INDICATOR FOR A ROBOTIC MACHINE

摘要

A robotic machine such as a robotic vacuum cleaner (10) is controlled to carry out a task of cleaning a room. The machine has a plurality of sensors including infrared sensors (26, 27), ultrasonic sensors (28, 29) and light sensors (17) through which the machine can navigate its way around a room without hitting objects or walls in its path. The machine has an indicator light (35) which changes colour depending upon the state of interaction of the various sensors with the environment, indicating the "mood" of the cleaner (10). The indicator (35) comprises three primary colour light sources which are combined within a reflective frusto-conical chamber and a translucent lens dome in order to combine the primary colours into a single light as viewed by a user. This makes the machine more user-friendly.