Robotic assistant
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a robotic assistant that can autonomously or semi-autonomously perform various tasks such as monitoring, communication, and household chores, while ensuring user safety and convenience, and can adapt to different environments and tasks.
Innovation Solution
A robotic platform equipped with sensors, output devices, and modular payload capabilities, allowing for autonomous or remote operation, with features like a contoured underbody for obstacle navigation, a modular payload bay for carrying objects, and a display for user interaction, along with separate battery systems to manage power efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the robotic assistant is designed with modular payload capabilities and multiple sensors to perform various tasks, then the adaptability and versatility are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic assistant employs a modular payload bay design where different task modules (e.g., cleaning modules, carrying modules, monitoring modules) can be independently attached and detached. This segmentation allows the system to perform multiple tasks while maintaining manageable complexity by only activating required modules for each specific task.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic assistant integrates multiple sensors (cameras, microphones, distance sensors) and a universal base platform that can support various payloads. This universal design enables a single system to perform diverse functions including monitoring, cleaning, carrying objects, and navigation, resolving the contradiction between versatility and complexity.
2Productivity
If the robotic assistant operates autonomously with multiple sensors and processing units, then the productivity is improved, but the use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic assistant employs periodic sensor activation and sleep-wake cycles for its processing units. Sensors and processors are activated only when needed for specific tasks and enter low-power states during idle periods, maintaining high productivity during operation while reducing overall energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic assistant includes autonomous navigation and task execution capabilities that reduce the need for continuous human intervention. The system self-manages its operations, optimizing energy usage by autonomously determining when to activate sensors and processors based on task requirements and environmental conditions.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the robotic assistant is designed with a contoured underbody and safety features to minimize injury, then user safety is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic assistant features a contoured underbody with curved surfaces instead of sharp edges or corners. This rounded design minimizes potential injury from contact while maintaining a relatively simple structural implementation, as the contoured shape can be achieved through standard manufacturing processes for the chassis housing.
Data Source
AI summary
A robotic assistant comprises a plurality of sensors in a compact and unobtrusive form. One or more sensors may be emplaced upon a mast that may be selectively raised and lowered. The mast allows the robotic assistant to acquire images or other sensor data from a greater height, without substantially increasing the bulk of the robotic assistant. For ease of transport from one floor to another or from one building to another, the robotic assistant may deploy a handhold that a human may use to pick up and carry the robotic assistant. Floor characterization sensors may be used to determine characteristics of the floor such as if the floor is wet or dry. The robotic assistant may be used to provide a user with access to network services, to monitor a facility, provide telepresence services, and so forth.