Robotic Lawn Mower Mapping for Cable-Free Multi-Zone Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional robotic lawn mowers require boundary cables for navigation, which are inefficient, costly, and pose safety risks, and existing virtual boundary methods are time-consuming and inflexible, especially for large areas with multiple subregions and modifications.
Innovation Solution
A method involving obtaining an overhead image of a plot of land, defining boundaries and subregions using a graphical user interface, assigning control attributes, and controlling the mower based on location, boundaries, and attributes to traverse safely and efficiently, while minimizing energy consumption and safety hazards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If boundary cables are installed to define the perimeter of the plot, then the robotic mower can navigate and identify excluded areas, but the system becomes complex, costly, and energy-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the boundary cables from the system, replacing them with a virtual boundary defined by coordinate data. The mower navigates using GPS/ GNSS coordinates stored in memory rather than physical cables, eliminating the complex wiring infrastructure while maintaining navigation reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital copy of the boundary and excluded areas in the form of coordinate data stored in memory. Instead of physical cables marking the perimeter, the system uses a digital map with latitude and longitude coordinates that the mower references for navigation and area identification.
2Adaptability or versatility
If boundary cables are installed to accommodate existing features, then the mower can avoid not-for-cutting regions, but re-wiring is required when new features are added
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic system where the boundary and excluded areas are defined by programmable coordinate data rather than fixed physical cables. When new features are added to the landscape, the user can simply update the coordinate information in memory without any physical reinstallation, making the system highly adaptable and easy to modify.
3Device complexity
If users control the robot mower to move around the perimeter to define virtual boundary, then cables are eliminated, but the process becomes time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the boundary definition action in advance by storing the coordinate data in memory before the mowing operation begins. The coordinates of the perimeter and excluded areas are pre-calculated and saved, allowing the mower to immediately navigate using this pre-prepared information without requiring time-consuming user guidance during operation.
4Extent of automation
If satellite images and machine-learning algorithms are used for automatic boundary recognition, then user control is reduced, but it becomes difficult to define boundaries of multiple lawn islands without effective user inputs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates feedback by allowing users to review and correct the boundary coordinates generated from satellite imagery. The system provides the automatically generated coordinate data to the user through a interface, where users can verify accuracy and make adjustments if needed, combining automation with user oversight to ensure precise boundary definition for complex landscapes.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of controlling a robotic lawn mower begins with obtaining (102) an overhead image of a plot of land. A boundary of the plot of land 5 is defined (104) using a graphical user interface. One or more mower-safe subregions and danger zones are defined (106, 108) within the boundary using the graphical user interface. Control attributes are assigned (110) to mower-safe subregions. A control attribute may comprise a no-cutting attribute or a cutting attribute (e.g. cutting height, time, 10 frequency or pattern) assigned portions of the subregion. A no-cutting attribute is typically assigned automatically to a portion of a subregion by the robotic mower, for example using a machine learning algorithm to detect an absence of grass on a driveway. The mower is controlled (112) to traverse the plot of land while its operation in a subregion is based on (a) the location of the mower in relation to the 15 plot of land, (b) the defined boundary and one or more subregions and (c) the assigned control attribute.