Teleoperated Control of Small Mobile Robots from iRobot Corporation

The Sentinel system will allow an operator to dynamically select and task groups of mobile robots to navigate to specified waypoints or along specified paths. Individual robots will combine GPS/INS position estimation with obstacle avoidance using stereo vision and LIDAR to effectively navigate autonomously. The Sentinel system will include technologies for the control of multiple UGVs:

Dynamic camera selection using multiple UGVs, including UGVs that each have multiple cameras

Integrated teleoperated, semi-autonomous and fully-autonomous control of teams composed of multiple UGVs with variable autonomy levels based on current situational demands

Variable-bandwidth communication with multiple UGVs, including digital video and audio

Sensor-based UGV self-localization using GPS, INS and manual landmark recognition