Robot Safety Envelope Monitoring for Dynamic Load Handling

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Autonomous robots in human-robot shared environments face safety challenges due to unpredictable human movements and dynamic loads, which can lead to safety risks and increased processing burdens, and complex control systems that may introduce critical safety issues.

Innovation Solution

A robot safety system that adjusts movement plans based on load state information and provides supplementary processing services, including diagnostic assistance, localization calibration, cognitive assistance, and emergency control, to enhance safety and monitoring, using a combination of on-board and off-robot services.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the robot operates in human-robot shared environments with dynamic loads, then the robot's adaptability and versatility improve, but the safety risks and processing burden increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverobot adaptability to dynamic loadsVSAvoidrobot safety

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an external safety system that acts as an intermediary between the robot and the human environment. This external system processes safety-critical information and generates control commands, relieving the robot's limited onboard processing while ensuring reliable safety monitoring in dynamic human-robot shared environments.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The safety system is segmented into multiple independent components including external safety monitoring, onboard safety processing, and specific safety functions like emergency stop and safety envelope monitoring. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and reduces the processing burden on the robot while maintaining overall system reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Measurement precision

If the robot performs comprehensive environmental analysis for safety, then the safety assessment accuracy improves, but the processing burden increases beyond robot capabilities

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesafety assessment accuracyVSAvoidprocessing burden

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent employs an external safety system as a mediator that performs comprehensive environmental analysis and safety assessment. This external system has sufficient processing power to conduct thorough safety evaluations without overburdening the robot's limited onboard processing resources, while still achieving high safety assessment accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical limitation of onboard robot processing with an external computational system. The external safety system handles complex safety analysis tasks that would be too burdensome for the robot's onboard processor, effectively substituting the processing capability gap with an external computational resource.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Reliability

If the robot control system becomes more complex to meet safety needs, then the safety monitoring capability improves, but the number of potential failure locations increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesafety monitoring capabilityVSAvoidcontrol system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an external safety system as an intermediary layer that provides comprehensive safety monitoring without requiring the robot's internal control system to become overly complex. The external system handles safety-critical functions independently, reducing the complexity burden on the robot's control architecture while maintaining high safety monitoring capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Speed

If the robot uses onboard processing for safety analysis, then the response speed improves, but the processing capability is insufficient for complex environments

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveresponse speedVSAvoidprocessing capability

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent employs an external safety system that communicates with the robot in real-time, providing rapid safety responses without requiring the robot's onboard processing to be overly capable. The external system acts as a mediator that delivers fast safety-critical processing while the robot handles task execution, achieving both fast response and sufficient processing capability for complex environments.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS20220118621A1Enhanced robot safety perception and integrity monitoring

Publication Date: 2022.04.21 REALSENSE INC

AI summary

Disclosed herein are systems, devices, and methods for improving the safety of a robot. The safety system may determine a safety envelope of a robot based on a planned movement of the robot and based on state information about a load carried by a robot. The state information may include a dynamic status of the load. The safety system may also determine a safety risk based on a detected object with respect to the safety envelope. The safety system may also generate a mitigating action to the planned movement if the safety risk exceeds a threshold value.