Method of discharging a plurality of batteries included in a mobile robot and the mobile robot

Abstract

According to an embodiment, a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery included in a mobile robot can be provided, including: a step of determining to start traveling of the mobile robot; a step of determining which interval of a plurality of predetermined intervals a charge amount of the first battery and a charge amount of the second battery are included in at a determined time point; a step of determining an interval in which the first battery is discharged based on which interval the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included; and a step of performing a switching action to start discharging of the second battery after the first battery is completely discharged in the determined interval. According to an embodiment, a mobile robot that performs the above-described method or a computer-readable recording medium having a computer program for performing the above-described method can be provided.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention is directed to a method of discharging a battery included in a mobile robot and the mobile robot. BACKGROUND

[0002] Robots are variously manufactured and used in the medical industry, space aviation, the shipbuilding industry, the agricultural industry, and the like. Recently, as they are also manufactured as general household robots, robot control and manufacturing technology is continuously evolving to enable robots to perform prescribed work in general households. As household robots, there can be cleaning robots, lawn mowing robots, and the like, and such household robots also perform work according to a user's instruction. As described above, robots can be controlled to perform prescribed work set in advance while moving around a periphery on their own.

[0003] For example, a cleaning robot, which is generally used as a household mobile robot, is a device that cleans by driving on its own in a prescribed area and sucking in foreign matter such as dust or wiping the floor of the prescribed area without a user's operation. The mobile robot as the cleaning robot can approach or avoid obstacles by sensing the obstacles disposed in the area and perform an action, thereby being able to clean while efficiently driving in the area. In addition thereto, a commercial mobile robot for performing a service in a wide area can perform a prescribed service while driving.

[0004] Such a mobile robot is generally not of a wired type, but is able to operate in a wireless manner by being equipped with a chargeable battery. Accordingly, the chargeable battery, which is called a secondary battery, performs a charging and discharging process. Depending on an environment in which such a mobile robot performs a prescribed work, at least one battery can be mounted in the mobile robot. Especially, a commercial robot, which needs a longer action time since it cleans a larger area than a household robot, uses a plurality of batteries, and in such a mobile robot, a case in which batteries having different remaining capacities need to be used can occur.

[0005] In the related art, a method for efficiently using a single battery used in a mobile robot has been studied, or a technology of selecting a battery to be used according to an output voltage of the battery has been simply proposed.

[0006] As a prior art, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-220824, a technology of selecting a battery to be used based on information of the battery and using the battery as a power source for an operation to solve a problem of operation malfunctions caused by voltage fluctuations that can occur when the remaining capacity (output voltage) of a charged battery is changed to a battery to be used among a plurality of batteries during automatic travel. However, such a prior art only proposes a technology of selecting a battery to be used by information obtained from a battery, but does not propose a means of securing the maximum operation time of a mobile robot in a user-desired specified mode by performing a specific discharge scheme that a mobile robot can perform using a plurality of batteries.

[0007] In addition, as another prior art, in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2006-0104006, a method of returning to a specified position if a battery output voltage decreases to a voltage below a specified size after cleaning starts based on voltage information obtained from a single battery is proposed, but such a prior art only explains an operation method of a mobile robot during use of a single battery, and does not propose a means of securing operation time by a discharge scheme between a plurality of batteries. SUMMARY

[0008] PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0009] In a case where a plurality of batteries are mounted in a mobile robot, the remaining capacity of each battery differs during discharge of the batteries, and thus a strategy for discharging the plurality of batteries is required for efficient discharge of the batteries.

[0010] Further, considering problems that can occur due to complete discharge of a battery during use of the battery mounted in a mobile robot, a discharge scheme using a plurality of batteries is required to be set in advance, and a mobile robot is required to perform an efficient discharge scheme considering the charge amount of the plurality of batteries to prevent the plurality of batteries included in the mobile robot from being completely discharged. For example, in a case where the remaining charge amount of a battery decreases to a specified amount or less after general operation of a mobile robot, the mobile robot can only require a charge amount required to enter a sleep mode, and maintaining the charge amount required for such a sleep mode to the maximum can prevent the battery from being completely discharged, thereby preventing rapid reduction in the life of the battery. Thus, by a discharge scheme between a plurality of batteries of a mobile robot, the battery can be maintained at a charge amount suitable for a sleep mode for as long as possible, which can be an important technical problem for increasing the life of a battery of a mobile robot.

[0011] TECHNICAL SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

[0012] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery included in a mobile robot, including a step of determining that the mobile robot starts traveling, a step of determining in which interval of a plurality of predetermined intervals a charge amount of the first battery and a charge amount of the second battery are included at a determined time point, a step of determining an interval in which the first battery is discharged based on in which interval the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included, and a step of performing a switching action to make the second battery start being discharged after the first battery is completely discharged in the determined interval.

[0013] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a mobile robot including a first battery, a second battery, and a processor configured to determine that the mobile robot starts traveling, determine in which interval of a plurality of predetermined intervals a charge amount of the first battery and a charge amount of the second battery are included at a determined time point, determine an interval in which the first battery is discharged based on in which interval the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included, and perform a switching action to make the second battery start being discharged after the first battery is completely discharged in the determined interval.

[0014] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program for executing a method.

[0015] Effects of Invention

[0016] According to the present invention, a work time of the mobile robot can be maximally secured, and an action time for returning to a position where the action is started can be sufficiently secured.

[0017] According to the present invention, by allowing a plurality of batteries to be consumed to an unusable voltage during a standby of the mobile robot, a maximum action time can be secured.

[0018] According to the present invention, by preventing the batteries from being completely discharged due to an action of the mobile robot, a speed at which a life of the batteries is reduced due to repeated charging and discharging can be effectively reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 A block diagram of a mobile robot of an embodiment is shown.

[0020] Figure 2 A flowchart of a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot of an embodiment is shown.

[0021] Figure 3a and Figure 3b A diagram for explaining a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot in a case where the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included in a general action interval is shown.

[0022] Figure 4a and Figure 4b is a diagram for explaining a method of discharging the first battery and the second battery of the mobile robot in a case where the charge amount of the first battery is included in the return action interval and the charge amount of the second battery is included in the general action interval.

[0023] Figures 5a to 5c is a diagram for explaining a method of discharging the first battery and the second battery of the mobile robot in a case where the charge amount of the first battery is included in the general action interval and the charge amount of the second battery is included in the return action interval.

[0024] Figure 6 and Figure 7 is a diagram for explaining a method of discharging the first battery and the second battery of the mobile robot in a case where the first battery or the second battery is included in the sleep action interval.

[0025] Figure 8 is a flowchart for explaining a method of discharging the first battery and the second battery of the mobile robot in a case where the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included in the sleep action interval according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery included in a mobile robot, including a step of determining that the mobile robot starts traveling, a step of determining in which interval of a plurality of predetermined intervals the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included at a determined time point, respectively, a step of determining an interval in which the first battery is discharged based on in which interval the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included, and a step of performing a switching action to make the second battery start discharging after the first battery is completely discharged in the determined interval.

[0027] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method in which the first battery is a battery predetermined to be discharged first.

[0028] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method in which the plurality of intervals include at least one of a general action interval, a return action interval corresponding to a charge amount for returning to a predetermined position, and a sleep interval, the predetermined position being a position in which at least one of the first battery and the second battery was recently charged, in the sleep action interval, the mobile robot periodically performs a wake up action using the first battery or the second battery at a predetermined time interval, and performs a switching action to use a battery having a higher charge amount.

[0029] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein the size of the charge amount corresponding to each of the plurality of sections is large to small in the order of the normal motion section, the return motion section, and the sleep motion section.

[0030] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein the step of determining the section in which the first battery is discharged includes the step of determining that the first battery is discharged in the normal motion section and the return motion section in a case where the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included in the normal motion section.

[0031] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein the step of determining the section in which the first battery is discharged includes the step of determining that the first battery is discharged in the normal motion section in a case where the charge amount of the first battery is included in the normal motion section and the charge amount of the second battery is included in the return motion section.

[0032] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein the step of determining the section in which the first battery is discharged includes the step of determining that the first battery is discharged in the return motion section in a case where the charge amount of the first battery is included in the return motion section.

[0033] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein it includes the step of determining that the second battery is discharged until the sleep motion section is entered.

[0034] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein it includes the step of periodically performing a wake-up motion at a predetermined time interval in the sleep motion section in a case where the second battery is discharged until the return motion section is entered; the step of determining, in each wake-up motion, the battery having a higher charge amount among the first battery and the second battery; and the step of performing a switching motion to use the battery determined to have a higher charge amount.

[0035] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein the step of determining which section among the predetermined plurality of sections includes the step of determining the battery used to perform a return motion in which the mobile robot returns to a predetermined position based on in which section the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included.

[0036] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein the step of determining the battery used to perform a return motion includes the step of determining the second battery as the battery used to perform a return motion in a case where the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included in the normal motion section.

[0037] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein the step of determining the battery for performing the return action includes the step of determining the first battery as the battery for performing the return action in a case where the charge amount of the first battery is included in the general action section and the charge amount of the second battery is included in the return action section.

[0038] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a method, wherein the step of determining the battery for performing the return action includes the step of determining the second battery as the battery for performing the return action in a case where the charge amount of the first battery is included in the return action section.

[0039] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a mobile robot, the mobile robot including: a first battery; a second battery; and a processor configured to determine that the mobile robot starts traveling, determine in which section of a plurality of predetermined sections a charge amount of the first battery and a charge amount of the second battery are included at a determined time point, respectively, determine a section in which the first battery is discharged based on in which section the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included, and perform a switching action to make the second battery start discharging after the first battery is completely discharged in the determined section.

[0040] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a mobile robot, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the first battery is discharged first.

[0041] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a mobile robot, wherein the plurality of sections include at least one of a general action section, a return action section corresponding to a charge amount for returning to a predetermined position, and a sleep action section, the predetermined position being a position at which at least one of the first battery and the second battery was most recently charged, and the processor is configured to periodically perform a wake-up action using the first battery or the second battery at a predetermined time interval in the sleep action section, and perform a switching action to use a battery having a higher charge amount.

[0042] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a mobile robot, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the first battery is discharged in the general action section and the return action section in a case where the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are both included in the general action section.

[0043] According to an embodiment, there can be provided a mobile robot, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the first battery is discharged in the general action section in a case where the charge amount of the first battery is included in the general action section and the charge amount of the second battery is included in the return action section.

[0044] According to an embodiment, a mobile robot can be provided in which the processor is configured to determine to discharge the first battery during the return operation section when the charge amount of the first battery is included in the return operation section.

[0045] According to an embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program for executing a method can be provided.

[0046] Embodiments of the Invention

[0047] Hereinafter, detailed description will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those of ordinary skill in the art related to the embodiments can easily implement the same. The following embodiments can be implemented in various different ways, and are not limited to the embodiments described herein.

[0048] For the sake of clear description, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted, and the same or similar constituent elements are marked with the same reference numerals throughout the specification. In addition, some embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings of examples. When the constituent elements of the drawings are marked with reference numerals, the same constituent elements can be given the same reference numerals as much as possible even if they are shown in different drawings. In addition, when the present invention is described, detailed description of related well-known constituents or functions can be omitted if it is considered that the same confuses the gist of the embodiments.

[0049] In describing the constituent elements of the embodiments, the terms of first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc. can be used. Such terms are merely used to distinguish the constituent elements from other constituent elements, and the terms do not limit the nature, order, sequence, or number of the corresponding constituent elements. It should be understood that, in the case where "connection", "coupling", or "linkage" is described between any constituent elements, the constituent elements can be directly connected or linked, or other constituent elements can be "interposed" between the constituent elements or the constituent elements can be "connected", "coupled", or "linked" through other constituent elements.

[0050] In the present invention, it should be understood that the terms of "include", "consist of", or "have" are intended to specify the presence of features, numbers, steps, actions, constituent elements, components, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and do not exclude the presence or addition of one or a plurality of other features, numbers, steps, actions, constituent elements, components, or combinations thereof in advance.

[0051] In addition, in implementing the present invention, for the sake of easy description, constituent elements can be subdivided, but the constituent elements can be implemented in one device or module, or one constituent element can be divided into a plurality of devices or modules to be implemented.

[0052] Figure 1 A block diagram of a mobile robot 100 according to an embodiment is shown.

[0053] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 can include a first battery 110, a second battery 112, and a processor 120. The processor 120 is configured to determine to start driving the mobile robot, determine which interval of a plurality of predetermined intervals the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included in at a determined point in time, determine an interval in which the first battery 110 is discharged based on which interval the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included, and perform a switching action to start discharging the second battery 112 after the first battery 110 is completely discharged in the determined interval.

[0054] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 includes a plurality of batteries. However, in order to facilitate the description of the switching action between the plurality of batteries included in the mobile robot 100, the various embodiments of the present application will be described below on the premise that the mobile robot 100 includes the first battery 110 and the second battery 112. Accordingly, the present application is characterized in that it is not necessarily limited to the case in which the mobile robot 100 includes two batteries, and can be interpreted as all various cases in which the switching action between a plurality of batteries is performed.

[0055] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 of the mobile robot 100 can be configured to determine in advance that the first battery 110 is discharged first. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can be configured to control the first battery 110 to be discharged first in preference to other batteries by determining in advance that the first battery 110, which is one of the plurality of batteries, is discharged first. Thus, if the remaining charge amount of the first battery 110 is greater than or equal to a level at which the mobile robot 100 can operate, the first battery 110 is discharged first regardless of the state of the charge amount of the other batteries, and thus a process of selecting a battery to be discharged when the mobile robot 100 is initially driven can be omitted.

[0056] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 determining that the first battery 110 is discharged first can include determining the first battery 110 in advance based on an external input of a user. According to another embodiment, the processor 120 determining that the first battery 110 is discharged first can include determining a battery having the greatest chargeable power amount among the plurality of batteries as the first battery 110 in advance. According to still another embodiment, the processor 120 determining that the first battery 110 is discharged first can include determining a battery that has been replaced most recently among the plurality of batteries as the first battery 110.

[0057] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine a plurality of intervals based on the charge amount, and determine in which interval of the plurality of intervals the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included. According to an embodiment, the plurality of intervals can be identically set, or differently set, in the first battery 110 and the second battery 112.

[0058] Hereinafter, a specific process of a method of discharging the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 of the mobile robot 100 will be described.

[0059] Figure 2 is a flowchart of a method of discharging the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 of the mobile robot 100 according to an embodiment.

[0060] According to an embodiment, in step S210, the processor 120 can determine to start the travel of the mobile robot 100. According to an embodiment, the point in time at which the travel of the mobile robot 100 is determined to start can be determined based on whether an arbitrary condition is satisfied. According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 performs the method of the present disclosure based on a point in time determined according to an external input of a user. According to an embodiment, when it is determined that the battery included in the mobile robot 100 needs to be replaced, the method of the present disclosure can be performed based on a point in time at which the travel is determined to start after the movement of the mobile robot 100 is stopped. However, the point in time at which the travel of the mobile robot 100 is determined to start is not necessarily limited to be interpreted as a point in time at which the travel is determined to start after being stopped as in the above-described embodiment, but can be broadly interpreted to include all arbitrary points in time at which the method of the present disclosure is determined to be performed by the processor 120.

[0061] According to an embodiment, in step S220, the processor 120 can determine in which interval of a plurality of intervals predetermined in advance the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included at the point in time determined in step S210, respectively. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine the charge amount based on the output voltage of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112. The process of determining the charge amount of the battery can be implemented according to various existing technologies.

[0062] According to an embodiment, the plurality of sections can include at least one of a general motion section, a return motion section corresponding to a charge amount for returning to a predetermined location, and a sleep motion section. According to an embodiment, the size of the charge amount corresponding to each of the plurality of sections can be larger to smaller in order of the general motion section, the return motion section, and the sleep motion section. However, the plurality of sections set by the processor 120 is not necessarily limited to be interpreted as only the general motion section, the return motion section, and the sleep motion section as in the above-described embodiment, but can be broadly interpreted as sections in which a plurality of charge amounts that can be set with an arbitrary purpose based on the charge amounts of the plurality of batteries can be used.

[0063] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 can perform a motion set by the processor 120 in the general motion section. For example, in a case where the mobile robot 100 is set to perform a cleaning motion as a cleaning robot, the processor 120 can control the motions of the wheels, the motor, the suction part, etc. to enable the mobile robot 100 to perform cleaning while normally traveling. Such a motion set by the processor 120 performed in the general motion section can include various general motions according to the kind of the mobile robot 100.

[0064] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can acquire information about the output voltages of the first and second batteries 110 and 112 and the input voltage actually input to the driving part. According to an embodiment, in a case where it is determined that the difference between the output voltages of the first and second batteries 110 and 112 and the input voltage actually input to the driving part is large, the processor 120 can determine in which section of the predetermined plurality of sections the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included, respectively, based on the input voltage actually input to the driving part.

[0065] According to an embodiment, the general motion section can be divided into a plurality of sub-sections, and the processor 120 can adjust the intensity of the general motion according to the output voltage of the battery of each sub-section.

[0066] According to an embodiment, the predetermined location to which the mobile robot 100 returns in the return motion section can correspond to a location where at least one of the first and second batteries was most recently charged.

[0067] According to an embodiment, the predetermined location to which the mobile robot 100 returns in the return motion section can be determined as a location where cleaning is started using the first or second battery.

[0068] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can further include an additional configuration for determining the predetermined position. For example, the mobile robot 100 can include at least one of an infrared ray sensor, an ultra sonic sensor, an RF sensor, a gyro sensor, a wheel sensor, an acceleration sensor, a movement amount sensing section, a Lidar, a lens, an image sensor, a PSD sensor, an optical flow sensor, a 3D depth camera, and a GPS as an example of an external signal sensing sensor in order to determine the current position and the predetermined position. According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 can not only return to the predetermined position by determining absolute position information (for example, GPS coordinates) of the mobile robot but also return to the predetermined position by using a map generated by detecting surrounding objects.

[0069] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 can perform the wakeup operation using the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 and the operation of determining the battery to be periodically discharged at a predetermined time interval in the sleep action section. In this regard, various embodiments will be described later.

[0070] According to an embodiment, in step S230, the processor 120 can determine the section in which the first battery 110 is discharged based on which section the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included.

[0071] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine to what extent the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 is discharged according to how much the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are (that is, according to which section among a plurality of sections predetermined based on the charge amount is included). According to an embodiment, in a state in which the first battery 110 is determined to be discharged, the processor 120 can determine to which section the first battery 110 is discharged by combining the extent of the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112.

[0072] In step S240, the processor 120 can perform a switching action to cause the second battery 112 to start discharging after the first battery is discharged to the interval determined in step S230. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can be configured to trigger the switching action when the interval determined to cause the first battery 110 to discharge has elapsed, and can be configured to cause the second battery 112 to discharge from the point in time when the switching action is triggered.

[0073] According to an embodiment, to what extent the second battery 112 is caused to discharge after the battery to be discharged is switched from the first battery 110 to the second battery 112 can be determined at the point in time when step S240 is performed.

[0074] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine the interval to cause the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 to discharge in step S230 after determining the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 in step S220. That is, the processor 120 can determine the interval to cause the first battery 110 to discharge based on the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112, and can determine the interval to cause the second battery 112 to discharge.

[0075] Figure 3a and Figure 3b are diagrams for explaining a method of causing the first battery 310 and the second battery 312 of the mobile robot 100 to discharge in a case where the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 are included in a general action interval.

[0076] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine in which interval the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 are included using a plurality of intervals determined in advance based on the charge amount. According to an embodiment, the plurality of intervals determined in advance in order to determine in which interval the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 are included can be respectively differently determined in the first battery 310 and the second battery 312. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the following is assumed as a premise that the first battery 310 and the second battery 312 are identically explained, that is, if the voltage output according to the charge amount is V1 or more, it is determined in advance to be included in the general action interval, if it is V2 or more and less than V1, it is determined in advance to be included in the return action interval, and if it is less than V2, it is determined in advance to be the sleep action interval.

[0077] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312, and can determine in which interval of the plurality of intervals the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 are included based on this. Referring to Figure 3aAccording to an embodiment, the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 can be included in the general operation section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine to discharge the first battery 310 first.

[0078] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 determines that the charge amount of the first battery 310 is included in the general operation section and the charge amount of the second battery 312 is included in the general operation section, based on which it can be determined to discharge the first battery 310 from the general operation section to the return operation section. In this case, the processor 120 can be configured to discharge the first battery 310 in the general operation section and the return operation section, and to cause the mobile robot 100 to operate in the manner in which the mobile robot 100 operates in the general operation section. That is, the processor 120 can be configured to, in the case where the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 are both included in the general operation section when the mobile robot 100 starts operating, perform the operation performed by the mobile robot 100 in the general operation section from the general operation section to the return operation section.

[0079] Referring to Figure 3b If the charge amount of the first battery 310 is discharged from the general operation section to the return operation section, the processor 120 can switch the battery to be discharged from the first battery 310 to the second battery 312.

[0080] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine to discharge the second battery 312 according to the result of the switching operation, and can determine to what extent the second battery 312 is discharged. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine that, at the time point at which the second battery 312 starts discharging (i.e., the time point at which the switching operation is performed), the charge amount of the first battery 310 is included in the sleep operation section and the charge amount of the second battery 312 is included in the general operation section.

[0081] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine to which section the second battery 120 is discharged and what operation is performed based on which section the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 are included at the time point at which the discharge of the second battery 120 starts.

[0082] According to an embodiment, the first battery 310 is discharged from the general operation section to the return operation section according to the result of the switching operation, and the second battery 312 is determined to be charged according to the result of the switching operation, and the first battery 310 is included in the sleep operation section, and the second battery 312 is included in the general operation section, based on which the processor 120 can be configured to discharge the second battery 312 from the general operation section to the return operation section, and can be configured to perform the general operation in the general operation section and perform the return operation in the return operation section. That is, the processor 120 can be configured to cause the mobile robot 100 to perform the general operation when the first battery 310 is discharged in the return operation section, and to cause the mobile robot 100 to perform the return operation when the second battery 312 is discharged in the return operation section. According to these features, the present application can perform a battery selection process to ensure the maximum operation time and perform an optimized return operation. According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 can maximize the time for the general operation and the return operation by considering the amount of charge required for the return operation, so that the return operation to return to the predetermined position after performing the general operation can be smoothly performed. According to an embodiment, in the case where it is determined to be included in the sleep operation section, the mobile robot 100 can switch from the battery in use to the battery having a high output voltage through the switching operation, and by maximizing the consumption of the amount of charge of the plurality of batteries before the batteries are powered off, the operation and standby time can be increased.

[0083] Figure 4a and Figure 4b is a diagram for explaining a method of discharging the first battery 410 and the second battery 412 of the mobile robot 100 when the amount of charge of the first battery 410 is included in the return operation section and the amount of charge of the second battery 412 is included in the general operation section.

[0084] Referring to Figure 4a , according to an embodiment, the amount of charge of the first battery 410 can be included in the return operation section, and the amount of charge of the second battery 412 can be included in the general operation section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine in advance to discharge the first battery 410 first.

[0085] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 determines that the charge amount of the first battery 410 is included in the return action section and the charge amount of the second battery 412 is included in the general action section, based on which it can be determined to cause the first battery 410 to be discharged in the section corresponding to the return action section. In this case, the processor 120 can be configured to cause the mobile robot 100 to act in the general action manner in which the mobile robot 100 performs a general action in the general action section even if the first battery 410 starts to be discharged in the return action section. That is, the processor 120 can be configured to, in the case where the charge amount of the first battery 410 is included in the return action section when the mobile robot 100 starts to act, first perform a general action even if the charge amount of the first battery 410 is included in the return action section.

[0086] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine which battery to use to perform a return action according to which section the charge amount of the first battery 410 and the charge amount of the second battery 412 are included when the first battery 410 starts to be discharged. That is, if it is determined that the charge amount of the first battery 410 is included in the return action section and the charge amount of the second battery 412 is included in the general action section when the first battery 410 starts to be discharged, the processor 120 can be configured to determine to use the second battery 412 to perform a return action and to determine to use the first battery 410 to perform a general action.

[0087] Referring to Figure 4b If the charge amount of the first battery 410 is completely discharged in the return action section, the processor 120 can switch the battery to be discharged from the first battery 410 to the second battery 412. As for the method of causing the second battery 412 to be discharged in the case where the charge amount of the second battery 412 is included in the general action section, it has been described with reference to Figure 3b , and thus a detailed description will be omitted.

[0088] Figures 5a to 5c is a diagram for explaining a method of causing the first battery and the second battery of a mobile robot to be discharged in the case where the charge amount of the first battery is included in a general action section and the charge amount of the second battery is included in a return action section.

[0089] Referring to Figure 5a , according to an embodiment, the charge amount of the first battery 510 can be included in the general action section and the charge amount of the second battery 512 can be included in the return action section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine in advance to cause the first battery 510 to be discharged first.

[0090] According to one embodiment, processor 120 determines that the charge level of the first battery 510 is within the normal operation range and the charge level of the second battery 512 is within the return operation range. Based on this, it can be determined that the first battery 510 should be discharged within the range corresponding to the normal operation range. That is, processor 120 can be configured to discharge the first battery 510 to the normal operation range only and then cause the mobile robot 100 to operate in a normal operation mode, even if the charge level of the first battery 510 is within the normal operation range. Therefore, even if the charge level of the first battery 510 is within the normal operation range when it begins to discharge, as long as it is determined that the charge level of the second battery 512 is within the return operation range, processor 120 can determine that the first battery 512 should be used to perform the return operation, and the first battery 510 can be discharged to the amount corresponding to the normal operation range before switching to the second battery 512.

[0091] Reference Figure 5b If the first battery 510 is fully discharged within the normal operating range, the processor 120 can switch the battery to be discharged from the first battery 510 to the second battery 512. According to one embodiment, the processor 120 can determine to use the first battery 510 to perform the return action to maximize the return action time. Therefore, even if the charge level of the switched second battery 412 is included in the return action range, the processor 120 can still determine to cause the mobile robot 100 to use the second battery 412 to perform the normal action.

[0092] Reference Figure 5c If the second battery 512 is fully discharged within the return operation interval, the processor 120 can switch the battery to be discharged back from the second battery 512 to the first battery 510. According to one embodiment, as... Figure 5a As shown, the first battery 510, determined to be discharged based on the switching result, is in a state where it has only discharged to the normal operating range. Therefore, it is in a state where it is charged to the maximum extent that it can perform the return action. The processor 120 can be configured to use such a first battery 510 to perform the optimal return action. Thus, the mobile robot 100 can formulate an optimal plan that maximizes the time required for the return action to return to a predetermined position after performing the normal action.

[0093] Figure 6 and Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating a method for discharging the first battery 610, 710 and the second battery 612, 712 of a mobile robot 100 when the first battery 610, 710 or the second battery 612, 712 is included in a dormant operation period.

[0094] According to one embodiment, in such Figure 6 The charge level of the second battery 612 shown includes the charge level during the sleep operation period or as...Figure 7 The charge amount of the first battery 710 includes the case where the processor 120 can make a discharge plan using the remaining battery in the sleep action interval.

[0095] Referring to Figure 6 , according to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine whether to perform a general action or a return action by determining in which interval the charge amount of the first battery 610 is included. According to an embodiment, in the case where the charge amount of the first battery 610 is included in the general action interval, the processor 120 can determine to discharge the first battery 610 to the general action interval and perform a general action for the mobile robot 100, and in the case where the charge amount of the first battery 610 is included in the return action interval, the processor 120 can determine to discharge the first battery 610 to the return action interval and perform a return action for the mobile robot 100.

[0096] Referring to Figure 7 , according to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine whether to perform a general action or a return action by determining in which interval the charge amount of the second battery 712 is included. The action of the processor 120 to control the mobile robot 100 while discharging the second battery 712 can correspond to the discharge process of the first battery 610 described above, and thus a detailed description will be omitted. Figure 6

[0097] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can be configured to periodically perform a wake-up action using the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 at a predetermined time interval in the sleep action interval, and perform a switching action to use a battery having a higher charge amount. Referring to Figure 7 , the processor 120 can be configured to first discharge the first battery 710, and in the case where the first battery 710 starts to be discharged, the charge amount of the first battery 710 can be included in the sleep action interval. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can be configured to perform a sleep action using the first battery 120, and thus perform an action of switching to a battery having a higher charge amount (i.e., the second battery 712) to continue to perform an action using the second battery 712.

[0098] Figure 8 is a flowchart for explaining a method of discharging the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 of the mobile robot 100 in the case where the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included in the sleep action interval, according to an embodiment. Figure 8 The method illustrated in FIG. 11 can be additionally performed when the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 starts to be discharged.

[0099] ​​According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 can periodically perform a wake-up action using the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 at a predetermined time interval in the sleep action section. According to an embodiment, in a case where the charge amounts of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 both enter the sleep action section and cannot ensure sufficient charge amounts, the processor 120 can be configured to perform a wake-up action at a predetermined period, and if there is a battery having a higher charge amount than a currently used battery in a state where the wake-up is performed, perform a switching action to use such a battery.

[0100] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can be configured to make the mobile robot 100 operate in a power saving mode in which only a minimum amount of power can be consumed in the sleep action section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can be configured to transmit a current position of the mobile robot 100 in the sleep action section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can be configured to receive only arbitrary data of the mobile robot 100 in the sleep action section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can be configured to cut off power supplied to a driving part for travel and activate only a communication function in the sleep action section. It is noted that the above-described embodiments are examples to explain a process for reducing power consumed by the mobile robot 100 in the sleep action section, and thus the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiments. Accordingly, the actions that the mobile robot 100 can perform in the sleep action mode can include various actions that can be performed in an existing power saving mode.

[0101] According to an embodiment, in step S810, the processor 120 can determine whether the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included in the sleep action section.

[0102] According to an embodiment, in a case where neither the charge amount of the first battery 110 nor the charge amount of the second battery 112 is included in the sleep action section, the processor 120 can determine to make the mobile robot 100 continue to perform an action using a battery that is being discharged among the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 in step S812.

[0103] According to an embodiment, in a case where both the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included in the sleep action section, the processor 120 can perform a wake-up action in the sleep action section in step S820. According to an embodiment, in a case where the wake-up action is performed, the processor 120 performs a switching action among a plurality of batteries including the first battery 110 and the second battery 112.

[0104] According to an embodiment, in step S830, the processor 120 can determine a battery having a higher charge level among the first battery 110 and the second battery 112. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can determine which of the plurality of batteries included in the mobile robot 100 has the highest charge level. According to an embodiment, the process of determining the battery having the highest charge level can be performed on the plurality of batteries whose charge levels are included in the sleep action interval.

[0105] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 determines to use the first battery 110 if the first battery 110 has a higher charge level than the second battery 112 (step S840), and determines to use the second battery 112 if the second battery 112 has a higher charge level than the first battery 110 (step S850).

[0106] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 can not perform a switching action of the battery if it is determined that the battery being used has a higher charge level than the other battery.

[0107] According to an embodiment, in step 860, the processor 120 can determine that the mobile robot 100 performs a predetermined action using the battery determined in step S840 or step S850. According to an embodiment, the predetermined action performed in step S860 refers to various actions that the mobile robot 100 can perform in the sleep action mode, and can include various existing actions that can be performed in the power saving mode.

[0108] In step S870, the processor 120 can determine whether a predetermined time has elapsed after performing the wake-up action. According to an embodiment, the predetermined time refers to a time predetermined for periodically performing the wake-up action, and can be a time set by a user.

[0109] According to an embodiment, if it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed after performing the wake-up action, the processor 120 can perform step S810 again.

[0110] According to an embodiment, if the processor 120 determines that the predetermined time has elapsed after performing the wake-up action, it can further add a confirmation as to whether the charge levels of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 are included in the sleep action interval. According to an embodiment, in spite of determining that the predetermined time has elapsed, if it is determined that the charge level of at least one of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 is not included in the sleep action interval (for example, in the case where the charge level of at least one of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 is included in a general action interval or a return action interval through a charging process), the processor 120 can determine to perform a general action or a return action while discharging in the interval in which the charge level is included, instead of a sleep action.

[0111] According to an embodiment, if it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed after the execution of the wake-up action, the processor 120 can perform step S860 again.

[0112] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 can further include a computer-readable recording medium or a memory (not shown) for recording programs for executing the above-described various methods. The method performed according to the present application as described above can be provided by being recorded in a computer-readable recording medium as a program for execution in a computer.

[0113] The method of the present application can be executed by software. When executed by software, the constituent parts of the present application are code segments performing necessary works. The program or code segment can be stored in a processor-readable medium.

[0114] The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data readable by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable recording device include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, DVD±ROM, DVD-RAM, magnetic tape, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical data storage device, etc. In addition, the computer-readable recording medium can be distributed in computer devices connected by a network, and computer-readable codes can be stored or executed in a distributed manner.

[0115] In the present application described above, various substitutions, modifications, and changes can be made by those skilled in the art to which the present application pertains without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the present application, and thus the present application is not limited to the above-described embodiments and drawings. In addition, the embodiments described in the present application can be applied without limitation, and all or some of the embodiments can be selectively combined to perform various modifications.

[0116] The above-described disclosure can be variously substituted, modified, and changed by those skilled in the art to which the present application pertains without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the embodiments, and thus is not limited to the above-described embodiments and drawings.

Claims

1. A method for discharging a battery in a mobile robot, the method comprising discharging a first battery and a second battery included in the mobile robot, comprising: Determine the steps to start the mobile robot moving; Based on the output voltage information of the first battery and the second battery, the step of determining which interval among a predetermined plurality of intervals the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery respectively fall within at the determined time point; The step of determining the range in which the first battery is discharged based on the range in which the first battery's charge amount and the second battery's charge amount are included. as well as The step of performing a switching action after the first battery has finished discharging within a defined range, so that the second battery can begin discharging. The plurality of intervals includes at least one of a general action interval, a return action interval corresponding to the charge amount used to return to a predetermined location, and a sleep action interval. The step of determining the range in which the first battery is discharged includes: If the charge level of the first battery is included in the normal operating range and the charge level of the second battery is included in the return operating range, a step is determined to discharge the first battery in the normal operating range.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first battery is predetermined to be the first to discharge.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The predetermined location is the location of at least one of the first and second batteries that was recently charged. During the dormant action interval, the mobile robot periodically performs a wake-up action using the first battery or the second battery at predetermined time intervals, and performs a switching action to use the battery with a higher charge.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The amount of charge corresponding to each of the plurality of intervals is in descending order according to the general action interval, the return action interval, and the hibernation action interval.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The step of determining the range in which the first battery is discharged includes: When both the charge level of the first battery and the charge level of the second battery are within the normal operating range, a step is determined to discharge the first battery within the normal operating range and the return operating range.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The step of determining the range in which the first battery is discharged includes: If the charge level of the first battery is included in the return operation range, determine the step of discharging the first battery in the return operation range.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein, The method includes: The step of determining to discharge the second battery until the charge level of the second battery includes the amount of charge up to the dormant operation interval.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The method includes: When the charge levels of the first battery and the second battery are included in the dormant action interval, the wake-up action is periodically performed at predetermined time intervals in the dormant action interval. The step of determining the battery with the higher charge level between the first battery and the second battery in each wake-up action; and The steps for determining which battery to use has been identified as having a higher charge capacity.

9. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The step of determining which interval among the predetermined plurality of intervals is included further includes: The step of determining the battery used to perform the return action that returns the mobile robot to a predetermined location is based on the range in which the first battery's charge level and the second battery's charge level fall.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The step of determining the battery to perform the return action includes: The step of determining the second battery as the battery for performing the return action when both the charge level of the first battery and the charge level of the second battery are within the normal operating range.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The step of determining the battery to perform the return action includes: The step of determining the first battery as the battery for performing the return operation when the charge level of the first battery is included in the general operation range and the charge level of the second battery is included in the return operation range.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The step of determining the battery to perform the return action includes: The step of determining the second battery as the battery for performing the return operation when the charge level of the first battery is included in the return operation range.

13. A mobile robot, wherein, include: First battery; Second battery; as well as The processor is configured to determine when to start the mobile robot moving, and based on information about the output voltages of the first and second batteries, to determine which of a predetermined plurality of intervals the charge levels of the first and second batteries fall within at a predetermined time point, respectively; to determine the interval for discharging the first battery based on which interval the charge levels of the first and second batteries fall within; and to perform a switching action to start discharging the second battery after the first battery has completely discharged within the determined interval. The plurality of intervals includes at least one of a general action interval, a return action interval corresponding to the charge amount used to return to a predetermined location, and a sleep action interval. The processor is configured to determine to discharge the first battery in the normal operating range if the charge level of the first battery is included in the normal operating range and the charge level of the second battery is included in the return operating range.

14. The mobile robot according to claim 13, wherein, The processor is configured to predetermine that the first battery will discharge first.

15. The mobile robot according to claim 13, wherein, The predetermined location is the location of at least one of the first and second batteries that was recently charged. The processor is configured to periodically perform a wake-up action using the first battery or the second battery at predetermined time intervals during the hibernation operation period, and to perform a switching action to use a battery with a higher charge level.

16. The mobile robot according to claim 15, wherein, The processor is configured to determine, when both the charge level of the first battery and the charge level of the second battery are within a normal operating range, to discharge the first battery in the normal operating range and the return operating range.

17. The mobile robot according to claim 15, wherein, The processor is configured to determine to discharge the first battery in the return operation interval if the charge level of the first battery is included in the return operation interval.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, wherein, The computer program for performing the method of claim 1 is stored.

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