Page 138 - Concise Encyclopedia of Robotics

Gateway
support
Robot
arm
robot arm
hose
Paying Gas Overhead Track for
station

Driveway
Gas station robot

be the use of bar coding or a passive transponder, similar to the price tags
on consumer merchandise.
The robot must know the position of the car to within a millimeter or
so. Otherwise, the nozzle might miss the fill pipe and spill gasoline on the
pavement,or worse,put it in the car through the window.Object recognition
helps prevent problems like this.Alternatively, a biased search can be used,
letting the nozzle seek out the gas-tank fill opening. The opening itself is
of a design such that the robot can open it and insert the nozzle, without
any assistance from the human driving the car.
Robotized filling stations, should they become the norm, will let people
stay in their cars without getting dirty, cold, wet, or hot. The service of a
well-designed, robotized gas station should be fast and efficient. Robots
will have to be programmed not to “top off” the gas tank to get a round
number for the price. (This can result in overfilling the tank, and takes
unnecessary time.) The robot will not forget to replace the gas cap, a
perennial problem for some people who use “self-serve” gas stations.
GATEWAY
A gateway is a decision point in a specialized robotic-navigation process
known as topological path planning. When a robot encounters a gateway,
a decision must be made that affects the future path of the machine.

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