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EP-4740078-A1 - A MOBILE SERVICE ROBOT AND METHOD OF OPERATING SUCH A ROBOT

EP4740078A1EP 4740078 A1EP4740078 A1EP 4740078A1EP-4740078-A1

Abstract

A robot (110) for providing a service to a user (120) carrying a user communication device (130) is disclosed. The robot (110) comprises a drive unit (112) configured to move the robot (110) and a communication interface (113) configured to transmit a plurality of sensing and messaging signals towards the user (120). Moreover, the robot (110) comprises a control unit (111) configured to determine a position of a plurality of targets (120, 140) within the vicinity of the robot (110) based on the plurality of sensing and messaging signals and to determine the position of the user (120) based on the positions of the plurality of targets (120, 140) within the vicinity of the robot (110). The control unit (111) is further configured to control the drive unit (112) to move the robot (110) based on the position of the user (120). The mobile robot (110) allows accurately localizing the user (120) even under low visibility and/or out-of-coverage conditions.

Inventors

  • SAMARA, Lutfi Zuhair Lutfi
  • BOBAN, Mate
  • ZUGNO, Tommaso

Assignees

  • Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20230818

Claims (15)

  1. 1. A robot (110) for providing a service to a user (120) carrying a user communication device (130), wherein the robot (110) comprises: a drive unit (112) configured to move the robot (110); a communication interface (113) configured to transmit a plurality of sensing and messaging signals towards the user (120); and a control unit (111) configured to determine a position of a plurality of targets (120, 140) within the vicinity of the robot (110) based on the plurality of sensing and messaging signals and to determine the position of the user (120) based on the positions of the plurality of targets (120, 140) within the vicinity of the robot (110), wherein the control unit (111) is further configured to control the drive unit (112) to move the robot (110) based on the position of the user (120).
  2. 2. The robot (110) of claim 1 , wherein, in response to transmitting the plurality of sensing and messaging signals, the communication interface (113) is configured to receive a feedback signal from the user communication device (130) and wherein the control unit (111) is configured to determine the position of the user (120) based on the feedback signal and the positions of the plurality of targets (120, 140) within the vicinity of the robot (110).
  3. 3. The robot (110) of claim 2, wherein the feedback signal from the user communication device (130) comprises an identifier of the user communication device (130), position information of the user communication device (130), motion speed information of the user communication device (130), motion direction information of the user communication device (130), and/or channel state information.
  4. 4. The robot (110) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit (111) is configured to predict the position of the user (120) and to determine the position of the user (120) as the position of the target of the plurality of targets (120, 140) being closest to the predicted position of the user (120).
  5. 5. The robot (110) of claim 4, wherein the control unit (111) is configured to predict the position of the user (120) based on a previously determined position, movement speed and/or movement direction of the user (120).
  6. 6. The robot (110) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more of the plurality of sensing and messaging signals comprises an identifier of the robot (110).
  7. 7. The robot (110) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more of the plurality of sensing and messaging signals comprises an indication of whether a feedback signal from the user communication device (130) is expected.
  8. 8. The robot (110) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the communication interface (113) is further configured to receive one or more reference signals from the user communication device (130) and wherein the control unit (111) is configured to determine the position of the user (120) further based on the one or more reference signals.
  9. 9. The robot (110) of claim 8, wherein, in response to receiving one or more of the reference signals and/or the feedback signal from the user communication device (130), one or more of the plurality of sensing and messaging signals transmitted towards the user (120) comprise an indication for the user communication device (130) for adjusting the transmission power of the one or more reference signals and/or the feedback signal.
  10. 10. The robot (110) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the communication interface (113) is configured to transmit the plurality of sensing and messaging signals one after the other with a defined sensing and messaging signal period.
  11. 11. The robot (110) of claim 10, wherein the control unit (111) is configured to adjust the sensing and messaging signal period based on a desired separation distance between the robot (110) and the user (120), based on an energy consumption constraint of the robot (110) and/or based on an energy consumption constraint of the user communication device (130).
  12. 12. The robot (110) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the communication interface (113) is configured to transmit the plurality of sensing and messaging signals with a defined sensing and messaging signal transmission power and wherein the control unit (111) is configured to adjust the sensing and messaging signal transmission power based on a desired separation distance between the robot (110) and the user (120), and/or based on an energy consumption constraint of the robot (110).
  13. 13. The robot (110) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the communication interface (113) is configured to transmit the plurality of sensing and messaging signals towards the user (120) via a base station and/or a sidelink of a mobile communication network.
  14. 14. A method (600) for operating a robot (110) for providing a service to a user (120) carrying a user communication device (130), wherein the method (600) comprises: transmitting (601) by a communication interface (113) of the robot (110) a plurality of sensing and messaging signals towards the user (120); determining (603) a position of a plurality of targets (120, 140) within the vicinity of the robot (110) based on the plurality of sensing and messaging signals; determining (605) the position of the user (120) based on the positions of the plurality of targets (120, 140) within the vicinity of the robot (110); and controlling (607) a drive unit (112) of the robot (110) to move the robot (110) based on the position of the user (120).
  15. 15. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium for storing program code which causes a computer or a processor to perform the method (600) of claim 14, when the program code is executed by the computer or the processor.

Description

A MOBILE SERVICE ROBOT AND METHOD OF OPERATING SUCH A ROBOT TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to robotics. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a mobile robot for providing a service to a user carrying a user communication device and a method of operating such a robot. BACKGROUND Service robotics includes robotics applications that are intended to perform useful tasks for humans. Human-following robots are a special type of service robots, whose distinctive feature is the capability of following a user and which may be used as cargo-carrying robots, for smart catering, as disinfection robots, and as cleaning robots to name a few. The technical challenges for human-following robots include localization, identification, and tracking of the user as well as avoiding obstacles. US2021072750A1 discloses a mobile servicing robot making use of on-board sensors, in particular cameras and computer vision techniques to localize, identify, and track the user, and to detect obstacles. Computer vision techniques, however, rely on visual information to identify the user. When operating in a crowded area where people look similar (e.g., workplaces where workers wear the same uniform), it may be difficult for the human-following robot to identify the intended user. Moreover, visual information captured by cameras strongly depends on lighting conditions and, thus, the performance may degrade in case of low visibility. Furthermore, visual information used by computer vision techniques may include images of the user and other subjects. This may trigger privacy concerns. EP3909488A1 discloses a mobile servicing robot making relying on information provided by a communication network to localize, identify, and track the user. A drawback of this solution that operations in out-of-coverage conditions are not supported. SUMMARY It is an objective of the present disclosure to provide an improved mobile robot for providing a service to a user carrying a user communication device and a method of operating such a robot. The foregoing and other objectives are achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Further implementation forms are apparent from the dependent claims, the description and the figures. According to a first aspect a robot for providing a service to a user, in particular a human user carrying a user communication device is provided. The robot comprises a drive unit, which may include a motor, configured to move the robot. Moreover, the robot comprises a communication interface (herein also referred to as robot terminal, RT) configured to transmit a plurality of sensing and messaging signals towards the user. The plurality of sensing and messaging signals may be signals of an Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) scheme (sometimes also referred to as joint sensing and communication or dual function radar communication systems). The ISAC scheme may employ different waveforms, such as OFDM, FMCW. OTFS, and the like. The robot further comprises a control unit configured to determine a respective position of a plurality of targets within the vicinity of the robot based on the plurality of sensing and messaging signals and to determine the position of, i.e. localize the user based on the positions of the plurality of targets within the vicinity of the robot. The control unit is further configured to control the drive unit to move the robot based on the determined position of the user, in particular in the direction of the determined position of the user in order to achieve a desired separation distance between the robot and the user. The mobile robot according to the first aspect allows accurately localizing the user even under low visibility and/or out-of-coverage conditions. In a further possible implementation form, in response to transmitting the plurality of sensing and messaging signals, the communication interface is configured to receive a feedback signal from the user communication device and the control unit is configured to determine the position of the user based on the feedback signal and the positions of the plurality of targets within the vicinity of the robot. In a further possible implementation form, the feedback signal from the user communication device comprises an identifier of the user communication device, position information, for instance, GPS coordinates of the user communication device, motion speed information of the user communication device, motion direction information of the user communication device, and/or channel state information, such as channel quality information (CQI) , precoding matrix indicator (PMI), SS/PBCH Resource Block Indicator (SSBRI), reference signal received power (RSRP). In a further possible implementation form, the control unit is configured to predict the position of the user and to determine the position of the user as the position of the target of the plurality of targets being closest to the predicted position of the u