Patent Issued for Method and apparatus for self-contained positioning of a mobile robot inside a tank (USPTO 11525681)

摘要

This patent was filed on January 13, 2022 and was published online on December 13, 2022.From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the followingquote:“1. Field of the Invention“The subject invention relates to a method and an apparatus for positioning a mobile robot vehicle ina liquid-filled vertical cylindrical tank that does not rely on any additional equipment other than the robotitself. The invention can position the robot vehicle within the tank whether it operates in contact with thefloor, swims at any altitude above the tank’s floor, or switches between swimming and rolling on the floor.The invention applies to aboveground storage tanks containing water or petroleum/chemical products, forexample.