Granted Patent B2

US 12,724,421 · App. 18/615,022 · Granted Sep 1, 2026

Inventors: Joseph Scaglione (Poughkeepsie, NY); William J. Green (Cary, NC); Karl Owen Casserly (Valley Stream, NY); Mateusz Koziol (Poughkeepsie, NY)

Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation

G05D1/244G05D1/246G05D2107/70G05D2111/10G05D2111/32

Abstract

Claims (42)

1 . A method for facility navigation localization for a mobile robot operating autonomously, comprising:

deploying, using a computer, a retractable landmark in a work area in response to an operational threshold not being met for a mobile robot to autonomously operate traversing the work area;

the operational threshold not being met being based on, determining, using the computer, when landmarks in the work area for the mobile robot to use as perimeter markers to provide a perimeter for the mobile robot to autonomously operate, do not meet the operational threshold;

wherein the deploying of the retractable landmark obstructs a floor of the work area, and provides a landmark for the mobile robot which detects the retractable landmark using one or more sensors mounted on the robot; and

retracting the retractable landmark into a recess such that the floor of the work area is unobstructed when the landmark is retracted.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the deployment of the retractable landmark provides another perimeter marker in addition to the landmarks in the work area used as the perimeter markers, and the operational threshold is met when the retractable landmark is deployed.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining when the landmarks do not provide the perimeter meeting the operational threshold includes using a computer simulation.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

retracting the retractable landmark to remove the retractable landmark to use as a perimeter marker.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the retractable landmark is actuatable from a hidden position to a deployed position resulting in the operational threshold being met, and the hidden position results in the operational threshold not being met.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the retractable landmark is actuatable from a hidden position to a deployed position as a perimeter marker, and when in the hidden position the retractable landmark is not available as a perimeter marker.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the retractable landmark is actuatable from a hidden position to a deployed position as a perimeter marker, and when in the hidden position the retractable landmark is not available as a perimeter marker, and actuating the retractable landmark from the hidden position includes mechanical operation.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the retractable landmark is actuatable from a hidden position to a deployed position as a perimeter marker, and when in the hidden position the retractable landmark is not available as a perimeter marker, and actuating the retractable landmark from the hidden position includes mechanical operation which includes electrical or mechanical actuation in the deploying of the retractable landmark.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the retractable landmark is actuatable from a hidden position to a deployed position as a perimeter marker, and when in the hidden position the retractable landmark is not available as a perimeter marker, wherein actuating the retractable landmark from the hidden position and retracting the retractable landmark from the deployed position includes mechanical operation which includes electrical or mechanical actuation and retraction in the deploying and retraction of the retractable landmark.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

actuating, as part of the deploying, the retractable landmark from a hidden position to a deployed position as a perimeter marker, wherein the retractable landmark in the hidden position is not available as a perimeter marker, and wherein the actuating of the retractable landmark from the hidden position includes mechanical operation; and

retracting the retractable landmark from the deployed position to return to the hidden position, wherein the retracting includes mechanical operation.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

actuating, as part of the deploying, the retractable landmark from a hidden position to a deployed position as a perimeter marker, wherein the retractable landmark in the hidden position is not available as a perimeter marker, and wherein the actuating of the retractable landmark from the hidden position includes mechanical operation which includes electrical or mechanical actuation in the deploying of the retractable landmark;

retracting the retractable landmark from the deployed position to return to the hidden position, wherein the retracting includes mechanical operation which includes electrical or mechanical actuation in the retracting of the retractable landmark.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

deploying a plurality of retractable landmarks in the work area in response to the operational threshold not being met for the mobile robot to autonomously operate traversing the work area.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining which objects of a plurality of objects in the work areas to designate as the landmarks in the work area for the mobile robot to use as the perimeter markers to provide the perimeter for the mobile robot to operate traversing the work area.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

scanning, using a device communicating with the computer, the work area for the landmarks, as part of the determining when the landmarks in the work area for the mobile robot to use as the perimeter markers provides the perimeter for the mobile robot.

15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, at the computer, a layout of the work area for the mobile robot, as part of the determining when the landmarks in the work area do not provide the perimeter meeting the operational threshold.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the operational threshold includes requirements for the perimeter markers meeting specifications for guidance of the mobile robot.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the operational threshold includes requirements for perimeter markers to meet specifications for guidance used by a guidance system of the mobile robot, and the specifications of the perimeter markers meet requirements for physical attributes for being detectable by the guidance system.

18 . A system for facility navigation localization for a mobile robot operating autonomously, which comprises:

a scanning device, capable of communication with a computer, to detect landmarks in a work area for operation of a mobile robot, and the computer having computer readable storage medium with embodied program instructions to determine when landmarks in the work area do not provide perimeter markers to define a perimeter meeting an operational threshold for the mobile robot to autonomously operate traversing the work area;

one or more retractable landmarks being deployable in the work area, using the computer, in response to the operational threshold not being met;

wherein the deploying of the retractable landmark obstructs a floor of the work area, and provides a landmark for the mobile robot which detects the retractable landmark using one or more sensors mounted on the robot; and

retracting the retractable landmark into a recess such that the floor of the work area is unobstructed when the landmark is retracted.

19 . A method for facility navigation localization for a mobile robot operating autonomously, comprising:

determining, using a computer, when landmarks in a work area do not provide perimeter markers to define a perimeter meeting an operational threshold for a mobile robot to autonomously operate traversing the work area;

initiating, using the computer, deployment of a retractable landmark in the work area in response to the operational threshold not being met;

wherein the deploying of the retractable landmark obstructs a floor of the work area, and provides a landmark for the mobile robot which detects the retractable landmark using one or more sensors mounted on the robot; and

retracting the retractable landmark into a recess such that the floor of the work area is unobstructed when the landmark is retracted.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

generating a layout plan including the retractable landmark, for facility navigation localization for the mobile robot.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (54)