System, apparatus and method for improved location identification with prism

{
  "publication_number": "US12162160B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "System, apparatus and method for improved location identification with prism",
  "abstract": "A prism for reflecting a laser includes: a single mounting cap at a first end of the prism, and first to seventh trihedral corner (TC) reflectors, each including a reflective surface including: three side edges, and three corners at respective intercept points between the side edges, wherein the seventh TC reflector, among the first to seventh TC reflectors, is on a second end of the prism opposite to the first end of the prism.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A prism for reflecting a laser, comprising: a single mounting cap at a first end of the prism; and first to seventh trihedral corner (TC) reflectors, each comprising a reflective surface comprising: three side edges; and three corners at respective intercept points between the side edges, wherein the seventh TC reflector, among the first to seventh TC reflectors, is on a second end of the prism opposite to the first end of the prism.",
    "2. The prism of claim 1, wherein the seventh TC reflector comprises a reflective surface that is parallel to a top surface of the mounting cap.",
    "3. The prism of claim 2, wherein the first to sixth TC reflectors, among the first to seventh TC reflectors, are arranged annularly between the seventh TC reflector and the mounting cap.",
    "4. The prism of claim 3, wherein: for each of the first to third TC reflectors, a first side edge, among the three side edges, directly contacts the top surface of the mounting cap; and for each of the fourth to sixth TC reflectors, a first side edge, among the three side edges, directly contacts a side edge of the seventh TC reflector.",
    "5. An apparatus, comprising: an inspection robot comprising: a body; and a prism for reflecting a laser emitted from a laser tracking head, the prism comprising: a single mounting cap mounted on the body of the inspection robot at a first end of the prism; and first to seventh trihedral corner (TC) reflectors, each comprising a reflective surface comprising: three side edges; and three corners at respective intercept points between the side edges, wherein the seventh TC reflector, among the first to seventh TC reflectors, is on a second end of the prism opposite to the first end of the prism.",
    "6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the seventh TC reflector comprises a reflective surface that is parallel to a top surface of the mounting cap.",
    "7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first to sixth TC reflectors, among the first to seventh TC reflectors, are arranged annularly between the seventh TC reflector and the mounting cap.",
    "8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein: for each of the first to third TC reflectors, a first side edge, among the three side edges, directly contacts the top surface of the mounting cap; and for each of the fourth to sixth TC reflectors, a first side edge, among the three side edges, directly contacts a side edge of the seventh TC reflector.",
    "9. A method, comprising: providing a prism reflecting a laser emitted from a laser tracking head, comprising: providing a single mounting cap mounted on a body of an inspection robot at a first end of the prism; and providing first to seventh trihedral corner (TC) reflectors, each comprising a reflective surface comprising: three side edges; and three corners at respective intercept points between the side edges, wherein the seventh TC reflector, among the first to seventh TC reflectors, is on a second end of the prism opposite to the first end of the prism.",
    "10. The method of claim 9, wherein the seventh TC reflector comprises a reflective surface that is parallel to a top surface of the mounting cap.",
    "11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first to sixth TC reflectors, among the first to seventh TC reflectors, are arranged annularly between the seventh TC reflector and the mounting cap.",
    "12. The method of claim 11, wherein: for each of the first to third TC reflectors, a first side edge, among the three side edges, directly contacts the top surface of the mounting cap; and for each of the fourth to sixth TC reflectors, a first side edge, among the three side edges, directly contacts a side edge of the seventh TC reflector.",
    "13. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the prism on an inspection robot, the inspection robot comprising a body to which the mounting cap is mounted.",
    "14. The method of claim 13, further comprising reflecting a laser from the laser tracking head on at least the seventh TC reflector.",
    "15. The method of claim 13, further comprising further reflecting the laser from the laser tracking head on at least one of the first to sixth TC reflectors.",
    "16. The method of claim 14, further comprising reflecting the laser from the laser tracking head within a reflective orientation coverage (ROC) map corresponding to a 1.5 plane prism model.",
    "17. A prism for reflecting a laser beam, comprising: a mounting cap; and seven trihedral corner (TC) reflectors, each comprising a reflective surface comprising: three side edges; and three corners at respective intercept points between the side edges, wherein the seven TC reflectors are arranged such that: for each of a first three of the seven TC reflectors: a first side edge, among the three side edges, is in direct contact with and parallel to a top surface of the mounting cap; a first corner, among the three corners, is opposite to the first side edge; and a second corner and a third corner, among the three corners, directly contact another of the first three of the seven TC reflectors at first and second ends of the first side edge parallel to the top surface of the mounting cap; for each of a second three of the seven TC reflectors: a first corner, among the three corners, points toward the top surface of the mounting cap; a first side edge, among the three side edges, is parallel to the top surface of the mounting cap, and is opposite to the first corner; and a second corner and a third corner, among the three corners, directly contact another of the second three of the seven TC reflectors at first and second ends of the first side edge parallel to the top surface of the mounting cap, and are opposite to the first corner; and for a seventh of the seven TC reflectors: each of three side edges contacts a respective one of the first sides of the second three of the seven TC reflectors; and the reflective surface is parallel to the top surface of the mounting cap.",
    "18. The prism of claim 17, wherein the first to sixth TC reflectors, among the first to seventh TC reflectors, are arranged annularly between the seventh TC reflector and the mounting cap.",
    "19. The prism of claim 17, wherein the seventh TC reflector, among the first to seventh TC reflectors, is on a second end of the prism opposite to a first end of the prism, and the mounting cap is at the first end of the prism.",
    "20. A system, comprising: the prism of claim 17; and an inspection robot including a body, wherein the mounting cap of the prism is mounted on the body."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present disclosure relates to robotic inspection and treatment of industrial surfaces. These may be performed by a robotic total system (RTS) (or “robotic total station”). In the geospatial and land surveying industries, which are example industries in which RTS systems may be deployed, RTS systems are provided with a laser range finder tracking head along with what is known as an RTS prism. So long as the laser tracking head has line of sight with a single trihedral corner (TC) reflector, the TC reflector is oriented correctly, and it is within range, it can accurately plot a location in 3D space based on the location of the TC reflector. RTS prisms may be constructed with a single TC reflector or with several TC reflectors oriented to reflect all light from a singular point in free space. In an RTS system, the laser tracking head has a fixed (X, Y, Z) position. Additionally, the laser tracking head acts as the origin of a laser beam. The RTS prism, unlike the laser head, is free to move about 3-dimensional (“3D”) space while the distance and angle between the two are measured.\n\nFIG. 90 is a schematic diagram of a traditional “360” RTS prism.\n\nTo finely track the motion of a crawler robot on 3D assets, RTS continuous tracking is utilized with an RTS prism permanently affixed to the crawler robot. Referring to FIG.",
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  "assignees": [
    "Gecko Robotics Inc"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Alberto Pinero",
    "Weston Bushyeager",
    "Mayank Roy",
    "Edward A. Bryner"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2024-05-29",
  "publication_date": "2024-12-10",
  "grant_date": "2024-12-10",
  "priority_date": "2016-12-23",
  "application_number": "US-202418676761-A",
  "family_id": "92803755",
  "cited_by_count": 15,
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