ROBOTS, TELE-OPERATION SYSTEMS, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS, AND METHODS OF OPERATING THE SAME
The present disclosure describes robots, tele-operation systems, methods, and computer program products where a robot is selectively operable in a plurality of control modes. Based on identification of a fault condition (when the robot fails to act in a suitable or sufficient manner), a control mode of the robot can be changed to provide a human operator with more explicit control over the robot. In this way, the fault condition can be resolved by human operator input, and the control modes, AI, or control paradigm for the robot can be trained to perform better in the future.
1 . A robot selectively operable in a plurality of control modes including a first control mode that corresponds to a first level of robot autonomy and at least a second control mode that corresponds to a second level of robot autonomy, the second level of robot autonomy being less autonomous than the first level of robot autonomy, the robot comprising:
at least one processor;
a communication interface that communicatively couples the at least one processor to a tele-operation system;
at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the robot to:
operate in the first control mode;
identify a fault condition of the robot during operation of the robot in the first control mode;
in response to identifying the fault condition during operation of the robot in the first control mode, change the control mode from the first control mode to the second control mode; and
operate the robot in the second control mode,
wherein operation of the robot in the second control mode requires more explicit input from an operator of the tele-operation system via the communication interface than operation of the robot in the first control mode.
2 . The robot of claim 1 , wherein the first level of robot autonomy comprises full robot autonomy, and operation of the robot in the first control mode requires no input from the operator of the tele-operation system.
3 . The robot of claim 2 , wherein the second level of robot autonomy comprises partial robot autonomy, and the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to operate in the second control mode cause the robot to operate based on at least one action instruction from the operator of the tele-operation system received by the communication interface, the at least one action instruction indicating at least one action to be performed by the robot.
4 . The robot of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of control modes further includes a third control mode that corresponds to a third level of robot autonomy, the third level of robot autonomy being less autonomous than the second level of robot autonomy, wherein the third level of robot autonomy comprises no robot autonomy, and operation of the robot in the third control mode is based on at least one movement instruction from the operator of the tele-operation system received by the communication interface, the at least one movement instruction indicating at least one movement to be emulated by at least one actuatable member of the robot.
5 . The robot of claim 2 , wherein the second level of robot autonomy comprises no robot autonomy, and the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to operate in the second control mode cause the robot to operate based on at least one movement instruction from the operator of the tele-operation system received by the communication interface, the at least one movement instruction indicating at least one movement to be emulated by at least one actuatable member of the robot.
6 . The robot of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of control modes further includes a third control mode that corresponds to a third level of robot autonomy, the third level of robot autonomy being less autonomous than the first level of robot autonomy and more autonomous than the second level of robot autonomy, wherein the third level of robot autonomy comprises partial robot autonomy, and operation of the robot in the third control mode is based on at least one action instruction from the operator of the tele-operation system received by the communication interface, the at least one action instruction indicating at least one action to be performed by the robot.
7 . The robot of claim 1 , wherein:
the first level of robot autonomy comprises partial robot autonomy;
the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to operate in the first control mode cause the robot to operate based on at least one action instruction from the operator of the tele-operation system received by the communication interface, the at least one action instruction indicating at least one action to be performed by the robot;
the second level of robot autonomy comprises no robot autonomy; and
the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to operate in the second control mode cause the robot to operate based on at least one movement instruction from the operator of the tele-operation system received by the communication interface, the at least one movement instruction indicating at least one movement to be emulated by at least one actuatable member of the robot.
8 . The robot of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of control modes further includes a third control mode that corresponds to a third level of robot autonomy, the third level of robot autonomy being more autonomous than the first level of robot autonomy, wherein the third level of robot autonomy comprises full robot autonomy, and operation of the robot in the third control mode requires no input from the operator of the tele-operation system.
9 . The robot of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of control modes further includes a third control mode that corresponds to a third level of robot autonomy, the third level of robot autonomy being less autonomous than the second level of robot autonomy, and the processor-executable instructions further cause the robot to:
identify another fault condition of the robot during operation of the robot in the second control mode;
in response to identifying the another fault condition during operation of the robot in the second control mode, change the control mode from the second control mode to the third control mode; and
operate the robot in the third control mode.
10 . The robot of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium stores the plurality of control modes;
the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to operate in the first control mode cause the robot to:
access, by the at least one processor, the first control mode from the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium; and
operate, by the at least one processor, the robot in the first control mode; and
the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to operate in the second control mode cause the robot to:
access, by the at least one processor, the second control mode from the at least one non-transitory processor-readable storage medium; and
operate, by the at least one processor, the robot in the second control mode.
11 . The robot of claim 1 , further comprising at least one sensor, wherein:
the processor-executable instructions further cause the robot to capture, by the at least one sensor, sensor data representing an environment of the robot; and
the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to identify a fault condition of the robot cause the robot to: identify, by the at least one processor based on the sensor data, that the robot has failed to complete an action to be performed by the robot.
12 . The robot of claim 1 , further comprising at least one sensor, wherein:
the processor-executable instructions further cause the robot to capture, by the at least one sensor, sensor data representing an environment of the robot; and
the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to identify a fault condition of the robot cause the robot to: identify, by the at least one processor based on the sensor data, that the robot is unable to complete an action to be performed by the robot.
13 . The robot of claim 1 , further comprising at least one sensor, wherein:
the processor-executable instructions further cause the robot to capture, by the at least one sensor, sensor data representing an environment of the robot; and
the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to identify a fault condition of the robot cause the robot to: identify, by the at least one processor based on the sensor data, that the robot has improperly completed an action to be performed by the robot.
14 . The robot of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to identify a fault condition of the robot cause the robot to: identify, by the at least one processor, that the at least one processor is unable to determine an action or movement to be performed by the robot.
15 . The robot of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the at least one processor to identify a fault condition of the robot cause the robot to: identify, by the at least one processor, that the at least one processor is unable to determine an action or movement to be performed by the robot with sufficient confidence to perform the determined action or movement.
16 . The robot of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the at least one processor to identify a fault condition of the robot cause the robot to: identify, by the at least one processor, that the robot has received operator input from the operator of the tele-operation system which indicates a fault condition of the robot.
17 . The robot of claim 1 wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the robot to: in response to identifying the fault condition of the robot during operation of the robot in the first mode, output a fault indication.
18 . The robot of claim 17 , wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to output the fault indication cause the robot to: send, by the communication interface, the fault indication to be received by the tele-operation system.
19 . The robot of claim 17 , wherein the processor-executable instructions which cause the robot to output the fault indication cause the robot to: output, by an audio output device of the robot, the fault indication.
20 . The robot of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the robot to:
train the first control mode based on at least input from the operator of the tele-operation system received for operating the robot in the second control mode.