Autonomous Robot Offloading Object Recognition to Remote Server
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional autonomous robots used for visually-impaired assistance face challenges due to computational intensity and short battery life, making them expensive, large, and requiring frequent recharging, which limits their accessibility and usability.
Innovation Solution
A system where an autonomous robot offloads computationally intensive tasks like object recognition to a remote server, using a network interface, camera, and processor to send camera output for processing, and receives metadata for notifications, reducing the robot's computational burden and extending battery life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If the robot performs computationally intensive tasks locally using onboard processors, then the robot can provide autonomous assistance and object recognition, but the battery life is shortened and the robot becomes more expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the computationally intensive object recognition processing from the robot and relocates it to a remote server. The robot captures images with its camera and transmits them via network interface to the server, which performs the complex image analysis and returns results. This extraction of heavy computational tasks resolves the contradiction by maintaining autonomous assistance capability while dramatically reducing the robot's energy consumption and extending battery life.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a remote server as an intermediary between the robot and the object recognition process. The server acts as a mediator that receives camera output from the robot, performs computationally intensive image analysis, and returns object recognition metadata to the robot. This intermediary approach allows the robot to maintain autonomy while offloading energy-intensive computations, thereby extending battery life without sacrificing automation capability.
2Extent of automation
If the robot includes advanced processing hardware for autonomous tasks, then the robot can perform computationally intensive operations, but the robot becomes more expensive and larger
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts advanced processing hardware requirements from the robot system and relocates them to a remote server infrastructure. Instead of equipping the robot with expensive, high-power processors and large memory systems, the design uses a minimal onboard processor that only handles basic camera control and network communication. The complex image recognition algorithms and processing power are extracted and deployed on the remote server, thereby resolving the contradiction by maintaining autonomous processing capability while dramatically reducing robot cost and size.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the remote server as a virtual copy of advanced processing capability that the robot can access remotely. Instead of physically embedding expensive processing hardware in the robot, the system creates a network-based copy of the processing power through the server. The robot captures images locally and sends them to the server, which performs the analysis and returns results, effectively copying the function of expensive onboard hardware without the associated cost and size penalties.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for autonomous robot distributed processing are provided. A method includes receiving, at a robot, camera output from a camera located on the robot. The method may further include outputting the camera output to a mobile client device. The method may also further include receiving at the robot, from the mobile client device, object recognition metadata based upon the camera output. The method may additionally include outputting a notification from the robot to a user of the mobile client device based upon the object recognition metadata.