Patent ID: 7603744

Claim:
A robotic appliance, including: a housing; a joystick sensor mounted to the housing and configured to provide one or more sensed signals that vary as the robotic appliance traverses a surface area and comes in contact with an associated obstacle; a propelling mechanism mounted to the housing and in communication with the controller, wherein the propelling mechanism moves the robotic appliance over the surface area; a bumper that defines a periphery for at least a front section and a rear section of the robotic appliance in an x-y plane corresponding to the surface on which the robotic appliance is positioned, wherein the bumper is in operative communication with the joystick sensor so that movement of the bumper in relation to the housing varies the one or more sensed signals provided by the joystick sensor; and a controller mounted to the housing and adapted to receive the one or more sensed signals from the joystick sensor, wherein the controller determines the direction of the associated obstacle in relation to the x-y plane, based at least in part on the one or more sensed signals and controls an operation of the propelling mechanism based at least in part on the direction of the obstacles; the joystick sensor including: a two-axis potentiometer joystick including a spring-activated return-to-center shaft; and a head attached to the shaft.