Mobile Apparatus Sensor Posture Stabilization for Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The sensors in mobile apparatuses that move autonomously in environments often experience noise due to the apparatus's motion, leading to reduced accuracy in environment recognition.
Innovation Solution
A mobile apparatus equipped with a moving mechanism, a sensor, a sensor posture control mechanism, an environment observation unit, a moving mechanism control unit, a sensor posture estimation unit, and a sensor posture stabilization unit. This configuration allows for the stabilization of the sensor posture based on internal moving mechanism control commands, minimizing relative changes in sensor posture estimation values with respect to environment information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the sensor is fixed to the frame of the mobile apparatus, then the structure is simple, but shake occurs due to vibrations and the accuracy of environment recognition is lowered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the mobile apparatus into separate functional modules: the moving mechanism (mobile apparatus body) and the sensor are separated, with the sensor mounted on a separate support structure. This segmentation allows the sensor to be isolated from vibrations of the moving mechanism, reducing shake while maintaining structural simplicity through modular design.
2Measurement precision
If a sensor with a high frame rate is used, then the accuracy of environment recognition can be increased, but it is expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical solution of using a high frame rate sensor with a control system that actively compensates for sensor shake. The control unit processes sensor output to generate correction commands, substituting expensive high-performance hardware with a more cost-effective software-based correction approach.
3Measurement precision
If camera shake correction technology is used to detect and cancel camera shake, then noise is reduced, but the correction range is limited and camera parameters change affecting subsequent processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback control system where the control unit continuously monitors sensor output and generates correction commands based on detected shake. This feedback mechanism allows dynamic adjustment of correction parameters, expanding the correction range beyond fixed optical correction while maintaining noise reduction effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
To more reliably reduce noise from a sensor of a mobile apparatus that moves in an automated manner in an environment, and improve the accuracy of environment recognition. A mobile apparatus includes: an environment observation unit that generates environment information on the basis of a sensing result of a sensor; a moving mechanism control unit that generates, on the basis of the environment information, a moving mechanism control command value for controlling a motion of a moving mechanism and outputs the moving mechanism control command value to the moving mechanism to drive the moving mechanism; a sensor posture estimation unit that estimates, on the basis of the environment information, a posture of a sensor when the moving mechanism moves in the environment to generate a sensor posture estimation value; and a sensor posture stabilization unit that generates, on the basis of the moving mechanism control command value, a sensor posture control command value for stabilizing the posture of the sensor to set a relative change of the sensor posture estimation value with respect to the environment information when the moving mechanism is driven on the basis of the moving mechanism control command value to be less than a threshold value, and outputs the sensor posture control command value to the sensor posture control mechanism to stabilize the posture of the sensor.