Robot navigation among crowds/moving obstacles.
A system for improving navigation of robots in a space with a plurality of pedestrians or other movable objects or obstacles. The system includes a traffic analysis assembly that has a traffic sensor(s) sensing movement of the obstacles in the space. The traffic analysis assembly further includes a processor running a flow module that processes (such as the Gunnar-Farneback optical flow algorithm) output from the traffic sensor to generate traffic analysis results, which include density values for the obstacles in the space and motion information for the obstacles in the space (e.g., speed and direction). The system includes a robot with a controller running a navigation module selecting a navigation route between a current location of the robot and a target location in the space using the traffic analysis result. The workspace is configured such that the obstacles such as pedestrians have unregulated flow patterns in the space.
BACKGROUND1. Field of the Description(1) The present invention relates, in general, to methods and systems for controlling a robot (such as a service or entertainment robot) for safe and efficient navigation in spaces (or “workspaces”) with one to many people, either walking or operating bicycles, wheelchairs, mobility scooters, skates, Segway or similar vehicles, and the like (all may be referred to as “obstacles” or “moving objects” or the like), and more particularly, to a robot controller (or assembly for controlling a robot) that is adapted, when navigating a robot through a crowded workspace, to provide efficient control (e.g., the quickest path) in the context of pedestrian traffic in the workspace including choosing between one or more end points/choices (e.g., a targeted second location from a current or first location (or “origin”) of the robot) and/or one or more paths to a chosen end point (or “target” or “goal”).2. Relevant Background(2) Today, robots are widely used in a wide variety of environments including public environments where the robots may need to interact with or at least safely navigate in the presence of people. Human behavior is complex, which makes it difficult to accurately predict what any particular person will do in the future. This is a primary challenge or difficulty in planning robot interactions with people and for navigating a robot through a space (or workspace) that may include a few people or may even be very crowded with people. In so
1. A system for improving navigation of robots in a space with a plurality of moving or movable obstacles, comprising: a traffic analysis unit including a traffic sensor sensing movement of obstacles in the space, wherein the traffic analysis unit further includes a processor running a flow module that processes output from the traffic sensor to generate traffic analysis results including density values for the obstacles in the space and motion information for the obstacles in the space; and in the space, a robot comprising a controller communicating with the traffic analysis unit to receive the traffic analysis results and running a navigation module to select a navigation route between a current location of the robot and a target location in the space based on the traffic analysis results, wherein the space is configured such that the obstacles have unregulated flow patterns in at least one area of the space and the navigation route passes through the at least one area of the space between the current and target locations, wherein the robot comprises a mobile robot or driverless vehicle in wireless communications with the traffic analysis assembly to periodically receive the traffic analysis results, wherein the navigation module selects the navigation route from a set of two or more potential routes by processing the traffic analysis results in conjunction with a set of navigation constraints, wherein the motion information comprises direction and speed of individual ones of the obstacles or of groups of the obstacles, and wherein the set of navigation constraints include the robot traveling in a direction matching the direction of the individual ones of the obstacles or of groups of the obstacles or include the navigation module not selecting any of the potential routes as the navigation route that are in a direction for the robot that is opposite the direction of the individual ones of the obstacles or of groups of the obstacles.
7. A system for improving navigation of robots in a space with a plurality of obstacles, the space being configured such that the obstacles have unregulated flow patterns in at least one area of the space, comprising: a traffic analysis unit including a digital camera capturing a sequence of video frames of the space including the obstacles, wherein the traffic analysis unit further includes a flow module processing the sequence of video frames to generate traffic analysis results including motion information for the obstacles in the space; and an autonomous agent communicating with the traffic analysis unit to receive the traffic analysis results and comprising a navigation module selecting, based on the traffic analysis results, a target location from a set of potential target location and a route from a current location of the autonomous agent to the selected target location in the space, wherein the traffic analysis unit further comprises a traffic data filtering module run by the processor to crop out subsets of each of the video frames to remove data associated with areas of the space without navigable pathways for the autonomous agent or to correct for lens positioning in the space and distortion, wherein the motion information comprises direction and speed of groups of the obstacles, and wherein the set of navigation constraints include the robot traveling on the route in a direction matching the direction of one or more of the groups of the obstacles, include the robot traveling on the route at a speed matching the speed of one or more of the groups of the obstacles, or include the navigation module discarding any of the potential routes in selecting the route that are for the autonomous agent in a direction opposite the direction of one or more of the groups of the obstacles.
12. A system for improving navigation of autonomous agents in a workspace open to a plurality of movable objects, comprising: a traffic sensor sensing movement of the movable objects in the workspace; a processor running a flow module that processes output from the traffic sensor to generate traffic analysis results including density values of the movable objects in the workspace and motion information for the movable objects in the workspace; an autonomous agent in the workspace; a controller communicating with the processor to receive the traffic analysis results and running a navigation module to select a navigation route for the autonomous agent between a current location of the autonomous agent and a target location in the workspace based on the traffic analysis results, wherein the motion information comprises direction and speed of groups of two or more of the movable objects, and wherein the set of navigation constraints include the robot traveling on the route in a direction matching the direction of one or more of the groups of the obstacles, include the robot traveling on the route at a speed matching the speed of one or more of the groups of the obstacles, or include the navigation module discarding any of the potential routes in selecting the route that are for the autonomous agent in a direction opposite the direction of one or more of the groups of the obstacles.