Mobile Robot Path Stability Management for Anti-Toppling Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing path planning systems for mobile robots, particularly legged robots, fail to consider postural stability, leading to potential toppling and increased maintenance costs due to unstable road conditions such as slippery surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A path planning system that integrates a path evaluation database to record postural stability information for each path traversed by a robot, using criteria like CoP control and landing position correction, allowing robots to select stable paths based on past experiences and environmental shape information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing path planning systems are used, then path search capability is provided, but postural stability is not considered leading to potential toppling
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by acquiring and storing postural stability information for each path before the robot actually traverses it. The management section accumulates stability data from previous traversals, including variance of center of gravity position and postural variance, so that when path planning is needed, stable paths are already identified and stored for selection, preventing toppling before it occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a management section as an intermediary component between the path planning system and the mobile robot. This management section specifically manages postural stability information for multiple paths, acting as a mediator that provides stability data to the path planning system without requiring the entire path planning system to be redesigned for stability analysis.
2Adaptability or versatility
If robots traverse unstable paths, then path exploration is achieved, but maintenance costs increase due to toppling
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by having the mobile robot transmit postural stability information back to the management section after traversing each path. The management section stores this feedback information and uses it to evaluate future path selections. This feedback mechanism allows the robot to learn from past experiences and avoid paths that lead to toppling, reducing maintenance costs while maintaining exploration capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile robot performs self-service by autonomously acquiring and transmitting its own postural stability information to the management section. The robot independently evaluates its stability on traversed paths and contributes this data to the collective knowledge base, enabling the system to improve path selection without external intervention or increased maintenance requirements.
3Reliability
If path information without stability data is used, then simple path management is achieved, but toppling risk increases on slippery surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The management section performs preliminary action by acquiring and storing postural stability information for each path before the robot needs to select a path. This includes storing variance of center of gravity position, postural variance, and other stability metrics. When the robot encounters slippery surfaces or needs to plan a path, this pre-acquired stability information is already available to prevent toppling.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates copies of postural stability information from actual robot traversals and stores them in the management section. Instead of requiring the robot to re-evaluate stability each time, the system uses copied stability data from previous traversals under similar conditions, allowing reliable path selection on slippery surfaces without losing critical stability information.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is an information processing apparatus that processes information regarding a path of a mobile robot. The information processing apparatus includes a management section that manages path information for each path, the path information including postural stability information acquired when the mobile robot traverses the path. The postural stability information includes at least one of a variance of a position of center of gravity or a postural variance acquired during travel of the mobile robot in the path. Also, the postural stability information includes a CoP control quantity that includes a deviation between a target CoP and an actual measured value of the mobile robot whose walking is controlled based on ZMP. Also, the postural stability information further includes a landing position correction quantity that includes an error between a planned floor touching point and an actual measured value of the mobile robot that walks with multiple legs.