Patent attributes
Robot docking stations and systems and methods thereof can provide for automatic charging of mobile robots. Such stations can include a guide system configured to guide a mobile robot onto or into the station and prevent the robot from moving off or out of the station. The guide system can have zones or position-sensing parts that correspond to walking or rotating parts of a mobile robot (such as legs, wheels, or crawler belts of a robot), and one or more sensors of the station can be configured to sense when the walking or rotating parts of the robot are positioned over, in, or abutting the zones or position-sensing parts of the station. And, an electrical charger assembly of the station can be configured to move into a charging position when the sensor(s) sense that the robot parts are positioned over, in, or abutting the station zones or parts.
