Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120256752 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO EXTEND OPERATING LIFE OF RECHARGABLE BATTERIES USING BATTERY CHARGE MANAGEMENT - A battery charging management technique and apparatus to manage battery charge in order to extend the operating life of the battery while meeting the energy needs of both scheduled and unscheduled discharges of the battery. | 10-11-2012 |
20120293316 | COLLABORATIVE VEHICLE CONTROL USING BOTH HUMAN OPERATOR AND AUTOMATED CONTROLLER INPUT - Control of a vehicle to perform a task employs first control input provided by a human operator and second control input provided by an automated controller. A relationship between the first control input and the second control input is determined. Either the first control input or the second control input is used to control the vehicle to perform the task based on the determined relationship. An indicator may be used to indicate to the operator when the control input provided by the human operator is being used to control the vehicle. | 11-22-2012 |
20140012418 | Boundary Sensor Assembly for a Robotic Lawn Mower, Robotic Lawn Mower and Robotic Lawn Mower System - A robotic mower sensor assembly for detecting a boundary wire signal. The sensor assembly includes a plurality of analog inductive sensors with a first inductive sensor oriented along a first axis and a second inductive sensor oriented along a second, different axis. Each inductive sensor is configured to generate a signal indicative of the distance of the robotic mower from the boundary wire. A control unit communicating with the sensor assembly is configured to operate the robotic mower in response to the signals from the sensor assembly which are indicative of the distance of the robotic mower from the boundary wire. | 01-09-2014 |
20140012453 | Navigation System and Method for Autonomous Mower - A navigation system for a robotic mower includes a boundary wire defining a boundary of a specified area; a boundary sensor assembly, and a vehicle control unit with a navigation arbitration logic configured to arbitrate a selection between at least a straight propagation mode and an arc propagation mode. The navigation arbitration module is configured to select the arc propagation mode when the sensor assembly indicates that the mower approaches the boundary of the specified area and has a distance from the boundary that is equal to or smaller than a specified turn distance. The boundary sensor assembly generates a sensor signal representative of a measured yaw angle of the mower relative to the boundary wire, and the navigation arbitration logic is configured to generate output information representative of a desired yaw angle dependent on an assumed actual yaw angle. | 01-09-2014 |