Posture adjusting method for pool cleaning robot before wall climbing and pool cleaning robot

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of swimming pool cleaning, in particular to a posture adjusting method of a pool cleaning robot before wall climbing. The method comprises the steps that the robot is controlled to advance at the bottom of a pool, when a sensor in front of the robot monitors that the robot is a certain distance away from a wall, whether the front portion of the robot is parallel to the wall or not is judged, and if not, the robot is controlled to turn left or right through a water spraying or driving device till parallel; according to the method, the head of the robot can be prevented from tilting at the wall root, and effective cleaning of the wall root is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of swimming pool cleaning, and in particular to a method for adjusting the posture of a pool cleaning robot before climbing a wall and the pool cleaning robot. Background Art

[0002] With the development of technology, the demand for pool cleaning equipment continues to increase; pool cleaning equipment refers to equipment for cleaning pools, swimming pools or spa pools. Specifically, pool cleaning equipment can be a pool robot, which has highly intelligent movement and operation capabilities. The climbing wall method currently chosen by the pool cleaning robots on the market when cleaning the wall is difficult to effectively clean the base of the wall. The reason is that the machine does not adjust its posture when it is at the corner to ensure that the head of the machine is facing the current wall. Most pool robots move forward according to the current driving angle and rely on the shape of the wall to "bump" the machine into facing the wall or directly tilt and tilt up and onto the wall. Even if the pool cleaning robot initially planned the forward route to be perpendicular to the wall, due to the slippage, positioning deviation and execution deviation of the robot's walking, it is difficult for the robot's head to face the wall when approaching the wall. Once it tilts and hits the wall and tilts up, and then tilts up the wall, this tilting at the bottom of the pool will cause some uncleaned areas to remain in the corner of the wall. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the above problems in the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to solve the problem that the corners cannot be effectively cleaned.

[0004] In order to solve the above problems, the present application provides a method for adjusting the posture of a pool cleaning robot before climbing a wall, the method comprising:

[0005] Get the wall climbing instructions;

[0006] Controlling the cleaning robot to move toward the wall at the bottom of the pool and perform cleaning operations until the cleaning robot is detected to be close to the wall and switching to a posture adjustment mode;

[0007] Determine whether the head of the cleaning robot is parallel to the wall, and if not, rotate the cleaning robot until the head is parallel to the wall;

[0008] Control the cleaning robot to climb up the wall.

[0009] Preferably, the step of detecting that the cleaning robot is approaching the wall includes determining whether the distance between the cleaning robot and the wall is less than or equal to a preset threshold.

[0010] Preferably, the step of determining whether the head of the cleaning robot is parallel to the wall comprises determining whether the head of the cleaning robot is parallel to the wall by means of a sensor on the head of the cleaning robot.

[0011] Preferably, the step of detecting that the cleaning robot is approaching the wall includes detecting through a sensor on the head of the cleaning robot.

[0012] Preferably, the step of rotating the cleaning robot is achieved by a driving device or a water spraying device on the cleaning robot.

[0013] Preferably, the rotating action includes rotating to the left or rotating to the right.

[0014] Preferably, the sensor on the head of the cleaning robot includes an ultrasonic sensor, a DTOF sensor, and a radar. Preferably, the head of the cleaning robot is provided with a roller brush.

[0015] Preferably, the step of controlling the cleaning robot to climb the wall includes controlling the cleaning robot to move straight to the boundary between the wall and the pool bottom.

[0016] Preferably, the driving device includes wheels or tracks, and the water spraying device includes water spraying ports respectively arranged on the left and right sides of the robot, and the water spraying ports on both sides can be independently controlled.

[0017] In addition, the present application also provides a pool cleaning robot that can execute the above-mentioned method of adjusting posture before climbing a wall.

[0018] The method of adjusting posture before wall climbing of the present application has the following beneficial effects:

[0019] After the pool bottom cleaning operation is completed, the swimming pool or pool cleaning robot of the present application obtains a wall climbing instruction and monitors whether it is close to the wall. When approaching, the parallelism between the robot and the wall is adjusted so that the robot's head is tilted up to the wall at the same time when climbing up the wall, avoiding one side being tilted up while the other side is not, thereby avoiding missing some cleaning areas. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments or prior art descriptions. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application, and for ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0021] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a pool cleaning robot in the prior art at the bottom of a pool preparing to tilt up to a wall;

[0022] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of a pool cleaning robot in the prior art climbing up a wall at a corner;

[0023] Figure 3This is a schematic diagram of the pool cleaning robot provided in an embodiment of the present application adjusting its posture to be parallel near a wall. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0025] In the prior art, swimming pool or pool cleaning robots perform cleaning operations underwater. The cleaning robot is provided with a roller brush on its head, a water suction port on its bottom, a drain port on its top or side, and a filter basket inside. Water flows in through the water suction port, is filtered by the garbage basket, and is discharged through the drain port. The cleaning roller brush can clean the pool bottom or pool wall, and remove the garbage adhering to the pool bottom or pool wall, so that it is sucked into the water suction port. When the bottom operation task is completed and the robot needs to go up the wall, the robot's posture is often not perpendicular to the wall. The control logic is to go directly up the wall. Figure 1 , the robot 1 walks on the pool bottom 2 toward the wall 3. As the direction is inclined to the wall, the left front corner reaches the area where the boundary 5 between the pool bottom 2 and the pool wall 3 is located, and then hits the wall. If the friction of the wall is large enough, once the corner of the robot touches the wall, the main body of the robot 1 starts to climb the wall, and the front part tilts up, as shown in FIG. Figure 2 In the posture, the front part is separated from the pool bottom, and the front right part of the robot does not reach the boundary line 5 before it tilts up. Therefore, the shadow area 4 of the pool bottom is not cleaned by the roller brush of the head, and the bottom suction port further back cannot reach this area, and area 4 will become a missed cleaning area. The shadow area includes the area between the front edge of the robot head when the head starts to tilt up and the boundary line 5.

[0026] In order to solve this problem of missed cleaning, the present application adjusts the posture of the swimming pool or pool robot 1 before it goes up to the wall so that its head is parallel to the wall, ensuring that when going up to the wall, the left and right sides of the robot head are tilted at the same time, and the roller brush of the robot head contacts the area where the boundary line 5 is located during the movement of the pool bottom, and no cleaning area is missed. Figure 3 , the specific plan is as follows:

[0027] First, obtain a wall climbing instruction, which can be sent to the robot 1 by the user remote control, or automatically generated by the robot according to the operation progress or its own battery status. For example, when the robot finishes its work at the bottom of the pool, it generates a wall climbing instruction to continue cleaning the wall, or when the battery is low and needs to climb the wall to charge, it generates an instruction to control the robot to go ashore.

[0028] The current position of the robot 1 is not limited, and can be any position when the wall climbing instruction is obtained. When the robot receives the instruction, it controls the cleaning robot to move toward the wall at the bottom of the pool and perform cleaning operations until the sensor located on the head or side of the robot detects that the cleaning robot is close to the wall and switches to the posture adjustment mode. Generally speaking, the sensor can successfully detect the wall when the robot is within 50 cm of the wall, so 40 cm or less can be defined as the distance of the robot close to the wall.

[0029] When it is determined that the robot 1 is close to the wall, the sensor carried by the cleaning robot 1 determines whether the head of the robot is parallel to the wall. If not, the cleaning robot is turned left or right by the speed difference of the left and right wheels until the head is parallel to the wall. In addition to adjusting by the speed difference of the left and right wheels, the rotation can also be achieved by the left and right water spraying mechanisms.

[0030] Because the motion control of underwater robots is difficult and the machines are prone to slipping, before turning the robot, it is necessary to accurately calculate the angle to be turned based on the wall data collected by the sensor. If the robot head is still not parallel to the wall after turning once, it can continue to turn in the opposite direction to adjust. If it still cannot be parallel after the predetermined number of adjustments, stop adjusting and go directly to the wall. The predetermined number of times can be set to less than or equal to 6 times.

[0031] In addition, since the robot is close to the wall, if it rotates too many times and causes the robot to tilt and hit the wall, the robot will be controlled to move backward and then continue to determine whether it is parallel. If not, continue to rotate and adjust.

[0032] When the sensor detects that the robot is parallel, the cleaning robot is controlled to move straight until the head touches the wall and then climbs up the wall. During the straight movement, the roller brush can move from the current position close to the bottom of the pool to the boundary line 5, and the water suction port at the bottom of the robot can also move as close to the boundary line as possible to achieve maximum coverage cleaning.

[0033] In addition, the sensor on the head of the cleaning robot includes an ultrasonic sensor, a DTOF sensor, a radar or a camera. The head of the cleaning robot is provided with a long roller brush, which is parallel to the head of the robot. The sewage suction port is provided on the chassis of the robot and is slightly forward. The wheel speed difference in this application refers to the speed difference between the left and right wheels or tracks, and the water spray device includes water spray ports respectively provided on the left and right sides of the robot, and the water spray ports on both sides can be independently controlled.

[0034] In addition, when the path of the pool bottom cleaning operation is long, if the robot 1 is far away from the wall when it receives the wall-going instruction, even if you want to control the robot to move straight toward the wall, the robot 1 will tilt greatly. This is mainly due to underwater slippage, water flow interference or IMU cumulative error. Therefore, the longer the path of the robot toward the wall, the greater the tilt angle of the robot when it approaches the wall, and the more it relies on the present invention for posture adjustment.

[0035] An embodiment of the present application also provides a cleaning robot that can be loaded with a program to achieve the above-mentioned posture adjustment before climbing the wall.

[0036] The above description has fully disclosed the specific implementation methods of the present application. It should be pointed out that any changes made by technicians familiar with the field to the specific implementation methods of the present application do not deviate from the scope of the claims of the present application. Accordingly, the scope of the claims of the present application is not limited to the above specific implementation methods.

Claims

1. A method for adjusting the posture of a pool cleaning robot before climbing a wall, characterized in that: The method comprises: Get the wall climbing instructions; Controlling the cleaning robot to move toward the wall at the bottom of the pool and perform cleaning operations until the cleaning robot is detected to be close to the wall and switching to a posture adjustment mode; Determine whether the head of the cleaning robot is parallel to the wall, and if not, rotate the cleaning robot until the head is parallel to the wall; Control the cleaning robot to climb up the wall.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The step of detecting that the cleaning robot is approaching the wall includes determining whether the distance between the cleaning robot and the wall is less than or equal to a preset threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The step of judging whether the head of the cleaning robot is parallel to the wall comprises judging whether the head of the cleaning robot is parallel to the wall by a sensor on the head of the cleaning robot.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The step of detecting that the cleaning robot approaches the wall includes detecting through a sensor on the head of the cleaning robot.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The step of rotating the cleaning robot is achieved by a driving device or a water spraying device on the cleaning robot.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The rotating action includes rotating to the left or rotating to the right.

7. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: The sensor of the cleaning robot head includes an ultrasonic sensor, a DTOF sensor, a radar or a camera. Preferably, the cleaning robot head is provided with a roller brush.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The step of controlling the cleaning robot to climb the wall includes controlling the cleaning robot to move straight to the boundary line between the wall and the pool bottom.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The driving device includes wheels or tracks, and the water spraying device includes water spraying ports respectively arranged on the left and right sides of the robot, and the water spraying ports on both sides can be independently controlled.

10. A pool cleaning robot capable of executing the posture adjustment method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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