Patent Description:
In general, a mobile robot is a device that automatically performs a predetermined operation while driving by itself in a predetermined area without a user's manipulation. The mobile robot senses an obstacle located in the area to perform an operation by moving closer to or away from the obstacle.

Such a mobile robot may include a mobile robot that mows the lawn on a ground surface of a region as well as a cleaning robot that performs cleaning while driving in the region. In general, a mobile robot device may include a riding type device that mows the lawn or weeds the grass on the ground while moving according to a user's operation when the user rides on the device, and a walk-behind type or hand type device that mows the lawn while moving when the user manually pulls or pushes the device. Such a mobile robot device is moved by the user's direct manipulation to mow the lawn, so there is an inconvenience in that the user must directly operate the device. Accordingly, a mobile robot-type mobile robot device having an element capable of mowing the lawn in a mobile robot is being studied.

In the case of such a mobile robot for a lawn mower (lawn mower), since it operates outdoors rather than indoors, it drives over a wider region than a mobile robot that drives in an indoor environment. In the case of indoors, the ground is monotonous, and factors such as terrain/objects that affect driving are limited, but in the case of outdoors, there are various factors that affect driving, and the terrain is greatly affected. In particular, since the mobile robot may drive in an unrestricted wide region due to the nature of an outdoor region, it is essential to set a driving region for the mobile robot to drive. Therefore, it is essentially required to set a driving region for the mobile robot to drive, that is, to set a boundary region and to accurately recognize the boundary region.

On the other hand, <CIT>) (hereinafter, referred to as a prior document) discloses a technology in which a plurality of beacons are installed at a boundary portion of the driving region to allow a robot to determine a relative position with respect to the beacons based on a signal transmitted from the beacons while driving along the boundary, and store coordinate information thereof so as to use the stored information for position determination. In other words, according to the prior document, signals are transmitted and received to and from the plurality of beacons distributed at the boundary portion of the driving region to set the driving region based on the transmission and reception result, thereby performing accurate driving region/position recognition using relative position information with respect to the plurality of beacons. Due to this, it may be possible to partially overcome the limitation of the position recognition of the mobile robot system.

However, in the prior document, the boundary region is set only by simply installing a beacon, and there is a limitation in which boundary setting can only be made in a limited way. Furthermore, since the boundary region is set only according to the installation state of the beacon, there is also a concern that boundary formation may be performed inaccurately depending on the communication performance of the beacon. That is, there is a limitation in which it is difficult to set a boundary according to a user's request and accurately set a boundary with a boundary setting technology in the related art. As a result, in the related art, a technology for performing an accurate and convenient boundary setting according to a user's request has not been proposed, and due to this, there is a problem in that the usability, safety, reliability and convenience of the mobile robot is inevitably limited.

<CIT> is directed to a hand-held surface cleaning device that includes circuitry to communicate with a robotic surface cleaning device to cause the same to target an area/region of interest for cleaning. Thus, a user may utilize the hand-held surface cleaning device to perform targeted cleaning and conveniently direct a robotic surface cleaning device to focus on a region of interest. Moreover, the hand-held surface cleaning device may include sensory such as a camera device for extracting three-dimensional information from a field of view. This information may be utilized to map locations of walls, stairs, obstacles, changes in surface types, and other features in a given location. Thus, a robotic surface cleaning device may utilize the mapping information from the hand-held surface cleaning device as an input in a real-time control loop, e.g., as an input to a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) routine.

<CIT> presents a mobile robot and a method of controlling the same, that includes a controller configured to set a virtual boundary based on position information calculated by a terminal or a position sensor in an area, and to set an area of any one side of the boundary as a traveling area, in which the controller controls the traveling unit so that the main body moves within the traveling area without moving outside the boundary. Accordingly, the controller may set the boundary using the position information, and may control traveling of the mobile robot by setting the traveling area formed by the boundary. Further, the controller may correct a position error, may reflect information on obstacles in setting the traveling area to set a traveling area appropriate for a traveling environment of the mobile robot, and may change the set traveling area.

The present disclosure is intended to provide an embodiment of a mobile robot system capable of overcoming the limitation of the related art as described above, and a method of generating boundary information of the mobile robot system.

Specifically, the present disclosure is intended to provide an embodiment of a mobile robot system capable of simply and conveniently acquiring boundary information of a driving region of a mobile robot, and a method of generating boundary information of the mobile robot system.

In addition, the present disclosure is intended to provide an embodiment of a mobile robot system capable of arbitrarily and accurately performing boundary setting of a driving region, and a method of generating boundary information of the mobile robot system.

An embodiment of the present disclosure for solving the foregoing problem is to designate a boundary region as a point of a distance sensor, and generate boundary information according to a designated path using a distance value of the distance sensor as a solution to the problem.

Specifically, a signal processing device including receiving tags that receive a transmission signal and a distance sensor may be provided to recognize coordinate information at a position designated by a point of the distance sensor based on a reception result of the receiving tags and a distance measurement result of the distance sensor to generate boundary information according to a path designated as the point of the distance sensor based on the recognized coordinate information.

That is, a mobile robot system and a method of generating boundary information of the mobile robot system of the present disclosure may designate a boundary region through a signal processing device including receiving tags that receive a transmission signal and a distance sensor, and recognize coordinate information corresponding to a designated path based on a reception result of the receiving tags and a measurement result of the distance sensor to generate boundary information based on the recognized coordinate information, thereby setting a boundary region.

Through such technical features, a mobile robot system and a method of generating boundary information of the mobile robot system provided in the present disclosure may generate boundary information by the point designation of a signal processing device, thereby solving the foregoing problems.

The foregoing technical features may be applied and implemented to a lawn mower robot, a control method of the lawn mower robot, a lawn mower robot system, a control system of the lawn mower robot, a method of controlling the lawn mower robot, a method of setting a boundary region of the lawn mower robot, a method of generating/acquiring boundary information of the lawn mower robot system, and the like, and the present disclosure provides an embodiment of a mobile robot system and a method of generating boundary information of the mobile robot system using the foregoing technical features as a problem solving means.

An embodiment of a mobile robot system of the present disclosure having the technical feature as a means of solution may include a plurality of transmitters installed in a boundary region of a driving region to transmit transmission signals, a signal receiving device that receives the transmission signal, and measures a distance to an irradiation point to which a measurement signal is irradiated based on a result of irradiating the measurement signal on a ground surface of the driving region, and a mobile robot that receives a reception result of the transmission signal and a measurement result of the distance from the signal receiving device to generate boundary information of the driving region in response to a path to which the measurement signal is irradiated on the ground surface based on the reception result and the measurement result.

In addition, an embodiment of a method of generating boundary information in a mobile robot system of the present disclosure having the technical feature as a means of solution, in the mobile robot system including a plurality of transmitters installed in a boundary region of a driving region to transmit transmission signals, a signal receiving device that receives the transmission signal, and measures a distance to an irradiation point to which a measurement signal is irradiated based on a result of irradiating the measurement signal on a ground surface of the driving region, and a mobile robot that receives a reception result of the transmission signal and a measurement result of the distance from the signal receiving device to generate boundary information of the driving region based on the reception result and the measurement result, may include irradiating the measurement signal to an arbitrary path on the ground surface, transmitting, by the signal receiving device, the reception result and the measurement result to the mobile robot during the irradiating step, recognizing, by the mobile robot, coordinate information of each of a plurality of irradiation points corresponding to the path based on the reception result and the measurement result, and generating, by the mobile robot, the boundary information based on the recognition result of the coordinate information.

An embodiment of a mobile robot system and a method of generating boundary information of the mobile robot system of the present disclosure may generate boundary information by the point designation of a signal processing device to generate boundary information, thereby having an effect capable of simply and conveniently acquiring boundary information.

Accordingly, there is an effect capable of simply and conveniently performing the setting of a boundary region as well as arbitrarily and accurately performing the boundary setting of the boundary region.

In addition, an embodiment of a mobile robot system and a method of generating boundary information of the mobile robot system of the present disclosure may recognize coordinate information using a reception result and a measurement result of a signal processing device, thereby having an effect capable of performing various driving control and information processing operations.

Accordingly, the mobile robot system may be controlled in various and efficient ways, thereby having an effect capable of increasing the efficiency, usability, and utility of the mobile robot system.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a mobile robot system and a control method thereof will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the same or similar elements are designated with the same numeral references regardless of the numerals in the drawings and their redundant description will be omitted.

In describing the technology disclosed herein, moreover, the detailed description will be omitted when specific description for publicly known technologies to which the invention pertains is judged to obscure the gist of the technology disclosed in the present disclosure. Also, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings are merely illustrated to easily explain the concept of the technology disclosed in the present disclosure, and therefore, they should not be construed to limit the concept of the technology by the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a mobile robot system (hereinafter, referred to as a system) will be described.

In the system, the mobile robot may refer to a robot capable of autonomous driving, a mobile lawn mower robot, a lawn mower robot, a lawn mower device, or a mobile robot for a lawn mower.

The system may be a system of a mobile robot (hereinafter, referred to as a robot) that cuts the grass in a driving region. Here, the robot may refer to a lawn mower robot, and accordingly, the system <NUM> may refer to a drive/control/operation system of the lawn mower robot that cuts the grass in a driving region.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the system <NUM> includes a terminal <NUM> that displays a control screen for an operation control of the robot <NUM> and the robot <NUM> operating in response to a manipulation of the control screen That is, the terminal <NUM> may display the control screen on which the control of the mobile robot <NUM> is performed on a display, and the mobile robot <NUM> may operate to cut the grass in the driving region while driving in the driving region according to a manipulation on the control screen. Furthermore, the system <NUM> may further include at least one of a transmitter <NUM> that transmits and receives signals to and from at least one of the robot <NUM> and the terminal <NUM>, and a GPS satellite <NUM>.

In the system <NUM>, the robot <NUM> may operate according to a driving principle as illustrated in <FIG>, and a signal flow between devices for position determination may be carried out as illustrated in <FIG>. Accordingly, the robot <NUM> may drive in a driving region <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>.

The robot <NUM> may drive by itself within the driving region <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>. The robot <NUM> may perform a specific operation while driving. Here, the specific operation may be an operation of cutting the lawn in the driving region <NUM>. The driving region <NUM> is an area corresponding to a driving and operating target of the robot <NUM>, and a predetermined outdoor/field area may be defined as the driving region <NUM>. For instance, a garden, a yard, or the like, for the robot <NUM> to cut the lawn may be defined as the driving region <NUM>. A charging device <NUM> for charging the driving power of the robot <NUM> may be provided in the driving region <NUM>, and the robot <NUM> may be docked to the charging device <NUM> provided in the driving region <NUM> to charge driving power.

The driving region <NUM> may be defined as a predetermined boundary region <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>. The boundary region <NUM> may correspond to a boundary line between the driving region <NUM> and an outer region <NUM>, thereby allowing the robot <NUM> to be driven within the boundary region <NUM> so as not to deviate from the outer region <NUM>. In this case, the boundary region <NUM> may be defined as a closed curve or a closed loop. The boundary region <NUM> may be set based on coordinate information on a map for the driving region <NUM>. In this case, the robot <NUM> may recognize the boundary region <NUM> by recognizing a virtual boundary line based on the coordinate information. Furthermore, the boundary region <NUM> may be set by a wire <NUM> defined as a closed curve or a closed loop. In this case, the wire <NUM> may be installed in any region, and the robot <NUM> may drive within the driving region <NUM> of a closed curve defined by the installed wire <NUM>.

In addition, one or more transmitters <NUM> may be disposed in the driving region <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>. The transmitter <NUM> is a signal generating element that transmits a signal for allowing the robot <NUM> to determine position information, and may be distributed and installed within the driving region <NUM>. The robot <NUM> may receive a transmission signal transmitted from the transmitter <NUM> to determine a current position based on the reception result, or may determine position information on the driving region <NUM>. In this case, the robot <NUM> may receive the transmission signal through a receiver that receives the transmission signal. The transmitter <NUM> may be preferably disposed in the vicinity of the boundary region <NUM> in the driving region <NUM>. In this case, the robot <NUM> may determine the boundary region <NUM> based on the placement position of the transmitter <NUM> disposed in the vicinity of the boundary region <NUM>.

The robot <NUM> may communicate with the terminal <NUM> moving in a predetermined region as illustrated in <FIG>, and may drive by following the position of the terminal <NUM> based on data received from the terminal <NUM>. The robot <NUM> may set a virtual boundary in a predetermined area based on position information received from the terminal <NUM> or collected while driving by following the terminal <NUM>, and set an inner area defined by the boundary as the driving region <NUM>. When the boundary region <NUM> and the driving region <NUM> are set, the robot <NUM> may drive within the driving region <NUM> so as not to deviate from the boundary region <NUM>. In some cases, the terminal <NUM> may set the boundary region <NUM> and transmit the set boundary region to the robot <NUM>. When the area is changed or expanded, the terminal <NUM> may transmit the changed information to the robot <NUM> to allow the robot <NUM> to drive in a new area. Furthermore, the terminal <NUM> may display data received from the robot <NUM> on a screen to monitor the operation of the robot <NUM>.

The robot <NUM> or the terminal <NUM> may receive position information to determine a current position. The robot <NUM> and the terminal <NUM> may determine the current position based on position information transmitted from the transmitter <NUM> disposed in the driving region <NUM> or a GPS signal using the GPS satellite <NUM>. The robot <NUM> and the terminal <NUM> may receive transmission signals transmitted from preferably three transmitters <NUM>, and compare the signal reception results to determine the current position. In other words, three or more transmitters <NUM> may be preferably disposed in the driving region <NUM>.

The robot <NUM> sets any one point in the driving region <NUM> as a reference position, and then calculates the position during movement as a coordinate. For example, the initial start position, the position of the charging device <NUM> may be set as a reference position, and furthermore, a coordinate with respect to the driving region <NUM> may be calculated using a position of any one of the transmitters <NUM> as a reference position. In addition, the robot <NUM> may set an initial position as a reference position during each operation, and then determine the position while driving. The robot <NUM> may compute a driving distance with respect to the reference position, based on the number of rotations of the drive wheel <NUM>, a rotational speed, and a rotational direction of the main body <NUM>, and determine the current position within the driving region <NUM> accordingly. Even in the case of determining position using the GPS satellite <NUM>, the robot <NUM> may determine the position using any one point as a reference location.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the robot <NUM> may determine a current position based on position information transmitted from the transmitter <NUM> or the GPS satellite <NUM>. The position information may be transmitted in the form of a GPS signal, an ultrasonic signal, an infrared signal, an electromagnetic signal, or an Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) signal. The transmission signal transmitted from the transmitter <NUM> may be preferably an Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) signal. Accordingly, the robot <NUM> may receive the UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) signal transmitted from the transmitter <NUM> to determine the current position based thereon.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the robot <NUM> that cuts the grass while driving in the driving region <NUM> may include a main body <NUM>, a driving unit <NUM> that moves the main body <NUM>, a communication unit <NUM> that communicates with a communication target element, a weeding unit <NUM> that cuts the grass on a ground surface while driving, and a controller <NUM> that controls the driving unit <NUM>, the communication unit <NUM>, and the weeding unit <NUM> to control the driving and weeding operation of the robot <NUM>.

The robot <NUM> may be an autonomous driving robot including the main body <NUM> provided to be movable as illustrated in <FIG> and 1C to cut the grass. The main body <NUM> defines an outer appearance of the robot <NUM>, and is provided with at least one element for performing an operation such as driving of the robot <NUM> and cutting the lawn. The main body <NUM> is provided with the driving unit <NUM> capable of moving and rotating the main body <NUM> in a desired direction. The driving unit <NUM> may include a plurality of rotatable driving wheels, and each wheel may be rotated individually to allow the main body <NUM> to be rotated in a desired direction. More specifically, the driving unit <NUM> may include at least one main driving wheel 11a and an auxiliary wheel 11b. For example, the main body <NUM> may include two main driving wheels 11a, and the main driving wheels may be installed on a rear bottom surface of the main body <NUM>.

The robot <NUM> may allow the controller <NUM> to determine a current position of the main body <NUM> and control the driving unit <NUM> to drive within the driving region <NUM> so as to control the driving of the main body <NUM>, and control the weeding unit <NUM> to cut the grass on a ground surface while the main body <NUM> drives in the driving region <NUM> so as to control the driving and weeding operation of the robot <NUM>.

The robot <NUM> operating in this way, as illustrated in <FIG>, may include the main body <NUM>, the driving unit <NUM>, the communication unit <NUM>, the weeding unit <NUM>, and the controller <NUM> to cut the grass while driving in the driving region <NUM>. Furthermore, the robot <NUM> may further include at least one of a receiver <NUM>, an output unit <NUM>, a storage unit <NUM>, a sensing unit <NUM>, a photographing unit <NUM>, an input unit <NUM>, and an obstacle detection unit <NUM>.

The driving unit <NUM>, which is a driving wheel provided at a lower portion of the main body <NUM>, may be rotatably driven to move the main body <NUM>. In other words, the driving unit <NUM> may operate to allow the main body <NUM> to be driven in the driving region <NUM>. The driving unit <NUM> may include at least one drive motor to move the main body <NUM> to allow the robot <NUM> to be driven. For instance, the driving unit <NUM> may include a left wheel drive motor that rotates a left wheel and a right wheel drive motor that rotates a right wheel.

The driving unit <NUM> may transmit information on a driving result to the controller <NUM>, and receive a control command for an operation from the controller <NUM>. The driving unit <NUM> may operate according to a control command received from the controller <NUM>. In other words, the driving unit <NUM> may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The communication unit <NUM> may communicate with one or more communication target elements that communicate with the robot <NUM>. The communication unit <NUM> may communicate with the transmitter <NUM> and the terminal <NUM> in a wireless communication manner. The communication unit <NUM> may also be connected to a predetermined network to communicate with an external server or the terminal <NUM> controlling the robot <NUM>. When communicating with the terminal <NUM>, the communication unit <NUM> may transmit the generated map to the terminal <NUM>, receive a command from the terminal <NUM>, and transmit data on the operation state of the robot <NUM> to the terminal <NUM>. The communication unit <NUM> may include a communication module such as Wi-Fi and WiBro, as well as short-range wireless communication such as ZigBee and Bluetooth to transmit and receive data.

The communication unit <NUM> may transmit information on a communication result to the controller <NUM>, and receive a control command for an operation from the controller <NUM>. The communication unit <NUM> may operate according to the control command received from the controller <NUM>. In other words, the communication unit <NUM> may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The receiver <NUM> may include a plurality of sensor modules for transmitting and receiving position information. The receiver <NUM> may include a position sensor module that receives the transmission signal from the transmitter <NUM>. The position sensor module may transmit a signal to the transmitter <NUM>. When the transmitter <NUM> transmits a signal using any one of an ultrasonic wave, UWB (Ultra-Wide Band), and an infrared ray, the receiver <NUM> may be provided with a sensor module that transmits and receives an ultrasonic, UWB, or infrared signal corresponding thereto. The receiver <NUM> may preferably include a UWB sensor. For reference, UWB radio technology refers to using a very wide frequency band of several GHz or more in a baseband without using a radio carrier (RF carrier). UWB radio technology uses very narrow pulses of several nanoseconds or several picoseconds. Since the pulses emitted from such a UWB sensor are several nanoseconds or several picoseconds, penetrability is good, and accordingly, very short pulses emitted from other UWB sensors may be received even when there are obstacles around them.

When the robot <NUM> drives by following the terminal <NUM>, the terminal <NUM> and the robot <NUM> may each include a UWB sensor to transmit and receive a UWB signal to and from each other through the UWB sensor. The terminal <NUM> may transmit a UWB signal through a UWB sensor, and the robot <NUM> may determine the position of the terminal <NUM> based on the UWB signal received through the UWB sensor, and move by following the terminal <NUM>. In this case, the terminal <NUM> operates at a transmitting side, and the robot <NUM> operates at a receiving side. When the transmitter <NUM> is provided with a UWB sensor to transmit a transmission signal, the robot <NUM> or the terminal <NUM> may receive a transmission signal transmitted from the transmitter <NUM> through the UWB sensor provided therein. In this case, a signal method of the transmitter <NUM> and a signal method of the robot <NUM> and the terminal <NUM> may be the same or different.

The receiver <NUM> may include a plurality of UWB sensors. When two UWB sensors are included in the receiver <NUM>, for example, they may be provided at the left and right sides of the main body <NUM>, respectively, to receive transmission signals, thereby comparing a plurality of received signals to calculate an accurate position. For example, when distances measured by the left sensor and the right sensor are different according to the positions of the robot <NUM> and the transmitter <NUM> or the terminal <NUM>, a relative position between the robot <NUM> and the transmitter <NUM> or the terminal <NUM> and a direction of the robot <NUM> may be determined based thereon.

The receiver <NUM> may further include a GPS module that transmits and receives a GPS signal from the GPS satellite <NUM>.

The receiver <NUM> may transmit a reception result of the transmission signal to the controller <NUM>, and receive a control command for an operation from the controller <NUM>. The receiver <NUM> may operate according to a control command received from the controller <NUM>. In other words, the receiver <NUM> may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The output unit <NUM>, which is an output element for outputting information on the state of the robot <NUM> in the form of a voice, may include a speaker, for instance. When an event occurs during the operation of the robot <NUM>, the output unit <NUM> may output an alarm related to the event. For example, when the driving power of the robot <NUM> is exhausted, a shock is applied to the robot <NUM>, or an accident occurs on the driving region <NUM>, an alarm voice may be output to transmit information on the accident to the user.

The output unit <NUM> may transmit information on an operation state to the controller <NUM>, and receive a control command for an operation from the controller <NUM>. The output unit <NUM> may operate according to a control command received from the controller <NUM>. In other words, the output unit <NUM> may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The storage unit <NUM> may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), a silicon disk drive (SDD), a ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, and an optical data storage device as a storage element for storing data that can be read by a microprocessor. In the storage unit <NUM>, a received signal may be stored, reference data for determining an obstacle may be stored, and obstacle information on the sensed obstacle may be stored. In addition, control data for controlling the operation of the robot <NUM>, data according to the operation mode of the robot <NUM>, position information to be collected, information on the driving region <NUM> and the boundary region <NUM> may be stored in the storage unit <NUM>.

The sensing unit <NUM> may include one or more sensors that sense information on the posture and operation of the main body <NUM>. The sensing unit <NUM> may include at least one of a tilt sensor that senses a movement of the main body <NUM> and a speed sensor that senses a driving speed of the driving unit <NUM>. The tilt sensor may be a sensor that senses the posture information of the main body <NUM>. When the main body <NUM> is inclined in a front, rear, left, or right direction, the tilt sensor may calculate an inclined direction and angle thereof to sense the posture information of the main body <NUM>. A tilt sensor, an acceleration sensor, or the like may be used for the tilt sensor, and any of a gyro type, an inertial type, and a silicon semiconductor type may be applied in the case of the acceleration sensor. Moreover, in addition, various sensors or devices capable of sensing the movement of the main body <NUM> may be used. The speed sensor may be a sensor that senses a driving speed of a driving wheel provided in the driving unit <NUM>. When the driving wheel rotates, the speed sensor may sense the rotation of the driving wheel to detect the driving speed.

The sensing unit <NUM> may transmit information on a sensing result to the controller <NUM>, and receive a control command for an operation from the controller <NUM>. The sensing unit <NUM> may operate according to a control command received from the controller <NUM>. In other words, the sensing unit <NUM> may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The photographing unit <NUM> may be a camera for photographing the vicinity of the main body <NUM>. The photographing unit <NUM> may photograph the vicinity of the main body <NUM> to generate image information on the driving region <NUM> of the main body <NUM>. The photographing unit <NUM> may photograph the front of the main body <NUM> to detect obstacles present in the vicinity of the main body <NUM> and on the driving region <NUM>. The photographing unit <NUM>, which is a digital camera, may include an image sensor (not shown) and an image processing unit (not shown). The image sensor, which is a device that converts an optical image into an electrical signal, is composed of a chip in which a plurality of photo diodes are integrated, and a pixel is exemplified as a photo diode. Charges are accumulated in each of the pixels by an image formed on the chip by light passing through a lens, and the charges accumulated in the pixels are converted into an electrical signal (e.g., voltage). As an image sensor, CCD (Charge Coupled Device), CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), or the like are well known. In addition, the photographing unit <NUM> may include the image processing unit (DSP) that generates the image information through image processing on the photographed result.

The photographing unit <NUM> may transmit a reception result to the controller <NUM>, and receive a control command for an operation from the controller <NUM>. The photographing unit <NUM> may operate according to a control command received from the controller <NUM>. In other words, the photographing unit <NUM> may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The input unit <NUM> may include an input element such as at least one button, a switch, and a touch pad, and an output element such as a display module to receive a user command and output an operation state of the robot <NUM>. For example, a command for the execution of the monitoring mode may be input through the display, and a state for the execution of the monitoring mode may be output.

The input unit <NUM> may display a state of the robot <NUM> through the display, and display a control screen on which a control operation of the robot <NUM> is carried out. The control screen may refer to a user interface screen on which a driving state of the robot <NUM> is displayed, and to which a command for a driving operation of the robot <NUM> is input from a user. The control screen may be displayed on the display through the control of the controller <NUM>, and the display on the control screen, the input command, and the like may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The input unit <NUM> may transmit information on an operation state to the controller <NUM>, and receive a control command for an operation from the controller <NUM>. The input unit <NUM> may operate according to a control command received from the controller <NUM>. In other words, the input unit <NUM> may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The obstacle sensing unit <NUM> includes a plurality of sensors to sense an obstacle existing in a driving direction. The obstacle sensing unit <NUM> may sense an obstacle in front of the main body <NUM>, that is, in a driving direction, using at least one of laser, ultrasonic, infrared, and 3D sensors. The obstacle sensing unit <NUM> may further include a cliff detection sensor provided on a rear surface of the main body <NUM> to sense a cliff.

The obstacle detection unit <NUM> may transmit information on a detection result to the controller <NUM>, and receive a control command for an operation from the controller <NUM>. The obstacle sensing unit <NUM> may operate according to a control command received from the controller <NUM>. In other words, the obstacle sensing unit <NUM> may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The weeding unit <NUM> mows the lawn on the ground surface while driving. The weeding unit <NUM> may be provided with a brush or blade for mowing the lawn to mow the lawn on the bottom through rotation.

The weeding unit <NUM> may transmit information on an operation result to the controller <NUM>, and receive a control command for an operation from the controller <NUM>. The weeding unit <NUM> may operate according to a control command received from the controller <NUM>. In other words, the weeding unit <NUM> may be controlled by the controller <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may include a central processing unit to perform overall operation control of the robot <NUM>. The controller <NUM> may determine the state of the driving region <NUM> while driving in the driving region <NUM> through the main body <NUM>, the driving unit <NUM>, and the photographing unit <NUM> to control the driving of the main body <NUM>, and control the function/operation of the robot <NUM> to be performed through the communication unit <NUM>, the receiver <NUM>, the output unit <NUM>, the storage unit <NUM>, the sensing unit <NUM>, the input unit <NUM>, the obstacle detection unit <NUM>, and the weeding unit <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> may control the input/output of data, and control the driving unit <NUM> to allow the main body <NUM> to be driven according to a setting. The controller <NUM> may control the driving unit <NUM> to independently control the operation of the left wheel drive motor and the right wheel drive motor, thereby controlling the main body <NUM> to drive in a straight or rotating manner.

The controller <NUM> may set the boundary region <NUM> based on position information received from the terminal <NUM> or position information determined based on a transmission signal received from the transmitter <NUM>. The controller <NUM> may also set the boundary region <NUM> based on position information collected by itself while driving. The controller <NUM> may set any one of regions defined by the set boundary region <NUM> as the driving region <NUM>. The controller <NUM> may connect discontinuous position information with a line or a curve to set the boundary <NUM> in a closed loop shape, and set an inner region thereof as the driving region <NUM>. When the driving region <NUM> and the boundary region <NUM> are set, the controller <NUM> may control the driving of the main body <NUM> to be driven within the driving region <NUM> so as not to deviate from the set boundary region <NUM>. The controller <NUM> may determine a current position based on the received position information, and control the driving unit <NUM> to allow the determined current position to be located within the driving region <NUM> so as to control the driving of the main body <NUM>.

In addition, the controller <NUM> may control the driving of the main body <NUM> to be driven by avoiding an obstacle according to obstacle information received by at least one of the photographing unit <NUM> and the obstacle detection unit <NUM>. In this case, the controller <NUM> may modify the driving region <NUM> by reflecting the obstacle information on area information previously stored for the driving region <NUM>.

When the boundary region <NUM> is set during an initial setting for driving in the driving region <NUM>, the robot <NUM> may drive in the driving region <NUM> based on the set information. Here, the setting of the boundary region <NUM> is set based on a result of receiving the transmission signal from the transmitter <NUM> while the robot <NUM> autonomously drives in the driving region <NUM>, or carried out through communication between the robot <NUM> and the terminal <NUM>.

The system <NUM>, which is a system in which the setting of the boundary region <NUM> is carried out as described above, includes a plurality of transmitters <NUM>, a signal receiving device <NUM> (hereinafter referred to as a receiving device), and the robot <NUM> may be as illustrated in <FIG>. That is, the system <NUM> is a mobile robot system including the plurality of transmitters <NUM>, the receiving device <NUM>, and the robot <NUM>, and a specific embodiment thereof may be as illustrated in <FIG>.

In the system <NUM>, the plurality of transmitters <NUM> are installed in the boundary region <NUM> of the driving region <NUM> to transmit transmission signals. The plurality of transmitters <NUM> may be dispersedly installed in the boundary region <NUM>. For instance, as illustrated in <FIG>, the plurality of transmitters <NUM> may be dispersedly installed at each corner of the boundary region <NUM>. Preferably, at least three of the plurality of transmitters <NUM> are dispersedly installed in the boundary region <NUM> to transmit the transmission signals from the installed positions, respectively. As illustrated in <FIG>, each of the plurality of transmitters <NUM> dispersedly installed in the boundary region <NUM> may transmit the transmission signal, which is a basis for determining the position of the robot <NUM> and setting the boundary region <NUM>. The transmission signal transmitted from each of the plurality of transmitters <NUM> may be received by the receiving device <NUM> and the robot <NUM>.

In the system <NUM>, the receiving device <NUM> receives the transmitted signal, and measures a distance to a point to which a measurement signal is irradiated based on a result of irradiating the measurement signal to a ground surface of the driving region <NUM>. The receiving device <NUM>, which is a device for setting the boundary region <NUM> in the system <NUM>, may communicate with the plurality of transmitters <NUM> and the robot <NUM>. The receiving device <NUM> may be formed in a rod shape. The receiving device <NUM>, which is a device distinct from the robot <NUM>, may have a configuration separate from the robot <NUM>. Furthermore, as illustrated in <FIG>, the receiving device <NUM> may be detachably attached to the robot <NUM>. In this case, the receiving device <NUM> may be detachably attached to a rear side of the robot <NUM>, and may correspond to a receiving element, for instance, an antenna that receives the transmission signal from the robot <NUM>. The receiving device <NUM> may be configured to receive the transmission signal transmitted from each of the plurality of transmitters <NUM>, irradiate the measurement signal on the ground surface to measure a distance to a point to which the measurement signal is irradiated based on the irradiation result, and transmit the reception result of the transmission signal and the measurement result of the distance to the robot <NUM>. That is, the receiving device <NUM> may be a device that receives the transmission signal, irradiates the measurement signal to measure a distance, and transmits the reception result and the measurement result to the robot <NUM>. The receiving device <NUM> includes a plurality of receiving tags (<NUM>: <NUM> and <NUM>) provided at different positions to receive the transmitted signal, a distance sensor <NUM> that irradiates the measurement signal on the ground surface to measure a distance based on the irradiation result, and a communication module <NUM> that transmits the reception result of each of the plurality of receiving tags <NUM> and the measurement result of the distance sensor to the robot <NUM>.

The plurality of receiving tags <NUM> are provided at different positions of the receiving device <NUM> to receive the transmission signal at each of the provided positions. That is, the transmission signal is received at different positions of the receiving device <NUM>. The plurality of receiving tags <NUM> may include a first tag <NUM> provided at one side of the receiving device <NUM> and a second tag <NUM> provided at the other side of the receiving device <NUM>. The first tag <NUM> may be provided at one side of the main body of the receiving device <NUM> to receive the transmission signal transmitted from each of the plurality of transmitters <NUM>. The first tag <NUM> may be provided at a front side of the receiving device <NUM>, for instance, at a position where the distance sensor <NUM> is provided. The second tag <NUM> is provided at the other side of the main body of the receiving device <NUM> opposite to the position where the first tag <NUM> is provided to receive the transmission signal transmitted from each of the plurality of transmitters <NUM>. The second tag <NUM> may be provided at a rear side of the receiving device <NUM>, for instance, opposite to the position where the distance sensor <NUM> is provided. Accordingly, the receiving device <NUM> may receive the transmission signal at each of one side and the other side of the main body of the receiving device <NUM> through the first tag <NUM> and the second tag <NUM>. As such, the first tag <NUM> and the second tag <NUM> provided at each of one side and the other side of the receiving device <NUM> may be provided at positions corresponding to the same straight line. Furthermore, the first tag <NUM> and the second tag <NUM> may be provided at positions corresponding to the same straight line as the distance sensor <NUM>. That is, the first tag <NUM>, the second tag <NUM>, and the distance sensor <NUM> may be provided at positions corresponding to the same straight line. Accordingly, a direction of a signal radiated from the distance sensor <NUM> may be the same as a direction from the first tag <NUM> to the second tag <NUM>.

The distance sensor <NUM> may be provided at one side of the receiving device <NUM> to irradiate the measurement signal from one side of the receiving device <NUM>. Here, the measurement signal may be a laser signal. That is, the distance sensor <NUM> may be a laser sensor that measures a distance between the ground surface irradiated with the laser sensor and the distance sensor <NUM> based on a result of irradiating the laser sensor on the ground surface. The distance sensor <NUM> may be provided in a protruding shape at a position where the first tag <NUM> provided at one side of the receiving device <NUM> among the plurality of receiving tags <NUM> is provided. When the receiving device <NUM> is detachably attached to the robot <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>, an irradiation unit to which the measurement signal is irradiated from the distance sensor <NUM> may be a coupling element for being fixedly coupled to the robot <NUM>. The irradiation of the measurement signal may be performed through at least of a button, a sensor, and a separate operation element provided in the receiving device <NUM>. For instance, when a signal irradiation button provided in the receiving device <NUM> is pressed, the measurement signal may be irradiated. Furthermore, the measurement signal may be continuously emitted while the signal irradiation button is pressed to perform the setting of the boundary region <NUM> through the receiving device <NUM>. When the measurement signal is arbitrarily irradiated to the ground surface by a user of the system <NUM>, the distance sensor <NUM> may measure a distance between the distance sensor <NUM> and a point to which the measurement signal is irradiated based on the irradiation result of the measurement signal. In addition, when the measurement signal is continuously emitted to an arbitrary path on the ground surface, the distance sensor <NUM> may measure a distance to each of irradiation points included in the continuously emitted path. For instance, when the measurement signal is continuously emitted to an arbitrary path P along the boundary region <NUM>, a distance from each of a plurality of irradiation points included in the continuously emitted arbitrary path P may be measured.

The communication module <NUM> may be included in the receiving device <NUM> to transmit a reception result of the transmission signal of each of the first tag <NUM> and the second tag <NUM> and a measurement result of the distance sensor <NUM> to the robot <NUM>. The communication module <NUM> may communicate with the robot <NUM> in real time. In this case, the communication module <NUM> may communicate with the communication unit <NUM> included in the robot <NUM>. The communication module <NUM> may transmit the reception result and the measurement result to the robot <NUM> in a wireless communication method. The communication module <NUM> may transmit the reception result and the measurement result to the robot <NUM> in real time. For instance, the reception result and the measurement result while the position of the receiving device <NUM> is changed and the measurement signal is continuously emitted on the ground surface in a predetermined path may be transmitted to the robot <NUM> in real time. Accordingly, the robot <NUM> may receive the reception result and the measurement result whenever at least one of the position of the receiving device <NUM> and the irradiation point of the measurement signal is changed.

As such, the receiving device <NUM> including the plurality of receiving tags <NUM>, the distance sensor <NUM>, and the communication module <NUM> may receive the transmission signal, and measure a distance to each of irradiation points included in the path P to transmit the reception result and the measurement result to the robot <NUM> while the measurement signal is continuously emitted to an arbitrary path P on the ground surface along the boundary region <NUM> by the user of the system <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>. Here, when the measurement signal is continuously emitted from the receiving device <NUM>, the irradiation of the measurement signal may be performed along the path P while the receiving device <NUM> is fixed at any one position. For instance, the measurement signal may be continuously transmitted to the path P by manipulating the receiving device <NUM> while the user is positioned at any one point of the driving region <NUM>. In this case, a change of the reception result and a change of the measurement result may be carried out within a range corresponding to the rotation of the receiving device <NUM>. When the measurement signal is continuously emitted from the receiving device <NUM>, the irradiation of the measurement signal may be carried out along the path P while the position of the receiving device <NUM> is changed. For instance, the measurement signal may be continuously emitted to the path P by manipulating the receiving device <NUM> while the user moves along the path P. In this case, a change of the reception result and a change of the measurement result may be carried out within a range corresponding to a positional change of the receiving device <NUM>.

In the system <NUM>, the robot <NUM> receives the reception result of the transmission signal and the measurement result of the distance from the receiving device <NUM> to generate boundary information of the driving region <NUM> in response to a path where the measurement signal is irradiated on the ground surface based on the reception result and the measurement result. In this case, the robot <NUM> may receive the reception result and the measurement result through the communication unit <NUM> communicating with the receiving device <NUM>. Here, the boundary information may refer to virtual boundary information set as the boundary region <NUM>. Accordingly, the robot <NUM> may set the boundary region <NUM> according to the boundary information to drive in the driving region <NUM>. The boundary information may be coordinate information of a portion corresponding to the boundary region <NUM> on the coordinate information based on any one point on the driving region <NUM>. The robot <NUM> may receive the reception result and the measurement result to quantify the reception result and the measurement result in a vector form. For instance, as illustrated in <FIG>, a reception result of the first tag <NUM> may be quantified as a vector P<NUM>n, a reception result of the second tag <NUM> as a vector P<NUM>n, and a measurement result of the distance sensor <NUM> as a vector L. Here, each vector of the reception result and the measurement result may be quantified based on any one point on the driving region <NUM>. That is, each vector of the reception result and the measurement result may be quantified based on the same reference point. For instance, it may be quantified to correspond to coordinates based on any one transmitter <NUM> #<NUM> among the plurality of transmitters <NUM>. For a specific example, as illustrated in <FIG>, on coordinates using the position of transmitter #<NUM> (<NUM>#<NUM>) as a reference (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), a reception result of the first tag <NUM> may be quantified as a vector P<NUM>n(X<NUM><NUM>, Y<NUM><NUM>, Z<NUM><NUM>), a reception result of the second tag <NUM> as a vector P<NUM>n(X<NUM><NUM>, Y<NUM><NUM>, Z<NUM><NUM>), and the measurement result as a vector L(X<NUM><NUM>, Y<NUM><NUM>, Z<NUM><NUM>). Accordingly, based on the reception result of the first tag <NUM>, the reception result of the second tag <NUM>, and the measurement result, which are vector information based on a predetermined point, the robot <NUM> may recognize coordinate information of an irradiation point to which the measurement signal is irradiated from the signal device <NUM>.

When the measurement signal is continuously emitted to an arbitrary path P along the boundary region <NUM> by the receiving device <NUM>, the robot <NUM> may receive the reception result and the measurement result while the measurement signal is continuously emitted to the path P, and recognize the coordinate information of the irradiation point based on the reception result and the measurement result to generate the boundary information using the coordinate information.

The robot <NUM> may detect the irradiation direction of the measurement signal based on the reception result to recognize the coordinate information based on the irradiation direction and the measurement result. That is, the robot <NUM> may detect the irradiation direction of the measurement signal based on a result of receiving the transmission signal at the plurality of receiving tags <NUM>, thereby determining the direction of the irradiation point to which the measurement signal is irradiated from the reception result, and determining a distance to which the measurement signal is irradiated from the measurement result to recognize the coordinate information based on the irradiation direction and the measurement result.

The robot <NUM> may determine the position information at which each of the plurality of receiving tags <NUM> has received the transmission signal based on the reception result to detect the irradiation direction based on the position information. That is, the robot <NUM> may detect a direction of the receiving device <NUM>, that is, an irradiation direction in which the measurement signal is irradiated to the ground surface using positions of the first tag <NUM> and the second tag <NUM>, which are respectively provided at different positions of the receiving device <NUM>, but provided at positions corresponding to the same straight line with respect to the distance sensor <NUM>. In this case, the robot <NUM> may calculate a vector between the position of the first tag <NUM> and the position of the second tag <NUM> to detect the irradiation direction.

The robot <NUM> may calculate coordinate values according to the measurement result using the irradiation direction, and reflect a separation length (offset) between a tag adjacent to the distance sensor <NUM> among the plurality of receiving tags <NUM> and the distance sensor <NUM> to the coordinate values to recognize the coordinate information. That is, the robot <NUM> may calculate coordinate values of the irradiation point based on the irradiation direction and the measurement result, and reflect a separation length (offset) between the first tag <NUM> and the distance sensor <NUM> to the coordinate values to recognize the coordinate information, thereby accurately recognizing the position of the irradiation point.

As such, the robot <NUM> that recognizes the coordinate information of the irradiation point may recognize coordinate information of each of a plurality of irradiation points corresponding to the path P based on the reception result and the measurement result while the measurement signal is irradiated to the path P, thereby generating the boundary information based on the recognition result. That is, as illustrated in <FIG>, the robot <NUM> may receive the reception result and the measurement result at each of the plurality of irradiation points on the path P from the receiving device <NUM> while the measurement signal is irradiated to the path P by the receiving device <NUM> to recognize the coordinate information of each of the plurality of irradiation points based on the reception result and the measurement result, thereby generating the boundary information. Accordingly, the robot <NUM> may set the boundary region <NUM> along the path P designated through the receiving device <NUM>.

The robot <NUM> may arrange points corresponding to coordinate information included in the recognition result on one coordinate plane, and connect points connectable with one line among the arranged points to generate the boundary information. That is, the robot <NUM> may recognize the coordinate information of each of the plurality of points, and then arrange points corresponding to the coordinate information on one coordinate plane to connect connectable points with one line, thereby generating the boundary information along the path P. In this case, the robot <NUM> may connect the points corresponding to the coordinate information with one line to preferably define a closed curve. Accordingly, the setting of the boundary region <NUM> along the path P may be easily carried out.

The robot <NUM> may connect points that are not continuous by a predetermined interval or more, except for points that cannot be connected with one line among the arranged points, to generate the boundary information. That is, the robot <NUM> may arrange points corresponding to the coordinate information included in the recognition result on one coordinate plane, and then connect points that are not continuous by a predetermined interval or more, except for points that cannot be connected with one line among the arranged points, thereby correcting/compensating the recognition result to generate the boundary information. For instance, as illustrated in <FIG>, the boundary information may be generated through a correction process of connecting points E2 that are not continuous by a predetermined interval or more, except for points E1 that cannot be connected with one line.

As such, the robot <NUM> that generates the boundary information may store an image of each process of generating the boundary information from the recognition result. That is, the robot <NUM> may arrange points corresponding to the coordinate information included in the recognition result on one coordinate plane, and then connect points that are not continuous by a predetermined interval or more, except for points that cannot be connected with one line among the arranged points to store an image of each process of generating the boundary information in the form of image data. For instance, as illustrated in <FIG>, each of the images in which the generation of the boundary information is completed before and after correcting/compensating the recognition result may be stored in the storage unit <NUM>. Through this, the correction of the boundary information may be carried out while comparing it with stored data during the resetting of the boundary region <NUM> using the receiving device <NUM> or matching to position information received from the terminal <NUM> or the GPS <NUM> may be easily carried out.

As described above, in the system <NUM>, the robot <NUM> may generate the boundary information along the path P irradiated to the ground surface of the driving region <NUM> by the receiving device <NUM>, thereby arbitrarily and simply performing the setting of the boundary region <NUM> through the receiving device <NUM>.

The system <NUM> as described above may be implemented by applying a method of generating boundary information of a mobile robot system to be described below (hereinafter, referred to as a generation method).

The generation method, which is a method for generating the boundary information in the foregoing system <NUM>, may be applied to the foregoing system <NUM>, and may also be applied to another system other than the foregoing the system <NUM>.

The generation method, which is a method of generating the boundary information in the system <NUM> including the plurality of transmitters <NUM>, the receiving device <NUM>, and the robot <NUM>, as illustrated in <FIG>, includes irradiating the measurement signal to an arbitrary path on the ground surface (S10), transmitting, by the receiving device <NUM>, the reception result and the measurement result to the robot <NUM> during the irradiating step (S20), recognizing, by the robot <NUM>, the coordinate information of each of a plurality of irradiation points corresponding to the path based on the reception result and the measurement result (S30), and generating, by the robot <NUM>, the boundary information based on the recognition result of the coordinate information (S40).

That is, the generation of the boundary information in the system <NUM> may include the irradiating step (S10), the transmitting step (S20), the recognizing step (S30), and the generating step (S40). Accordingly, in the system <NUM>, the generation of the boundary information may be carried out in the order of the irradiating step (S10), the transmitting step (S20), the recognizing step (S30), and the generating step (S40).

As such, in the system <NUM> in which the generation method is performed, the receiving device <NUM> may include the first tag <NUM> provided at one side to receive the transmission signal from the one side, and the second tag <NUM> provided at the other side to receive the transmission signal from the other side. Accordingly, the reception of the transmission signal in the receiving device <NUM> may be carried out at each of the first tag <NUM> and the second tag <NUM> provided at different positions of the receiving device <NUM>.

The irradiating step (S10) may be a step in which the measurement signal irradiated from the receiving device <NUM> is irradiated to the path (P).

In the irradiating step S10, the receiving device <NUM> may be operated by the user of the system <NUM>, and the measurement signal may be continuously emitted along the path P.

In the irradiating step (S10), while the measurement signal is continuously emitted to the path P by the receiving device <NUM>, the receiving device <NUM> may receive the transmission signal in real time, and measure the distance in real time.

The transmitting step (S20) may be a step of transmitting the reception result and the measurement result to the robot <NUM> while performing, by the receiving device <NUM>, the irradiating step (S10).

In the transmitting step (S20), the receiving device <NUM> may transmit the reception result and the measurement result to the robot <NUM> in real time. Accordingly, the robot <NUM> may receive the reception result and the measurement result from the receiving device <NUM> in real time while the measurement signal is irradiated to the path P.

The recognizing step (S30) may be a step of detecting coordinate values of each of a plurality of irradiation points included in the path P based on the measurement result and the reception result received by the robot <NUM> in real time from the receiving device <NUM> to recognize coordinate information of the plurality of irradiation points corresponding to the path P based on the detection result.

In the recognizing step (S30), the robot <NUM> may determine the position information at which each of the plurality of receiving tags <NUM> has received the transmission signal based on the reception result to detect the irradiation direction based on the position information. That is, the robot <NUM> may detect a direction of the receiving device <NUM>, that is, an irradiation direction in which the measurement signal is irradiated to the ground surface using positions of the first tag <NUM> and the second tag <NUM>, which are respectively provided at different positions of the receiving device <NUM>, but provided at positions corresponding to the same straight line with respect to the distance sensor <NUM>.

In the recognizing step (S30), the robot <NUM> may calculate coordinate values according to the measurement result using the irradiation direction, and reflect a separation length (offset) between a tag adjacent to the distance sensor <NUM> among the plurality of receiving tags <NUM> and the distance sensor <NUM> to the coordinate values to recognize the coordinate information. That is, the robot <NUM> may calculate coordinate values of the irradiation point based on the irradiation direction and the measurement result, and reflect a separation length (offset) between the first tag <NUM> and the distance sensor <NUM> to the coordinate values to recognize the coordinate information, thereby accurately recognizing the position of the irradiation point.

The generating step (S40) is a step of generating, by the robot <NUM>, the boundary information corresponding to the path (P) to which the measurement signal is continuously emitted based on the recognition result in the recognizing step (S30).

In the generating step (S40), the robot <NUM> may arrange points corresponding to coordinate information included in the recognition result on one coordinate plane, and connect points connectable with one line among the arranged points to generate the boundary information. That is, the robot <NUM> may recognize the coordinate information of each of the plurality of points, and then arrange points corresponding to the coordinate information on one coordinate plane to connect connectable points with one line, thereby generating the boundary information along the path P.

In the generating step (S40), the robot <NUM> may connect points that are not continuous by a predetermined interval or more, except for points that cannot be connected with one line among the arranged points, to generate the boundary information. That is, the robot <NUM> may arrange points corresponding to the coordinate information included in the recognition result on one coordinate plane, and then connect points that are not continuous by a predetermined interval or more, except for points that cannot be connected with one line among the arranged points, thereby correcting/compensating the recognition result to generate the boundary information.

The generation method as described above may further include storing an image of each process of generating the boundary information from the recognition result.

The storing step may be a step of storing image data of each process in which the robot <NUM> generates the boundary information from the recognition result in the storage unit <NUM>. That is, the robot <NUM> may arrange points corresponding to the coordinate information included in the recognition result on one coordinate plane, and then connect points that are not continuous by a predetermined interval or more, except for points that cannot be connected with one line among the arranged points to store images of each process of generating the boundary information in the form of image data.

The generation method including the irradiating step (S10), the transmitting step (S20), the recognizing step (S30), and the generating step (S40) may be implemented as codes readable by a computer on a medium written by a program. The computer readable medium includes all types of recording devices in which data readable by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable medium may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), a silicon disk drive (SDD), a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device and the like, and may also be implemented in the form of a carrier wave (e.g., transmission over the Internet). In addition, the computer may include the control unit <NUM>.

A mobile robot system and a method of generating boundary information of the mobile robot system as described above will be applied and implemented to a lawn mower robot, a control method of the lawn mower robot, a control element of the lawn mower robot, a lawn mower robot system, and a method of setting a boundary region of the lawn mower robot, a method of generating/acquiring boundary information of the lawn mower robot system, and the like. However, the technology disclosed in this specification will not be limited thereto, and will be applied and implemented to all mobile robots, control means of controlling a mobile robot, mobile robot systems, methods of controlling a mobile robot, and the like, to which the technical concept of the technology is applicable.

Claim 1:
A mobile robot system comprising:
a plurality of transmitters (<NUM>) installed in a boundary region (<NUM>) of a driving region (<NUM>) to transmit transmission signals; and
a signal receiving device (<NUM>) configured to receive the transmission signal transmitted from each of the plurality of transmitters (<NUM>), and to measure a distance to an irradiation point to which a measurement signal is irradiated based on a result of irradiating the measurement signal on a ground surface of the driving region (<NUM>);
wherein the signal receiving device (<NUM>) comprises:
a plurality of receiving tags (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) provided at different positions to receive the transmission signal from each of the plurality of transmitters (<NUM>);
a distance sensor (<NUM>) provided at one side of the signal receiving device (<NUM>) and configured to irradiate the measurement signal on the ground surface to measure the distance based on the irradiation result; and
a communication module (<NUM>) configured to transmit a reception result of the transmission signal of each of the plurality of receiving tags (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) and a measurement result of the distance sensor (<NUM>) to the mobile robot (<NUM>); and
wherein the mobile robot system further comprising:
a mobile robot (<NUM>) configured to receive the reception result of the transmission signal and the measurement result of the distance from the signal receiving device (<NUM>) to generate boundary information, based on the reception result and the measurement result, of the driving region (<NUM>) in response to irradiating the measurement signal to a path on the ground surface;
wherein when the measurement signal is continuously emitted to an arbitrary path along the boundary region (<NUM>) by the signal receiving device (<NUM>), the mobile robot (<NUM>) is configured to receive the reception result and the measurement result while the measurement signal is continuously emitted to the path, and
wherein the mobile robot (<NUM>) is configured to recognize coordinate information of each of a plurality of irradiation points corresponding to the path based on the reception result and the measurement result while the measurement signal is irradiated to the path to generate the boundary information based on the recognition result.