Patents by Inventor James Philip Case
James Philip Case has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 9370290Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: October 7, 2015Date of Patent: June 21, 2016Assignee: iRobot CorporationInventors: Michael Dooley, James Philip Case, Nikolai Romanov
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Publication number: 20160144511Abstract: Systems and methods for use of optical odometry sensor systems in a mobile robot. The optical odometry sensor system is positioned within a recessed structure on an underside of the mobile robot body and configured to output optical odometry data. The optical odometry sensor system includes an optical odometry camera that includes a telecentric lens configured to capture images of a tracking surface beneath the body and having a depth of field that provides a range of viewing distances at which a tracking surface is captured in focus from a first distance within the recessed structure to a second distance below the underside of the mobile robot body.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 16, 2015Publication date: May 26, 2016Inventors: Nikolai Romanov, James Philip Case, Kenneth Griest, David O. Swett
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Publication number: 20160101523Abstract: A robot configured to navigate a surface, the robot comprising a movement mechanism; a logical map representing data about the surface and associating locations with one or more properties observed during navigation; an initialization module configured to establish an initial pose comprising an initial location and an initial orientation; a region covering module configured to cause the robot to move so as to cover a region; an edge—following module configured to cause the robot to follow unfollowed edges; a control module configured to invoke region covering on a first region defined at least in part based at least part of the initial pose, to invoke region covering on least one additional region, to invoke edge-following, and to invoke region covering cause the mapping module to mark followed edges as followed, and cause a third region covering on regions discovered during edge-following.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 12, 2015Publication date: April 14, 2016Inventors: Michael S. Stout, Gabriel Francis Brisson, Enrico Di Bernardo, Paolo Pirjanian, Dhiraj Goel, James Philip Case, Michael Dooley
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Patent number: 9310806Abstract: A localization and obstacle detection system includes a first signal projector configured to project a first signal into an environment and a robot configured to move in the environment. The robot includes a second signal projector configured to project a second signal into the environment; a signal receiver configured to receive the first signal and the second signal; a localizer configured to determine a location of the robot in the environment based at least in part on the received first signal; and a detector configured to determine the presence of an obstacle in the environment based at least in part on the intensity and bearing of the received second signal and without touching the obstacle; wherein the second signal is distinct from the first signal in at least one characteristic.Type: GrantFiled: January 5, 2011Date of Patent: April 12, 2016Assignee: iRobot CorporationInventors: Nikolai Romanov, James Philip Case, Michael Dooley
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Publication number: 20160022109Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: October 7, 2015Publication date: January 28, 2016Inventors: Michael Dooley, James Philip Case, Nikolai Romanov
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Patent number: 9188983Abstract: A robot configured to navigate a surface, the robot comprising a movement mechanism; a logical map representing data about the surface and associating locations with one or more properties observed during navigation; an initialization module configured to establish an initial pose comprising an initial location and an initial orientation; a region covering module configured to cause the robot to move so as to cover a region; an edge-following module configured to cause the robot to follow unfollowed edges; a control module configured to invoke region covering on a first region defined at least in part based at least part of the initial pose, to invoke region covering on least one additional region, to invoke edge-following, and to invoke region covering cause the mapping module to mark followed edges as followed, and cause a third region covering on regions discovered during edge-following.Type: GrantFiled: April 11, 2014Date of Patent: November 17, 2015Assignee: iROBOT CORPORATIONInventors: Michael S. Stout, Gabriel Francis Brisson, Enrico Di Bernardo, Paolo Pirjanian, Dhiraj Goel, James Philip Case, Michael Dooley
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Patent number: 9179813Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: October 23, 2014Date of Patent: November 10, 2015Assignee: iRobot CorporationInventors: Michael Dooley, James Philip Case, Nikolai Romanov
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Patent number: 9167947Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: October 23, 2014Date of Patent: October 27, 2015Assignee: iRobot CorporationInventors: Michael Dooley, James Philip Case, Nikolai Romanov
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Publication number: 20150158174Abstract: A robotic cleaner includes a cleaning assembly for cleaning a surface and a main robot body. The main robot body houses a drive system to cause movement of the robotic cleaner and a microcontroller to control the movement of the robotic cleaner. The cleaning assembly is located in front of the drive system and a width of the cleaning assembly is greater than a width of the main robot body. A robotic cleaning system includes a main robot body and a plurality of cleaning assemblies for cleaning a surface. The main robot body houses a drive system to cause movement of the robotic cleaner and a microcontroller to control the movement of the robotic cleaner. The cleaning assembly is located in front of the drive system and each of the cleaning assemblies is detachable from the main robot body and each of the cleaning assemblies has a unique cleaning function.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 20, 2015Publication date: June 11, 2015Inventors: Nikolai Romanov, Collin Eugene Johnson, James Philip Case, Dhiraj Goel, Steffen Gutmann, Michael Dooley
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Patent number: 9026302Abstract: A robot configured to navigate a surface, the robot comprising a movement mechanism; a logical map representing data about the surface and associating locations with one or more properties observed during navigation; an initialization module configured to establish an initial pose comprising an initial location and an initial orientation; a region covering module configured to cause the robot to move so as to cover a region; an edge-following module configured to cause the robot to follow unfollowed edges; a control module configured to invoke region covering on a first region defined at least in part based at least part of the initial pose, to invoke region covering on least one additional region, to invoke edge-following, and to invoke region covering cause the mapping module to mark followed edges as followed, and cause a third region covering on regions discovered during edge-following.Type: GrantFiled: November 5, 2010Date of Patent: May 5, 2015Assignee: iRobot CorporationInventors: Michael S. Stout, Gabriel Francis Brisson, Enrico Di Bernardo, Paolo Pirjanian, Dhiraj Goel, James Philip Case, Michael Dooley
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Patent number: 8961695Abstract: A robotic cleaner includes a cleaning assembly for cleaning a surface and a main robot body. The main robot body houses a drive system to cause movement of the robotic cleaner and a microcontroller to control the movement of the robotic cleaner. The cleaning assembly is located in front of the drive system and a width of the cleaning assembly is greater than a width of the main robot body. A robotic cleaning system includes a main robot body and a plurality of cleaning assemblies for cleaning a surface. The main robot body houses a drive system to cause movement of the robotic cleaner and a microcontroller to control the movement of the robotic cleaner. The cleaning assembly is located in front of the drive system and each of the cleaning assemblies is detachable from the main robot body and each of the cleaning assemblies has a unique cleaning function.Type: GrantFiled: December 30, 2010Date of Patent: February 24, 2015Assignee: iRobot CorporationInventors: Nikolai Romanov, Collin Eugene Johnson, James Philip Case, Dhiraj Goel, Steffen Gutmann, Michael Dooley
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Publication number: 20150040332Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: October 23, 2014Publication date: February 12, 2015Inventors: Michael Dooley, James Philip Case, Nikolai Romanov
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Publication number: 20150046016Abstract: 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: ApplicationFiled: October 23, 2014Publication date: February 12, 2015Inventors: Michael Dooley, James Philip Case, Nikolai Romanov
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Patent number: 8892251Abstract: 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: GrantFiled: December 23, 2010Date of Patent: November 18, 2014Assignee: iRobot CorporationInventors: Michael Dooley, James Philip Case, Nikolai Romanov
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Publication number: 20140222279Abstract: A robot configured to navigate a surface, the robot comprising a movement mechanism; a logical map representing data about the surface and associating locations with one or more properties observed during navigation; an initialization module configured to establish an initial pose comprising an initial location and an initial orientation; a region covering module configured to cause the robot to move so as to cover a region; an edge-following module configured to cause the robot to follow unfollowed edges; a control module configured to invoke region covering on a first region defined at least in part based at least part of the initial pose, to invoke region covering on least one additional region, to invoke edge-following, and to invoke region covering cause the mapping module to mark followed edges as followed, and cause a third region covering on regions discovered during edge-following.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 11, 2014Publication date: August 7, 2014Applicant: iRobot CorporationInventors: Michael S. Stout, Gabriel Francis Brisson, Enrico Di Bernardo, Paolo Pirjanian, Dhiraj Goel, James Philip Case, Michael Dooley
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Publication number: 20110202175Abstract: A robotic cleaner includes a cleaning assembly for cleaning a surface and a main robot body. The main robot body houses a drive system to cause movement of the robotic cleaner and a microcontroller to control the movement of the robotic cleaner. The cleaning assembly is located in front of the drive system and a width of the cleaning assembly is greater than a width of the main robot body. A robotic cleaning system includes a main robot body and a plurality of cleaning assemblies for cleaning a surface. The main robot body houses a drive system to cause movement of the robotic cleaner and a microcontroller to control the movement of the robotic cleaner. The cleaning assembly is located in front of the drive system and each of the cleaning assemblies is detachable from the main robot body and each of the cleaning assemblies has a unique cleaning function.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 30, 2010Publication date: August 18, 2011Inventors: Nikolai Romanov, Collin Eugene Johnson, James Philip Case, Dhiraj Goel, Steffen Gutmann, Michael Dooley
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Publication number: 20110167574Abstract: A robot configured to navigate a surface, the robot comprising a movement mechanism; a logical map representing data about the surface and associating locations with one or more properties observed during navigation; an initialization module configured to establish an initial pose comprising an initial location and an initial orientation; a region covering module configured to cause the robot to move so as to cover a region; an edge-following module configured to cause the robot to follow unfollowed edges; a control module configured to invoke region covering on a first region defined at least in part based at least part of the initial pose, to invoke region covering on least one additional region, to invoke edge-following, and to invoke region covering cause the mapping module to mark followed edges as followed, and cause a third region covering on regions discovered during edge-following.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 5, 2010Publication date: July 14, 2011Applicant: EVOLUTION ROBOTICS, INC.Inventors: MICHAEL S. STOUT, Gabriel Francis Brisson, Enrico Di Bernardo, Paolo Pirjanian, Dhiraj Goel, James Philip Case, Michael Dooley
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Publication number: 20110166707Abstract: A localization and obstacle detection system comprising a first signal projector configured to project a first signal into an environment and a robot configured to move in the environment. The robot comprises a second signal projector configured to project a second signal into the environment; a signal receiver configured to receive the first signal and the second signal; a localizer configured to determine a location of the robot in the environment based at least in part on the received first signal; and a detector configured to determine the presence of an obstacle in the environment based at least in part on the intensity and bearing of the received second signal and without touching the obstacle; wherein the second signal is distinct from the first signal in at least one characteristic.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 5, 2011Publication date: July 7, 2011Applicant: EVOLUTION ROBOTICS, INC.Inventors: Nikolai Romanov, James Philip Case, Michael Dooley