Mobile Robot Risk Assessment and Route Replanning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile robots face risks such as slipping or malfunctioning due to weather and floor conditions, which can lead to collisions, object damage, and failure to achieve their objectives, particularly when direct sensor recognition is difficult and costly, and privacy concerns arise with multiple sensor installations.
Innovation Solution
A mobile robot system with a travelling mechanism, environment recognition unit, potential risk area recognition, and risk occurrence condition detection, which calculates the influence of risks on objectives and replans movement routes to minimize failures and damage, allowing autonomous operation without direct sensor recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a large number of sensors are installed to monitor risk areas, then measurement precision and reliability improve, but device complexity and economic cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary computational model that mediates between limited sensor data and comprehensive risk assessment. The risk evaluation unit uses environmental models and historical data to infer risks in unmonitored areas, acting as a mediator that translates partial observations into complete situational awareness without requiring direct sensor coverage everywhere.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the environment through environmental modeling. Instead of physically installing sensors throughout the entire environment, the system builds a computational representation that simulates risk conditions, allowing the robot to assess dangers in areas without direct sensor presence by referencing the environmental model.
2Measurement precision
If direct sensor recognition is used to detect risk conditions, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity and economic cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces direct mechanical/optical sensor recognition with computational risk evaluation. Instead of using complex arrays of sensors to directly detect every potential hazard, the system substitutes physical detection with algorithmic assessment that processes available sensor data through environmental models to infer risks indirectly.
Solution Approach 2:
The risk evaluation unit serves as an intermediary layer between simple sensor inputs and accurate risk detection. It processes limited sensor data through computational models to achieve precise risk assessment without requiring complex direct detection sensors for every possible hazard type.
3Reliability
If the mobile robot replans movement routes to avoid risk areas, then reliability and safety improve, but productivity and speed decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial replanning rather than complete route reconstruction. When risks are detected, the system replans only the affected portion of the trajectory while maintaining the overall mission plan, avoiding the excessive action of completely aborting and redesigning the entire movement sequence.
Solution Approach 2:
The movement planning system is designed to be dynamic and adaptive. It continuously monitors risk levels and adjusts the movement plan in real-time based on current conditions, allowing the robot to maintain high productivity when risks are low and automatically prioritize safety when risks emerge, rather than following a static predetermined path.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile robot system capable of estimating the occurrence of various risks within its environment and executing appropriate processing to achieve an objective is provided. The mobile robot system includes an environment recognition unit for recognizing an external environment, a travelling unit, and a travelling control unit which controls the travelling unit on the basis of environment information from the environment recognition unit. The mobile robot system also includes a calculation unit which generates a travelling command to the travelling control unit, a potential risk area recognition unit, and a risk occurrence condition detection unit. When a risk occurrence condition is satisfied, the calculation unit calculates a degree of influence of the occurring risk on achievement of an objective quantitatively in each stage. When the possibility of achieving the object is low, a movement planning unit replans a moving route to raise the possibility of achieving the objective.