Sony patents low-cost method for robots to map uneven floors
Sony describes a system that helps mobile devices navigate by combining 3D and 2D sensor data to identify obstacles. It calculates the angle of surfaces to distinguish flat walking areas from complex shapes, allowing the device to build a map and steer around barriers.
In the filing’s own words
To provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program that enable detection of a non-planar environment at low cost. The information processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes: a detection unit that detects an obstacle location that becomes obstruction for traveling in a traveling direction on the basis of a three-dimensional point cloud determined to be a traveling surface and a two-dimensional point cloud corresponding to the traveling direction.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An information processing apparatus, comprising: processing circuitry configured to detect an obstacle location that becomes an obstruction for traveling in a traveling direction on a basis of (i) a three-dimensional point cloud determined to be a traveling surface and (ii) a two-dimensional point cloud corresponding to the traveling direction; estimate a normal line for every point included in a plane specified on a basis of the three-dimensional point cloud; correct a direction of one of the normal lines such that an inner product of a vector from a sensor to a target point and a normal vector of the target point becomes negative; determine a normal line-added point cloud with normal line information of the normal line estimated for every point included in the plane, the normal line information including continuous values of the three-dimensional point cloud; determine the traveling surface on a basis of the normal line-added point cloud; generate a map based on two-dimensional information on a basis of information indicating the obstacle location; and control travelling of a mobile body on a basis of the map.
Facts
- Company
- Sony (Sony Group Corporation)
- Official title
- Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information processing program
- Patent number
- US12748212B2
- Application number
- 18726131
- Filed
- Jan 17, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 29, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 16
Classified under
G01S 17/931 Physics & computingG01C 21/206 Physics & computingG01S 17/894 Physics & computingMore from Sony in Robots & automation
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.