Robotic devices may operate within a confined portion of a physical area or workspace. Mobile robots may perform routine tasks, such as vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, cutting grass, etc., without moving into certain areas specified by the user. However, on occasion, a vacuuming robot operating within a first area may be permitted to travel into a second area prior to satisfactory completion of, for example, a vacuuming task within the first area. In other instances, the vacuuming robot may collide with and, potentially, damage a fragile or unstable object that is not detected by sensors accessed by the vacuuming robot. In other instances, a user may simply prefer that a vacuuming robot remain outside of an area, for example, if the area is currently in use. Thus, it may be useful to confine a robotic device so as to operate within certain areas and to prevent unwanted transition between areas.
One approach toward confining robotic device may be to utilize physical barriers that block the robotic device from entering, or becoming proximate with, one or more objects and/or areas of operation. However, this solution is neither efficient nor practical since substantial extra equipment (e.g., barriers and/or other objects) may encumber routine movement through the area of operation by the robotic device. Further, such an approach may involve an undesirable degree of human intervention, which may decrease a level of autonomy of the system as a whole.
Various systems have been proposed to confine and control robotic devices within subsections of workspaces. It can be advantageous to confine a robotic vacuum, for example, in a portion of a workspace so that it can adequately clean that space before moving on to another area. As such, systems and methods for establishing virtual boundaries for robotic devices are provided herein.
The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
U.S. patent DocumentsU.S. Pat. No.Kind CodeIssue DatePatentee8,428,776B22013 Apr. 23RoboLabs Inc8,659,256B22014 Feb. 25iRobot Corp5,353,224A1994 Oct. 4Goldstar Co., Ltd., A Corp. of Korea, Goldstar Co Ltd5,537,017A1996 Jul. 16Siemens AG5,548,511A1996 Aug. 20NIL-FISK ADVANCE A.S., Axxon Robotics LLC, Nilfisk-Advance Inc5,634,237A1997 Jun. 3Paranjpe; Ajit P.6,389,329B12002 May 15Andre Colens
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