Auto-reach method and system for a remote vehicle

1. A method of controlling a remote vehicle having an end effector and an image sensing device disposed thereon to move the remote vehicle to approach an object, the method comprising:

moving the remote vehicle and the imaging sensing device from an initial pose to a targeting pose at which a focal point of the image sensing device is aligned with the object, wherein the end effector and the image sensing device are both mounted on a multi-unit manipulator arm of the remote vehicle, and wherein moving the remote vehicle and the image sensing device to the targeting pose comprises moving the multi-unit manipulator arm;

obtaining an image of the object with the image sensing device;

determining a ray from a focal point of the image to the object based on the obtained image;

positioning, by moving the multi-unit manipulator arm, the end effector of the remote vehicle to align with the determined ray;

moving, by moving the multi-unit manipulator arm, the end effector along the determined ray to approach the object;

grasping the object with the end effector; and

rotating and/or moving the object by moving the remote vehicle and/or end effector.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising providing at least one user input selection option, and receiving a first user input selection from the at least one user input selection option to determine the ray.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising receiving a second user input selection from the at least one user input selection option, and controlling the end effector to grip the object after receiving the second user input selection.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising receiving a third user input selection from the at least one user input selection option, and moving the image sensor to a targeting pose to view the object within a field of view of the image sensor before displaying the image of the object on the display.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the end effector and the image sensing device are both mounted on the multi-unit manipulator arm such that the end effector and the image sensing device are aligned along an arm section of the multi-unit manipulator arm, and wherein moving the end effector along the determined ray to approach the object comprises moving the multi-unit manipulator arm such that the end effector and the image sensing device approach from a same direction as a view from the image sensing device.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising detecting whether torque of a motor of the remote vehicle increases after moving the end effector to approach the object, and determining that the end effector reaches the object when the torque of the motor is detected to increase.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the remote vehicle comprises a chassis and moving the remote vehicle to approach the object comprises moving the chassis across a planar surface, and the remote vehicle is controlled by an operator that is remote from the vehicle.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the end effector is mounted on the multi-unit manipulator arm with a movable structure, and rotating the object comprises moving the movable structure.

9. A method of controlling a remote vehicle having an end effector and an image sensing device to move the remote vehicle to approach an object, the method comprising:

receiving a first input to move the image sensing device from an initial pose to a targeting pose to view an object within a field of view of the image sensing device, wherein a focal point of the image sensing device is aligned with the object in the targeting pose, wherein the end effector and the image sensing device are both mounted on a multi-unit manipulator arm of the remote vehicle, and wherein moving the remote vehicle and the image sensing device to the targeting pose comprises moving the multi-unit manipulator arm;

displaying an image of the object obtained from the image sensing device;

receiving a second input to move the image sensing device to an object alignment position at which a focal point of the image is aligned with the displayed, object;

determining a ray from the focal point of the image to the object based on the displayed image;

controlling, by moving the multi-unit manipulator arm, the end effector of the remote vehicle to be positioned to align with the determined ray;

moving the remote vehicle to approach the object;

controlling, by moving the multi-unit manipulator arm, the end effector to move along the determined ray to approach the object,

grasping the object with the end effector; and

rotating and/or moving the object by moving the remote vehicle and/or end effector.

10. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising providing at least one user input selection option, and receiving a first user input selection from the at least one user input selection option to determine the ray.

11. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising receiving a second user input selection from the at least one user input selection option, and controlling the end effector to grip the object after receiving the second user input selection.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising receiving a third user input selection from the at least one user input selection option, and moving the image sensor to a targeting pose to view the object within a field of view of the image sensor before displaying the image of the object on the display.

13. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the end effector and the image sensing device are both mounted on the multi-unit manipulator arm such that the end effector and the image sensing device are aligned along an arm section of the multi-unit manipulator arm, and wherein moving the end effector along the determined ray to approach the object comprises moving the multi-unit manipulator arm such that the end effector and the image sensing device approach from a same direction as a view from the image sensing device.

14. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising detecting whether torque of a motor of the remote vehicle increases after moving the end effector to approach the object, and determining that the end effector reaches the object when the torque of the motor is detected to increase.

15. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the remote vehicle comprises a chassis and moving the remote vehicle to approach the object comprises moving the chassis across a planar surface, and the remote vehicle is controlled by an operator that is remote from the vehicle.