Control interface for autonomy

Abstract

A control device for an autonomous lawn mower is described which receives input signals from a first and/or second hand control and determines a control signal for controlling the autonomous lawn mower. The hand controls may provide for intuitive control of the mower by a user. The control signals may be used to operate the autonomous lawn mower to perform a task such that, when later detached or otherwise decoupled, the autonomous lawn mower may perform the same or similar tasks substantially autonomously based on data (e.g., sensor signals, control signals, etc.), generated during manual operation. In some examples, the control signals may be determined to aid a user in maintaining a straight mow, proximity to a desired pattern for mowing, and/or be otherwise altered based on the presence of a user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A control device for interfacing with an autonomous lawn mower, the control device comprising:
 a first hand control configured to generate a first signal;   a second hand control configured to generate a second signal;   one or more additional input regions to generate an additional input signal;   one or more processors; and   one or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the operations comprising:
 receiving sensor data from one or more sensors associated with the autonomous lawn mower; 
 determining, based at least in part on the sensor data and one or more of the first signal, the second signal, or the additional signal, a control signal; and 
 controlling the autonomous lawn mower based at least in part on the control signal. 
   
     
     
         2 . The control device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the sensor comprises one or more of an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and   wherein determining the control signal comprises:
 determining, based at least in part on the sensor data, a current state of the autonomous lawn mower, the current state comprising one or more of a position, an orientation, a linear velocity, or an angular velocity; 
 determining, based at least in part on one or more of the first signal, the second signal, or the additional signal, a desired state of the autonomous lawn mower; and 
 determining, based at least in part on a difference between the current state and the desired state, the control signal, 
   wherein the control signal comprises an amount of torque to be applied to a wheel associated with the autonomous lawn mower.   
     
     
         3 . The control device of  claim 1 , wherein the control device is coupled to the autonomous lawn mower via one or more of:
 a mechanical coupling,   an electrical coupling, or   a wireless coupling.   
     
     
         4 . The control device of  claim 1 , wherein the first signal received from the first hand control of the control interface is associated with a wheel speed of a first wheel of the autonomous lawn mower and the second signal received from the second hand control interface is associated with a wheel speed of a second wheel of the autonomous lawn mower, and
 wherein the additional input is indicative of a maximum speed of the autonomous lawn mower.   
     
     
         5 . The control device of  claim 1 , wherein determining the control signal comprises:
 receiving a current position of the autonomous lawn mower;   determining a distance between the current position and a closest point along a pattern to be mowed by the autonomous lawn mower while operated by the user; and   determining, based at least in part on the distance, the first signal, and the second signal, a torque to apply to a wheel associated with the autonomous lawn mower.   
     
     
         6 . The control device of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise determining a user presence signal based at least in part on one or more of:
 the additional signal,   a signal received from an RFID tag,   an inductive proximity sensor associated with a platform on which the user is standing,   a pressure sensor associated with the platform,   a capacitive sensor associated with one or more of the first or second hand controls,   an inductive sensor associated with one or more of the first or second hand controls,   a resistive sensor associated with one or more of the first or second hand controls, or   camera data from one or more cameras associated with the autonomous lawn mower, and   wherein determining the control signal is further based at least in part on the user presence signal.   
     
     
         7 . A method for controlling an autonomous lawn mower comprising:
 receiving, from a control device, a signal associated with a hand control of the control device;   receiving, from the control device, an additional input;   receiving sensor data from a sensor associated with the autonomous lawn mower;   determining, based at least in part on the sensor data, a current state of the autonomous lawn mower, the current state indicative of one or more of a position, an orientation, or a velocity of the autonomous lawn mower;   determining, based at least in part on the current state of the autonomous lawn mower and one or more of the signal or the additional signal, a control signal; and   controlling the autonomous lawn mower based at least in part on the control signal.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control device is coupled to the autonomous lawn mower via one or more of:
 a mechanical coupling,   an electrical coupling, or   a wireless coupling.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , the method further comprising determining whether a user is associated with the control device based at least in part on one or more of:
 an inductive proximity sensor associated with a platform on which the user is standing, camera data from a camera associated with the autonomous lawn mower,   a pressure sensor,   an RFID tag, or   the additional input, and   wherein determining the control signal is further based at least in part on determining whether a user is associated with the control device.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control signal comprises one or more of:
 an amount of torque to apply to a wheel of the autonomous lawn mower on a same side associated with the hand control,   an amount of a reduction in speed to apply to an opposing wheel of the autonomous vehicle on an opposite side associated with the hand control, or   an output of a piecewise smooth function comprising at least a sigmoid function.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the current state of the autonomous lawn mower comprises a position, and
 wherein determining the control signal comprises:
 receiving a pattern along which the autonomous lawn mower is to mow; 
 determining a distance between the position and a closest point on the pattern; and 
 determining, as the control signal and based at least in part on the distance, a torque to apply to a wheel associated with the autonomous lawn mower. 
   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising receiving map data associated with an environment through which the autonomous lawn mower is traversing,
 wherein determining the control signal is further based at least in part on the map data. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the signal is generated at a first time, and
 wherein the sensor data is received at a second time after the first time,   the method further comprising determining, at a third time after the second time, the autonomous lawn mower to be operated in an autonomous mode,   wherein, after the third time, the autonomous lawn mower is configured to mow exclusive of additional signals generated by the control device.   
     
     
         14 . One or more non-transitory computer readable media having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the operations comprising:
 receiving, from a control device, a signal associated with a hand control of the control device;   receiving, from the control device, an additional input;   receiving sensor data associated with a sensor of an autonomous lawn mower coupled to the control device;   determining, based at least in part on the sensor data and one or more of the signal or the additional input, a control signal,   wherein the control signal is configured to control an autonomous lawn mower.   
     
     
         15 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 14 , wherein the hand control comprises a joystick and the signal is determined based at least in part on an orientation of the joystick relative to a neutral position of the joystick. 
     
     
         16 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise determining, based at least in part on the sensor data, whether a user is associated with the control device, and
 wherein determining the control signal is further based at least in part on determining whether the user is associated with the control device.   
     
     
         17 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 16 , wherein determining the control signal comprises:
 determining, based at least in part on the sensor data, a current state of the autonomous lawn mower, the current state comprising one or more of a position, an orientation, or a velocity of the autonomous lawn mower;   determining, based at least in part on one or more of the signal or the additional input, a desired state of the autonomous lawn mower;   determining a difference between the current state and the desired state; and   determining, as the control signal and based at least in part on the difference, an amount of torque to apply to a wheel of the autonomous lawn mower.   
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 14 , wherein determining the control signal comprises:
 determining, based at least in part on the sensor data, a current position of the autonomous lawn mower;   receiving a pattern along which the autonomous lawn mower is to mow;   determining a distance between the current position and a closest point on the pattern; and   determining, as the control signal and based at least in part on the distance, a torque to apply to a wheel associated with the autonomous lawn mower.   
     
     
         19 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving map data, and
 wherein the control signal is further based at least in part on the map data.   
     
     
         20 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the signal is received at a first time,   wherein the sensor data is received at a second time after the first time, and   wherein, after the second time, the autonomous lawn mower is configured to mow a pattern based at least in part on additional sensor data from the one or more sensors and exclusive of additional signals generated by the control device.