Sweeping method of swimming pool cleaning robot and cleaning robot

Abstract

The invention discloses a cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot and the cleaning robot. The method comprises the steps that map information of a to-be-cleaned area is acquired; planning a first cleaning path based on the map information, wherein the first cleaning path meets a preset cleaning parameter requirement; controlling the cleaning robot to walk based on the first cleaning path and execute cleaning operation; and whether the cleaning operation is finished or not is judged, and if the cleaning operation is finished, the cleaning robot is controlled to walk to the missing area to execute supplementary cleaning. The cleaning coverage rate and the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of cleaning robots, and in particular to a cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot and the cleaning robot. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the advancement of science and technology and the development of the Internet, robot technology has become increasingly mature and widely used in various fields of life. Looking at the market, a large number of robots with various special purposes have emerged. Among them, swimming pool cleaning robots have solved a large number of cleaning tasks for users and provided significant help. It is used to clean foreign objects such as sand, dirt, and algae on the bottom and side walls of the swimming pool to keep the swimming pool clean.

[0003] At present, most swimming pool cleaning robots that want to achieve high coverage traversal algorithms will use a bow-shaped cleaning path. For example, in the Chinese patent document with publication number CN118170143A, two mutually intersecting bow-shaped paths are used for cleaning. Although this method can improve the cleaning coverage rate, there are many repeated cleaning paths and the cleaning time is long. Summary of the invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot and a cleaning robot, which can improve the cleaning coverage and cleaning efficiency.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot, comprising:

[0006] Obtain map information of the area to be cleaned;

[0007] Planning a first cleaning path based on the map information, where the first cleaning path meets preset cleaning parameter requirements;

[0008] Controlling the cleaning robot to walk based on the first cleaning path and perform cleaning operations;

[0009] Determine whether the cleaning operation is completed, and if completed, control the cleaning robot to walk to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning.

[0010] In a second aspect, the present invention further provides a cleaning robot, the cleaning robot comprising:

[0011] one or more processors;

[0012] A storage device for storing one or more programs;

[0013] When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the method provided in the first aspect.

[0014] The beneficial effect of the present invention is that the first cleaning is performed according to the first cleaning path, and after the first cleaning, the missed cleaning area is cleaned again. Since the area cleaned for the first time does not overlap with the missed cleaning area, the repeated cleaning paths can be greatly reduced and the cleaning efficiency can be improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 A flow chart of a cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot provided by the present invention;

[0016] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a cleaning robot provided by the present invention;

[0017] Figure 3 A flow chart of a cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of boundary point exploration and path planning according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention, rather than to limit the present invention. It should also be noted that, for ease of description, only parts related to the present invention, rather than all structures, are shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0020] Before discussing the exemplary embodiments in more detail, it should be mentioned that some exemplary embodiments are described as processes or methods depicted as flow charts. Although the flow charts describe the steps as sequential processes, many of the steps therein can be implemented in parallel, concurrently or simultaneously. In addition, the order of the steps can be rearranged. The process can be terminated when its operation is completed, but can also have additional steps not included in the accompanying drawings. The process can correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, sub-computer program, etc.

[0021] In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. can be used in this article to describe various directions, actions, steps or elements, but these directions, actions, steps or elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish a first direction, action, step or element from another direction, action, step or element. For example, without departing from the scope of the present application, the first information can be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information can be referred to as the first information. Both the first information and the second information are information, but they are not the same information. The terms "first", "second", etc. cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined as "first" and "second" can expressly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "multiple" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0022] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot, comprising:

[0023] Obtain map information of the area to be cleaned;

[0024] Planning a first cleaning path based on the map information, where the first cleaning path meets preset cleaning parameter requirements;

[0025] Controlling the cleaning robot to walk based on the first cleaning path and perform cleaning operations;

[0026] Determine whether the cleaning operation is completed, and if completed, control the cleaning robot to walk to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning.

[0027] From the above description, it can be seen that the repeated cleaning paths can be greatly reduced and the cleaning efficiency can be improved.

[0028] In an optional embodiment, the cleaning parameter requirement includes a cleaning coverage requirement or a cleaning efficiency requirement.

[0029] From the above description, it can be known that preferably, the cleaning coverage or cleaning efficiency can be improved by selecting the path with the highest coverage or the highest efficiency as the path for the first cleaning. Of course, considering other influencing factors, other cleaning coverage or cleaning efficiency can also be selected.

[0030] In an optional embodiment, the omitted area includes an area not covered by the first cleaning path, or an area not covered by the actual walking path.

[0031] From the above description, it can be seen that the accurate uncleaned area can be obtained.

[0032] In an optional embodiment, determining whether the cleaning operation is completed includes at least one of the following determinations:

[0033] Determine whether the cleaning robot has traversed a preset proportion of the first cleaning path, determine whether the cleaning robot has walked to a preset position point in the swimming pool, and determine whether the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle that affects continued walking.

[0034] From the above description, it can be seen that when the cleaning robot has traversed part of the first cleaning path, or encounters a situation where it cannot continue to walk, it can be considered that the cleaning operation of the first cleaning path has ended.

[0035] In an optional embodiment, the omitted area is adjacent to the edge of the area to be cleaned;

[0036] The step of controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missing area to perform supplementary cleaning includes controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missing area along the edge of the area to be cleaned to perform supplementary cleaning.

[0037] From the above description, it can be seen that the missing area is scanned by walking along the edge.

[0038] In an optional embodiment, the omitted area is adjacent to the edge of the obstacle;

[0039] The step of controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning includes controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missed area along the edge of the obstacle to perform supplementary cleaning.

[0040] From the above description, it can be seen that when the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle that affects its continued walking and ends the cleaning operation, it can walk along the edge of the obstacle to the missed area for supplementary cleaning.

[0041] In an optional embodiment, the step of controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning includes obtaining the current position of the cleaning robot based on the map information and the environmental information collected by the cleaning robot, and planning a route to the missed area based on the current position.

[0042] From the above description, it can be seen that by implementing route planning based on the cleaning robot's own position, the cleaning robot can quickly walk to the missed area, thereby improving the overall cleaning efficiency.

[0043] In an optional embodiment, planning the first cleaning path based on the map information includes planning a cleaning path of a fixed model based on multiple starting points, the multiple starting points correspond to multiple different orientations of the cleaning robot, and the fixed model includes a U-type, S-type, spiral type or cross path.

[0044] From the above description, it can be seen that by planning multiple cleaning paths and then selecting a cleaning path that meets the parameter requirements, an optimal or better first cleaning path can be obtained.

[0045] In an optional embodiment, the supplementary cleaning includes controlling the cleaning robot to walk along at least a second cleaning path to perform the cleaning operation.

[0046] like Figure 2 As shown, the present invention also provides a cleaning robot, the cleaning robot comprising:

[0047] One or more processors 201;

[0048] Storage device 202, used to store one or more programs;

[0049] When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors 201, the one or more processors 201 implement the various processes in the cleaning method of the swimming pool cleaning robot as described above, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, they are not repeated here.

[0050] Figure 3 A cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot is shown, comprising the following steps:

[0051] S1: Obtain map information of the area to be cleaned. If there is a map of the area to be cleaned, it is directly obtained; if there is no map of the area to be cleaned, the swimming pool cleaning robot first builds a map along the edge to obtain a map of the area to be cleaned.

[0052] The map information includes map edge information, and may also include island information, obstacle information, step information, etc., that is, the locations of islands, obstacles, bosses, etc. that exist in the map and may hinder the robot from walking.

[0053] S2: Planning a first cleaning path based on the map information, wherein the first cleaning path meets preset cleaning parameter requirements.

[0054] Specifically, multiple cleaning paths can be planned based on multiple starting points, wherein the multiple starting points correspond to multiple different robot orientations, and the cleaning paths can be U-shaped, S-shaped, spiral-shaped, or cross paths, parallel reciprocating paths, or other path models.

[0055] In an optional embodiment, a plurality of boundary points may be randomly selected on the boundary of the area to be cleaned as starting points.

[0056] In other optional embodiments, the position point of the cleaning robot in the map can be determined first. For example, if there is a map, the position point can be the entry point; if there is no map, the position point can be the position point at the end of the edge mapping. Then, with the position point as the center, the boundary points of the area to be cleaned are explored at preset angles along the axial direction, and the path planning is performed using the explored boundary points as the starting point. For example, if the preset angle is 5°, then in the 360° circumferential direction, an exploration direction is determined every 5°, and then a boundary point is explored along the exploration direction, and finally 72 boundary points are obtained. A path is planned for each boundary point, and 72 cleaning paths can be obtained. In other optional embodiments, if the computing resources are sufficient, an exploration direction can be determined every 1°, 360 boundary points are determined, and finally 360 cleaning paths are planned.

[0057] In an optional embodiment, a straight line is drawn along the exploration direction, and the intersection of the straight line and the boundary of the area to be cleaned is obtained as the boundary point corresponding to the exploration direction.

[0058] In another optional embodiment, a line segment of a preset length is first drawn along the exploration direction, and then a vertical straight line is drawn at the other end of the line segment to obtain the intersection of the straight line and the boundary of the area to be cleaned as the boundary point corresponding to the exploration direction. Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 A map of a swimming pool to be cleaned is shown. Assume that point O is the entry point of the swimming pool cleaning robot. When the exploration direction is toward the left side of the map, a line segment of a preset length (generally the length of a fuselage) is first drawn toward the left side, and then a straight line is drawn toward the bottom of the map to obtain the intersection point A with the boundary. With point A as the starting point of the path, a cleaning path is planned.

[0059] Then, according to the preset cleaning parameter requirements, a cleaning path is selected from the multiple cleaning paths as the first cleaning path.

[0060] In some optional embodiments, the cleaning parameter requirement is the maximum cleaning coverage, that is, among the planned multiple cleaning paths, the first cleaning path covers the largest area. The area covered by the cleaning path can be calculated based on the route of the cleaning path and the body width of the cleaning robot or the width of the cleaning device (such as a roller brush) in the cleaning robot.

[0061] In other optional embodiments, the cleaning parameter requirement is the maximum cleaning efficiency, that is, among the planned multiple cleaning paths, the first cleaning path has the shortest cleaning time. When the operating parameters of the cleaning robot (such as cleaning mode, walking speed, power, etc.) remain unchanged, the cleaning time is related to the path length, trend and path model of the cleaning path, and is also related to environmental information, including pressure, water flow power, obstacles, water quality, debris and friction, etc.

[0062] S3: Control the cleaning robot to walk based on the first cleaning path and perform the cleaning operation.

[0063] S4: Determine whether the cleaning operation is completed. If so, execute step S5; if not, continue to perform the cleaning operation of the first cleaning path.

[0064] In an optional embodiment, whether the cleaning operation is finished is determined by determining whether the cleaning robot has traversed a preset proportion of the first cleaning path. For example, if the cleaning robot has traversed 80% of the first cleaning path, the cleaning operation of the first cleaning path can be considered finished.

[0065] In another optional embodiment, whether the cleaning operation is finished is determined by determining whether the cleaning robot walks to a preset position point of the swimming pool, wherein the preset position point may be a specific edge point.

[0066] In another optional embodiment, whether the cleaning operation is finished is determined by determining whether the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle that affects its continued walking. In actual application scenarios, the cleaning robot can monitor its pitch angle and speed in real time through the IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) while walking, and determine whether it encounters an obstacle that affects its continued walking based on changes in the pitch angle and speed. For example, when the pitch angle changes dramatically, it is considered that an obstacle has been encountered. If the cumulative change in the pitch angle exceeds a preset angle, it is considered that the obstacle will affect walking. If the cleaning robot is forced to continue walking, it may cause the cleaning robot to roll over. Alternatively, when the speed becomes 0, it is considered that the cleaning robot is stuck and cannot continue walking.

[0067] S5: Control the cleaning robot to move to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning.

[0068] In some optional embodiments, the omitted area includes an area not covered by the first cleaning path. In other optional embodiments, the cleaning robot may clean in real time while walking, or the cleaning robot may end the cleaning operation without completely traversing the first cleaning path, and the omitted area includes an area not covered by the actual walking path.

[0069] In actual application scenarios, the missing area can also be obtained through the mask function in OpenCV. Specifically, first in the map of the area to be cleaned, the pixel values ​​of the pixels in the cleaned area are set to 0, and the pixel values ​​of other pixels are set to 1, so as to obtain a binary mask image, and then the mask image is multiplied with the map of the area to be cleaned to obtain the uncleaned area, that is, the missing area.

[0070] The missed area may be adjacent to the edge of the area to be cleaned. In some optional embodiments, the cleaning robot is controlled to walk along the edge of the area to be cleaned to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning. Furthermore, in one embodiment, based on the map information and the environmental information collected by the cleaning robot, the current position of the cleaning robot is obtained, and a route to the missed area is planned based on the current position, that is, the cleaning robot first determines its position in the area to be cleaned, and then walks along the edge to the missed area.

[0071] The missed area can also be adjacent to the edge of the obstacle. When the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle that affects the continued walking and ends the cleaning operation, it can walk along the edge of the obstacle to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning.

[0072] In an optional embodiment, the supplementary cleaning includes controlling the cleaning robot to walk along at least a second cleaning path to perform the cleaning operation. The second cleaning path may be U-shaped, S-shaped, spiral, or a cross path, a parallel reciprocating path, or other path models.

[0073] Furthermore, when walking along the second cleaning path to perform the cleaning operation, the above steps S4-S5 can be referred to to determine whether the cleaning operation of the second cleaning path is completed. If it is completed, the cleaning robot is controlled to walk to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning. At this time, the missed area includes the path not covered by the first cleaning path and the second cleaning path, or the area not covered by the actual walking path. By analogy, the missed areas are iteratively supplemented until all the areas to be cleaned are cleaned, or the area of ​​the cleaned area accounts for more than a certain proportion (such as 80%) of the total area of ​​the area to be cleaned.

[0074] In summary, the present invention provides a cleaning method and a cleaning robot for a swimming pool cleaning robot. By selecting the path with the highest coverage or the highest efficiency as the path for the first cleaning, after the first cleaning, the missed areas are cleaned again until all areas to be cleaned are cleaned or the cleaning coverage is met. This can greatly reduce repeated cleaning paths, achieve efficient cleaning while meeting the coverage rate, and can be applied to swimming pools of different shapes, with strong versatility.

[0075] Through the above description of the implementation methods, the technicians in the relevant field can clearly understand that the present invention can be implemented by means of software and necessary general hardware, and of course it can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer floppy disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory (FLASH), a hard disk or an optical disk, etc., including a number of instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present invention.

[0076] It is worth noting that in the embodiment of the above-mentioned device, the various units and modules included are only divided according to functional logic, but are not limited to the above-mentioned division, as long as the corresponding functions can be achieved; in addition, the specific names of the functional units are only for the convenience of distinguishing each other, and are not used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0077] The above descriptions are merely embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent transformations made using the contents of the present invention's specification and drawings, or directly or indirectly applied in related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cleaning method for a swimming pool cleaning robot, characterized in that: include: Obtain map information of the area to be cleaned; Planning a first cleaning path based on the map information, where the first cleaning path meets preset cleaning parameter requirements; Controlling the cleaning robot to walk based on the first cleaning path and perform cleaning operations; Determine whether the cleaning operation is completed, and if completed, control the cleaning robot to walk to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning.

2. The cleaning method of the swimming pool cleaning robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cleaning parameter requirements include cleaning coverage requirements or cleaning efficiency requirements.

3. The cleaning method of the swimming pool cleaning robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The omitted area includes an area not covered by the first cleaning path, or an area not covered by the actual walking path.

4. The cleaning method of the swimming pool cleaning robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: Determining whether the cleaning operation is completed includes at least one of the following determinations: Determine whether the cleaning robot has traversed a preset proportion of the first cleaning path, determine whether the cleaning robot has walked to a preset position point in the swimming pool, and determine whether the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle that affects continued walking.

5. The cleaning method of the swimming pool cleaning robot according to claim 4, characterized in that: The omitted area is adjacent to the edge of the area to be cleaned; The step of controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missing area to perform supplementary cleaning includes controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missing area along the edge of the area to be cleaned to perform supplementary cleaning.

6. The cleaning method of the swimming pool cleaning robot according to claim 4, characterized in that: The omitted area is adjacent to the edge of the obstacle; The step of controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning includes controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missed area along the edge of the obstacle to perform supplementary cleaning.

7. The cleaning method of the swimming pool cleaning robot according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: The step of controlling the cleaning robot to walk to the missed area to perform supplementary cleaning includes obtaining the current position of the cleaning robot based on the map information and the environmental information collected by the cleaning robot, and planning a route to the missed area based on the current position.

8. The cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: Planning the first cleaning path based on the map information includes planning a cleaning path of a fixed model based on multiple starting points, the multiple starting points correspond to multiple different orientations of the cleaning robot, and the fixed model includes a U-shape, an S-shape, a spiral shape or a cross path.

9. The cleaning method of a swimming pool cleaning robot according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The supplementary cleaning includes controlling the cleaning robot to walk along at least a second cleaning path to perform the cleaning operation.

10. A cleaning robot, characterized in that: The cleaning robot comprises: one or more processors; A storage device for storing one or more programs; When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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