Systems and methods for determining a potential failure or other status of a robotic device

{
  "publication_number": "US9024771B1",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B1",
  "title": "Systems and methods for determining a potential failure or other status of a robotic device",
  "abstract": "Methods and systems for proactively preventing hazardous or other situations in a robot-cloud interaction are provided. An example method includes receiving information associated with task logs for a plurality of robotic devices. The task logs may include information associated with tasks performed by the plurality of robotic devices. The method may also include a computing system determining information associated with hazardous situations based on the information associated with the task logs. For example, the hazardous situations may comprise situations associated with failures of one or more components of the plurality of robotic devices. According to the method, information associated with a contextual situation of a first robotic device may be determined, and when the information associated with the contextual situation is consistent with information associated with the one or more hazardous situations, an alert indicating a potential failure of the first robotic device may be provided.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A method comprising: receiving information associated with task logs for a plurality of robotic devices, wherein the task logs comprise information associated with tasks performed by the plurality of robotic devices; a computing system having a processor and a memory determining information associated with hazardous situations based on the information associated with the task logs, wherein the hazardous situations comprise situations associated with failures of one or more components of the plurality of robotic devices; determining information associated with a contextual situation of a first robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices; and when the information associated with the contextual situation is consistent with information associated with the one or more hazardous situations, providing an alert indicating a potential failure of the first robotic device.",
    "2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the information associated with the hazardous situations comprises determining information associated with tasks attempted by the plurality of robotic devices affecting the failures.",
    "3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the information associated with the hazardous situations comprises determining information associated with environments of the plurality of robotic devices affecting the failures.",
    "4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: determining gradient risk scales associated with one or more environments, wherein a given risk scale is proportional to a probability of failure associated with the one or more environments; and wherein the alert indicates a risk scale associated with an environment of the first robotic device.",
    "5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining information associated with a health level for the plurality of robotic devices based on the information associated with the task logs, wherein a health level for a given robotic device is proportional to a current ability of the given robotic device to perform a function and changes over a lifespan of the given robotic device; and wherein determining the information associated with the hazardous situations further comprises determining information associated with respective health levels of the one or more components of the plurality of robotic devices associated with the failures.",
    "6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining information associated with a product utilized by one or more robotic devices of the plurality of robotic devices affecting the failures; and providing a recommendation of a recall of the product from robotic devices utilizing the product and having similar health levels as a given health level associated with the one or more robotic devices.",
    "7. The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining information associated with a product recall, wherein the product is utilized by one or more robotic devices of the plurality of robotic devices and the information comprises symptoms reported by entities experiencing problems with the product; and providing a recommendation of a recall of the product from robotic devices utilizing the product and demonstrating similar symptoms as the reported symptoms.",
    "8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining information associated with preventive maintenance for the plurality of robotic devices; and modifying a time when a component of the robotic device is scheduled to be repaired based on the contextual situation of the first robotic device and the information associated with the hazardous situations.",
    "9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the information associated with the preventative maintenance comprises performing a cost-benefit analysis based on the information associated with the task logs and the information associated with the hazardous situations.",
    "10. The method of claim 9, wherein modifying the time comprises moving the scheduled time to an earlier instance in time when results of the cost-benefit analysis indicate the move will reduce costs.",
    "11. The method of claim 9, wherein modifying the time comprises moving the scheduled time to a later instance in time when results of the cost-benefit analysis indicate the move will reduce costs.",
    "12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining information associated with operational ranges for the plurality of robotic devices; and decreasing an operational range when the information associated with the hazardous situations indicates the decrease will reduce an amount of failures of the plurality of robotic devices.",
    "13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: increasing another operational range when the information associated with the task logs indicates the plurality of robotic devices can perform tasks outside of the another operational range.",
    "14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving real-time information from the plurality of robotic devices comprising contextual situations of the plurality of robotic devices and tasks assigned to the plurality of robotic devices.",
    "15. A computer readable memory having stored therein instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising: determining information associated with task logs for a plurality of robotic devices, wherein the task logs comprise information associated with tasks performed by the plurality of robotic devices; determining information associated with hazardous situations based on the information associated with the task logs, wherein the hazardous situations comprise situations associated with failures of one or more components of the plurality of robotic devices; determining information associated with a contextual situation of a first robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices; and when the information associated with the contextual situation is consistent with information associated with the one or more hazardous situations, providing an alert indicating a potential failure of the first robotic device.",
    "16. The computer readable memory of claim 15, further comprising instructions executable by the computing device to perform functions comprising: determining information associated with contextual situations of additional robotic devices of the plurality of robotic devices; and providing alerts indicating potential failures of the additional robotic devices when the information associated with the contextual situations of the additional robotic devices is consistent with information associated with the one or more hazardous situations.",
    "17. The computer readable memory of claim 15, wherein determining the information associated with the hazardous situations comprises determining information associated with tasks attempted by the plurality of robotic devices affecting the failures.",
    "18. A system comprising: a computing component, comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the computing component is capable of communicating with a plurality of robotic devices over a network, the computing component configured to: receive information associated with task logs for the plurality of robotic devices, wherein the tasks logs comprise information associated with tasks performed by the plurality of robotic devices; determine information associated with hazardous situations based on the information associated with the task logs, wherein the hazardous situations comprise situations associated with failures of one or more components of the plurality of robotic devices; receive information associated with a contextual situation of a first robotic device of the plurality of robotic devices; and provide an alert via the network indicating a potential failure of the first robotic device when the information associated with the contextual situation is consistent with information associated with the one or more hazardous situations; and a plurality of robotic devices, configured to: transmit via the network information associated with tasks performed by the plurality of robotic devices and information associated with contextual situations of the plurality of robotic devices.",
    "19. The system of claim 18, wherein the computing component is further configured to determine information associated with environments of the plurality of robotic devices affecting the failures.",
    "20. The system of claim 18, wherein the computing component is further configured to: determine information associated with a product utilized by one or more robotic devices of the plurality of robotic devices affecting the failures; and recommend a recall of the product from robotic devices utilizing the product and having similar health levels as a health level associated with the one or more robotic devices."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "This disclosure relates to robot cloud computing, and in examples, to proactively preventing potentially hazardous or other situations in a robot-cloud interaction.\n\nCloud computing refers to provision of computational resources via a computer network. In a traditional model of computing, both data and software are fully contained on a user's computer. In cloud computing, however, the user's computer may contain relatively little software or data (perhaps a minimal operating system and web browser, for example), and may serve as a display terminal for processes occurring on a network of computers. A common shorthand provided for a cloud computing service (or even an aggregation of existing cloud services) is “the cloud”.\n\nCloud computing has been referred to as “client-server computing”, however, there may be distinctions between general cloud computing and client-server computing. For example, client-server computing may include a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between providers of a resource or service (e.g., servers), and service requesters (e.g., clients). Client-server computing generally involves a one-to-one relationship between the server and the client, whereas cloud computing includes generic services that can be accessed by generic clients (e.g., a one-to-one relationship or connection may not be required). Thus, cloud computing generally includes client-server computing, and additional services and functionality.",
  "cpc": [
    "G06Q 10/20",
    "B25J 9/0084",
    "B25J 9/1674",
    "G06F 19/00",
    "G08B 21/18",
    "Y10S 901/49"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "G06F 19/00",
    "G08B 21/00",
    "G08B 21/18"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Google LLC"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "James J. Kuffner, Jr.",
    "Ryan Hickman"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2013-01-30",
  "publication_date": "2015-05-05",
  "grant_date": "2015-05-05",
  "priority_date": "2012-02-07",
  "application_number": "US-201313753729-A",
  "family_id": "53001694",
  "cited_by_count": 30,
  "citations": [
    "US7600593B2",
    "US20110046775A1",
    "US20110054680A1",
    "US20100305758A1"
  ]
}