Outdoor Power Equipment Presence Detection for Animate Obstacle Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current autonomous navigation systems for outdoor power equipment, such as robotic lawn mowers, face challenges in efficient area coverage, ease of setup, and effective obstacle avoidance, particularly in domestic settings where animate beings may be present.
Innovation Solution
A mobile outdoor power equipment machine equipped with a scanning system and control system that detects physical elements, determines their proximity and animate being confidence levels, and adjusts behavior accordingly to enhance navigation and obstacle avoidance, using methods like silhouette detection and facial feature analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional navigation systems are used for autonomous robots, then basic area coverage can be achieved, but efficient coverage and effective obstacle avoidance remain problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The detection area is divided into multiple zones (first area closer to the robot, second area farther away) with different detection thresholds and confidence level requirements. This segmentation allows the system to apply different behavioral responses based on proximity, improving both coverage efficiency and avoidance reliability by being more aggressive in distant areas and more cautious near the robot.
Solution Approach 2:
Different detection parameters and confidence thresholds are applied to different spatial locations. The system uses higher confidence thresholds for objects in the first area (closer to the robot) and lower thresholds for the second area (farther away), creating location-specific detection quality that optimizes both productivity and reliability locally.
2Device complexity
If simple detection methods are used, then device complexity is reduced, but detection precision and confidence level determination deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes detection parameters dynamically based on location and object type. By adjusting confidence thresholds and detection sensitivity according to the object's position in different areas, the system achieves high detection precision without requiring uniformly high complexity across all detection scenarios.
3Reliability
If high confidence threshold is used for animate being detection, then false positives are reduced, but detection responsiveness to actual animate beings deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The detection system segments the confidence threshold requirement based on spatial location. Objects in the first area (closer) require higher confidence thresholds to reduce false positives, while objects in the second area (farther) can trigger responses with lower confidence thresholds, maintaining responsiveness without sacrificing overall reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A mobile outdoor power equipment machine for performing a controlled task within a work area includes a drive system for providing movement of the machine, a working apparatus for performing the task, and a scanning system for scanning an area surrounding the machine. The scanning system is configured to provide detection of physical elements in the environment to aid in navigation of the machine. In an embodiment, the scanning system and a control system are configured to scan the area, determine the presence of a physical element in the area, determine that the physical element is located within the work area, determine the proximity of the physical element to the machine, determine a confidence level of whether the physical element is an animate being, and direct a behavior of the machine correlating to a combination of the confidence level and the proximity.