Patents Assigned to IRobot Corporation
  • Patent number: 11468983
    Abstract: A telepresence robot may include a drive system, a control system, an imaging system, and a mapping module. The mapping module may access a map of an area and tags associated with the area. In various embodiments, each tag may include tag coordinates and tag information, which may include a tag annotation. A tag identification system may identify tags within a predetermined range of the current position and the control system may execute an action based on an identified tag whose tag information comprises a telepresence robot action modifier. The telepresence robot may rotate an upper portion independent from a lower portion. A remote terminal may allow an operator to control the telepresence robot using any combination of control methods, including by selecting a destination in a live video feed, by selecting a destination on a map, or by using a joystick or other peripheral device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignees: TELADOC HEALTH, INC., IROBOT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yulun Wang, Charles S. Jordan, Tim Wright, Michael Chan, Marco Pinter, Kevin Hanrahan, Daniel Sanchez, James Ballantyne, Cody Herzog, Blair Whitney, Fuji Lai, Kelton Temby, Eben Christopher Rauhut, Justin H. Kearns, Cheuk Wah Wong, Timothy Sturtevant Farlow
  • Patent number: 11453126
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes various clinical workflows and other methods that utilize a telemedicine device in a healthcare network. According to various embodiments, a healthcare practitioner may utilize a remote presence interfaces (RPIs) on a remote access device (RAD), such as a portable electronic device (PED) to interface with a telemedicine device. The healthcare practitioner may directly interface with a display interface of a telemedicine device or utilize the RPI on a RAD. The present disclosure provides various clinical workflows involving a telemedicine device to view patient data during a telepresence session, perform rounds to visit multiple patients, monitor a patient, allow for remote visitations by companions, and various other clinical workflow methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignees: TELADOC HEALTH, INC., IROBOT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Fuji Lai, Timothy C. Wright, Yair Lurie, Yulun Wang
  • Patent number: 11452257
    Abstract: A method of mowing an area with an autonomous mowing robot comprises storing, in non-transient memory of the robot, a set of geospatially referenced perimeter data corresponding to positions of the mowing robot as the mowing robot is guided about a perimeter of an area to be mowed, removing from the set of perimeter data one or more data points thereby creating a redacted data set and controlling the mowing robot to autonomously mow an area bounded by a boundary corresponding to the redacted data set, including altering direction of the mowing robot at or near a position corresponding to data in the redacted data set so as to redirect the robot back into the bounded area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Brian Yamauchi, Andrew Beaulieu, Paul C. Balutis
  • Patent number: 11445880
    Abstract: A mobile robot includes a body configured to traverse a surface and to receive debris from the surface, and a debris bin within the body. The debris bin includes a chamber to hold the debris received by the mobile robot, an exhaust port through which the debris exits the debris bin; and a door unit over the exhaust port. The door unit includes a flap configured to move, in response to air pressure at the exhaust port, between a closed position to cover the exhaust port and an open position to open a path between the chamber and the exhaust port. The door unit, including the flap in the open position and in the closed position, is within an exterior surface of the mobile robot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Russell Walter Morin, Harold Boeschenstein, David Orrin Swett, Jude Royston Jonas
  • Patent number: 11436940
    Abstract: A method of assisting user-configuration of hardware for a mobile autonomous cleaning robot can include detecting a flooring type of a room or other portion of an environment. A size of the portion of the environment can be detected and a total size of the environment can be determined, generating a hardware characteristic recommendation can be generated based at least in part on the flooring type, the size of the portion of the environment, and the total size of the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Andreas Kolling, Christopher Mehegan
  • Patent number: 11385653
    Abstract: A cleaning robot includes a chassis, a drive system connected to the chassis and configured to drive the robot, a signal generator and sensor carried by the chassis, and a controller in communication with the drive system and the sensor. The signal generator directs a signal toward the floor surface. The sensor is responsive to reflected signals from the floor surface. The controller controls the drive system to alter direction of the robot responsive to a reflected signal indicating an edge of the floor surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventor: Jasper Vicenti
  • Patent number: 11382478
    Abstract: Cleaning robots may use floor-type-detection techniques as a trigger for autonomously altering various floor-cleaning characteristics. In some examples, a controller circuit of the robot is configured to determine a flooring type as a function of a signal from a motion sensor indicative of a change in pitch caused by the robot crossing a flooring discontinuity. In some examples, the controller circuit is configured to determine a flooring type based on a power draw signal corresponding to the cleaning head assembly of the robot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventor: Fabrizio Santini
  • Patent number: 11382473
    Abstract: Described herein are systems and methods for assessing a health status of a cleaning head assembly in a mobile cleaning robot. The mobile robot includes motorized cleaning member that rotatably engages a floor surface to extract debris. An exemplary system includes a processor circuit that receives robot data produced by the mobile cleaning robot traversing an environment, determines a robot parameter using a portion of the received robot data corresponding to a floor area having a specific surface condition traversed repeatedly by the mobile cleaning robot, and determines a state of the cleaning head and an estimate of remaining useful life of the cleaning head based on the robot parameter. The determined state of the cleaning head system can be provide to a user via a user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel J. Burns, Teresa Borcuch
  • Patent number: 11378973
    Abstract: A navigation control system for an autonomous vehicle comprises a transmitter and an autonomous vehicle. The transmitter comprises an emitter for emitting at least one signal, a power source for powering the emitter, a device for capturing wireless energy to charge the power source, and a printed circuit board for converting the captured wireless energy to a form for charging the power source. The autonomous vehicle operates within a working area and comprises a receiver for detecting the at least one signal emitted by the emitter, and a processor for determining a relative location of the autonomous vehicle within the working area based on the signal emitted by the emitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventor: Mark J. Chiappetta
  • Patent number: 11375866
    Abstract: An evacuation station for collecting debris from a cleaning robot includes a controller configured to execute instructions to perform one or more operations. The one or more operations includes initiating an evacuation operation such that an air mover draws air containing debris from the cleaning robot, through an intake of the evacuation station, and through a canister of the evacuation station and such that a receptacle received by the evacuation station receives at least a portion of the debris drawn from the cleaning robot. The one or more operations includes ceasing the evacuation operation in response to a pressure value being within a range. The pressure value is determined based at least in part on data indicative of an air pressure, and the range is set based at least in part on a number of evacuation operations initiated before the evacuation operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Ellen B. Cargill, Douglas Dell'Accio, Benjamin Pheil, Flavia Pastore, Paul Schmitt, John P. O'Brien
  • Patent number: 11369242
    Abstract: A roller assembly for a mobile cleaning system for cleaning a work surface can include a drive shaft, a sheath, a bushing, and a bushing shroud. The drive shaft can be rotatable about a drive axis, and the drive shaft can include a driven end and an opposite bushing end. The sheath can be supported by the drive shaft and the sheath can be rotatable with the drive shaft. The sheath can include a shell engageable with the work surface. The bushing can be located about the bushing end of the drive shaft. The bushing shroud can be connected to the bushing. The sheath and the drive shaft can be together rotatable with respect to the bushing and the bushing shroud, the bushing shroud can include an outer portion defining a first radius of curvature and a recessed portion connected to the outer portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Hao-Yun Chow, Patrick Chow, Ke Ting Gao, Fangzheng Guo, Jennifer Ann Mauger, Rogelio Manfred Neumann, Jian Yun Pi, Michael G. Sack, Rubal Verma
  • Publication number: 20220199253
    Abstract: A telepresence robot may include a drive system, a control system, an imaging system, and a mapping module. The mapping module may access a plan view map of an area and tags associated with the area. In various embodiments, each tag may include tag coordinates and tag information, which may include a tag annotation. A tag identification system may identify tags within a predetermined range of the current position and the control system may execute an action based on an identified tag whose tag information comprises a telepresence robot action modifier. The telepresence robot may rotate an upper portion independent from a lower portion. A remote terminal may allow an operator to control the telepresence robot using any combination of control methods, including by selecting a destination in a live video feed, by selecting a destination on a plan view map, or by using a joystick or other peripheral device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2022
    Publication date: June 23, 2022
    Applicants: InTouch Technologies, Inc., iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Yulun Wang, Charles S. Jordan, Tim Wright, Michael Chan, Marco Pinter, Kevin Hanrahan, Daniel Sanchez, James Ballantyne, Cody Herzog, Blair Whitney, Fuji Lai, Kelton Temby, Eben Christopher Rauhut, Justin H. Kearns, Cheuk Wah Wong, Timothy Sturtevant Farlow
  • Patent number: 11363933
    Abstract: An autonomous cleaning robot comprises a chassis, at least one motorized drive wheel mounted to the chassis and arranged to propel the robot across a surface, and a pair of cleaning rollers mounted to the chassis and having outer surfaces exposed on an underside of the chassis and to each other. The cleaning rollers are drivable to counter-rotate while the robot is propelled, thereby cooperating to direct raised debris upward into the robot between the rollers. A side brush is further mounted to the chassis to rotate beneath the chassis adjacent a lateral side of the chassis about an upwardly extending side brush axis, and the outer surface of a first of the cleaning rollers of the pair extends laterally beyond the outer surface of a second of the cleaning rollers of the pair and laterally beyond the side brush axis, such that the first cleaning roller defines a cleaning width spanning the side brush axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventor: Oliver Lewis
  • Patent number: 11357371
    Abstract: This document describes a mobile cleaning robot including a chassis having a forward portion and an aft portion; a blower affixed to the chassis; a bin supported by the chassis and configured to receive airflow from the blower, the chassis enabling evacuation of the bin through a bottom of the robot. The bin includes a top, a bottom, a sidewall, and an internal barrier. The bin includes a first volume and a second volume separated by the internal barrier and a filter unit supported by the internal barrier and removably disposed in an airflow path between the first volume that includes an intake port in the bin and the second volume that includes an exhaust port in the bin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Oliver Lewis, Stephen A. Hickey, Russell Walter Morin
  • Patent number: 11360484
    Abstract: A navigation control system for an autonomous vehicle comprises a transmitter and an autonomous vehicle. The transmitter comprises an emitter for emitting at least one signal, a power source for powering the emitter, a device for capturing wireless energy to charge the power source, and a printed circuit board for converting the captured wireless energy to a form for charging the power source. The autonomous vehicle operates within a working area and comprises a receiver for detecting the at least one signal emitted by the emitter, and a processor for determining a relative location of the autonomous vehicle within the working area based on the signal emitted by the emitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventor: Mark J. Chiappetta
  • Patent number: 11350810
    Abstract: A mobile robot configured to travel across a residential floor or other surface while cleaning the surface with a cleaning pad and cleaning solvent is disclosed. The robot includes a controller for managing the movement of the robot as well as the treatment of the surface with a cleaning solvent. The movement of the robot can be characterized by a class of trajectories that achieve effective cleaning. The trajectories include sequences of steps that are repeated, the sequences including forward and backward motion and optional left and right motion along arcuate paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Michael J. Dooley, James Philip Case, Nikolai Romanov
  • Patent number: D952720
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Rebecca Attia, Raphael G. Cherney
  • Patent number: D960211
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Jason Jeffrey Suchman, Douglas Dell'Accio, Andrew Vincent Wolff, Flavia Pastore
  • Patent number: D961177
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventor: Stuart R. Jang
  • Patent number: D961869
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: iRobot Corporation
    Inventors: Stuart R. Jang, Ryan Mercier