Patent application number | Description | Published |
20130271046 | ELECTRONIC EMERGENCY-STOP BRAKING CIRCUIT FOR ROBOTIC ARMS - Representative embodiments of a system for braking a cyclically rotating motor upon a power failure include (i) charge-storage circuitry for storing charge and converting the stored charge to an output voltage upon power failure; (ii) one or more passive electrical elements for conducting current induced by motor rotations; and (iii) voltage-actuated circuitry connected to the passive electrical element and the charge-storage circuitry for braking the motor during each half-cycle of motor rotation. The circuitry is inactive until actuated by the charge-storage circuitry upon power failure. | 10-17-2013 |
20130283916 | SELF-TESTING FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ULTRASONIC SENSORS - Functional characteristics of an ultrasonic element are self-tested by, in various embodiments, causing the ultrasonic element to emit an ultrasonic signal; detecting the emitted ultrasonic signal substantially simultaneously with its emission; and verifying proper operation of the ultrasonic element based on comparison between a detected ultrasonic signal parameter and a reference parameter. | 10-31-2013 |
20130286783 | TARGET DETECTION AND TRACKING WITH MULTIPLE ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCERS - In an ultrasonic detection system utilizing multiple ultrasound transducers capable of both transmitting and receiving detection signals, the transducers are selectively operated to achieve immunity to ringdown delays or to optimize the detection of distant objects. For example, in one embodiment, object detection is performed within the field of a particular transducer channel by suppressing rather than activating that transducer; instead, the adjacent transducers on either side of the selected channel are driven simultaneously, and the selected channel's transducer is used only to receive. | 10-31-2013 |
20130345863 | USER INTERFACES FOR ROBOT TRAINING - In accordance with various embodiments, a user interface embedded into a robot facilitates robot training via direct and intuitive physical interactions. In some embodiments, the user interface includes a wrist cuff that, when grasped by the user, switches the robot into zero-force gravity-compensated mode. | 12-26-2013 |
20130345873 | TRAINING AND OPERATING INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS - Robots may manipulate objects based on sensor input about the objects and/or the environment in conjunction with data structures representing primitive tasks and, in some embodiments, objects and/or locations associated therewith. The data structures may be created by instantiating respective prototypes during training by a human trainer. | 12-26-2013 |
20130345874 | TRAINING AND OPERATING INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS - Robots may manipulate objects based on sensor input about the objects and/or the environment in conjunction with data structures representing primitive tasks and, in some embodiments, objects and/or locations associated therewith. The data structures may be created by instantiating respective prototypes during training by a human trainer. | 12-26-2013 |
20140053676 | ROBOTIC POWER AND SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION USING LAMINATED CABLE WITH SEPARATOR WEBS - Systems and methods that facilitate cables to pass through moving, space-constrained joints and conveying power and/or signals to various robotic joint-associated elements utilize a unitary and flat laminated cable slack within the joint to accommodate the relative motion between mechanical elements of the joints. In various embodiments, the cable has multiple insulated sub-cables; each sub-cable is insulated and physically separable from all other sub-cables. Some of the sub-cables are separated from the cable and electrically connected to joint-associated components for conveying signals and power thereto without mechanically interfering with relative motion between mechanical elements of the joint. | 02-27-2014 |
20140067121 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SAFE ROBOT OPERATION - In various embodiments, safe collaboration between a robot and humans is achieved by operating the robot continuously at or below a first threshold speed at which any collisions with a person's arms do not cause harm, and, upon detection of the person's torso or head within a danger zone around the robot, reducing the speed to or below a second threshold at which any collisions with the person's torso or head do not cause harm. | 03-06-2014 |
20140067124 | MONITORING ROBOT SENSOR CONSISTENCY - Sensors associated with a robot or sub-system thereof (e.g., a series elastic actuator associated with a robot joint) may be monitored for mutual consistency using one or more constraints that relate physical quantities measured by the sensors to each other. The constraints may be based on a physical model of the robot or sub-system. | 03-06-2014 |