Wearable Robot Visibility Control for Obstructed Operator View

The patent introduces a wearable display device (camera and display) as an intermediary between the human operator and the robot. Instead of using a fixed visual sensor to estimate the human's visual range, the system captures images through the wearable device worn by the operator, directly reflecting what the operator can see. This intermediary approach eliminates the problem of objects interrupting the imaging range, as the camera moves with the operator's head movements, ensuring accurate and robust visual range estimation in various environmental conditions.

The patent implements a dynamic control system where the robot's motion control is continuously adjusted based on real-time detection of the operator's head position and the robot's visibility in captured images. As the operator moves their head or changes position, the system dynamically updates the visual range estimation and adjusts robot motion accordingly. This dynamic approach maintains high reliability in contact prevention while allowing the operator full mobility freedom, as the control adapts continuously to changing spatial relationships rather than relying on fixed sensor positions.

The patent makes the visual sensing system universal by integrating it into a wearable display device that the operator wears. This single wearable unit serves multiple functions: capturing images of the environment, tracking the operator's head position, and adapting to various operator-robot positional relationships. The camera and display components work together to provide continuous visual range estimation regardless of how the operator or robot moves, eliminating the need for multiple fixed sensors while maintaining detection accuracy across all scenarios.