Automatic pool cleaning device and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention provides an automatic pool cleaning device and a control method thereof. The automatic pool cleaning device comprises an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The control method comprises the following steps: controlling the automatic pool cleaning device to move downwards along the wall of the pool; the inertial measurement unit IMU measures acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device in real time; based on the acceleration information, whether the automatic pool cleaning device makes contact with the pool bottom of the pool or not is judged. According to the method, whether the pool cleaning device touches the bottom or not can be timely and accurately judged based on the inertial measurement unit on the pool cleaning device, and a guarantee is provided for subsequently controlling the automatic pool cleaning device to go down the wall in time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of cleaning devices, and in particular to a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device and an automatic pool cleaning device. Background Art

[0002] With the development of computer technology, robotics technology has also developed rapidly. Currently, underwater robots are used more and more widely in various fields, and can assist people in working in water, including underwater cleaning, underwater exploration, underwater sightseeing, etc. Underwater cleaning robots such as pool cleaning devices are prone to slipping off the wall when the pool wall turns to change to the next route when cleaning the pool wall according to a predetermined cleaning route. Therefore, it is usually necessary to control the pool cleaning device to move down from the waterline along the pool wall to the connection between the wall and the bottom of the pool. After determining that the pool cleaning device has touched the bottom, control the pool cleaning device to go down the wall to the bottom of the pool, and then go up the wall again after turning at the bottom of the pool to continue cleaning the wall.

[0003] Therefore, when the pool cleaning device is cleaning the wall of the pool, how to timely and accurately determine when the pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool becomes a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0004] According to a first aspect of the present application, a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device is provided, wherein the automatic pool cleaning device comprises an inertial measurement unit IMU, and the control method comprises: Controlling the automatic pool cleaning device to move downward along the wall of the pool; The inertial measurement unit IMU measures the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device in real time; Based on the acceleration information, it is determined whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool.

[0005] According to a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device provided by the present application, the acceleration information includes an acceleration change in a vertical direction.

[0006] According to a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device provided in the present application, the step of determining whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool based on the acceleration information includes: when the acceleration change is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, determining that the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool.

[0007] A control method for an automatic pool cleaning device provided by the present application also includes, if the acceleration change is always less than the preset threshold within a preset time length, judging whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom based on the historical wall-down time length.

[0008] According to a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device provided by the present application, the preset time length is greater than 90 seconds.

[0009] According to a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device provided by the present application, the step of judging whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom based on the historical wall-down time includes: if the acceleration change is always less than the preset threshold value within the historical wall-down time, then judging that the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom.

[0010] According to a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device provided by the present application, the historical wall-down time is obtained based on at least one of the following methods: Obtained based on the historical wall duration; Based on the data obtained from the depth gauge and wheel speed meter / down-wall speed; Based on historical time on the wall, speed on the wall, and speed off the wall / wheel speed meter acquisition.

[0011] According to a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device provided by the present application, the historical wall-up time is obtained based on an upper wall detection sensor and a water outlet detection sensor; the upper wall detection sensor includes an IMU or a downward-looking sensor.

[0012] According to a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device provided by the present application, the measurement interval of the real-time measurement of the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device is less than or equal to 300 ms; preferably, the real-time measurement includes measuring the acceleration information once every 200 ms or 300 ms.

[0013] According to a second aspect of the present application, an automatic pool cleaning device is provided, which can execute any of the above-mentioned control methods for the automatic pool cleaning device.

[0014] The embodiments described in this application have the following beneficial effects: The automatic pool cleaning device is controlled to move downward along the wall of the pool, i.e., toward the bottom of the pool, for cleaning. When the automatic pool cleaning device moves downward and contacts the bottom of the pool, it is restricted by the obstruction of the bottom of the pool and its speed will drop sharply. Therefore, during the movement of the automatic pool cleaning device, the speed change, i.e., acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device can be measured in real time by the inertial measurement unit IMU. Further, based on the acceleration information, it can be timely and accurately determined whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool, thereby providing a guarantee for the subsequent control of the automatic pool cleaning device to go down the wall in time to continue cleaning the next cleaning route. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for the description of the embodiment. The drawings described below are only exemplary embodiments of the present application.

[0016] Figure 1 is a flow chart of a control method of an automatic pool cleaning device provided by the present application; Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the swimming pool cleaning device provided by this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application clearer, the technical solutions in this application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0018] The present application provides a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device, wherein the automatic pool cleaning device includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

[0019] It is understandable that the automatic pool cleaning device is capable of cleaning a pool. The pool is, for example, a pool-shaped building. The pool-shaped building may be a swimming pool, a reservoir, a spa pool, a water tank, a water tank, or the like. The automatic pool cleaning device may be a device such as an automatic cleaning device, a pool cleaning robot, or the like, which is capable of cleaning a pool-shaped building. The present application does not limit the specific presentation of the automatic pool cleaning device and the pool-shaped building, as long as the principle of the present application can be implemented. In the following, unless otherwise specified, the robot will be used as an example of the automatic pool cleaning device, and the swimming pool will be used as an example of a pool or a pool-shaped building. In the following, unless otherwise specified, the terms "pool bottom", "pool bottom", and "pool bottom" all refer to the bottom surface of the swimming pool.

[0020] The robot may include an inertial measurement unit (IMU), through which the acceleration of the robot during the mobile cleaning process can be measured. The IMU may include, for example, one or more components such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, a microprocessor, and a communication interface. The IMU is capable of measuring the movement state and posture of the robot. Those skilled in the art may select and set the IMU according to actual needs, as long as the technical principles of the present application can be implemented.

[0021] Specifically, when a robot is used to clean the wall of a swimming pool, it is usually necessary to control the robot to clean according to a planned cleaning route, wherein the planned cleaning route may be, for example, moving back and forth between "the junction of the swimming pool wall and the waterline" and "the junction of the swimming pool wall and the bottom of the swimming pool" (e.g., an N-shaped reciprocating motion). After cleaning one cleaning route, the robot needs to move to the next cleaning route to clean the next cleaning route. However, due to the large size and certain weight of the robot, when the robot is controlled to rotate a preset angle or move horizontally on the wall of the swimming pool to change to the next cleaning route, the robot may fall from the wall of the swimming pool, which is not conducive to the cleaning work of the robot and is also prone to causing the robot to fall and be damaged. Based on this, when controlling the robot to clean the wall of the swimming pool, the robot can usually be controlled to move from the waterline position to the intersection of the wall and the bottom of the swimming pool (i.e., the lower edge of the wall) and then control the robot to move down from the wall of the swimming pool to the bottom of the swimming pool, and then control the robot to turn on the bottom of the swimming pool and then move to the intersection of the "next cleaning route on the wall" and the "bottom of the swimming pool", and then control the robot from the bottom of the swimming pool to the wall of the swimming pool to clean the next cleaning route. In the following, for the convenience of description and to make the specification concise, if there is no additional explanation, the process of the robot moving down along the wall of the swimming pool is referred to as "down the wall"; the process of the robot moving up along the wall of the swimming pool is referred to as "up the wall"; the term "waterline" means the position where the water surface of the swimming pool touches the wall; and touching the bottom of the swimming pool is referred to as "touching the bottom".

[0022] The control method 100 of the automatic pool cleaning device is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] Figure 1 1 is a flow chart of a control method 100 for an automatic pool cleaning device provided in the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the control method 100 includes steps 101 to 103. Steps 101 to 103 are described in detail below.

[0024] In step 101, the automatic pool cleaning device is controlled to move downward along the wall of the pool.

[0025] Based on the above discussion of the process of controlling the robot to clean the wall of the swimming pool, in the process of controlling the robot to clean the wall of the swimming pool, accurately identifying when the robot touches the bottom of the swimming pool is very important for timely controlling the robot to move down to the bottom of the pool to change to the next cleaning route. Based on this, when controlling the robot to clean the wall of the swimming pool, it is necessary to make the robot move down to the bottom of the pool and change to the next cleaning route.

[0026] It is understandable that when the robot is controlled to move downward along the wall of the swimming pool, the robot may move forward along the wall with its head facing downward, or move backward along the wall with its head facing upward. The specific direction may be determined according to the orientation of the robot's head when the robot is on the wall. For example, when the robot is on the wall, the robot is moving forward along the wall with its head facing upward. Then, when the robot moves downward along the wall, the robot moves backward along the wall with its head facing upward. When the robot is on the wall, the robot is moving backward along the wall with its head facing downward. Then, when the robot moves downward along the wall, the robot moves forward along the wall with its head facing downward. After the robot moves along the wall to the waterline with its head facing upward, the robot may also turn around and move downward along the wall with its head facing downward. The above description of the movement of the robot on the swimming pool wall is merely exemplary. Those skilled in the art may select the movement of the robot on the swimming pool wall according to actual needs, as long as the technical principles of the present application can be implemented.

[0027] Next, the process proceeds to step 102. In step 102, the inertial measurement unit IMU measures acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device in real time.

[0028] Specifically, in the process of controlling the robot to move downward along the wall of the swimming pool, the change in the moving speed of the robot during the movement, that is, the acceleration information of the robot, can be measured in real time by the inertial measurement unit IMU.

[0029] In one embodiment, the measurement interval of the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device measured in real time by the IMU is less than or equal to 300ms. Preferably, the real-time measurement includes measuring the acceleration information once every 200ms or 300ms.

[0030] Specifically, the measurement interval cannot be too long. If the measurement interval is too long, when the acceleration of the robot changes, the inertial measurement unit IMU is just in the "sleep" state, making it difficult to capture the change in the acceleration of the robot, and then it is difficult to accurately determine whether the robot is in contact with the bottom of the swimming pool. Further, it is understandable that if the measurement interval is too short, the inertial measurement unit IMU needs to be turned on and measure data frequently, consuming too much power. In practice, setting the measurement interval to be less than or equal to 300ms can help avoid missing the change in the acceleration of the robot due to the long duration of the "sleep" state, and also help avoid frequent power consumption of the inertial measurement unit IMU. Preferably, the real-time measurement interval can be 200ms or 300ms. Of course, skilled technicians can also select the real-time measurement interval according to actual needs, as long as the technical principles of the present application can be implemented.

[0031] Next, the process proceeds to step 103. In step 103, based on the acceleration information, it is determined whether the automatic pool cleaning device is in contact with the bottom of the pool.

[0032] Specifically, since the automatic pool cleaning device is blocked by the bottom of the pool when it moves downward and contacts the bottom of the pool, the speed of the automatic pool cleaning device will drop significantly, or even drop suddenly or drop to zero. Therefore, by measuring the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device, it can be determined whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool. For example, by comparing the acceleration information collected at each moment, it can be determined whether there is a drop in acceleration.

[0033] The above embodiments have the following beneficial effects: The automatic pool cleaning device is controlled to move downward along the wall of the pool (i.e., toward the bottom of the pool) for cleaning. Since the automatic pool cleaning device is blocked by the bottom of the pool when it moves downward and contacts the bottom of the pool, the speed of the automatic pool cleaning device will decrease (or even drop sharply). Therefore, during the movement of the automatic pool cleaning device, the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device can be measured in real time by the inertial measurement unit IMU. Further, based on the acceleration information, it can be timely and accurately determined whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool, thereby providing a guarantee for the subsequent control of the automatic pool cleaning device to move down the wall in time.

[0034] In one embodiment, the acceleration information includes an acceleration change in a vertical direction.

[0035] Specifically, the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device measured in real time by the inertial measurement unit IMU may include the acceleration variation of the automatic pool cleaning device in the vertical direction. The term "vertical direction" means a direction of the wall surface of the swimming pool that is perpendicular to the pool bottom.

[0036] In one embodiment, when the robot moves downward along the wall of the swimming pool, the moving path is perpendicular to the bottom surface of the swimming pool. In other words, the robot moves vertically downward on the wall surface of the swimming pool. Therefore, the acceleration information measured by the inertial measurement unit IMU is the acceleration change in the vertical direction.

[0037] In another embodiment, when the robot moves downward along the wall of the swimming pool, the moving path forms a certain angle with the bottom surface of the swimming pool. In other words, the robot moves obliquely downward on the wall surface of the swimming pool. In this embodiment, the inertial measurement unit can measure: (1) the acceleration change in the vertical direction; and (2) the acceleration change in the horizontal direction of the robot. However, the acceleration change that can truly reflect whether the robot is in contact with the bottom of the swimming pool is the acceleration change in the vertical direction. It can be understood that the angle between the robot's moving path on the wall surface and the bottom of the pool is usually not too large. In other words, the robot can move downward along the wall surface in a route that is substantially perpendicular to the bottom of the pool. Therefore, the acceleration change in the vertical direction can more intuitively and quickly determine whether the robot is in contact with the bottom of the pool in the vertical direction.

[0038] In one embodiment, the step of determining whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool based on the acceleration information includes determining that the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool when the acceleration change is greater than or equal to a preset threshold.

[0039] It is understandable that in the process of controlling the robot to move downward along the wall, in addition to the change in movement speed when the robot touches the bottom of the pool, the unevenness of the wall surface, encountering debris / garbage, etc. during the movement process may also cause the robot's movement speed to change (i.e., generate acceleration), but the interference of unevenness, debris / garbage, etc. has a small effect on the robot's movement speed (i.e., the acceleration is small), and the robot cannot move forward when it touches the bottom of the pool, which has a greater impact on the robot's movement speed. Based on the above discussion, in order to exclude other situations such as the unevenness of the wall surface that may cause the robot's movement speed to change, the preset threshold is set. Only when the acceleration change measured by the inertial measurement unit IMU is greater than or equal to the preset threshold, it is judged that the robot has touched the bottom of the swimming pool. The preset threshold can be determined based on the robot's movement speed on the wall, the robot's own weight, and the flatness of the wall of the swimming pool. The preset threshold can be a larger value to exclude other interferences that may also cause a small change in the robot's movement speed. Those skilled in the art can set the preset prefabrication according to the technical principles described in this application, as long as the technical principles of this application can be realized.

[0040] In one embodiment, the robot has a certain moving speed when moving downward along the wall of the swimming pool. After the robot collides with the bottom of the pool, since the robot wheels may have a certain elasticity, based on the reaction force of the pool bottom, the robot may be bounced off the bottom of the pool and move a certain distance away from the bottom of the pool. After being bounced, the robot moves downward along the wall again before contacting the bottom of the pool. In some cases, the robot may even be bounced multiple times before contacting the bottom of the pool. Based on this situation, a grace period △t can also be set when making a bottoming judgment, wherein it is assumed that the moment when the acceleration change measured by the inertial measurement unit IMU is greater than or equal to the preset threshold is moment t1, at which time the robot moves downward along the wall and contacts the bottom of the pool for the first time, and during the grace period △t, the robot rebounds along the wall (once or more) and moves downward again and contacts the bottom of the pool. Therefore, when the acceleration change measured by the inertial measurement unit IMU is greater than or equal to the preset threshold, it can be determined that the robot has touched the bottom after a period of △t since the acceleration change was greater than or equal to the preset threshold (i.e., moment t1). In other words, the robot has touched the bottom at time t1+△t.

[0041] It can be understood that the “contacting the pool bottom” and “touching the bottom” mentioned above mean that the robot is in the following state: the robot is located on the wall of the swimming pool and maintains contact with the bottom of the swimming pool (or almost in contact with the bottom of the pool), and can continue to move to the bottom of the swimming pool.

[0042] In one embodiment, the method further includes determining whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom based on a historical wall descending time if the acceleration variation is always less than a preset threshold value within a preset time.

[0043] The preset time length may be determined based on the distance the robot moves along the wall of the swimming pool from the waterline to the bottom of the pool and the movement speed (or average movement speed) of the robot. The preset time length may be a time length set by the user based on experience.

[0044] The preset time length may also be the historical wall-down time length (described in detail below) or slightly less than the historical wall-down time length. The significance of setting the preset time length to be less than or equal to the historical wall-down time length is that during the period when the robot moves along the wall from the waterline to the lower edge of the wall, the robot can maintain a faster speed due to less debris / garbage on the current path (i.e., the robot is less decelerated by debris / garbage), so the time length consumed by the robot to move from the waterline to the lower edge of the wall is less than the historical wall-down time length. Therefore, by measuring the acceleration information of the robot within the preset time length (rather than measuring the acceleration information of the robot within the historical wall-down time length), it will help to determine earlier and faster that the robot has touched the bottom; if the acceleration change measured within the preset time length is always less than the preset threshold, it will further trigger the determination of whether the robot has touched the bottom of the pool based on the historical wall-down time length (determining whether the robot has touched the bottom of the pool based on the historical wall-down time length will be described in detail below).

[0045] Specifically, in certain special circumstances (for example, the inertial measurement unit IMU fails, the inertial measurement unit IMU is in a "sleeping" state when the robot touches the bottom, the robot moves slowly, resulting in a small change in speed when it touches the bottom, etc.), during the robot's downward movement along the wall of the swimming pool, the acceleration change measured by the inertial measurement unit IMU within the preset time period may always be less than the preset threshold. In this case, it is impossible to accurately determine whether the robot has touched the bottom by comparing the measured value of the inertial measurement unit IMU with the preset threshold. Therefore, it is possible to further determine whether the robot has touched the bottom based on the historical length of time the robot has spent descending the wall.

[0046] In one embodiment, the preset time length is greater than 90 seconds. Those skilled in the art can set the preset time length according to actual conditions, as long as the technical principle of the present application can be implemented.

[0047] In one embodiment, the step of judging whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom based on the historical wall-down time includes: if the acceleration change is always less than the preset threshold value during the historical wall-down time, then judging that the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom.

[0048] It is understandable that the robot usually moves at a uniform speed or nearly uniform speed when moving on the wall, that is, the acceleration of the robot is constant or substantially constant. Therefore, when the swimming pool remains unchanged and the waterline position of the swimming pool remains unchanged (assuming that the amount of water in the swimming pool remains unchanged for a long period of time (e.g., within 1 hour or several hours), or the amount of water reduced due to evaporation is ignored), the time taken by the robot to move downward from the waterline to the lower edge of the wall along the wall of the swimming pool at different time periods is the same or substantially the same. Therefore, when making a bottoming judgment based on the historical wall-descent time, the historical wall-descent time of the robot can be determined first, and then the acceleration change can be measured by the inertial measurement unit IMU during the historical wall-descent time. If the measured acceleration change is always less than the preset threshold, it means that the robot has touched the bottom.

[0049] In one embodiment, the historical wall descent time is obtained based on at least one of the following methods: based on the historical wall descent time; based on the data provided by the depth meter and the wheel speed meter / wall descent speed; based on the historical wall descent time, wall descent speed and wall descent speed / wheel speed meter.

[0050] Specifically, there are multiple ways to obtain the historical duration of the wall, as follows: Method 1: Obtain the historical duration of descending the wall based on the historical duration of ascending the wall. Since the robot usually moves at a constant speed or nearly constant speed on the wall, the duration of the robot ascending the wall (moving from the lower edge of the wall to the waterline) and descending the wall (moving from the waterline to the lower edge of the wall) are the same or substantially the same, so the historical duration of descending the wall can be obtained based on the historical duration of ascending the wall. For example, the historical duration of the robot ascending the wall can be directly used as the historical duration of descending the wall to make subsequent judgments on whether the robot has touched the bottom.

[0051] Method 2: Obtain the historical duration of the robot's descent based on the data from the depth meter and the wheel speed meter / descent speed. The water depth of the pool can be determined based on the data from the depth meter, and the robot's descent speed can be determined (for example, the robot's descent speed determined based on the wheel speed meter data). Then, the robot's historical duration of descent can be calculated based on the water depth of the pool and the robot's descent speed. For example, when the robot is at the bottom of a pool, the depth of the pool can be measured using a depth meter to obtain the pool's depth data.

[0052] Method 3: Obtain the historical time spent on the wall based on the historical time spent on the wall, the speed at which the robot climbed the wall, and the speed at which the robot descended the wall / wheel speedometer. The water depth of the pool can be calculated based on the robot's historical time spent on the wall and the speed at which the robot climbed the wall, and the robot's speed at which the robot descended the wall can be determined (or the speed at which the robot descended the wall determined based on the data from the wheel speedometer), and then the historical time spent on the wall can be calculated based on the water depth of the pool and the speed at which the robot descended the wall.

[0053] It can be understood that only one of the above methods can be used to obtain the robot's historical wall-climbing time. To further increase the accuracy of the obtained historical wall-climbing time, the robot's historical wall-climbing time can be determined based on multiple of the above methods (such as method 1+method 2, or method 2+method 3, or method 1+method 2+method 3).

[0054] The above description of the method for obtaining the historical wall-down time is only exemplary and is not intended to limit the method for obtaining the historical wall-down time. Those skilled in the art can obtain or set the historical wall-down time according to actual conditions, as long as the technical principles of the present application can be implemented. For example, the time when the robot moved from the waterline to the lower edge of the wall last time in this cleaning operation can be recorded as the historical wall-down time, or the time when the robot moved from the waterline to the lower edge of the wall several times before can be averaged as the historical wall-down time.

[0055] In one embodiment, the historical wall-on time is obtained based on an upper wall detection sensor and a water outlet detection sensor; the upper wall detection sensor includes an IMU or a downward-looking sensor.

[0056] Specifically, the historical time spent on the wall can be obtained based on the upper wall detection sensor and the water outlet detection sensor. For example, the robot can be controlled to move from the bottom of the pool to the lower edge of the wall of the swimming pool, and then the first moment when the robot is at the lower edge of the wall of the swimming pool is obtained based on the upper wall detection sensor, and then the robot is controlled to move from the lower edge of the wall to the waterline position, and the second moment when the robot emerges from the water is obtained by the water outlet detection sensor. Further based on the first moment and the second moment, the historical time spent on the wall by the robot can be calculated.

[0057] The water outflow detection sensor may be, for example, a pressure sensor, which determines whether the robot has reached the waterline by measuring changes in external pressure. The water outflow detection sensor may also be a capacitive sensor, which determines the water level by measuring changes in the dielectric constant of water. Those skilled in the art may select the water outflow detection sensor according to actual needs, as long as the technical principle of the present application can be realized.

[0058] The upper wall detection sensor may include an IMU or a downward-looking sensor. Since the attitude angle of the robot on the bottom surface of the swimming pool is different from the attitude angle of the robot on the wall of the swimming pool, the moment when the robot moves from the bottom of the pool to the wall of the swimming pool can be obtained by detecting the attitude angle of the robot through the IMU. Since the downward-looking sensing sensor is a sensor that can sense the ground condition, the moment when the robot moves from the bottom of the pool to the wall of the swimming pool can be obtained through the perception information of the downward-looking sensor.

[0059] According to a second aspect of the present application, an automatic pool cleaning device is provided, which can execute any of the above-mentioned control methods for the automatic pool cleaning device.

[0060] The above embodiments have the following beneficial effects: The above-mentioned automatic pool cleaning device controls the automatic pool cleaning device to move downward along the wall of the pool (i.e., toward the bottom of the pool) for cleaning by executing the control method in the above-mentioned embodiment. Since the automatic pool cleaning device is blocked by the bottom of the pool when it moves downward and contacts the bottom of the pool, the speed of the automatic pool cleaning device will decrease (or even drop sharply). Therefore, during the movement of the automatic pool cleaning device, the speed change of the automatic pool cleaning device (i.e., acceleration information) can be measured in real time by the inertial measurement unit IMU. Further, based on the acceleration information, it can be timely and accurately determined whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool, thereby providing a guarantee for the subsequent control of the automatic pool cleaning device to move down the wall in time.

[0061] According to a third aspect of the present application, a computer storage medium is provided, wherein a computer program is stored in the storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, a control method for an automatic pool cleaning device as described above is implemented, wherein the automatic pool cleaning device includes an inertial measurement unit IMU, and the control method includes: Controlling the automatic pool cleaning device to move downward along the wall of the pool; The inertial measurement unit IMU measures the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device in real time; Based on the acceleration information, it is determined whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool.

[0062] In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program can be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer can execute the control method of the automatic pool cleaning device provided by the above methods, the automatic pool cleaning device comprising an inertial measurement unit IMU, the control method comprising: Controlling the automatic pool cleaning device to move downward along the wall of the pool; The inertial measurement unit IMU measures the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device in real time; Based on the acceleration information, it is determined whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool.

[0063] The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative, wherein the units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the scheme of this embodiment. Ordinary technicians in this field can understand and implement it without paying creative labor.

[0064] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each implementation method can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, can also be implemented by hardware. Based on this understanding, the above technical solution is essentially 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 ROM / RAM, a disk, 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 or some parts of the embodiments.

[0065] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of different embodiments or examples, unless they are contradictory.

[0066] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0067] The above is only an exemplary embodiment of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of various changes or substitutions within the technical scope recorded in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A control method for an automatic pool cleaning device, the automatic pool cleaning device comprising an inertial measurement unit (IMU), the control method comprising: Controlling the automatic pool cleaning device to move downward along the wall of the pool; The inertial measurement unit IMU measures the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device in real time; Based on the acceleration information, it is determined whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the bottom of the pool.

2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein: The acceleration information includes an acceleration change in a vertical direction.

3. The control method according to claim 2, wherein: The step of determining whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom based on the acceleration information includes: determining that the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom when the acceleration variation is greater than or equal to a preset threshold.

4. The control method according to claim 3 further includes, if the acceleration change is always less than the preset threshold within a preset time period, judging whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom based on the historical wall-down time period.

5. The control method according to claim 4, wherein: The preset duration is greater than 90 seconds.

6. The control method according to claim 4, wherein: The step of judging whether the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom based on the historical wall-down time includes: if the acceleration change is always less than the preset threshold value within the historical wall-down time, then judging that the automatic pool cleaning device contacts the pool bottom.

7. The control method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein: The historical duration of descending the wall is obtained based on at least one of the following methods: Obtained based on the historical wall duration; Based on the data obtained from the depth gauge and wheel speed meter / down-wall speed; Based on historical time on the wall, speed on the wall, and speed off the wall / wheel speed meter acquisition.

8. The control method according to claim 7, wherein: The historical wall-mounted time is obtained based on an upper wall detection sensor and a water outlet detection sensor; the upper wall detection sensor includes an IMU or a downward-looking sensor.

9. The control method according to claim 1, wherein: The measurement interval of the real-time measurement of the acceleration information of the automatic pool cleaning device is less than or equal to 300 ms; preferably, the real-time measurement includes measuring the acceleration information once every 200 ms or 300 ms.

10. An automatic pool cleaning device capable of executing the control method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

Images