Navigating Robot Emergency Routing Around No-Stop Areas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous navigating robots in buildings often interfere with emergency facilities or block evacuation routes during emergencies, as their locations and relationships with surrounding facilities are not easily managed or controlled, unlike fixed building structures.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for managing navigating robots in emergency situations by receiving a building map with defined no-stop areas, receiving location information from robots, and controlling them to move outside or to alternative stop areas upon detecting an emergency, using a robot control system with processors and memory to execute computer-readable programs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If navigating robots are allowed to move freely in the building, then service coverage and operational flexibility are improved, but interference with emergency facilities and blocking of evacuation routes occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-defines no-stop areas for emergency situations in the building map before emergencies occur. When an emergency is detected, the robot control system immediately checks the robot's location against these pre-defined areas and commands movement if necessary, enabling rapid response without complex real-time calculations.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot control system acts as an intermediary between the robot and the building management system. It receives emergency situation signals from the building management system, processes the robot's location information, and generates appropriate movement commands, thereby mediating the conflict between robot operation and emergency response.
2Reliability
If navigating robots are stopped in no-stop areas during emergencies, then interference with emergency operations is prevented, but loss of service continuity occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The robot's operational state is dynamically adjusted based on emergency conditions. The control system continuously monitors the robot's location and emergency status, making real-time decisions about movement commands. After the emergency is resolved, the robot automatically resumes its service operations, creating a dynamic balance between safety and service continuity.
3Speed
If the robot control system continuously monitors robot location and emergency signals, then rapid emergency response is achieved, but system complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The building map is pre-configured with no-stop areas for emergency situations before emergencies occur. This preliminary setup allows the control system to quickly compare the robot's current location against predefined safe zones during emergencies, avoiding complex real-time path planning and reducing computational complexity during critical moments.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot control system autonomously monitors its own location information and automatically processes emergency situation signals without requiring external intervention. When an emergency is detected, the system independently generates and executes movement commands, reducing the need for complex external control infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing navigating robots in emergency situations is performed by one or more processors, and includes receiving a map of a target building, in which a no-stop area for emergency situations is defined in the map, receiving location information from the navigating robot, receiving an emergency situation occurrence signal, and in response to determining that the navigating robot is located in the no-stop area in emergency situations, controlling the navigating robot to move outside the no-stop area.