Patent ID: 11945124
Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS (RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT) LIMITED
Field: Control (Instruments)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A mobile robot comprising:
a drive subsystem configured to propel and steer the mobile robot;
an image sensor configured to:
generate image information for a scene in a movement path of the mobile robot, the image information comprising:
for each of a first plurality of pixels, respective distance values for the scene;
for each of a second plurality of pixels, respective intensity values for the scene, wherein the image sensor is a single time-of-flight sensor configured to determine both the respective distance values for each pixel of the first plurality of pixels and the respective intensity values for each pixel of the second plurality of pixels;

one or more processors; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
accessing the image information generated by the image sensor;
analyzing the image information to determine whether to modify the movement path of the mobile robot, wherein a target movement path of the mobile robot is a line on a floor, and wherein analyzing the image information to determine whether to modify the movement path of the mobile robot comprises:
analyzing the respective distance values for each pixel of the first plurality of pixels to detect an obstacle in the movement path of the mobile robot;
detecting, by analyzing the respective intensity values for each pixel of the first plurality of pixels, the line on the floor; and
determining, according to the respective intensity values for each pixel of the second plurality of pixels, whether the mobile robot is deviating from the line on the floor by determining whether the respective intensity values for one or more pixels of the second plurality of pixels meet one or more predetermined conditions, wherein determining according to the image information to modify the movement path of the mobile robot comprises determining, according to the respective intensity values for each pixel of the second plurality of pixels, that the movement path of the mobile robot has deviated from the target movement path of the mobile robot in a first direction, wherein determining, according to the respective intensity values for each pixel of the second plurality of pixels, that the movement path of the mobile robot has deviated from the target movement path of the mobile robot in the first direction comprises determining that an intensity value for a particular pixel in the second plurality of pixels meets a predetermined condition; and

initiating, in response to determining according to the image information to modify the movement path of the mobile robot, sending of a command to the drive subsystem to modify the movement path of the mobile robot.