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

Abstract

According to one embodiment, there may be provided a method for discharging a first battery and a second battery included in a mobile robot, the method including: determining that the mobile robot should start moving; determining which of a plurality of predetermined sections the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included in at the determined time; determining a section in which the first battery is to be discharged based on which section the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included in; and performing a switching operation to start discharging the second battery after discharging of the first battery is completed in the determined section. According to one embodiment, there may be provided a mobile robot that performs the method or a computer readable recording medium having a computer program for performing the method.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure is an invention relating to a method for discharging a battery contained in a mobile robot and the mobile robot. [Background technology]

[0002] Robots are manufactured and used in a variety of ways, including as industrial robots for the medical industry, aerospace, shipbuilding, agriculture, etc. Recently, robot control and manufacturing technologies have evolved to the point where robots for general household use can be used to perform specific tasks in general households. Examples of household robots include robot vacuum cleaners and lawnmower robots, and such household robots may perform tasks according to user instructions. In this way, robots can be controlled to move around on their own and perform pre-defined tasks.

[0003] For example, a commonly used robot vacuum cleaner, which is a mobile robot for home use, is a device that moves around a certain area by itself without user operation, sucking up foreign objects such as dust in a certain area, or wiping the foreign objects off the floor. A mobile robot as a robot vacuum cleaner can efficiently move around an area and clean by detecting obstacles installed within the area and moving toward or away from the obstacles. In addition, a commercial mobile robot for performing work in a wide area can move around and perform a certain task.

[0004] Such a mobile robot is generally equipped with a rechargeable battery, rather than a wired type, and is therefore capable of wireless operation. Thus, such rechargeable batteries, called secondary batteries, undergo charging and discharging processes. Depending on the environment in which the mobile robot performs a given task, at least one battery may be installed in the mobile robot. In particular, commercial robots clean larger areas than domestic robots, and therefore require longer operating times, so multiple batteries are used, and such mobile robots may encounter situations in which they must use batteries with different remaining power levels.

[0005] The prior art has proposed methods for efficiently utilizing only a single battery used in a mobile robot, or has proposed techniques for simply selecting a battery to be used based on the output voltage of the battery.

[0006] Prior art Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-220824 discloses a technology for selecting a battery to be used as an operating power source based on information about the battery in order to solve problems such as malfunctions related to voltage fluctuations that may occur when replacing a battery among multiple batteries during automatic driving due to the remaining charge (output voltage) of the rechargeable battery. However, this prior art only proposes a technology to select a battery to be used based on information obtained from the battery, and does not propose a means for ensuring the maximum operating time of a mobile robot in a specific mode desired by a user by performing a specific discharge scenario that the mobile robot can perform using multiple batteries.

[0007] Another prior art, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2006-0104006, proposes a method for returning to a predetermined position when the battery output voltage drops below a predetermined voltage after cleaning starts, based on voltage information obtained from a single battery. However, this prior art only describes the operation method of a mobile robot when using a single battery, and does not propose a means for ensuring operating time through a discharge scenario between multiple batteries. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] When a mobile robot is equipped with multiple batteries, there is a difference in the remaining capacity of each battery during the battery discharge process, so a strategy for discharging multiple batteries is required for efficient battery discharge.

[0009] Furthermore, in consideration of the problem of complete discharge of the battery that may occur during the use of the battery mounted on the mobile robot, it is necessary to prevent the complete discharge of the multiple batteries included in the mobile robot by performing an effective discharge scenario considering the charge amount of the multiple batteries by setting a discharge scenario using the multiple batteries in advance. For example, when the remaining charge amount of the battery decreases below a predetermined amount after the general operation of the mobile robot, the mobile robot may need only a charge amount used for entering the sleep mode, and maintaining the charge amount required for such a sleep mode to the maximum extent prevents the battery from being completely discharged, thereby preventing the battery life from decreasing at a rapid rate. Therefore, it may be an important technical issue for extending the life of the battery of the mobile robot to maintain the battery at a charge amount suitable for the sleep mode for the longest possible time through the discharge scenario between the multiple batteries of the mobile robot. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] According to one embodiment, a method for discharging a first battery and a second battery included in a mobile robot may be provided, the method including: determining that the mobile robot should start moving; determining which of a plurality of predetermined sections the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery fall within at the determined time; determining a section in which the first battery will be discharged based on which section the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery fall within; and performing a switching operation to start discharging the second battery after discharging of the first battery in the determined section is completed.

[0011] According to one embodiment, there may be provided a mobile robot including a first battery, a second battery, and a processor configured to determine when the mobile robot should start moving, determine which of a plurality of predetermined sections the charge amounts of the first battery and the second battery are included in at the time of the determination, determine a section in which the first battery is discharged based on which section the charge amounts of the first battery and the second battery are included in, and perform a switching operation to start discharging the second battery after discharging of the first battery is completed in the determined section.

[0012] According to one embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable recording medium having stored thereon a computer program for performing the method may be provided. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to maximize the working time of a mobile robot and ensure sufficient operating time for returning to the position from which the operation started.

[0014] The present disclosure allows for multiple batteries to all be depleted to an unusable voltage during standby times of the mobile robot, thereby ensuring maximum operating time.

[0015] The present disclosure has the effect of preventing the battery from being completely discharged due to the operation of the mobile robot, thereby effectively reducing the rate at which the battery's lifespan is reduced through repeated charging and discharging. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates a block diagram of a mobile robot, according to one embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot, according to one embodiment. [Figure 3a] 11 is a diagram illustrating a method for discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the charged amount of the first battery and the charged amount of the second battery are included in a general operation section. [Figure 3b] 11 is a diagram illustrating a method for discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the charged amount of the first battery and the charged amount of the second battery are included in a general operation section. [Figure 4a] 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the charge amount of the first battery is within a return operation section and the charge amount of the second battery is within a normal operation section. [Figure 4b] 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the charge amount of the first battery is within a return operation section and the charge amount of the second battery is within a normal operation section. [Figure 5a] 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the charge amount of the first battery is within a normal operation section and the charge amount of the second battery is within a return operation section. [Figure 5b]11 is a diagram illustrating a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the charge amount of the first battery is within a normal operation section and the charge amount of the second battery is within a return operation section. [Figure 5c] 11 is a diagram illustrating a method of discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the charge amount of the first battery is within a normal operation section and the charge amount of the second battery is within a return operation section. [Figure 6] 11 is a diagram illustrating a method for discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the first battery or the second battery is included in a sleep operation section. [Figure 7] 11 is a diagram illustrating a method for discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the first battery or the second battery is included in a sleep operation section. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for discharging a first battery and a second battery of a mobile robot when the charged amount of the first battery and the charged amount of the second battery are included in a sleep operation section, according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] According to one embodiment, a method for discharging a first battery and a second battery included in a mobile robot may be provided, the method including: determining that the mobile robot should start moving; determining which of a plurality of predetermined sections the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery fall within at the determined time; determining a section in which the first battery will be discharged based on which section the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery fall within; and performing a switching operation to start discharging the second battery after discharging of the first battery in the determined section is completed.

[0018] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided in which the first battery is a battery that has been predetermined to be preferentially discharged.

[0019] According to one embodiment, the plurality of sections may include at least one of a general operation section, a return operation section corresponding to a charge amount for returning to a predetermined position, and a sleep operation section, the predetermined position being a position where at least one of a first battery and a second battery was recently charged, and in the sleep operation section, the mobile robot periodically performs a wake up operation using the first battery or the second battery at a predetermined time interval, and further performs a switching operation to use a battery having a higher charge amount.

[0020] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided in which the charge amounts corresponding to the plurality of sections are in the order of largest to smallest for the general operation section, largest for the return operation section, and largest for the sleep operation section.

[0021] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided in which the step of determining a section in which the first battery is discharged includes a step of determining that the first battery is discharged in the general operation section and the return operation section when the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are both included in the general operation section.

[0022] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided in which the step of determining a section in which the first battery is to be discharged includes a step of determining that the first battery is to be discharged in the general operation section if the charge amount of the first battery is included in the general operation section and the charge amount of the second battery is included in the return operation section.

[0023] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided in which the step of determining a section in which the first battery is discharged includes a step of determining that the first battery is discharged in the return operation section if the charge amount of the first battery is included in the return operation section.

[0024] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided that includes determining that the second battery is discharged to just before a sleep operation interval.

[0025] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided that includes: periodically performing a wake-up operation at a predetermined time interval during a sleep operation section when the second battery is completely discharged by immediately before a return operation section; determining which of the first and second batteries has a higher charge capacity for each wake-up operation; and performing a switching operation to use the battery determined to have the higher charge capacity.

[0026] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided in which the step of determining which section out of a plurality of predetermined sections the first battery and the second battery are included in further includes a step of determining a battery to be used to perform a return operation for the mobile robot to return to the predetermined position based on which section the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included in.

[0027] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided in which the step of determining a battery to be used to perform a return operation includes a step of determining the second battery as the battery to be used to perform the return operation if the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are all included in a general operation section.

[0028] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided in which the step of determining a battery to be used to perform a return operation includes a step of determining the first battery as the battery to be used to perform the return operation if the charge amount of the first battery is within a general operation interval and the charge amount of the second battery is within a return operation interval.

[0029] According to one embodiment, a method may be provided in which the step of determining a battery to be used to perform the return operation includes a step of determining a second battery as the battery to be used to perform the return operation if the charge amount of the first battery is included in the return operation section.

[0030] According to one embodiment, a mobile robot may be provided, the mobile robot including a first battery, a second battery, and a processor configured to determine when the mobile robot should start moving, determine which of a plurality of predetermined sections the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery fall within at the time of the determination, determine a section in which the first battery will be discharged based on which section the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery fall within, and perform a switching operation to start discharging the second battery after discharging of the first battery is completed in the determined section.

[0031] According to one embodiment, a mobile robot may be provided, wherein the processor is configured to predetermine to preferentially discharge a first battery.

[0032] According to one embodiment, a mobile robot may be provided, in which the plurality of sections include at least one of a general operation section, a return operation section corresponding to a charge amount for returning to a predetermined position, and a sleep operation section, the predetermined position being a position where at least one of a first battery and a second battery was recently charged, and the processor is configured to periodically perform a wake-up operation using the first battery or the second battery at a predetermined time interval in the sleep operation section, and further to perform a switching operation to use a battery having a higher charge amount.

[0033] According to one embodiment, a mobile robot may be provided in which the processor is configured to determine that the first battery is discharged in the general operating zone and the return operating zone when the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are all included in the general operating zone.

[0034] According to one embodiment, a mobile robot may be provided in which the processor is configured to determine that the first battery is discharged in the general operating interval when the charge amount of the first battery is included in the general operating interval and the charge amount of the second battery is included in the return operating interval.

[0035] According to one embodiment, a mobile robot may be provided, in which the processor is configured to determine that the first battery is discharged in the return operation section if the charge amount of the first battery is included in the return operation section.

[0036] According to one embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable recording medium having stored thereon a computer program for performing the method may be provided.

[0037] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in order to enable those skilled in the art to easily understand the embodiments. The following embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and are not limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

[0038] For clarity of description, parts not relevant to the description will be omitted, and the same or similar components will be given the same reference numerals throughout the specification. Some embodiments will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. In providing reference numerals to components in each drawing, the same components may have the same numerals as far as possible, even if they are displayed in different drawings. In addition, in describing the present disclosure, if it is determined that a specific description of a related known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the embodiment, the detailed description may be omitted.

[0039] In describing components of the embodiments, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc. may be used. Such terms are merely used to distinguish the components from other components, and do not limit the nature, order, sequence, or number of the components. When it is described that any components are "coupled," "coupled," or "connected," it should be understood that any components may be directly coupled or connected, that other components may be "interposed" between the components, or that each component may be "coupled," "coupled," or "connected" through other components.

[0040] In this disclosure, terms such as "comprising," "comprising," or "having" are intended to specify the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but should be understood as not precluding the presence or additional possibility of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

[0041] In addition, in implementing the present disclosure, components may be subdivided and described for ease of explanation, but these components may be embodied within a single device or module, or a single component may be embodied across multiple devices or modules.

[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a mobile robot 100, according to one embodiment.

[0043] According to one embodiment, the mobile robot 100 may include a first battery 110, a second battery 112, and a processor 120 configured to perform a switching operation to determine when the mobile robot should start moving, determine which of a plurality of predetermined sections the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 fall within at the determined time, determine a section in which the first battery 110 will be discharged based on which section the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 fall within, and start discharging the second battery 112 after the first battery 110 has completed discharging in the determined section.

[0044] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 includes a plurality of batteries. However, for the sake of convenience in describing the switching operation between the plurality of batteries included in the mobile robot 100, the following description will be given on the assumption that various embodiments of the present disclosure are embodied by a mobile robot 100 including a first battery 110 and a second battery 112. Therefore, the features of the present disclosure do not need to be interpreted as being limited to the case where the mobile robot 100 includes two batteries, but may be interpreted as including all various cases in which a switching operation between the plurality of batteries is performed.

[0045] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 of the mobile robot 100 may be configured to determine in advance that the first battery 110 is to be preferentially discharged. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may control the first battery 110 to start discharging first over the other batteries by determining that the first battery 110, which is one of the plurality of batteries, is to be discharged first. As a result, if the remaining charge amount of the first battery 110 is equal to or greater than a level at which the mobile robot 100 can operate, the first battery 110 is preferentially discharged regardless of the charge amount of the other batteries, so that a process of selecting a battery to be discharged during initial operation of the mobile robot 100 may be omitted.

[0046] According to one embodiment, the processor 120 determining the first battery 110 to be preferentially discharged may include predetermining the first battery 110 based on an external input by a user. According to yet another embodiment, the processor 120 determining the first battery 110 to be preferentially discharged may include predetermining a battery having the largest chargeable amount of power among the plurality of batteries as the first battery 110. According to yet another embodiment, the processor 120 determining the first battery 110 to be preferentially discharged may include predetermining a battery that was most recently replaced among the plurality of batteries as the first battery 110.

[0047] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine a plurality of intervals based on the charge amount, and determine which of the plurality of intervals the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 fall within. According to an embodiment, the plurality of intervals may be set to be the same for the first battery 110 and the second battery 112, or may be set to be different for each of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112.

[0048] Hereinafter, a detailed process of the mobile robot 100 discharging the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 will be described.

[0049] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for discharging the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 of the mobile robot 100, according to one embodiment.

[0050] In step S210, the processor 120 may determine that the mobile robot 100 starts running, according to an embodiment. According to an embodiment, the time when the mobile robot 100 determines to start running may be determined based on whether any condition is satisfied. According to an embodiment, the method of the present disclosure may be performed based on the time when the mobile robot 100 determines based on an external input from a user. According to an embodiment, the method of the present disclosure may be performed based on the time when the mobile robot 100 determines to start running after the operation of the mobile robot 100 stops due to a determination that a battery included in the mobile robot 100 needs to be replaced. However, the time when the mobile robot 100 determines to start running does not need to be interpreted as being limited to the time when the mobile robot 100 stops and then starts running as in the above embodiment, and may be broadly interpreted as including any time when the processor 120 determines to perform the method of the present disclosure.

[0051] In step S220, the processor 120 may determine which of a plurality of predetermined intervals the charge amounts of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 are included in at the time determined in step S210. In one embodiment, the processor 120 may determine the charge amounts based on the output voltages of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112. The process of determining the charge amounts of the batteries may be implemented by various conventional techniques.

[0052] According to an embodiment, the plurality of sections may include at least one of a general operation section, a return operation section corresponding to a charge amount for returning to a predetermined position, and a sleep operation section. According to an embodiment, the magnitude of the charge amount corresponding to each of the plurality of sections may be in the order of the general operation section, the return operation section, and the sleep operation section. However, the plurality of sections set by the processor 120 need not be interpreted as being limited to the general operation section, the return operation section, and the sleep operation section as in the above embodiment, but may be broadly interpreted as a plurality of charge amount sections that may be set for any purpose based on the charge amount of the plurality of batteries.

[0053] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 may perform an operation set to be performed by the processor 120 in a general operation section. For example, if the mobile robot 100 is set to perform a cleaning operation as a robot vacuum cleaner, the processor 120 may control the operation of the wheels, motor, suction unit, etc. so that the mobile robot 100 can normally move and perform cleaning. The operation set to be performed by the processor 120 in the general operation section may include various general operations according to the type of the mobile robot 100.

[0054] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may obtain information regarding the output voltage of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 and the input voltage actually input to the driving unit. According to an embodiment, when it is determined that there is a large difference between the output voltage of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 and the input voltage actually input to the driving unit, the processor 120 may determine in which of a plurality of predetermined intervals the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included, based on the input voltage actually input to the driving unit.

[0055] According to an embodiment, the general operation period is divided into a plurality of sub-periods, and the processor 120 may adjust the intensity of the general operation according to the output voltage of the battery associated with each sub-period.

[0056] According to an embodiment, the predetermined position to which the mobile robot 100 returns in the return operation section may correspond to a position where at least one of the first battery and the second battery was most recently charged.

[0057] According to an embodiment, the predetermined position to which the mobile robot 100 returns in the return operation section may be determined as the position where cleaning is started using the first battery or the second battery.

[0058] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may further include an additional component for determining a predetermined position. For example, in order for the mobile robot 100 to determine the current position and the predetermined position, the external signal detection sensor may include at least one of an infrared ray sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an RF sensor, a radio frequency sensor, a gyro sensor, a wheel sensor, an acceleration sensor, a movement amount sensing unit, a light detection and ranging (Lidar), a lens, an image sensor, a position sensitive detector (PSD) sensor, an optical flow sensor, a 3D depth camera, and a GPS. According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 may return to a predetermined position by determining absolute position information (e.g., GPS coordinates) of the mobile robot, and may also return to a predetermined position using a map generated by detecting surrounding objects.

[0059] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 may perform a wake-up operation using the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 during a sleep operation period, and an operation of determining a battery to be periodically discharged at a predetermined time interval, which will be described later through various embodiments.

[0060] In step S230, the processor 120 may determine a section for discharging the first battery 110 based on which section the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 fall within, according to an embodiment.

[0061] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine how much to discharge the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 depending on the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 (i.e., depending on which of a plurality of intervals determined in advance based on the charge amount it is included in). According to an embodiment, when it is determined that the first battery 110 is to be discharged, the processor 120 may determine how much to discharge the first battery 110 by combining the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112.

[0062] In step S240, the processor 120 may perform a switching operation to start discharging the second battery 112 after the first battery has completed discharging for the period determined in step S230. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may be configured to trigger the switching operation when the period determined to discharge the first battery 110 has elapsed, and may be configured to start discharging the second battery 112 from the point of triggering.

[0063] According to one embodiment, after the battery to be discharged is switched from the first battery 110 to the second battery 112, the extent to which the second battery 112 is discharged may have already been determined at the time of performing step S240.

[0064] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 in step S220, and then may determine the interval for discharging the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 in step S230. That is, the processor 120 may determine not only the interval for discharging the first battery 110 but also the interval for discharging the second battery 112 based on the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112.

[0065] 3a and 3b are diagrams illustrating a method of discharging the first battery 310 and the second battery 312 of the mobile robot 100 when the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 are included in the general operation period.

[0066] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine which section the charge amounts of the first battery 310 and the second battery 312 fall into by using a plurality of sections determined in advance based on the charge amounts. According to an embodiment, the plurality of sections determined in advance for determining which section the charge amounts of the first battery 310 and the second battery 312 fall into may be determined differently for each of the first battery 310 and the second battery 312. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, it will be described on the assumption that, for the first battery 310 and the second battery 312, when the voltage output according to the charge amount is equal to or greater than V1, it is included in a normal operation section, when it is equal to or greater than V2 and less than V1, it is included in a return operation section, and when it is less than V2, it is included in a sleep operation section.

[0067] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312, and may determine which of a plurality of intervals the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 fall within based on the determination. Referring to Fig. 3a, according to an embodiment, the charge amounts of the first battery 310 and the second battery 312 may all fall within the general operation interval. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may predetermine to preferentially discharge the first battery 310.

[0068] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine that the charge amount of the first battery 310 is included in the general operation section and that the charge amount of the second battery 312 is included in the general operation section, and may determine that the first battery 310 is discharged from the general operation section to the return operation section based on the determination. In this case, the processor 120 may be configured to discharge the first battery 310 in the general operation section and the return operation section, and to operate the mobile robot 100 in a manner performed by the mobile robot 100 in the general operation section. That is, the processor 120 may be configured to perform an operation performed by the mobile robot 100 in the general operation section from the general operation section to the return operation section when the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 are both included in the general operation section at the start of the operation of the mobile robot 100.

[0069] Referring to FIG. 3b, when the charge amount of the first battery 310 is discharged to the normal operation section or the return operation section, the processor 120 may switch the battery to be discharged from the first battery 310 to the second battery 312.

[0070] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine to discharge the second battery 312 according to a result of the switching operation, and may further determine the rate at which to discharge the second battery 312. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine that the charge amount of the first battery 310 is included in the sleep operation section and the charge amount of the second battery 312 is included in the normal operation section at the time when the processor 120 starts discharging the second battery 312 (i.e., at the time when the switching operation is performed).

[0071] According to one embodiment, the processor 120 may determine how much of the second battery 120 to discharge and what operation to perform based on which section includes the charge amount of the first battery 310 and the charge amount of the second battery 312 at the time when the second battery 120 starts to discharge.

[0072] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may be configured to discharge the second battery 312 from the general operation section to the return operation section based on the result of discharging the first battery 310 from the general operation section to the return operation section based on the fact that the first battery 310 is included in the sleep operation section and the charge amount of the second battery 312 determined to be discharged by the switching operation is included in the general operation section, and may be further configured to perform a general operation in the general operation section and a return operation in the return operation section. That is, the processor 120 may be configured to configure the mobile robot 100 to perform a general operation when the first battery 310 is discharged during the return operation section, whereas the mobile robot 100 may be configured to perform a return operation when the second battery 312 is discharged during the return operation section. With this feature, the present disclosure may perform a process of selecting a battery that performs an optimized return operation while securing the maximum operation time. According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 can smoothly perform a return operation to a predetermined position after performing a general operation by maximizing the time for the general operation and the return operation in consideration of the charge required for the return operation. According to an embodiment, when the mobile robot 100 determines that the sleep operation section is included in, the mobile robot 100 can maximize the charge of the multiple batteries before the battery power runs out by switching from the battery in use to a battery having a high output voltage through a switching operation, thereby increasing the operation and standby time.

[0073] 4a and 4b are diagrams illustrating a method of discharging the first battery 410 and the second battery 412 of the mobile robot 100 when the charge amount of the first battery 410 is within the return operation section and the charge amount of the second battery 412 is within the general operation section.

[0074] 4a, according to an embodiment, the charge amount of the first battery 410 may be included in the return operation section, and the charge amount of the second battery 412 may be included in the normal operation section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may predetermine to preferentially discharge the first battery 410.

[0075] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine that the charge amount of the first battery 410 is included in the return operation section and the charge amount of the second battery 412 is included in the general operation section, and may determine that the first battery 410 is discharged in a section corresponding to the return operation section based on the determination. In this case, the processor 120 may be configured to cause the mobile robot 100 to operate in a general operation manner performed by the mobile robot 100 in the general operation section even if the first battery 410 starts discharging in the return operation section. That is, the processor 120 may be configured to first perform a general operation if the charge amount of the first battery 410 is included in the return operation section at the start of the operation of the mobile robot 100, even if the charge amount of the first battery 410 is included in the return operation section.

[0076] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine which battery to use to perform the return operation depending on which interval the charge amount of the first battery 410 and the charge amount of the second battery 412 fall within when the first battery 410 starts discharging. That is, if it is determined that the charge amount of the first battery 410 falls within the return operation interval and the charge amount of the second battery 412 falls within the general operation interval when the first battery 410 starts discharging, the processor 120 may be configured to determine to perform the return operation using the second battery 412 and to determine to perform the general operation using the first battery 410.

[0077] 4b, when the charge of the first battery 410 is discharged completely in the return operation section, the processor 120 may switch the battery to be discharged from the first battery 410 to the second battery 412. When the charge of the second battery 412 is included in the normal operation section, the method of discharging the second battery 412 has been described above with reference to FIG.

[0078] Figures 5a to 5c are diagrams illustrating a method of discharging the first battery and the second battery of a mobile robot when the charge amount of the first battery is within a general operation section and the charge amount of the second battery is within a return operation section.

[0079] 5a, according to an embodiment, the charge amount of the first battery 510 may be included in a normal operation section, and the charge amount of the second battery 512 may be included in a return operation section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may predetermine to preferentially discharge the first battery 510.

[0080] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine that the charge amount of the first battery 510 is included in the general operation section and that the charge amount of the second battery 512 is included in the return operation section, and may determine that the first battery 510 is discharged in a section corresponding to the general operation section based on the determination. That is, the processor 120 may be configured to operate the mobile robot 100 in a general operation manner while preferentially discharging only up to the general operation section even if the charge amount of the first battery 510 is included in the general operation section. Thus, when the first battery 510 starts discharging, if it is determined that the charge amount of the second battery 512 is included in the return operation section even if the charge amount of the first battery 510 is included in the general operation section, the processor 120 may determine to perform a return operation using the first battery 512, and may switch the first battery 410 to the second battery 512 after preferentially discharging the first battery 410 for the general operation section.

[0081] 5b, if the charge of the first battery 510 is discharged completely in the normal operation section, the processor 120 may switch the battery to be discharged from the first battery 510 to the second battery 512. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine that the return operation is performed using the first battery 510 in order to maximize the return operation time, and thus, even if the charge of the switched second battery 412 is included in the return operation section, the processor 120 may determine that the mobile robot 100 performs the normal operation using the second battery 412.

[0082] Referring to Fig. 5c, if the second battery 512 completes discharging within the return operation section, the processor 120 can again switch the battery to be discharged from the second battery 512 to the first battery 510. According to an embodiment, the first battery 510 determined to be discharged according to the switching result is in a state in which it has been discharged only up to the general operation section as shown in Fig. 5a, and therefore is in a state in which the maximum charge amount for performing the return operation is secured, and the processor 120 can be configured to perform an optimal return operation using such a first battery 510. Through this, the mobile robot 100 can make an optimized plan to secure the maximum return operation time for returning to a predetermined position after performing a general operation.

[0083] 6 and 7 are diagrams for explaining a method of discharging the first battery (610, 710) and the second battery (612, 712) of the mobile robot 100 when the first battery (610, 710) or the second battery (612, 712) is included in a sleep operation section.

[0084] According to one embodiment, when the charge amount of the second battery 612 is included in the sleep operation period as shown in FIG. 6, or when the charge amount of the first battery 710 is included in the sleep operation period as shown in FIG. 7, the processor 120 may create a discharge plan using the remaining battery.

[0085] 6, according to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine whether to perform a general operation or a return operation by determining which section the charge amount of the first battery 610 falls within. According to an embodiment, if the charge amount of the first battery 610 falls within the general operation section, the processor 120 may determine that the mobile robot 100 performs a general operation while discharging the first battery 610 up to the general operation section, and if the charge amount of the first battery 610 falls within the return operation section, the processor 120 may determine that the mobile robot 100 performs a return operation while discharging the first battery 610 up to the return operation section.

[0086] 7, according to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine whether to perform a general operation or a return operation by determining which section the charge amount of the second battery 712 falls within. The operation of the processor 120 for controlling the mobile robot 100 while discharging the second battery 712 may correspond to the discharging process of the first battery 610 described above with reference to FIG. 6, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0087] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may be configured to periodically perform a wake-up operation using the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 at a predetermined time interval during the sleep operation period, and to perform a switching operation to use a battery having a higher charge amount. Referring to FIG. 7, the processor 120 may determine in advance that the first battery 710 is to be preferentially discharged first, and the charge amount of the first battery 710 at the time when the first battery 710 starts to be discharged may be included in the sleep operation period. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may be configured to perform a sleep operation using the first battery 120, and thereby to continue to perform an operation using the second battery 712 by performing a switching operation to a battery having a higher charge amount (i.e., the second battery 712).

[0088] 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for discharging the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 of the mobile robot 100 when the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included in a sleep operation section, according to an embodiment. According to an embodiment, the method illustrated in FIG. 8 may be additionally performed when starting to discharge the first battery 110 or the second battery 112.

[0089] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 may periodically perform a wake-up operation using the first battery 110 or the second battery 112 at a predetermined time interval during the sleep operation section. According to an embodiment, when the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 are not sufficiently charged as they all enter the sleep operation section, the processor 120 may be configured to perform a wake-up operation at a predetermined period, and when a battery having a higher charge than the battery currently being used exists in a state where the wake-up operation is performed, to perform a switching operation to use such battery.

[0090] According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may be configured to operate in a power-saving mode in which the mobile robot 100 consumes only a minimum amount of power during the sleep operation section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may be configured to transmit the current position of the mobile robot 100 during the sleep operation section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may be configured to only receive any data of the mobile robot 100 during the sleep operation section. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may be configured to cut off power supplied to a driving unit for traveling during the sleep operation section and activate only a communication function. However, the above embodiment is an example for explaining that a process for reducing power consumed by the mobile robot 100 during the sleep operation section may be performed, and the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being limited to the above embodiment. Therefore, the operation that the mobile robot 100 can perform in the sleep operation mode may include various operations that can be performed in a conventional power-saving mode.

[0091] In step S810, the processor 120 may determine whether the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are included in a sleep operation section, according to an embodiment.

[0092] According to one embodiment, if the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are not both included in the sleep operation section, the processor 120 may determine in step S812 that the mobile robot 100 will continue to perform the operation using the battery that was discharging, either the first battery 110 or the second battery 112.

[0093] According to an embodiment, when the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the charge amount of the second battery 112 are both included in the sleep operation section, the processor 120 may perform a wake-up operation in the sleep operation section in step S820. According to an embodiment, when performing the wake-up operation, the processor 120 performs a switching operation between a plurality of batteries including the first battery 110 and the second battery 112.

[0094] In step S830, according to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine which of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 has the highest charge amount. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may determine which of the multiple batteries included in the mobile robot 100 has the highest charge amount. According to an embodiment, the process of determining the battery with the highest charge amount may be performed on multiple batteries whose charge amounts are included in the sleep operation section.

[0095] According to one embodiment, the processor 120 determines to use the first battery 110 if the first battery 110 has a higher charge capacity than the second battery 112 (step S840), and determines to use the second battery 112 if the second battery 112 has a higher charge capacity than the first battery 110 (step S850).

[0096] According to one embodiment, if it is determined that the battery already in use has a higher charge than the other battery, the processor 120 may not perform a battery switching operation.

[0097] In step S860, the processor 120 may determine that the mobile robot 100 performs a predetermined operation using the battery determined in step S840 or step S850, according to an embodiment. In one embodiment, the predetermined operation performed in step S860 may be various operations that the mobile robot 100 can perform in the sleep operation mode, and may include various conventional operations that can be performed in the power saving mode.

[0098] In step S870, the processor 120 may determine whether a predetermined time has elapsed after performing the wake-up operation. According to an embodiment, the predetermined time is a time predetermined for periodically performing the wake-up operation and may be a time set by a user.

[0099] According to an embodiment, if it is determined that a predetermined time has elapsed after performing the wake-up operation, the processor 120 may perform step S810 again.

[0100] According to an embodiment, when the processor 120 determines that a predetermined time has elapsed after performing a wake-up operation, the processor 120 may additionally check whether the charge amount of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 is included in the sleep operation section. According to an embodiment, when it is determined that a predetermined time has elapsed but it is determined that the charge amount of at least one of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 is not included in the sleep operation section (for example, when the charge amount of at least one of the first battery 110 and the second battery 112 is included in the normal operation section or the return operation section through the charging process), the processor 120 may determine to perform a normal operation or a return operation while performing discharging in a section including the charge amount, rather than a sleep operation.

[0101] According to an embodiment, if it is determined that the predetermined time has not yet elapsed after performing the wake-up operation, the processor 120 may perform step S860 again.

[0102] According to an embodiment, the mobile robot 100 may further include a computer readable recording medium or memory (not shown) for storing a program for performing the various methods described above. The methods performed according to the present disclosure described above may be provided by being recorded in a computer readable recording medium as a program to be executed by a computer.

[0103] The method of the present disclosure can be implemented through software. When implemented in software, the constituent elements of the present disclosure are the code segments that perform the necessary operations. The program or code segments can be stored in a processor-readable medium.

[0104] The computer readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data readable by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer readable recording device include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, DVD±ROM, DVD-RAM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, hard disk, optical data storage device, etc. Also, the computer readable recording medium may be distributed among computer devices connected via a network, so that the computer readable code may be stored and executed in a distributed manner.

[0105] The present disclosure described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the attached drawings, since a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present disclosure belongs can make multiple substitutions, modifications, and changes without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. In addition, the embodiments described in the present disclosure are not limited to the application, and may be configured by selectively combining all or part of each embodiment so that various modifications can be made.

[0106] The above disclosure is not limited by the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, since a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure belongs may make multiple substitutions, modifications, and alterations without departing from the technical spirit of the embodiments.

Claims

1. A method for discharging a first battery and a second battery included in a mobile robot, comprising: determining that the mobile robot should start running; determining in which of a plurality of predetermined sections the charge amounts of the first battery and the second battery are included at the determined time points; determining a section in which the first battery is discharged based on the section in which the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included; performing a switching operation to start discharging the second battery after the first battery has completed discharging in the determined interval.

2. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first battery is a battery that is predetermined to be preferentially discharged.

3. The plurality of sections include at least one of a general operation section, a return operation section corresponding to a charge amount for returning to a predetermined position, and a sleep operation section, the predetermined location is a location where at least one of the first battery and the second battery was recently charged; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein in the sleep operation section, the mobile robot periodically performs a wake-up operation using the first battery or the second battery at a predetermined time interval and performs a switching operation to use one of the first battery and the second battery having a higher charge amount.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the charge amounts corresponding to the plurality of sections are greatest in the general operation section, greatest in the return operation section, and greatest in the sleep operation section, in that order.

5. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of determining a section in which the first battery is to be discharged includes the step of determining that the first battery is to be discharged in the general operation section and the return operation section when the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are both included in a general operation section.

6. The step of determining a section for discharging the first battery comprises:

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: determining that the first battery is discharged in the general operating section when a charge amount of the first battery is included in the general operating section and a charge amount of the second battery is included in the return operating section.

7. The step of determining a section for discharging the first battery comprises: The method according to claim 3 , further comprising: determining that the first battery is discharged in the return operation section if the charge amount of the first battery is included in the return operation section.

8. The method comprises:

8. The method according to claim 5, further comprising determining that the second battery is discharged until the charge of the second battery is included in the sleep operation period.

9. The method comprises: periodically performing the wake-up operation at a predetermined time interval during the sleep operation period when the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included in the sleep operation period; determining a battery having a higher charge level among the first battery and the second battery for each wake-up operation; and determining to use one of the first battery and the second battery that is determined to have a higher charge.

10. The step of determining which of the predetermined plurality of intervals the object is included in comprises:

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining a battery to be used to perform a return operation for the mobile robot to return to a predetermined position based on which interval the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are included in.

11. determining a battery to be used to perform the return operation, 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining the second battery as a battery to be used to perform the return operation when the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are both included in a general operation section.

12. determining a battery to be used to perform the return operation, 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining the first battery as a battery to be used to perform the return operation when a charge amount of the first battery is included in the general operation section and a charge amount of the second battery is included in the return operation section.

13. determining a battery to be used to perform the return operation, The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining the second battery as a battery to be used to perform the return operation if the charge amount of the first battery is included in the return operation section.

14. A mobile robot, A first battery; A second battery; a processor configured to determine when the mobile robot starts moving, determine which of a plurality of predetermined sections the charge amounts of the first battery and the second battery fall within at the time of the determination, determine a section in which the first battery is to be discharged based on which section the charge amounts of the first battery and the second battery fall within, and perform a switching operation to start discharging the second battery after discharging of the first battery in the determined section is completed.

15. The mobile robot of claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to predetermine to preferentially discharge the first battery.

16. The plurality of sections include at least one of a general operation section, a return operation section corresponding to a charge amount for returning to a predetermined position, and a sleep operation section, the predetermined location is a location where at least one of the first battery and the second battery was recently charged; 15. The mobile robot of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to periodically perform a wake-up operation using the first battery or the second battery at a predetermined time interval during the sleep operation section, and to perform a switching operation to use one of the first battery and the second battery having a higher charge amount.

17. 17. The mobile robot of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the first battery is discharged in the general operating interval and the return operating interval when the charge amount of the first battery and the charge amount of the second battery are both included in the general operating interval.

18. 17. The mobile robot of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the first battery is discharged in the general operation interval if the charge amount of the first battery is included in the general operation interval and the charge amount of the second battery is included in the return operation interval.

19. 17. The mobile robot of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the first battery is discharged in the return motion section if a charge amount of the first battery is included in the return motion section.

20. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having stored thereon a computer program for performing the method of claim 1.

Images