Moving Robot Dynamic Safety Zone Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing moving robots face productivity decreases due to overly restrictive movement and operation limitations in human activity spaces, which are dynamically changing, making it cumbersome to adjust these restrictions to balance safety and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A moving robot equipped with actuators, a reading unit for tags containing operation time and amount information, and a controller that prohibits or limits tasks until the tag is read, allowing adjustments based on the environment, ensuring safety and optimizing operations by monitoring and adhering to the specified limits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the spatial area where movement and operations of the moving robot are prohibited or restricted is enlarged to secure human safety, then human safety is improved, but productivity of the moving robot decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the prohibited spatial area dynamic rather than static. The controller dynamically adjusts the prohibited area based on real-time detection of human presence by the detection unit. When humans are detected, the prohibited area is expanded to ensure safety; when no humans are present, the prohibited area is reduced or eliminated, allowing the robot to operate freely and maintain high productivity. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between safety and productivity.
2Productivity
If the spatial area prohibited for robot movement is changed to improve productivity, then productivity is improved, but the work becomes extremely troublesome
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies self-service by automatically detecting human presence and autonomously adjusting the prohibited spatial area without requiring manual intervention. The detection unit continuously monitors the environment, and the controller automatically modifies the prohibited area based on detection results, eliminating the need for operators to manually reprogram or adjust safety zones. This automated self-adjustment mechanism greatly simplifies operation while maintaining both safety and productivity.
3Productivity
If the moving robot operates freely in human activity space to improve productivity, then productivity is improved, but human safety is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by using the detection unit to continuously monitor human presence in the robot's operating space and feeding this information back to the controller. The controller then adjusts the prohibited spatial area and robot operations based on this feedback. When humans are detected, the system responds by restricting robot movement in those areas; when no humans are present, the robot can operate freely. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures safety while maximizing productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A moving robot including: actuators at least including a motor for movement; a reading unit configured to read a tag installed in an environment, at least one of information on an allowable operation time of the actuators and information on an allowable operation amount of the actuators being described in the tag; and a controller configured to prohibit or limit execution of a predetermined task whose execution has already been accepted, the predetermined task being operated using at least one of the actuators, until the time when the reading unit reads the tag, and release the prohibition or the limitation and execute the task in such a way that an operation time and an operation amount do not exceed the allowable operation time and the allowable operation amount described in the tag after the reading unit has read the tag is provided.