Granted Patent B2

US 12,210,360 · App. 17/934,782 · Granted Jan 28, 2025

Inventors: Shipra Arora (Arlington, VA); Michael Foster (Stoneham, MA); Frank Judge (Andover, MA); Brandon Rohrer (Boston, MA); Christopher Shumaker (Cambridge, MA); Matthew Weyant (Medford, MA); Alex Wong (Somerville, MA); Lauren D. Stern (Medford, MA)

Assignee: iRobot Corporation

G05D1/6482G05D1/0214G05D1/0274G05D1/223G05D1/2246G05D1/6485G05D1/6486

Abstract

Claims (50)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a user device, mapping data indicative of a map of an environment, the mapping data collected by an autonomous mobile robot as the autonomous mobile robot moves about the environment; and

responsive to user interaction with the mapping data, defining, at the user device,

a behavior control zone representing only a portion of the environment, the behavior control zone defined with a geometrical boundary in the mapping data,

a behavior defined with respect to the behavior control zone, and

at least one condition defined with respect to the behavior control zone, wherein, upon the at least one condition being satisfied, the behavior control zone is caused to be active, such that, when the at least one condition is satisfied, the autonomous mobile robot initiates the behavior in response to encountering the behavior control zone,

wherein the behavior comprises a focused clean behavior in which the behavior control zone receives an enhanced level of cleaning, or a movement behavior, and

wherein the at least one condition comprises at least one of a condition of the environment or a condition of the autonomous mobile robot.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one condition comprises the condition of the environment.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the condition of the environment is based on a presence or non-presence of an occupant of the environment.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the condition of the environment comprises that the behavior control zone is active when a human or pet is not in a vicinity of the behavior control zone.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one condition comprises the condition of the autonomous mobile robot.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the condition of the autonomous mobile robot is based on a battery level of the autonomous mobile robot.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the behavior is a first behavior, wherein the autonomous mobile robot is a first autonomous mobile robot, and

wherein the method comprises defining, responsive to a second user interaction with the mapping data, at the user device, a second behavior for a second autonomous mobile robot, the second behavior different from the first behavior,

wherein the second autonomous mobile robot initiates the second behavior in response to encountering the behavior control zone.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the second behavior comprises a cleaning behavior, and the first behavior comprises an avoidance behavior.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising defining that a second autonomous mobile robot does not change behavior in response to encountering the behavior control zone.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping data indicates a plurality of sensor events detected in the behavior control zone by the autonomous mobile robot, the plurality of sensor events having a common event type,

wherein the method comprises recommending the behavior control zone at the user device based on the plurality of sensor events.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the common event type comprises a wheel drop event, in which a drive wheel of the autonomous mobile robot extends from the autonomous mobile robot beyond a threshold distance.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the common event type comprises a wheel slip event, in which a drive wheel of the autonomous mobile robot loses traction with a floor surface across which the autonomous mobile robot moves.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the common event type comprises a wedge event, in which the autonomous mobile robot is wedged between an obstacle above the autonomous mobile robot and a floor surface.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein defining the behavior control zone is based on a user-selected modification of a recommended behavior control zone.

15. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

defining, responsive to a second user interaction with the mapping data, at the user device,

a second behavior control zone, wherein the second behavior control zone represents a portion of the environment different from the portion of the environment represented by the behavior control zone, and

at least one second condition defined with respect to the second behavior control zone, wherein upon the at least one second condition being satisfied, the second behavior control zone is caused to be active, such that, when the at least one second condition is satisfied, the autonomous mobile robot initiates a second behavior in response to encountering the second behavior control zone,

wherein the at least one second condition is different from the at least one condition for the behavior control zone.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one condition differs from at least one second condition defined with respect to with a second behavior control zone, wherein the second behavior control zone represents a portion of the environment different from the portion of the environment represented by the behavior control zone,

wherein the at least one second condition comprises at least one of a condition of the environment or a condition of the autonomous mobile robot, and

upon the at least second condition being satisfied, the second behavior control zone is caused to be active, such that, when the at least one second condition is satisfied, the autonomous mobile robot initiates a second behavior in response to encountering the second behavior control zone,

wherein the second behavior comprises a focused clean behavior in which the second behavior control zone receives an enhanced level of cleaning, or a movement behavior, and

wherein the second behavior differs from the behavior.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the behavior comprises the movement behavior, and wherein the movement behavior comprises a movement pattern within the behavior control zone, a movement speed within the behavior control zone, movement along a perimeter of the behavior control zone, or movement to escape the behavior control zone.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the behavior comprises the focus clean behavior, and wherein the focus clean behavior comprises a suction power, a movement speed within the behavior control zone, a brush rotation speed, a rotatable member movement speed, or a movement pattern within the behavior control zone.

19. A system comprising:

one or more processors, and

one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a user device, mapping data indicative of a map of an environment, the mapping data collected by an autonomous mobile robot as the autonomous mobile robot moves about the environment; and

responsive to user interaction with the mapping data, defining, at the user device,

a behavior control zone representing only a portion of the environment, the behavior control zone defined with a geometrical boundary in the mapping data,

a behavior defined with respect to the behavior control zone, and

at least one condition defined with respect to the behavior control zone, wherein, upon the at least one condition being satisfied, the behavior control zone is caused to be active, such that, when the at least one condition is satisfied, the autonomous mobile robot initiates the behavior in response to encountering the behavior control zone,

wherein the behavior comprises a focused clean behavior in which the behavior control zone receives an enhanced level of cleaning, or a movement behavior, and

wherein the at least one condition comprises at least one of a condition of the environment or a condition of the autonomous mobile robot.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one condition comprises the condition of the environment.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the behavior is a first behavior, wherein the autonomous mobile robot is a first autonomous mobile robot, and

wherein the operations comprise defining, responsive to a second user interaction with the mapping data, at the user device, a second behavior for a second autonomous mobile robot, the second behavior different from the first behavior,

wherein the second autonomous mobile robot initiates the second behavior in response to encountering the behavior control zone.

Assignments (5)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (39)