users without requiring their active participation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional static mechanical guidance systems (bulletin boards, signs) with an autonomous mobile robot equipped with sensors, processors, and actuators. This substitution enables dynamic, adaptive guidance that can respond to individual user needs while eliminating the need for user interaction with the guidance system
2Adaptability or versatility
If kiosks with multimedia devices are used, then information and services can be provided to customers, but users need to directly manipulate the kiosks which is inconvenient for people with difficulty using them
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile robot performs all guidance operations autonomously without requiring user manipulation. It independently tracks the guidance target, detects obstacles, calculates paths, and navigates to escort the user, providing service while eliminating the need for users to interact with or manipulate the system
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring users to actively seek information from static kiosks, the system inverts the approach by having the mobile robot actively pursue and follow the user. The robot initiates and maintains the guidance interaction, reversing the traditional user-initiated model and making the system accessible to users with difficulty manipulating devices
3Reliability
If a mobile robot generates an avoidance path to avoid obstacles, then safe guidance can be provided, but the path planning complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The path planning is divided into two distinct segments: global path planning that determines the overall route from start to destination, and local avoidance path planning that handles real-time obstacle avoidance. This segmentation allows each module to focus on specific tasks, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining safety through coordinated operation of both path planning levels
Solution Approach 2:
The robot pre-calculates the global path to the destination before beginning guidance. This preliminary action establishes the overall route in advance, allowing the local avoidance path module to focus only on real-time obstacle avoidance along the predetermined route, thereby reducing the complexity of real-time decision-making while ensuring safe guidance
4Ease of operation
If the mobile robot adjusts speed based on distance to guidance target and obstacles, then comfortable escorting is achieved, but the control system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot's speed is made dynamic rather than fixed. The control system continuously adjusts speed based on real-time inputs including distance to the guidance target and distance to obstacles. This dynamic speed adjustment provides comfortable escorting by adapting to varying conditions, with the control system managing complexity through sensor integration and algorithmic processing
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a mobile robot according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes receiving a guidance destination input, generating a global path to the received guidance destination, detecting and tracking an obstacle, detecting and tracking a guidance target, upon detecting the guidance target within a reference distance, generating an avoidance path to avoid an obstacle being tracked, calculating a moving speed based on the distance to the guidance target and the obstacle being tracked, and moving based on the avoidance path and the calculated moving speed, thereby comfortably escorting the guidance target to the destination.