U.S. patent application number 13/195740 was filed with the patent office on 2011-12-08 for graphical interface for a remote presence system.
Invention is credited to Charles S. Jordan, Marco Pinter, Jonathan Southard, Yulun Wang.
Application Number | 20110301759 13/195740 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34922688 |
Filed Date | 2011-12-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110301759 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wang; Yulun ; et
al. |
December 8, 2011 |
GRAPHICAL INTERFACE FOR A REMOTE PRESENCE SYSTEM
Abstract
A robot system that includes a robot and a remote station. The
remote station may be a personal computer coupled to the robot
through a broadband network. A user at the remote station may
receive both video and audio from a camera and microphone of the
robot, respectively. The remote station may include a display user
interface that has a variety of viewable fields and selectable
buttons.
Inventors: |
Wang; Yulun; (Goleta,
CA) ; Jordan; Charles S.; (Santa Barbara, CA)
; Southard; Jonathan; (Santa Barbara, CA) ;
Pinter; Marco; (Santa Barbara, CA) |
Family ID: |
34922688 |
Appl. No.: |
13/195740 |
Filed: |
August 1, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10962829 |
Oct 11, 2004 |
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13195740 |
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60548561 |
Feb 26, 2004 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
700/259 ;
700/264; 901/1; 901/47; 901/9 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B25J 5/00 20130101; B25J
11/009 20130101; B25J 9/1689 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
700/259 ;
700/264; 901/1; 901/47; 901/9 |
International
Class: |
B25J 13/08 20060101
B25J013/08; B25J 5/00 20060101 B25J005/00; B25J 13/00 20060101
B25J013/00 |
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. A robot system, comprising: a mobile robot; a base station that
transmits a wireless control signal to said mobile robot; and, a
remote station that is coupled to said mobile robot through said
base station, said remote station includes a display user interface
that displays a signal strength of the wireless control signal,
said remote station sends control signals that cause movement of
said mobile robot.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein said display user interface
displays an image and a first graphical input that can be selected
to vary the image.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein the image is provided by a
camera of said mobile robot.
24. The system of claim 22, wherein said first graphical input can
be selected to view a still picture image.
25. The system of claim 22, wherein said first graphical input is a
slide bar that can be selected to view a plurality of still picture
images.
26. The system of claim 22, wherein a still picture image provided
by said mobile robot camera can be stored at said remote station by
selecting said first graphical input.
27. The system of claim 21, wherein selecting said first graphical
input can initiate a storage of a video segment of said image.
28. The system of claim 21, wherein said mobile robot includes a
battery and said display user interface depicts how much energy is
left in said battery.
29. The system of claim 22, wherein said display user interface
includes a second graphical input that can be selected to vary a
characteristic of the image.
30. The system of claim 21, wherein mobile robot includes a
microphone and said remote station includes a speaker, said display
user interface includes a graphical input that can be selected to
vary a characteristic of sound provided by said microphone.
31. A method for operating a robot system, comprising: transmitting
a control signal from a remote station to a base station;
transmitting a wireless control signal from the base station to a
mobile robot; moving the mobile robot in response to the wireless
control station; and, displaying a display user interface at the
remote station that is coupled to the base station, the display
user interface displays a signal strength of the wireless control
signal.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein the display user interface
displays an image and a first graphical input that can be selected
to vary the image.
33. The method of claim 32, further comprising selecting the first
graphical input to display a still picture image.
34. The method of claim 32, wherein the first graphical input is a
slide bar and further comprising selecting the slide bar to view a
plurality of still picture images.
35. The method of claim 32, further comprising selecting the first
graphical input to store a still picture image provided by the
mobile robot camera.
36. The method of claim 31, further comprising selecting said first
graphical input to initiate a storage of a video segment of the
image.
37. The method of claim 31, wherein movement of the mobile robot is
controlled by the remote station.
38. The method of claim 31, wherein the mobile robot includes a
battery and the display user interface depicts an amount of energy
within the battery.
39. The method of claim 32, further comprising selecting a second
graphical input displayed by the graphical user interface to vary a
characteristic of the image.
40. The method of claim 31, wherein the mobile robot includes a
microphone and the remote station includes a speaker, and further
comprising selecting a graphical input to vary a characteristic of
sound provided by said microphone.
41-100. (canceled)
Description
REFERENCE TO CROSS-RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to application No.
60/548,561 filed on Feb. 26, 2004.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The subject matter disclosed generally relates to the field
of mobile two-way teleconferencing.
[0004] 2. Background Information
[0005] There is a growing need to provide remote health care to
patients that have a variety of ailments ranging from Alzheimers to
stress disorders. To minimize costs it is desirable to provide home
care for such patients. Home care typically requires a periodic
visit by a health care provider such as a nurse or some type of
assistant. Due to financial and/or staffing issues the health care
provider may not be there when the patient needs some type of
assistance. Additionally, existing staff must be continuously
trained, which can create a burden on training personnel. It would
be desirable to provide a system that would allow a health care
provider to remotely care for a patient without being physically
present.
[0006] Robots have been used in a variety of applications ranging
from remote control of hazardous material to assisting in the
performance of surgery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,458 issued
to Wang et al. discloses a system that allows a surgeon to perform
minimally invasive medical procedures through the use of
robotically controlled instruments. One of the robotic arms in the
Wang system moves an endoscope that has a camera. The camera allows
a surgeon to view a surgical area of a patient.
[0007] Tele-robots such as hazardous waste handlers and bomb
detectors may contain a camera that allows the operator to view the
remote site. Canadian Pat. No. 2289697 issued to Treviranus, et al.
discloses a teleconferencing platform that has both a camera and a
monitor. The platform includes mechanisms to both pivot and raise
the camera and monitor. The Treviranus patent also discloses
embodiments with a mobile platform, and different mechanisms to
move the camera and the monitor.
[0008] There has been marketed a mobile robot introduced by
InTouch-Health, Inc., the assignee of this application, under the
trademarks COMPANION and RP-6. The InTouch robot is controlled by a
user at a remote station. The remote station may be a personal
computer with a joystick that allows the user to remotely control
the movement of the robot. Both the robot and remote station have
cameras, monitors, speakers and microphones to allow for two-way
video/audio communication.
[0009] U.S. Pat. Application Pub. No. US 2001/0054071 filed in the
name of Loeb, discloses a video-conferencing system that includes a
number of graphical user interfaces ("GUIs") that can be used to
establish a video-conference. One of the GUIs has an icon that can
be selected to make a call. The Loeb application discloses
stationary video-conferencing equipment such as a television. There
is no discussion in Loeb about the use of robotics.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] A robot system that includes a remote station and a robot.
The remote station includes a display user interface that can be
used to operate the system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a robotic system;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a schematic of an electrical system of a
robot;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a further schematic of the electrical system of
the robot;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a display user interface of a remote station;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a display user interface showing an electronic
medical record;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a display user interface showing an image and an
electronic medical record being simultaneously displayed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Disclosed is a robot system that includes a robot and a
remote station. The remote station may be a personal computer
coupled to the robot through a broadband network. A user at the
remote station may receive both video and audio from a camera and a
microphone of the robot, respectively. The remote station may
include a display user interface that has a variety of viewable
fields and selectable buttons.
[0018] Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference
numbers, FIG. 1 shows a system 10. The robotic system includes a
robot 12, a base station 14 and a remote control station 16. The
remote control station 16 may be coupled to the base station 14
through a network 18. By way of example, the network 18 may be
either a packet switched network such as the Internet, or a circuit
switched network such has a Public Switched Telephone Network
(PSTN) or other broadband system. The base station 14 may be
coupled to the network 18 by a modem 20 or other broadband network
interface device. By way of example, the base station 14 may be a
wireless router. Alternatively, the robot 12 may have a direct
connection to the network thru for example a satellite.
[0019] The remote control station 16 may include a computer 22 that
has a monitor 24, a camera 26, a microphone 28 and a speaker 30.
The computer 22 may also contain an input device 32 such as a
joystick or a mouse. The control station 16 is typically located in
a place that is remote from the robot 12. Although only one remote
control station 16 is shown, the system 10 may include a plurality
of remote stations. In general any number of robots 12 may be
controlled by any number of remote stations 16 or other robots 12.
For example, one remote station 16 may be coupled to a plurality of
robots 12, or one robot 12 may be coupled to a plurality of remote
stations 16, or a plurality of robots 12.
[0020] Each robot 12 includes a movement platform 34 that is
attached to a robot housing 36. Also attached to the robot housing
36 are a camera 38, a monitor 40, a microphone(s) 42 and a
speaker(s) 44. The microphone 42 and speaker 30 may create a
stereophonic sound. The robot 12 may also have an antenna 46 that
is wirelessly coupled to an antenna 48 of the base station 14. The
system 10 allows a user at the remote control station 16 to move
the robot 12 through operation of the input device 32. The robot
camera 38 is coupled to the remote monitor 24 so that a user at the
remote station 16 can view a patient. Likewise, the robot monitor
40 is coupled to the remote camera 26 so that the patient may view
the user. The microphones 28 and 42, and speakers 30 and 44, allow
for audible communication between the patient and the user.
[0021] The remote station computer 22 may operate Microsoft OS
software and WINDOWS XP or other operating systems such as LINUX.
The remote computer 22 may also operate a video driver, a camera
driver, an audio driver and a joystick driver. The video images may
be transmitted and received with compression software such as MPEG
CODEC.
[0022] The robot 12 may be coupled to one or more medical
monitoring devices 50. The medical monitoring device 50 can take
medical data from a patient. By of example, the medical monitoring
device 50 may be a stethoscope, a pulse oximeter and/or an EKG
monitor. The medical monitoring device 50 may contain a wireless
transmitter 52 that transmits the patient data to the robot 12. The
wirelessly transmitted data may be received by antennae 46, or a
separate antennae (not shown). The robot 12 can then transmit the
data to the remote station 16.
[0023] The wireless transmission from the medical monitoring device
50 may be in accord with various wireless standards such as IEEE.
The standard used to transmit data from the medical monitoring
device 50 should not interfere with the wireless communication
between the robot 12 and the base station 14. Although wireless
transmission is shown and described, it is to be understood that
the medical monitoring device 50 can be coupled to the robot 12 by
wires (not shown).
[0024] The remote station 16 may be coupled to a server 54 through
the network 18. The server 54 may contain electronic medical
records of a patient. By way of example, the electronic medical
records may include written records of treatment, patient history,
medication information, x-rays, EKGs, laboratory results, physician
notes, etc. The medical records can be retrieved from the server 54
and displayed by the monitor 24 of the remote station. In lieu of,
or in addition to, the medical records can be stored in the mobile
robot 12. The remote station 16 may allow the physician to modify
the records and then store the modified records back in the server
54 and/or robot 12.
[0025] FIGS. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of a robot 12. Each robot
12 may include a high level control system 60 and a low level
control system 62. The high level control system 60 may include a
processor 64 that is connected to a bus 66. The bus is coupled to
the camera 38 by an input/output (I/O) port 68, and to the monitor
40 by a serial output port 70 and a VGA driver 72. The monitor 40
may include a touchscreen function that allows the patient to enter
input by touching the monitor screen.
[0026] The speaker 44 is coupled to the bus 66 by a digital to
analog converter 74. The microphone 42 is coupled to the bus 66 by
an analog to digital converter 76. The high level controller 60 may
also contain random access memory (RAM) device 78, a non-volatile
RAM device 80 and a mass storage device 82 that are all coupled to
the bus 72. The mass storage device 82 may contain medical files of
the patient that can be accessed by the user at the remote control
station 16. For example, the mass storage device 82 may contain a
picture of the patient. The user, particularly a health care
provider, can recall the old picture and make a side by side
comparison on the monitor 24 with a present video image of the
patient provided by the camera 38. The robot antennae 46 may be
coupled to a wireless transceiver 84. By way of example, the
transceiver 84 may transmit and receive information in accordance
with IEEE 802.11b. The transceiver 84 may also process signals from
the medical monitoring device in accordance with IEEE also known as
Bluetooth. The robot may have a separate antennae to receive the
wireless signals from the medical monitoring device.
[0027] The controller 64 may operate with a LINUX OS operating
system. The controller 64 may also operate MS WINDOWS along with
video, camera and audio drivers for communication with the remote
control station 16. Video information may be transceived using MPEG
CODEC compression techniques. The software may allow the user to
send e-mail to the patient and vice versa, or allow the patient to
access the Internet. In general the high level controller 60
operates to control communication between the robot 12 and the
remote control station 16.
[0028] The high level controller 60 may be linked to the low level
controller 62 by serial ports 86 and 88. The low level controller
62 includes a processor 90 that is coupled to a RAM device 92 and
non-volatile RAM device 94 by a bus 96. Each robot 12 contains a
plurality of motors 98 and motor encoders 100. The motors 98 can
activate the movement platform and move other parts of the robot
such as the monitor and camera. The encoders 100 provide feedback
information regarding the output of the motors 98. The motors 98
can be coupled to the bus 96 by a digital to analog converter 102
and a driver amplifier 104. The encoders 100 can be coupled to the
bus 96 by a decoder 106. Each robot 12 also has a number of
proximity sensors 108 (see also FIG. 1). The position sensors 108
can be coupled to the bus 96 by a signal conditioning circuit 110
and an analog to digital converter 112.
[0029] The low level controller 62 runs software routines that
mechanically actuate the robot 12. For example, the low level
controller 62 provides instructions to actuate the movement
platform to move the robot 12. The low level controller 62 may
receive movement instructions from the high level controller 60.
The movement instructions may be received as movement commands from
the remote control station or another robot. Although two
controllers are shown, it is to be understood that each robot 12
may have one controller, or more than two controllers, controlling
the high and low level functions.
[0030] The various electrical devices of each robot 12 may be
powered by a battery(ies) 114. The battery 114 may be recharged by
a battery recharger station 116. The low level controller 62 may
include a battery control circuit 118 that senses the power level
of the battery 114. The low level controller 62 can sense when the
power falls below a threshold and then send a message to the high
level controller 60.
[0031] The system may be the same or similar to a robotic system
provided by the assignee InTouch-Health, Inc. of Santa Barbara,
Calif. under the name RP-6, which is hereby incorporated by
reference. The system may also be the same or similar to the system
disclosed in application Ser. No. 10/206,457 published on Jan. 29,
2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
[0032] FIG. 4 shows a display user interface ("DUI") 120 that can
be displayed at the remote station 16 and/or the robot 12. The DUI
120 may include a robot view field 122 that displays a video image
captured by the camera of the robot. The DUI 120 may also include a
station view field 124 that displays a video image provided by the
camera of the remote station 16. The DUI 120 may be part of an
application program stored and operated by the computer 22 of the
remote station 16.
[0033] The DUI 120 may include a graphic button 126 that can be
selected to display an electronic medical record as shown in FIG.
5. The button 126 can be toggled to sequentially view the video
image and the electronic medical record. Alternatively, the view
field 122 may be split to simultaneously display both the video
image and the electronic medical record as shown in FIG. 6. The
viewing field may allow the physician to modify the medical record
by adding, changing or deleting all or part of the record. The
remote clinician can also add to the medical record still images or
video captured by the camera of the robot.
[0034] The DUI 120 may have a monitor data field 128 that can
display the data generated by the medical monitoring device(s) and
transmitted to the remote station. The data can be added to the
electronic medical record, either automatically or through user
input. For example, the data can be added to a record by "dragging"
a monitor data field 128 into the viewing field 122.
[0035] The DUI 120 may include alert input icons 130 and 132. Alert
icon 130 can be selected by the user at the remote station to
generate an alert indicator such as a sound from the speaker of the
robot. Selection of the icon generates an alert input to the robot.
The robot generates a sound through its speaker in response to the
alert input. By way of example, the sound may simulate the noise of
a horn. Consequently, the icon may have the appearance of a horn.
The remote station user may select the horn shaped icon 130 while
remotely moving the robot to alert persons to the presence of the
moving robot.
[0036] Alert icon 132 can be selected to request access to the
video images from the robot. The default state of the robot may be
to not send video information to the remote station. Selecting the
alert icon 132 sends an alert input such as an access request to
the robot. The robot then generates an alert indicator. The alert
indicator can be a sound generated by the robot speaker, and/or a
visual prompt on the robot monitor. By way of example, the visual
prompt may be a "flashing" graphical icon. The sound may simulate
the knocking of a door. Consequently, the alert icon 128 may have
the appearance of a door knocker.
[0037] In response to the alert indicator the user may provide a
user input such as the depression of a button on the robot, or the
selection of a graphical image on the robot monitor, to allow
access to the robot camera. The robot may also have a voice
recognition system that allows the user to grant access with a
voice command. The user input causes the robot to begin
transmitting video images from the robot camera to the remote
station that requested access to the robot. A voice communication
may be established before the cycle of the alert input and
response, to allow the user at the remote station to talk to the
caller recipient at the robot.
[0038] The DUI 120 may include a graphical "battery meter" 134 that
indicates the amount of energy left in the robot battery. A
graphical "signal strength meter" 136 may indicate the strength of
the wireless signal transmitted between the robot and the base
station (see FIG. 1).
[0039] The DUI 120 may include a location display 138 that provides
the location of the robot. The CHANGE button 140 can be selected to
change the default robot in a new session. The CHANGE button 140
can be used to select and control a different robot in a system
that has multiple robots. The user can initiate and terminate a
session by selecting box 142. The box 142 changes from CONNECT to
DISCONNECT when the user selects the box to initiate a session.
System settings and support can be selected through buttons 144 and
146.
[0040] Both the robot view field 122 and the station view field 124
may have associated graphics to vary the video and audio displays.
Each field may have an associated graphical audio slide bar 148 to
vary the audio level of the microphone and another slide bar 152 to
vary the volume of the speakers.
[0041] The DUI 120 may have slide bars 150, 154 and 156 to vary the
zoom, focus and brightness of the cameras, respectively. A still
picture may be taken at either the robot or remote station by
selecting one of the graphical camera icons 158. The still picture
may be the image presented at the corresponding field 122 or 124 at
the time the camera icon 158 is selected. Capturing and playing
back video can be taken through graphical icons 160. A return to
real time video can be resumed, after the taking of a still
picture, captured video, or reviewing a slide show, by selecting a
graphical LIVE button 162.
[0042] A still picture can be loaded from disk for viewing through
selection of icon 164. Stored still images can be reviewed by
selecting buttons 166. The number of the image displayed relative
to the total number of images is shown by graphical boxes 168. The
user can rapidly move through the still images in a slide show
fashion or move through a captured video clip by moving the slide
bar 170. A captured video image can be paused through the selection
of circle 174. Play can be resumed through the same button 174.
Video or still images may be dismissed from the active list through
button 172. Video or still images may be transferred to the robot
by selecting icon 176. For example, a doctor at the remote station
may transfer an x-ray to the screen of the robot.
[0043] A graphical depiction of the base of the robot can be shown
in sensor field 178. The sensor may have various sensors that sense
contact with another object. The sensor field 178 can provide a
visual display of the sensors that detect the object. By way of
example, the field may have one or more graphical dots 180 that
display where on the robot the sensors detected an object. This
provides the user with a sense of the robot environment that is
outside the view of the robot camera.
[0044] The graphical depiction of the robot base may contain a
graphical vector overlay 182 that indicates the direction of robot
movement. The direction of movement may be different than the
direction the camera is facing. The vector can provide a visual aid
when driving the robot.
[0045] The system may provide the ability to annotate 184 the image
displayed in field 122 and/or 124. For example, a doctor at the
remote station may annotate some portion of the image captured by
the robot camera. The annotated image may be stored by the system.
The system may also allow for annotation of images sent to the
robot through icon 176. For example, a doctor may send an x-ray to
the robot which is displayed by the robot screen. The doctor can
annotate the x-ray to point out a portion of the x-ray to personnel
located at the robot site. This can assist in allowing the doctor
to instruct personnel at the robot site.
[0046] The display user interface may include graphical inputs 186
that allow the operator to turn the views of the remote station and
remote cameras on and off.
[0047] While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and
shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that
such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on
the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the
specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since
various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled
in the art.
* * * * *