Sony patents robot tech that picks the best sensor to track its position
Sony describes an autonomous mobile device that uses a combination of sensors to track its own location. The system checks how the device is moving and selects the most suitable sensor data—such as wheel speed or displacement—to calculate its position accurately.
In the filing’s own words
The present disclosure relates to an autonomous mobile device, a control method, and a program which enable higher-speed self-position estimation with higher accuracy and with a smaller calculation load. Provided is an autonomous mobile device including: a sensor unit including at least a first sensor that detects an angular velocity, a second sensor that is installed in a housing and detects a speed of a wheel, and a third sensor that detects a displacement amount on a two-dimensional plane; and a self-position estimation unit that estimates a self-position on the basis of parameters calculated by the sensor unit, the self-position estimation unit using a predetermined parameter suitable for a predetermined condition among the parameters of the respective sensors calculated by the sensor unit when estimating the self-position. The present disclosure can be applied to, for example, an autonomous mobile robot device.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An autonomous mobile device, comprising: a housing; a sensor unit that includes at least a first sensor, a second sensor, and a third sensor, wherein the first sensor is configured to detect an angular velocity of the autonomous mobile device, the second sensor is in the housing of the autonomous mobile device, the second sensor is configured to detect a speed of a wheel of the autonomous mobile device, and the third sensor is configured to detect a displacement amount, on a two-dimensional plane, of the autonomous mobile device; and a central processing unit (CPU) configured to: acquire a plurality of parameters from the sensor unit, wherein the plurality of parameters includes the angular velocity of the autonomous mobile device, the speed of the wheel of the autonomous mobile device, and the displacement amount of the autonomous mobile device; determine a traveling state of the autonomous mobile device; select a specific parameter from the plurality of parameters based on the determined traveling state, wherein the selected specific parameter is one of the angular velocity of the autonomous mobile device, the speed of the wheel of the autonomous mobile device, or the displacement amount of the autonomous mobile device; and estimate a self-position of the autonomous mobile device based on the selected specific parameter.
Facts
- Company
- Sony (SONY GROUP CORPORATION)
- Official title
- Autonomous mobile device and control method
- Patent number
- US12754551B2
- Application number
- 18246106
- Filed
- Sep 24, 2021
- Granted
- Oct 6, 2026
- Inventors
- 5
- Claims
- 17
Classified under
G05D 1/0268 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.