Water pool cleaning robot escape method and cleaning robot

Abstract

The application discloses a pool cleaning robot and a pool cleaning robot escape method, and the method comprises the following steps: controlling the cleaning robot to drive in the pool to perform a cleaning operation; during the driving, judging whether the cleaning robot is in a rotating stuck state; if the cleaning robot is in the rotating stuck state, performing an escape action; wherein the escape action comprises controlling the cleaning robot to retreat by a preset first distance and rotate by a preset first angle. The application can detect the rotating stuck state of the cleaning robot and improve the corresponding escape ability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of cleaning robot technology, and in particular to a method for a pool cleaning robot to escape from a difficult situation and the cleaning robot itself. Background Technology

[0002] In recent years, with technological advancements and the development of the internet, robotics technology has matured and is widely applied in various aspects of life. Looking at the market, a large number of specialized robots have emerged, among which pool cleaning robots have significantly helped users solve a significant amount of cleaning work. They are used to clean mud, grime, algae, and other debris from the bottom and side walls of pools to keep them clean.

[0003] During the process of cleaning the bottom of a pool, the robot vacuum cleaner encounters many complex terrains and often gets stuck due to various terrain factors. For example, the robot vacuum cleaner may hit a wall or other obstacle while rotating, making it difficult to rotate. In other words, the robot vacuum cleaner is in a rotating state but cannot turn, thus preventing it from continuing to clean normally.

[0004] Therefore, how to detect when a pool cleaning robot gets stuck and how to free it from this predicament has become an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a method for a water pool cleaning robot to get out of trouble and a cleaning robot, which can detect the situation where the water pool cleaning robot is stuck in rotation and improve the corresponding ability to get out of trouble.

[0006] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: Firstly, the present invention provides a method for a water tank cleaning robot to escape from a difficult situation, comprising:

[0007] Control the cleaning robot to move within the pool to perform cleaning tasks;

[0008] During operation, determine whether the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state.

[0009] If the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state, it will perform an escape action;

[0010] The escape action includes controlling the pool cleaning robot to retreat a preset first distance and rotate it by a preset first angle.

[0011] Secondly, the present invention also provides a cleaning robot, the cleaning robot comprising:

[0012] A filtration device is used to filter the water entering the cleaning robot;

[0013] The walking mechanism is used to drive the cleaning robot to walk on the support surface;

[0014] The water spray mechanism is used to provide water flow force for the cleaning robot;

[0015] One or more processors;

[0016] Storage device for storing one or more programs;

[0017] When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the escape method as provided in the first aspect.

[0018] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: by detecting whether the cleaning robot is in a rotating, stuck state during operation, and when such a state is detected, the robot is controlled to move backward and rotate to escape the stuck state. This application can efficiently detect the stuck state and improve the cleaning robot's corresponding ability to escape from stuck situations. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1 A flowchart of a method for a water tank cleaning robot to escape from a stuck situation, provided by the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of a water tank cleaning robot's escape method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a structural schematic diagram of a cleaning robot provided by the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and not intended to limit it. Furthermore, it should be noted that, for ease of description, the accompanying drawings show only the parts relevant to the present invention, and not all of the structures.

[0023] Before discussing the exemplary embodiments in more detail, it should be noted that some exemplary embodiments are described as processes or methods depicted as flowcharts. Although the flowcharts describe the steps as sequential processes, many of these steps can be performed in parallel, concurrently, or simultaneously. Furthermore, the order of the steps can be rearranged. A process can be terminated when its operation is complete, but it may also have additional steps not included in the figures. A process can correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, subprogram, etc.

[0024] Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," etc., may be used herein 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 one direction, action, step, or element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of this application, first information may be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may be referred to as first information. Both first information and second information are information, but they are not the same information. The terms "first," "second," etc., should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this invention, "a plurality of" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0025] Please refer to Figure 1 A method for a pool cleaning robot to escape from a stuck situation, comprising:

[0026] Control the cleaning robot to move within the pool to perform cleaning tasks;

[0027] During operation, determine whether the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state.

[0028] If the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state, it will perform an escape action;

[0029] The escape action includes controlling the pool cleaning robot to retreat a preset first distance and rotate it by a preset first angle.

[0030] As described above, it can detect situations where cleaning robots get stuck while rotating and improve their ability to escape such situations.

[0031] Additionally, it should be noted that "rotational jamming" refers to a state where a rotating mechanism or device becomes stuck, stagnant, or unable to rotate smoothly during operation. In this application, "rotational jamming" refers to a state where a pool cleaning robot cannot move smoothly during turning or rotating due to the pool wall or other obstacles, such as being stuck and stopped by an obstacle. Even if the robot is equipped with a high-precision map and has planned a path or action to avoid obstacles, rotational jamming is unavoidable because underwater travel is prone to slippage. Therefore, detecting rotational jamming and performing extrication actions is crucial.

[0032] In an optional embodiment, determining whether the cleaning robot is in a rotating and stuck state includes: acquiring the posture information of the cleaning robot during its movement, and determining whether the cleaning robot is in a rotating and stuck state based on the posture information.

[0033] In an optional embodiment, the attitude information includes a yaw angle or a rotation angle obtained via an encoder.

[0034] In an optional embodiment, determining whether the cleaning robot is in a rotational jamming state based on the posture information includes: if the posture information meets a preset condition, then determining that the cleaning robot is in a rotational jamming state;

[0035] The preset conditions include: the cumulative difference between the yaw angle and the turning angle within a preset first time period is greater than a preset first angle threshold, or the change in the yaw angle within a preset second time period is less than a preset second angle threshold.

[0036] As described above, when the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state, the body cannot rotate. Therefore, it can be determined whether the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state by monitoring the yaw angle or the difference between the yaw angle and the turning angle.

[0037] In an optional embodiment, the preset first distance is greater than or equal to half the length of the cleaning robot body.

[0038] In an optional embodiment, the preset first angle is 10 degrees to 40 degrees.

[0039] In an optional embodiment, after performing the escape action, the method further includes: if the escape is successful, performing the action of finding the pool wall or continuing the cleaning operation.

[0040] As described above, the robot continues to perform its previous tasks after escaping its predicament, thus enhancing its autonomy.

[0041] In an optional embodiment, after performing the escape action, the method further includes: if the cleaning robot is still stuck in a rotating state after the escape action is completed, then the escape action is performed again.

[0042] As described above, repeatedly performing the escape maneuver increases the likelihood of escape. There is no limit to the number of times the escape maneuver can be repeated; it can be defined according to the specific needs of the scenario.

[0043] In an optional embodiment, after the escape action is performed again, the method further includes: if the cleaning robot is still stuck in a rotating state after the escape action is performed again, then the water spraying mechanism of the cleaning robot is turned off, the cleaning robot is controlled to move forward a preset second distance, and rotate a preset second angle.

[0044] As described above, if the robot fails to escape its predicament after multiple attempts, the reason may be the presence of an obstacle behind it, preventing the robot from reversing and thus hindering its escape. Therefore, turning off the water spray mechanism reduces the downward pressure generated by the spray, increasing the likelihood of escape. Furthermore, the robot can be controlled to move forward a preset second distance and rotate at a preset second angle. The preset second distance can be the same as or different from the preset first distance, and the preset second angle is preferably within the range of 20-30 degrees.

[0045] In an optional embodiment, the escape action further includes:

[0046] Adjust the direction of the water flow force of the water spray mechanism, or adjust the direction of the force of the traveling mechanism;

[0047] Alternatively, adjust the direction and magnitude of the water flow force of the spray mechanism, or adjust the magnitude and direction of the force of the traveling mechanism.

[0048] As described above, by increasing the magnitude and direction of the force applied by the traveling mechanism, the forward or backward speed of the cleaning robot can be increased; by adjusting the direction of the water flow force of the water spray structure to forward or backward and increasing the magnitude of the water flow force of the water spray mechanism, the forward or backward speed of the cleaning robot can be further increased.

[0049] The present invention also provides a cleaning robot, the cleaning robot comprising:

[0050] A filtration device is used to filter the water entering the cleaning robot;

[0051] The walking mechanism is used to drive the cleaning robot to walk on the support surface;

[0052] The water spray mechanism is used to provide water flow force for the cleaning robot;

[0053] One or more processors;

[0054] Storage device for storing one or more programs;

[0055] When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the escape method as described above.

[0056] Figure 2 A method for a pool cleaning robot to escape from a stuck situation is shown, including the following steps:

[0057] S1: Controls the cleaning robot to move within the pool, either along the edge or to perform cleaning tasks.

[0058] S2: During the movement, determine whether the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state. If yes, proceed to step S3. If no, continue moving along the edge or performing cleaning operations.

[0059] Specifically, the system can determine whether the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotational state based on its posture information during operation. If the posture information meets preset conditions, the cleaning robot is determined to be stuck in a rotational state. The cleaning robot will make turning or rotating movements during its operation.

[0060] In some optional embodiments, the attitude information includes the yaw angle obtained by the gyroscope in the IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) and the rotation angle (the angle of the traveling mechanism, such as a wheel) obtained by the encoder, with the preset condition that the cumulative difference between the yaw angle and the rotation angle within a preset first time period is greater than a preset first angle threshold. The wheel referred to in this application includes a wheel or a wheel with tracks.

[0061] For example, during the cleaning robot's operation, the yaw angle and turning angle are acquired every 0.05 seconds at a frequency of 20Hz and stored sequentially in the yaw angle sequence and the encoder sequence, respectively. If the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state, the yaw angle remains basically unchanged, but the turning angle in the encoder sequence will gradually increase. Therefore, the cumulative difference between the two is calculated every certain period of time (e.g., 3 seconds). If the cumulative difference is large multiple times, the cleaning robot is considered to be stuck in a rotating state.

[0062] In some alternative embodiments, the attitude information includes yaw angle, with the preset condition that the change in yaw angle within a preset second time period is less than a preset second angle threshold.

[0063] For example, during the cleaning robot's movement, the yaw angle is acquired in real time via the IMU. If the yaw angle does not change within 100 seconds, or the change is small, the cleaning robot is considered to be stuck in a rotational state. Since this judgment method takes a relatively long time, it can be used as a backup strategy.

[0064] S3: Perform the escape action. The escape action includes adjusting the magnitude and direction of the driving force of the cleaning robot's drive mechanism, which includes a traveling mechanism and a water spraying mechanism.

[0065] The water spraying mechanism includes a water pump that guides water flow from the inlet at the bottom of the cleaning robot. After passing through the internal filtration device, the water is discharged from the top or side drain outlet to the outside of the cleaning robot. The water spraying mechanism may also include a water propulsion mechanism independent of the water pump and drain outlet. When it is necessary to change the direction of the water flow force of the water spraying mechanism, this can be achieved by changing the rotation direction of the propeller blades of the water propulsion mechanism, rotating the guide pipe of the water spraying mechanism, or switching the drain outlet at different positions.

[0066] In some embodiments, a first escape action is performed: the cleaning robot is controlled to retreat a preset first distance, and then rotated by a preset angle, which can be to the right or to the left. In optional embodiments, the rotation can be performed in a direction away from the wall. For example, when the ranging sensor is installed on the left side of the cleaning robot body, it generally moves along the edge of the pool with its left side close to the wall, and in this case, it can rotate to the right.

[0067] If the cleaning robot remains stuck in a rotating state after the first escape action is performed, the first escape action will be performed again.

[0068] If the cleaning robot remains stuck in a rotating state after the first escape action is performed again, it indicates that there may be an obstacle behind the cleaning robot, preventing it from performing a backward movement and thus preventing the first escape action from being performed normally. In this case, perform the second escape action: turn off the water spray mechanism of the cleaning robot, control the cleaning robot to move forward a preset second distance, and then rotate it at a preset angle, either to the right or to the left. After rotating, turn the water spray mechanism back on.

[0069] In other optional embodiments, if the cleaning robot is still stuck in a rotating state after the first escape action is performed again, the first escape action can be repeated until it is still stuck after a preset number of first escape actions, and then the second escape action is performed.

[0070] Normally, the water spray mechanism draws in water from the inlet at the bottom of the robot, filters it, and then sprays it out from the outlet at the top. This provides a downward force to the cleaning robot, ensuring its wheels or tracks make close contact with the bottom of the pool, thus reducing the likelihood of slippage. Therefore, in the second escape maneuver, turning off the water spray mechanism reduces the downward pressure it generates, increasing the chances of successfully escaping the obstacle.

[0071] In optional embodiments, the preset first distance and second distance are greater than or equal to half the length of the cleaning robot's body, and the preset angle is between 10-40°. In some embodiments, the rotation angle in the first escape action can be between 15-30°, and the rotation angle in the second escape action can be between 20-30°.

[0072] In some alternative embodiments, the first escape action may further include increasing the magnitude of the force applied by the traveling mechanism to increase the backward speed of the cleaning robot. In one embodiment, the magnitude of the force applied by the traveling mechanism can be increased by increasing the rotational speed of the traveling motor.

[0073] In some alternative embodiments, the first escape action may also include: adjusting the direction and magnitude of the water flow force of the water spraying mechanism. Specifically, the water spraying mechanism can be controlled to spray water from the outlet at the front of the cleaning robot body, thereby reducing the downward pressure generated by the water spraying mechanism and increasing the backward speed of the cleaning robot.

[0074] In other alternative embodiments, the first escape action may also include: increasing the magnitude of the force of the traveling mechanism and adjusting the direction and magnitude of the water flow force of the water spraying mechanism, thereby further increasing the backward speed of the cleaning robot.

[0075] In some alternative embodiments, the second escape action may further include increasing the magnitude of the force applied by the traveling mechanism to increase the forward speed of the cleaning robot.

[0076] Furthermore, after successfully escaping the obstacle, the cleaning robot can be controlled to search for the pool wall or continue cleaning operations.

[0077] Furthermore, if the cleaning robot is still stuck after performing the above-mentioned escape actions, it indicates that the robot is seriously stuck and cannot escape on its own. In this case, an alarm message needs to be sent to the application to inform the user that the escape attempt has failed and that the user needs to manually help the robot escape.

[0078] Figure 3 A cleaning robot is shown, the cleaning robot comprising:

[0079] Filter device 301 is used to filter the water flow entering the cleaning robot;

[0080] The walking mechanism 302 is used to drive the cleaning robot to walk on the support surface;

[0081] The water spray mechanism 303 is used to provide water flow force for the cleaning robot;

[0082] One or more processors 304;

[0083] Storage device 305 is used to store one or more programs;

[0084] When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors 304, the one or more processors 304 implement the various processes in the above-described embodiment of the method for escaping a water tank cleaning robot, and achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, these will not be described again here.

[0085] In summary, the present invention provides a method for a pool cleaning robot to escape from a trapped state and a cleaning robot that can efficiently detect trapped states and improve the corresponding escape capabilities of the cleaning robot.

[0086] Based on the above description of the implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the present invention can be implemented using software and necessary general-purpose hardware, and of course, it can also be implemented using hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer floppy disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, hard disk, or optical disk, etc., including several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0087] It is worth noting that in the embodiments 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 division, as long as the corresponding functions can be realized; in addition, the specific names of each functional unit are only for easy distinction between each other and are not used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0088] The above description is merely an embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent modifications made based on the content of the present invention specification and drawings, or direct or indirect applications in related technical fields, are similarly included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for a water tank cleaning robot to escape from a difficult situation, characterized in that, include: Control the cleaning robot to move within the pool to perform cleaning tasks; During operation, determine whether the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state. If the cleaning robot is stuck in a rotating state, it will perform an escape action; The escape action includes controlling the cleaning robot to retreat a preset first distance and rotate it by a preset first angle; The step of determining whether the cleaning robot is in a rotating and stuck state includes: acquiring the posture information of the cleaning robot during its movement, and determining whether the cleaning robot is in a rotating and stuck state based on the posture information; The attitude information includes yaw angle or rotation angle obtained via encoder; The step of determining whether the cleaning robot is in a rotating and stuck state based on the posture information includes: if the posture information meets a preset condition, then the cleaning robot is determined to be in a rotating and stuck state. The preset conditions include: the cumulative difference between the yaw angle and the turning angle within a preset first time period is greater than a preset first angle threshold, or the change value of the yaw angle within a preset second time period is less than a preset second angle threshold. After performing the escape action, the method further includes: if the cleaning robot is still stuck in a rotating state after the escape action is completed, then the escape action is performed again; After the escape action is performed again, the method further includes: if the cleaning robot is still stuck in a rotating state after the escape action is performed again, the water spraying mechanism of the cleaning robot is turned off, the cleaning robot is controlled to move forward a preset second distance, and rotate a preset second angle. The escape maneuvers also include: Adjust the direction of the water flow force of the water spray mechanism, or adjust the direction of the force of the traveling mechanism; Alternatively, adjust the direction and magnitude of the water flow force of the spray mechanism, or adjust the magnitude and direction of the force of the traveling mechanism.

2. The escape method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The preset first distance is greater than or equal to half the length of the cleaning robot's body.

3. The escape method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The preset first angle is 10 degrees to 40 degrees.

4. The escape method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After performing the escape action, the procedure further includes: if the escape is successful, then either searching for the pool wall or continuing the cleaning operation.

5. A cleaning robot, characterized in that, The cleaning robot includes: A filtration device is used to filter the water entering the cleaning robot; The walking mechanism is used to drive the cleaning robot to walk on the support surface; The water spray mechanism is used to provide water flow force for the cleaning robot; One or more processors; 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 method as described in any one of claims 1-4.

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