Outdoor Power Equipment Presence Detection for Obstacle-Aware Navigation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing outdoor power equipment machines face challenges in efficient area coverage, ease of setup, and effective obstacle avoidance, particularly when navigating around animate beings in both domestic and public work areas.
Innovation Solution
A mobile outdoor power equipment machine equipped with a scanning system and control system that detects the presence of physical elements, determines their proximity and animate status, and adjusts behavior accordingly, using a sensing apparatus like a camera for obstacle avoidance and enhanced navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional control systems are used for autonomous navigation, then the machine can perform basic navigation tasks, but efficient area coverage and effective obstacle avoidance remain insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The scanning system divides the work area into multiple zones (e.g., front, side, rear zones) with different detection ranges and sensitivities. This segmentation allows the machine to prioritize scanning in certain directions while maintaining awareness of others, improving both coverage efficiency and obstacle detection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The scanning system performs preliminary detection of the work area before the machine begins navigation. This advance scanning creates a map of static obstacles and defines safe navigation paths, allowing the machine to move more efficiently while maintaining high obstacle avoidance reliability during operation.
2Measurement precision
If the scanning system continuously monitors the entire work area, then obstacle detection accuracy improves, but energy consumption and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The scanning system operates periodically rather than continuously, scanning the work area at regular intervals based on machine speed and detected obstacle density. This periodic operation maintains adequate detection accuracy while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The scanning frequency and range are dynamically adjusted based on machine operating conditions. When the machine detects high obstacle density or operates at higher speeds, scanning intensity increases; when conditions are clear, scanning intensity decreases, optimizing the balance between detection accuracy and energy usage.
3Reliability
If the machine uses advanced presence detection to identify animate beings, then obstacle avoidance around living creatures improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses intermediate detection zones that distinguish between animate beings and inanimate obstacles. By creating a buffer zone with different detection parameters, the system can identify living creatures more reliably without requiring complex analysis of every detected object, thus improving detection reliability while limiting complexity growth.
4Reliability
If the scanning system increases detection range to improve navigation awareness, then obstacle detection capability improves, but the machine's sensitivity to distant objects may cause false positives
Solution Approach 1:
The scanning system applies different detection parameters to different spatial zones. Distant zones use lower sensitivity thresholds to reduce false positives, while near zones use higher sensitivity to detect small obstacles. This local quality adjustment maintains navigation awareness over large areas while preserving detection accuracy for critical close-range obstacles.
Data Source
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, and direct a behavior of the machine.