Disclosed are a method and apparatus for enabling a robot to follow an object by using distance measurement data and odometry data through ultra-wideband (UWB) to estimate a relative position of a target in a robot center coordinate system. The method comprises initializing a robot's own object following algorithm according to an object following request; transmitting a single-sided two-way ranging (SS-TWR) poll message; receiving a single response message in response to the SS-TWR poll message from the object, the single response message including second odometry information of a second odometry measurement device of the object; estimating a distance to the object based on a round trip delay calculated by an SS-TWR method; predicting a position of the object based on the second odometry information and first odometry information of the first odometry measurement device; and correcting the position of the object based on the estimated distance.

A position and tracking system for radio-based localization in an operating room, includes a receiver, a mobile cart, a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The mobile cart includes a robotic arm and a transmitter in operable communication with the receiver. The memory has instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, cause the system to receive, from the transmitter, a signal including a position of the mobile carts in a 3D space based on the signal communicated by the transmitter and determine a spatial pose of the mobile carts based on the received signal.

A plurality of autonomous mobile robots includes a first mobile robot and a second mobile robot. The first mobile robot is provided with a transmitting optical sensor for outputting laser light, and a first module for transmitting and receiving an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) signal. The second mobile robot is provided with a receiving optical sensor for receiving the laser light and a plurality of second modules for transmitting and receiving the UWB signal. A control unit of the second mobile robot determines a relative position of the first mobile robot based on the received UWB signal and a determination of whether the laser light is received by the optical sensor.

This work vehicle has: a positioning unit for measuring the current position and the current direction of the vehicle body using a satellite positioning system; and an automatic travel control unit for executing automatic travel control based on positioning information from the positioning unit. The positioning unit comprises: a plurality of positioning antennas provided on the vehicle body; a plurality of positioning units for measuring the positions of the positioning antennas; a calculation unit for calculating the current position and the current direction of the vehicle body on the basis of positioning information from the positioning units; and a positioning state determination unit for determining whether or not the positioning state of the positioning units is a high-accuracy positioning state. When at least two positioning units are in the high accuracy positioning state, the positioning state determination unit permits the start of the automatic travel control.

A method and an apparatus for generating sensor data for controlling an autonomous vehicle in an environment is provided, such as driverless transport vehicles in a factory for example. Sensor positions of static sensors and the sensors of autonomous vehicles are defined in a global coordinate system on the basis of an environment model, such as a BIM model for example. Sensor data is centrally generated in this global coordinate system for all sensors as a function of these sensor positions. The sensor data is then transformed into a local coordinate system of an autonomous vehicle and transferred for controlling the autonomous vehicle.

A method for specifying a cleaning area to a cleaning robot without an in-built map provides a hand-held mobile device capturing a two-dimensional code label arranged on a top of a cleaning robot parked on a charging base, and obtaining a positional relationship between the mobile device and the cleaning robot through the captured image. The cleaning robot is controlled to enter a cleaning mode under the guidance of the mobile device. With captured images, a user can specify an area within the environment for cleaning, and through a touch display screen can control the cleaning robot to go to the specified cleaning area for cleaning. The mobile device and the cleaning robot employing the method are also disclosed.

A method and a system for controlling a self-propelling lawnmower including the self-propelling lawnmower having a control unit and at least one sensor, a boundary wire and a signal generator. The self-propelling lawnmower moves across an area surrounded by the boundary wire. By encoding a data frame with a recognition code in an alternating current that is Direct Current, DC-balanced and that is randomly transmitted within a predetermined period of time, by means of the signal generator, to the boundary wire a system robust against interference is accomplished. The data frame burst is received by a sensor and decoded by a control unit in the lawnmower. By comparing the received recognition code with a stored recognition code, the control unit determines that the lawnmower is on the inside of the boundary wire if the received recognition code matches the stored recognition code, and on the outside if the received recognition code matches the inverse of the stored recognition code.

Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for wireless communication to and from a vehicle in an autonomous driving system. A method for wireless communication to and from a vehicle in an autonomous driving system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes receiving data on a communication environment map that includes position-dependent beam information, from a server and determining a direction of transmitted or received beam based on a driving path for the vehicle and the communication environment map; and performing data communication using the direction of transmitted or received beam. With this method, the time taken for beam selection can be reduced, and path loss can be reduced. An autonomous vehicle according to the present disclosure operates in cooperation with an artificial intelligence module, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a robot, an augmented reality (AR) device, a virtual reality (VR) device, a device relating to 5G, and the like.

Examples disclosed herein relate to a range adaptable antenna system for use in autonomous vehicles. The antenna system has a connector and a transition layer to receive an RF transmission signal from a transmission signal controller, a range adaptable power divider layer coupled to the connector and transition layer to divide the RF transmission signal into a plurality of transmission signals to propagate through an array of transmission lines, with a set of transmission lines from the array of transmission lines having a set of switches, an RFIC layer having a plurality of phase shifters to apply different phase shifts to the plurality of transmission signals and generate a plurality of phase shifted transmission signals, and an antenna layer having an array of superelements for radiating the plurality of phase shifted transmission signals, wherein a set of superelements is connected to the set of switches in the range adaptable power divider layer for deactivation.

A system for performing autonomous agriculture within an agriculture production environment includes one or more agriculture pods, a stationary robot system, and one or more mobile robots. The agriculture pods include one or more plants and one or more sensor modules for monitoring the plants. The stationary robot system collects sensor data from the sensor modules, performs farming operations on the plants according to an operation schedule based on the collected sensor data, and generates a set of instruction for transporting the agriculture pods within the agriculture production environment. The stationary robot system communicates the set of instructions to the agriculture pods. The mobile robots transport the agriculture pods between the stationary robot system and one or more other locations within the agriculture production environment according to the set of instructions.