Rotatable Ring Arm for Mobile Robot Infrastructure Interaction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The adoption of robots in commercial and industrial settings, particularly in environments requiring frequent human-robot interactions, is hindered by the lack of technologies that enable them to effectively communicate with and navigate through building infrastructure, perform security operations, and manage inventory.
Innovation Solution
A mobile robot equipped with a motorized base, a mechanical arm on a rotatable ring, and various sensors, allowing it to move autonomously within buildings, open doors, use elevators, and perform security and inventory management tasks by generating motion plans and interacting with its environment through a central system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a robot is equipped with a mechanical arm and rotatable ring to increase degrees of freedom for navigation and task performance, then the robot's ability to interact with building infrastructure and perform tasks is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot's arm system is divided into multiple independent segments including a rotatable ring, mechanical arm with multiple joints, and mechanical hand. Each segment can rotate or move independently around the robot body, allowing the system to achieve complex positioning and interaction capabilities while maintaining modular control of each component
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical arm and rotatable ring are designed as dynamic components that can rotate and extend to various positions. The system transitions from a static robot body to a dynamic configuration that can adapt its reach and orientation to interact with doors, elevators, and other building infrastructure elements
2Extent of automation
If the robot uses sensors and controllers to autonomously navigate and perform tasks, then the extent of automation is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring environmental parameters increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot employs multiple types of sensors including cameras, LIDAR, and other detection devices that can serve multiple functions. These sensors not only detect obstacles for navigation but also identify specific features like door handles, elevator buttons, and infrastructure elements, allowing a single sensor system to handle both navigation and task-specific detection
Solution Approach 2:
The robot uses sensors to continuously gather environmental data and feeds this information back to the controller. The controller processes this feedback to adjust the robot's navigation path and arm positioning in real-time, enabling autonomous operation through closed-loop control that adapts to detected environmental parameters
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile robot is configured for operation in a commercial or industrial setting, such as an office building or retail store. The mobile robot can have a motorized base and a robot body on the motorized base, the robot body including a rotatable ring that rotates horizontally around the robot body. A mechanical arm that can contract and extend relative to the robot body is coupled to the rotatable ring and performs a plurality of actions. A controller of the mobile robot provides instructions to the rotatable ring and the mechanical arm and can cause the mechanical arm to open a door, take an elevator to move to a different floor, test whether a door is locked properly, and test whether an access control system of the door is working properly.