Autonomous Greens Mower Navigation Using RTK-GPS Boundaries
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional robotic greens mowers rely on beacon-based local positioning systems, which face ambiguities and installation challenges due to symmetric shapes or similar beacon patterns, necessitating a more accurate, efficient, and cost-effective beacon-free navigation solution.
Innovation Solution
The system employs RTK-GPS technology to train greens perimeter shapes and keep-out zones, using a training apparatus to iteratively record geolocations, smooth data, and associate these with an RTK-GPS base for precise navigation, eliminating the need for beacons and reducing ambiguity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If beacon-based local positioning system is used, then navigation can be implemented, but location ambiguities occur due to symmetric shapes or similar beacon patterns
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical beacon-based positioning system with a GPS-based satellite positioning system. The autonomous mower uses GPS coordinates to identify and associate with specific greens, eliminating the physical beacons and their geometric patterns that caused ambiguity. This substitution resolves the location ambiguity problem by using unique geographic coordinates instead of potentially symmetric beacon arrangements.
2Reliability
If beacon-based system is deployed, then navigation is achieved, but installation complexity increases due to beacon placement requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the beacons from the navigation system, replacing them with a GPS-based approach. The training apparatus records GPS coordinates of green perimeters and keep-out zones without requiring any physical beacons to be installed on the golf course. This extraction eliminates the installation complexity associated with placing and configuring multiple beacons while maintaining navigation capability through coordinate-based positioning.
3Measurement precision
If RTK-GPS technology is used, then location precision is improved, but system cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements RTK-GPS technology selectively for the training apparatus used during the initial perimeter recording phase, where high precision is critical for accurately defining green boundaries and keep-out zones. For the autonomous mower's operational navigation, standard GPS with augmentation may suffice, providing high measurement precision where needed while controlling overall system cost through partial deployment of the most expensive technology.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for autonomous mower navigation includes a robotic golf greens mower, an RTK-GPS base for providing RTK-GPS correction data, a cloud based data processing service for processing geolocation data, one or more computer servers, one or more mobile devices, a data communications network for providing communications access between any of the RTK-GPS base, the mobile device, the cloud service, and the robotic greens mower. The RTK-GPS correction data is processed by the cloud service and provided to the robotics greens mower via the data communications network.