Autonomous Mobile Robot Obstacle Avoidance Strategy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional autonomous mobile robots face inefficiencies in navigation due to frequent stopping to avoid obstacles, particularly in crowded environments, and lack effective countermeasures for obstacles other than humans, leading to reduced work efficiency and utility.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous mobile robot device equipped with an obstacle detecting unit, path producing unit, and avoidance method management system that includes an avoidance method noticing, obtaining, memorizing, and selecting unit, allowing for dynamic path adjustments based on detected obstacles and their avoidance methods, including direction, performance, identity, and presence information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the robot stops frequently to avoid obstacles in crowded environments, then collision avoidance is ensured, but work efficiency and movement speed decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The robot dynamically adjusts its avoidance behavior based on the type of obstacle detected. For human obstacles, it applies active avoidance with stopping behavior, while for robot obstacles, it uses passive avoidance that allows continued movement. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by optimizing the avoidance strategy for each obstacle type, maintaining safety while improving overall work efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the avoidance parameters (such as stopping distance, reaction time, and avoidance intensity) based on the detected obstacle type. When a human obstacle is detected, more conservative parameters are applied; when a robot obstacle is detected, less conservative parameters are used, allowing the robot to maintain movement and productivity while still ensuring collision avoidance.
2Device complexity
If the robot uses simple obstacle detection and stopping behavior, then implementation is simple, but it cannot effectively handle multiple types of obstacles and reduces utility value
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary component (the avoidance method determining unit) that mediates between the simple obstacle detection and the complex avoidance behaviors. This intermediary analyzes the obstacle type and selects appropriate avoidance strategies, enabling the robot to handle multiple obstacle types effectively while keeping the overall system architecture manageable and not excessively complex.
Solution Approach 2:
The avoidance system is designed with multi-functionality to handle different types of obstacles (humans, robots, and other objects) using a single unified system. The avoidance method determining unit can identify and apply appropriate avoidance strategies for various obstacle types, making the system versatile without requiring separate dedicated systems for each obstacle type.
3Reliability
If both the robot and obstacle change avoidance directions simultaneously, then individual avoidance attempts are made, but they move into the same direction and fail to avoid each other
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from the obstacle detection unit to continuously monitor the relative positions and movement directions of the robot and obstacles. Based on this feedback, the avoidance method determining unit adjusts the avoidance strategy in real-time, coordinating avoidance directions to prevent both parties from moving into the same direction simultaneously, thereby improving avoidance success rate while minimizing unnecessary stoppages.
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous mobile robot device, comprises an obstacle detecting unit, which is configured to detect an obstacle, a path producing unit, which is configured to produce a path for reaching to a goal while avoiding the obstacle, which is detected by the obstacle detecting unit, upon basis of a predetermined avoidance method, and a moving unit, which is configured to move while mounting the obstacle detecting unit and the path producing unit thereon, and further comprises an avoidance method noticing unit, which is configured to notice information relating to an avoidance method of the autonomous mobile robot device itself to the obstacle, which is detected by the obstacle detecting unit, an other's avoidance method obtaining unit, which is configured to obtain information relating to the avoidance method of the obstacle from the obstacle, which is detected by the obstacle detecting unit, an avoidance method memorizing unit, which is configured to memorize one or more of the avoidance method(s) determined, to which the path producing unit should follow, and an avoidance method selecting unit, which is configured to selected the avoidance method(s) determined from the avoidance method memorizing unit, wherein the avoidance method selecting unit uses the information relating to the avoidance method of the obstacle, which is obtained by the other's avoidance method obtaining unit, as a reference, when selecting the avoidance method.