US 11,752,631 B2
Fleet inspection and maintenance mobile robot
Smruti Panigrahi, Farmington Hills, MI (US); Pavithra Madhavan, Windsor (CA); Justin Miller, Berkley, MI (US); Timothy Feldkamp, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Sanghyun Hong, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Kevin Hwang, Northville, MI (US); Kurt Lundeen, Wixom, MI (US); and Jianbo Lu, Northville, MI (US)
Assigned to Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed by Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed on Feb. 9, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/171,066.
Prior Publication US 2022/0250245 A1, Aug. 11, 2022
Int. Cl. B25J 9/16 (2006.01); B25J 9/08 (2006.01); B60S 5/04 (2006.01); B25J 13/08 (2006.01); B25J 11/00 (2006.01); B25J 13/00 (2006.01)
CPC B25J 9/1679 (2013.01) [B25J 9/08 (2013.01); B25J 9/1664 (2013.01); B25J 9/1697 (2013.01); B25J 11/0085 (2013.01); B25J 13/006 (2013.01); B25J 13/088 (2013.01); B60S 5/04 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A robot for fleet inspection and maintenance, the robot comprising:
a mobile base configured to be removably coupled to a modular platform;
one or more sensors configured to detect a maintenance issue of a vehicle of a fleet of vehicles;
a snake arm coupled to the modular platform, the snake arm comprising a port disposed on a distal end of the snake arm and a plurality of positioning sensors configured to facilitate positioning of the snake arm and the port, wherein the plurality of positioning sensors are disposed in a ring around the port;
a memory that stores computer-executable instructions; and
a processor configured to access the memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to:
generate a map of the area housing the fleet using simultaneous localization and mapping;
allocate a location on the map to the vehicle of the fleet of vehicles, wherein a maintenance status of the vehicle is identified by the vehicle's location on the map;
generate a navigation route to a position proximal to the maintenance issue of the vehicle;
cause the mobile base to traverse the navigation route to the position; and
execute a maintenance to rectify the maintenance issue of the vehicle,
wherein the plurality of positioning sensors are disposed on a slanted surface of the distal end, and wherein the plurality of positioning sensors face a direction parallel to a normal direction of the slanted surface so that the plurality of positioning sensors face at least partially radially outward from the port.