Patent ID: 7643906
Filing Date: 2010-01-05
Classification: G01C

Abstract:
1. An obstacle and cliff avoiding system, comprising: a housing; at least a driving wheel, arranged in the housing for supporting the housing while driving the housing to move accordingly; a single displacement sensor, arranged in the housing, capable of emitting and receiving working signals; a rotating apparatus configured to drive the single displacement sensor to rotate independently of the housing; and a control unit configured to receive signals transmitted from the single displacement sensor and make an evaluation only based on the signals transmitted from the single displacement sensor to determine presence of an obstacle and a drop in front of the moving direction of the housing, and thus issue a control signal for controlling the housing to maneuver around the obstacle or the drop; wherein, the paths of signal emission and reception of the single displacement sensor are tilted by a specific angle with respect to a planar surface defined by the housing, and wherein the rotating apparatus is configured to independently drive the single displacement sensor to rotate back and forth within a specific angle for enabling the single displacement sensor to scan a defined fan-like area.