Granted Patent B2

US 12,440,970 · App. 18/443,180 · Granted Oct 14, 2025

Inventors: Stephen George Berard (Waltham, MA); Andrew James Barry (Cambridge, MA); Benjamin John Swilling (Winchester, MA); Alfred Anthony Rizzi (Cambridge, MA)

Assignee: Boston Dynamics, Inc.

B25J9/162B25J9/1661B25J9/1664B25J5/00B25J5/007G05B2219/39172G05B2219/40298

Abstract

Claims (54)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at an arm controller of a robot, a task request defining a task for the robot to perform using an articulated arm of the robot;

generating, by the arm controller, i) instructions for controlling the articulated arm to perform the task request and ii) at least one balance parameter identifying anticipated forces applied by the articulated arm performing the task;

providing the at least one balance parameter to a base controller of the robot; and

instructing, by the base controller, a base of the robot to counter-balance the articulated arm performing the task based on the at least one balance parameter.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating, by the arm controller, base parameters associated with the task request, the base parameters including the at least one balance parameter; and

instructing, by the base controller, the base of the robot to move from a current base configuration to an anticipatory base configuration based on the base parameters.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the current base configuration provides the robotic arm with a first workspace and the anticipatory base configuration provides the robotic arm with a second workspace, the method further comprising:

determining, by the arm controller, that the robotic arm is unable to complete the task within the first workspace; and

determining, by the arm controller, the base parameters for instructing the base controller to move the base of the robot to the anticipatory base configuration such that the second workspace enables the robotic arm to complete the task.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein instructing the base of the robot to move from the current base configuration to the anticipatory base configuration comprises instructing the base of the robot to change one of a location or a pose of the base.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, by the arm controller, arm sensor data of the articulated arm associated with changing a configuration of the articulated arm; and

instructing, by the base controller based on the arm sensor data, the base of the robot to move from the anticipatory base configuration to a responsive base configuration.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the task request comprises a request to move an object outside of a workspace of the articulated arm provided by a current base configuration of the base.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the task request comprises instructing the base of the robot to follow a continuous path outside of a workspace of the articulated arm provided by a current base configuration of the base.

8. A robot comprising:

a base;

an articulated arm coupled to the base;

data processing hardware comprising an arm controller and a base controller; and

memory hardware storing instructions that when executed by the data processing hardware cause the data processing hardware to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at an arm controller of a robot, a task request defining a task for the robot to perform using an articulated arm of the robot;

generating, by the arm controller, i) instructions for controlling the articulated arm to perform the task request and ii) at least one balance parameter identifying anticipated forces applied by the articulated arm performing the task;

providing the at least one balance parameter to a base controller of the robot; and

instructing, by the base controller, a base of the robot to counter-balance the articulated arm performing the task based on the at least one balance parameter.

9. The robot of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:

generating, by the arm controller, base parameters associated with the task request, the base parameters including the at least one balance parameter; and

instructing, by the base controller, the base of the robot to move from a current base configuration to an anticipatory base configuration based on the base parameters.

10. The robot of claim 9 , wherein the current base configuration provides the robotic arm with a first workspace and the anticipatory base configuration provides the robotic arm with a second workspace, the operations further comprising:

determining, by the arm controller, that the robotic arm is unable to complete the task within the first workspace; and

determining, by the arm controller, the base parameters for instructing the base controller to move the base of the robot to the anticipatory base configuration such that the second workspace enables the robotic arm to complete the task.

11. The robot of claim 9 , wherein instructing the base of the robot to move from the current base configuration to the anticipatory base configuration comprises instructing the base of the robot to change one of a location or a pose of the base.

12. The robot of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, by the arm controller, arm sensor data of the articulated arm associated with changing a configuration of the articulated arm; and

instructing, by the base controller based on the arm sensor data, the base of the robot to move from the anticipatory base configuration to a responsive base configuration.

13. The robot of claim 8 , wherein the task request comprises a request to move an object outside of a workspace of the articulated arm provided by a current base configuration of the base.

14. The robot of claim 8 , wherein the task request comprises instructing the base of the robot to follow a continuous path outside of a workspace of the articulated arm provided by a current base configuration of the base.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium of a robot comprising a base and an articulated arm coupled to the base, the storage medium comprising instructions that when executed by a data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at an arm controller of the data processing apparatus, a task request defining a task for the robot to perform using an articulated arm of the robot;

generating, by the arm controller, i) instructions for controlling the articulated arm to perform the task request and ii) at least one balance parameter identifying anticipated forces applied by the articulated arm performing the task;

providing the at least one balance parameter to a base controller of the data processing apparatus; and

instructing, by the base controller, a base of the robot to counter-balance the articulated arm performing the task based on the at least one balance parameter.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:

generating, by the arm controller, base parameters associated with the task request, the base parameters including the at least one balance parameter; and

instructing, by the base controller, the base of the robot to move from a current base configuration to an anticipatory base configuration based on the base parameters.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the current base configuration provides the robotic arm with a first workspace and the anticipatory base configuration provides the robotic arm with a second workspace, the operations further comprising:

determining, by the arm controller, that the robotic arm is unable to complete the task within the first workspace; and

determining, by the arm controller, the base parameters for instructing the base controller to move the base of the robot to the anticipatory base configuration such that the second workspace enables the robotic arm to complete the task.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein instructing the base of the robot to move from the current base configuration to the anticipatory base configuration comprises instructing the base of the robot to change one of a location or a pose of the base.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, by the arm controller, arm sensor data of the articulated arm associated with changing a configuration of the articulated arm; and

instructing, by the base controller based on the arm sensor data, the base of the robot to move from the anticipatory base configuration to a responsive base configuration.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the task request comprises a request to move an object outside of a workspace of the articulated arm provided by a current base configuration of the base.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (46)