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OMRON Corporation's Patent for Advanced Robot Navigation System Published

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

OMRON Corporation, a renowned Japanese company, has recently published a patent for an advanced robot navigation system, highlighting the company's commitment to innovation in the robotics industry. The patent, filed on December 20, 2021, and published on September 30, 2025, presents a revolutionary approach to robot navigation, ensuring safe and efficient movement in complex environments.

The system, developed by inventors Yoichi Bamba and Kazuma Mishima, utilizes a distance information acquisition unit, an area information acquisition unit, a blind spot calculation unit, and a display unit to calculate and display a three-dimensional blind spot region representing a blind spot of the sensor. The system also includes a recognition unit that recognizes a movement range of a robot installed in the measurable region from pieces of distance information obtained by measurement by the sensor at a plurality of timings.

This advanced navigation system is designed to provide a technique that allows a user to easily recognize a critical blind spot region, ensuring the safe operation of robots in various environments, including production sites, warehouses, and other complex spaces.

Key Takeaways:

  • The patent, filed by OMRON Corporation on December 20, 2021, and published on September 30, 2025, describes an advanced robot navigation system that utilizes a distance information acquisition unit, an area information acquisition unit, a blind spot calculation unit, and a display unit.
  • The system recognizes a movement range of a robot installed in the measurable region from pieces of distance information obtained by measurement by the sensor at a plurality of timings.
  • The patented technology aims to provide a technique that allows a user to easily recognize a critical blind spot region, ensuring the safe operation of robots in various environments.
  • The system includes a recognition unit that converts each of the pieces of distance information obtained by measurement by the sensor at the plurality of timings into object range information indicating the ranges occupied by individual objects in the measurable region.
  • The recognition unit also excludes surrounding environment information indicating the range occupied by an object other than the robot in the measurable region to generate actual operation information indicating the range occupied by the robot in the measurable region.
  • The blind spot calculation unit calculates the three-dimensional blind spot region generated by the robot from the recognized movement range of the robot.
  • The system further comprises a setting unit configured to set the surrounding environment information on the basis of the distance information obtained by measurement by the sensor in a state where the robot is stopped.
  • The patent includes 15 claims, including a method for calculating a three-dimensional blind spot region representing a blind spot of the sensor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute each step of the method.

Statistics:

  • 12427669 is the assigned patent number.
  • The patent was filed on December 20, 2021, and published on September 30, 2025.
  • The system is designed to provide a technique that allows a user to easily recognize a critical blind spot region.
  • The recognition unit can recognize a movement range of a robot installed in the measurable region from pieces of distance information obtained by measurement by the sensor at a plurality of timings.
  • The blind spot calculation unit can calculate the three-dimensional blind spot region generated by the robot from the recognized movement range of the robot.
  • The system includes a setting unit configured to set the surrounding environment information on the basis of the distance information obtained by measurement by the sensor in a state where the robot is stopped.

Sources:

  • Bamba, Yoichi. Information processing device, information processing method, and program. U.S. Patent Number 12427669, filed December 20, 2021, and published online on September 30, 2025. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(12427669)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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