Robotic Trolley RF Beacon Tracking for Low-Complexity Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic trolley solutions are intrusive, expensive, and require complex infrastructure, making them unsuitable for widespread adoption in warehouses, supermarkets, agriculture, and for users with disabilities, as they often rely on optical systems or multiple beacons for navigation.
Innovation Solution
A robotic trolley equipped with motorized wheels, a microcontroller, a central data processing unit, and transmitter and receiver beacons that use radio frequency signals to determine its position relative to a remote beacon, allowing it to follow users or navigate infrastructure autonomously, while being adaptable to standard trolleys and contexts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If optical systems and shape recognition are used for user tracking, then the robot can autonomously identify and follow users, but the system becomes intrusive and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex optical tracking systems with a simple radio frequency beacon system. Instead of using cameras and shape recognition algorithms, the solution uses a transmitting beacon on the user and a receiving beacon on the robot that communicates via radio frequency signals, dramatically simplifying the system while maintaining autonomous tracking capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a radio frequency beacon as an intermediary communication medium between the user and the robot. The transmitting beacon on the user and receiving beacon on the robot exchange position data through radio frequency signals, serving as a simple intermediary that enables autonomous tracking without complex optical systems
2Measurement precision
If multiple transmitting beacons are placed on the trolley for precise positioning, then positioning accuracy improves, but the design becomes complicated and material cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional approach by placing the transmitting beacon on the user (remote object) and the receiving beacon on the robot (mobile object). This inversion allows the robot to determine its position relative to the user by receiving radio frequency signals containing position data, achieving precise positioning with a single transmitting beacon rather than multiple beacons on the robot
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the transmitting beacon function from the robot and places it on the user instead. This extraction allows the robot to use a simpler receiving beacon that only needs to receive radio frequency signals, reducing the robot's complexity while maintaining positioning precision through the user's beacon
3Reliability
If robotic trolleys use specialized infrastructure and pre-established routes, then navigation reliability improves, but adaptability to different contexts decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal beacon-based navigation system that can operate in multiple contexts without requiring specialized infrastructure. The transmitting beacon on the user and receiving beacon on the robot provide a context-independent solution that works in warehouses, supermarkets, agriculture, and for disabled people, making the system highly adaptable while maintaining reliable navigation through radio frequency communication
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a cost-effective, non-intrusive, and adaptable robotic trolley that can follow users or navigate infrastructure autonomously, enhancing user acceptance and ease of implementation in various settings, including warehouses and supermarkets.
Implementation Method 1
a first transmitting beacon (7) configured to emit at least one first radio frequency signal (71), and a second transmitting beacon (8) configured to emit at least one second radio frequency signal (81)
Implementation Method 2
a receiving beacon (5) configured to receive at least one third radio frequency signal (91) from the remote transceiver beacon (9), (11)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a truck robotization system 1 comprising two transmitter beacons 7 and 8 emitting respective radiofrequency signals 71 and 81 to a transmitter-receiver beacon 9 remote from the truck, and a receiver beacon 5 receiving a third radiofrequency signal 91 coming from the remote transceiver beacon 9, the third signal 91 comprising data dependent on the first and second signals so as to generate at least one location data item as a function of the third signal 91. The invention proposes a location solution of the cart relative to a remote transceiver beacon to generate cart control data. The trolley is able to follow a user and/or to locate itself in an infrastructure.