Sweeper

Abstract

To clean an area being not cleaned by avoiding a living body.SOLUTION: A cleaner 130 includes: a main body 131; movement means 132, cleaning means 134; position information acquisition means 136 for acquiring position information of an obstacle; and a control device 170 for processing the position information so as to control the movement means 132 and the cleaning means 134. The control device 170 includes: an operation detection section 171 for detecting the stop and movement of the obstacle; a living body determination section 172 for determining whether an obstacle is, a living obstacle 200 or a non-living obstacle 210; a movement control section 173 for stopping the main body 131 when a distance between the moving obstacle and the main body 131 is within a distance threshold; a cleaning control section 174 for performing control to clean to the position of a first distance from the stopping living obstacle 200; and an area setting section 175 for setting an area being not cleaned as a non-cleaning area. The cleaning control section 174 performs control to clean the non-cleaning area after termination of the cleaning of a predetermined cleaning area.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner that performs cleaning while traveling autonomously. [Background technology]

[0002] An autonomous vacuum cleaner performs cleaning by approaching an obstacle while avoiding the obstacle. On the other hand, when an obstacle is a living body, a vacuum cleaner that performs cleaning by operating in a manner corresponding to the living body has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-075192 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Unlike other obstacles, living organisms are not always stationary, but may also move. Also, living organisms may move from a stationary position. However, conventional technologies have difficulty in dealing with these unique movements of living organisms.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a vacuum cleaner that can change its cleaning action in response to the movement of a living body. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, a vacuum cleaner according to the present disclosure includes a main body, a moving means for moving the main body, a cleaning means attached to the main body, a position information acquiring means for acquiring position information indicating a relative positional relationship of an obstacle with respect to the main body, and a control device for processing the position information and controlling the moving means and the cleaning means, the control device including a motion detecting unit for detecting the stopping and movement of an obstacle based on the position information, a living body determining unit for determining whether the obstacle is a living body obstacle or a non-living body obstacle, and a control unit for determining whether the distance between the living body obstacle whose movement has been detected and the main body is within a distance threshold. In this case, the device is provided with a movement control unit that controls the moving means to cause the main body to perform an avoidance operation including stopping, a cleaning control unit that controls the moving means and the cleaning means to clean up to a position at a first distance from a biological obstacle where the stop has been detected, and to clean up to a position at a second distance shorter than the first distance from a non-biological obstacle, and an area setting unit that sets an uncleaned area including the position of the stopped biological obstacle as an uncleaned area, and the cleaning control unit controls the moving means and the cleaning means to clean the uncleaned area if there is no biological obstacle in the uncleaned area after cleaning of a specified cleaning area is completed. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, a cleaning plan can be changed and executed according to the movement of the living organism, and areas that could not be cleaned due to a stopped living organism can be cleaned after the living organism has moved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view showing the appearance of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing the appearance of the vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functional parts of the control device. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 shows a floor map and a cleaning schedule. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 shows the location of a biological obstacle and the path traveled by the vacuum cleaner. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a first distance which is an avoidance distance for a biological obstacle. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing uncleaned areas on a floor map. [Figure 8] 13A and 13B are diagrams showing another example of setting an uncleaned area. [Figure 9] 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of operation of the control device. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a floor map and an uncleaned area displayed on a terminal device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vacuum cleaner according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiment is an example for explaining the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. For example, the shapes, structures, materials, components, relative positional relationships, connection states, numerical values, mathematical expressions, contents of each step in the method, and the order of each step shown in the following embodiment are examples and may include contents not described below. In addition, geometric expressions such as parallel and orthogonal may be used, but these expressions do not indicate mathematical strictness, and include substantially permissible errors, deviations, etc. In addition, expressions such as simultaneous and identical also include substantially permissible ranges.

[0010] In addition, the drawings are schematic diagrams in which emphasis, omissions, or ratios have been appropriately adjusted in order to explain the present disclosure, and the shapes, positional relationships, and ratios may differ from the actual ones.

[0011] In addition, in the following, a plurality of inventions may be collectively described as one embodiment. In addition, some of the contents described below are described as optional components related to the present disclosure.

[0012] In addition, the drawings are schematic diagrams in which emphasis, omissions, or ratios have been appropriately adjusted in order to explain the present disclosure, and the shapes, positional relationships, and ratios may differ from the actual ones.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a side view showing the appearance of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment. Fig. 2 is a bottom view showing the appearance of a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment. Vacuum cleaner 130 is a robot type vacuum cleaner that performs cleaning while moving autonomously, and includes main body 131, moving means 132, cleaning means 134, position information acquisition means 136, and control device 170. In this embodiment, vacuum cleaner 130 includes environmental sound acquisition means 148.

[0014] The main body 131 is a structural member that serves as the structural foundation of the vacuum cleaner 130. The main body 131 also functions as a housing that houses or holds the moving means 132, the cleaning means 134, the position information acquiring means 136, the control device 170, etc. A bumper 139 that is displaceable in the radial direction relative to the main body 131 is attached to the outer periphery of the main body 131. Also, as shown in Fig. 2, a suction port 138 for sucking dirt into the inside of the main body 131 is provided on the bottom surface of the main body 131.

[0015] The moving means 132 is a device that moves the vacuum cleaner 130 based on instructions from the control device 170. The moving means 132 is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, it includes a pair of wheels 140 rotatably attached to the main body 131, a traveling motor (not shown) that applies torque to the wheels 140, and a housing 141 that accommodates the traveling motor. The moving means 132 includes casters 142 that function as auxiliary wheels on the bottom surface of the main body 131. The main body 131 of the vacuum cleaner 130 can freely move in a straight line, backward, left turn, right turn, etc. by independently rotating the two wheels 140 of the moving means 132.

[0016] As cleaning means 134, as long as it cleans dust and dirt under main body 131 or around main body 131, examples include a device that collects dust by suction, a device that wipes with a mop or nonwoven fabric, etc. In the case of this embodiment, cleaning means 134 is a unit that sweeps up dust and sucks it from suction port 138, and includes rotating brush 146 arranged near suction port 138, brush drive motor 147 that rotates rotating brush 146, suction unit 133, etc.

[0017] Suction unit 133 is a unit that sucks in dust from suction port 138 and holds the sucked dust inside main body 131, and includes an electric fan (not shown) and dust holding section 143. The electric fan sucks in air inside dust holding section 143 and expels the air to the outside of main body 131, thereby sucking in dirt from suction port 138 and storing the dirt in dust holding section 143.

[0018] The position information acquiring means 136 is a device that acquires position information indicating the relative positional relationship of an obstacle with respect to the main body 131. The position information acquiring means 136 detects the direction and distance of obstacles such as walls and furniture present around the main body 131, and acquires 2.5-dimensional position information. It is also possible to grasp the self-position of the vacuum cleaner 130 from the information on the direction and distance of the obstacle detected by the position information acquiring means 136 and floor information such as a route map and a floor map that are separately stored.

[0019] The type of the position information acquisition means 136 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) camera that detects the position and distance based on the light that is emitted and reflected by an obstacle and returned, a ToF (Time of Flight) camera, etc. Other examples of the position information acquisition means 136 include a compound eye camera that acquires illumination light or natural light reflected by an obstacle as an image and acquires the position and distance based on parallax.

[0020] The environmental sound acquisition means 148 is a device capable of acquiring environmental sound. Although the environmental sound acquisition means 148 is not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the environmental sound acquisition means 148 is a microphone having directionality for acquiring environmental sound around a biological obstacle.

[0021] In this embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 130 includes a self-position detection device (not shown). The self-position detection device detects its own position relative to a predetermined position based on the track record of the movement of the vacuum cleaner 130 by the moving means 132. The type of the self-position detection device is not particularly limited, and examples include an odometry sensor such as an encoder that is provided on the moving means 132 and detects the rotation angle of each of a pair of wheels 140 rotated by a traveling motor. In addition, the self-position detection device may include an inertial sensor such as an acceleration sensor that detects the acceleration when the vacuum cleaner 130 travels, and an angular velocity sensor that detects the angular velocity when the vacuum cleaner 130 turns. In addition, the self-position detection device may include an LPS (Local Positioning System).

[0022] The vacuum cleaner 130 of this embodiment acquires its own position using SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). Specifically, the vacuum cleaner 130 creates a map while continuously acquiring scan data from odometry and LiDAR, and acquires its own position by calculation based on the created map.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional parts of the control device. The control device 170 is a device equipped with a processor that processes the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means 136 and controls the moving means 132 and the cleaning means 134. The control device 170 is equipped with a motion detection unit 171, a living body determination unit 172, a movement control unit 173, a cleaning control unit 174, and an area setting unit 175 as processing units realized by making the processor execute a program. In the case of this embodiment, the control device 170 further includes a sound determination unit 176 as a processing unit. Each processing unit will be described below, but the order of description does not match the flow of processing of the control device 170. The processing flow of the control device 170 will be described later.

[0024] The motion detection unit 171 detects whether an obstacle stops or moves based on the position information acquired from the position information acquisition means 136. For example, if the vacuum cleaner 130 is equipped with only LiDAR as the position information acquisition means 136, the presence or absence of movement of the obstacle is determined by analyzing the change in the position information over time. In addition, when the living body is limited to a human being, the cross-sectional shape of the human foot in the horizontal plane corresponding to the height position where the LiDAR laser is irradiated, such as the ankle or calf, may be stored, and the movement or stopping may be detected by tracking the cross-sectional shape of the foot from the position information.

[0025] Specifically, the LiDAR point cloud is divided into a set of nearby points (clusters), and each cluster is judged based on the similarity to the cross-sectional shape of the foot. In addition, since an area where furniture legs such as table legs and chair legs are densely packed, such as under a dining table, can be judged by the density of the number of clusters within a predetermined range, if the density is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the judgment condition (similarity) for judging a person's foot can be made stricter.

[0026] In this embodiment, the motion detection unit 171 detects not only the movement and stopping of the obstacle, but also the relative movement direction of the obstacle with respect to the main body 131. For example, the direction coming straight toward the main body is defined as 0°, and the movement direction of the obstacle is detected as an angle.

[0027] The biometric determination unit 172 determines whether the obstacle acquired by the position information acquisition means 136 is a biometric obstacle or a non-biometric obstacle. The method of determination by the biometric determination unit 172 is not particularly limited. For example, when the movement of an obstacle is detected by the motion detection unit 171, the biometric determination unit 172 may determine the moving obstacle as a biometric obstacle. In addition, when a moving obstacle stops, the biometric determination unit 172 may determine the moved obstacle and the obstacle present at the stopped position as a biometric obstacle. In addition, the biometric determination unit 172 may store the cross-sectional shape of a person sitting upright, a person sitting cross-legged, a person lying down, and the like at a height position where the LiDAR laser is irradiated, and may compare the shape obtained from the position information with the stored shape to determine whether the stopped obstacle is a biometric obstacle or a non-biometric obstacle.

[0028] The vacuum cleaner 130 may include an infrared sensor, and the biometric determination unit 172 may determine that an obstacle is a biometric obstacle when the obstacle emits heat of about 36° C. based on a signal from the infrared sensor. The vacuum cleaner 130 may include a camera, and the biometric determination unit 172 may analyze an image from the camera to determine that the obstacle is a biometric obstacle and further identify the type of living organism. The biometric determination unit 172 may obtain environmental sounds from the environmental sound obtaining means 148 and determine that the obstacle is a biometric obstacle based on voices, footsteps, and the like.

[0029] When the distance between the obstacle whose movement is detected and the main body 131 is within the distance threshold, the movement control unit 173 controls the moving means 132 to make the main body 131 perform an avoidance operation including stopping. The distance threshold may be a predetermined constant value, or may be changed based on the relative movement speed between the obstacle and the main body 131. In the case of this embodiment, the movement control unit 173 controls the moving means 132 so that the main body 131 continues to move if the moving obstacle does not collide with the main body 131 in the future, based on the movement direction of the obstacle detected by the movement detection unit 171 and the movement direction of the main body 131. For example, the movement control unit 173 acquires the movement direction of the moving obstacle from the movement detection unit 171 and the width of the obstacle in a direction perpendicular to the movement direction, and when it can be estimated that the obstacle will collide with the main body 131 in consideration of the width and movement direction of the obstacle and the width and movement direction of the main body 131, the movement control unit 173 may cause the main body 131 to perform an avoidance operation assuming that the obstacle will collide with the main body 131 in the future. Specific examples of the avoidance operation include a temporary stop, a detouring operation to move the obstacle so that the distance between the obstacle and the body is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, etc. In addition, when the accuracy of the biological obstacle or non-biological obstacle determination by the biological obstacle determination unit 172 is medium, the avoidance operation may include a temporary stop, deceleration, or operation to make the obstacle a predetermined distance away, and causing the biological obstacle determination unit 172 to determine again whether the obstacle is a biological obstacle or not. For example, when the position information acquisition means 136 is LiDAR, the closer the distance between the obstacle and the body is, the more detailed and multiple pieces of information about the obstacle can be acquired, and therefore the accuracy of the determination by the biological obstacle determination unit 172 is improved, and it is possible to execute a more effective avoidance operation.

[0030] The cleaning control unit 174 acquires in advance a floor map as shown in FIG. 4, and acquires in advance a cleaning plan as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4. The layout of non-living obstacles 210 such as walls, pillars, partitions, and furniture is registered in advance on the floor map. The cleaning control unit 174 uses the acquired floor map to control the moving means 132 and the cleaning means 134 according to the cleaning plan and performs cleaning. In this embodiment, the entire cleaning area shown in FIG. 4 is divided into a plurality of areas (four areas in this embodiment), and a cleaning plan is set for each area. The cleaning control unit 174 performs cleaning for each area.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 5, when cleaning the vicinity of a biological obstacle 200 that is an obstacle whose stop has been detected by the motion detection unit 171 and that has been determined by the biological determination unit 172, the cleaning control unit 174 controls the moving means 132 and the cleaning means 134 to clean up to a position of a first distance 201 from the biological obstacle 200, as shown in Fig. 6. That is, the cleaning control unit 174 controls the moving means 132 to avoid the biological obstacle 200 while being separated from the biological obstacle 200 by the first distance 201. In addition, the cleaning control unit 174 controls the moving means 132 and the cleaning means 134 to clean up to a position of a second distance that is shorter than the first distance 201 from a non-biological obstacle 210.

[0032] The first distance 201 is not specifically limited, but is set to a distance that prevents the biological obstacle 200 from coming into contact with the main body 131 even when the biological obstacle 200 is stationary and changes its posture. The second distance is set to a distance that allows the tip of the rotating brush 146 to come into contact with the non-biological obstacle 210.

[0033] When an uncleaned area is set by the area setting unit 175 described later, the cleaning control unit 174 controls the moving means 132 and the cleaning means 134 to clean the uncleaned area if there is no biological obstacle in the set uncleaned area after finishing cleaning of a predetermined cleaning area (one of four areas in this embodiment) according to the cleaning plan. This makes it possible to autonomously clean the area that could not be cleaned due to the presence of a biological obstacle, and to complete the cleaning plan.

[0034] In addition, when the sound determination unit 176 described later determines that the ambient sound around the stopped biological obstacle 200 includes a sound emitted from an audio device, the cleaning control unit 174 controls at least one of the moving means 132 and the cleaning means 134 so as to suppress the sound reaching the biological obstacle 200 from the main body 131. For example, the moving means 132 and the cleaning means 134 are controlled so as to clean up to a position at a third distance from the obstacle that is longer than the first distance 201, thereby suppressing the sound reaching the biological obstacle 200 from the main body 131. In addition, the sound reaching the biological obstacle 200 from the main body 131 can also be suppressed by suppressing the moving speed of the main body 131, suppressing the suction force of the cleaning means 134, suppressing the rotation speed of the rotating brush, and the like.

[0035] As shown in Fig. 7, the area setting unit 175 sets an uncleaned area including the position of the stopped biological obstacle 200 as an uncleaned area 300. The method of setting the uncleaned area 300 is not particularly limited, but for example, the area setting unit 175 logs the travel record of the main body 131 according to the cleaning plan, and sets an area included in the cleaning plan that the main body 131 could not travel as an uncleaned area. As a result, an area that cannot be cleaned because it is blocked by the biological obstacle 200 is also set as an uncleaned area, as shown in A of Fig. 7.

[0036] 8B, when the biological obstacle 200 is present in an area surrounded by non-biological obstacles 210 and the area is equal to or smaller than the area threshold, the area setting unit 175 may stop the control of cleaning the area and set the area surrounded by the non-biological obstacles 210 as an uncleaned area 300. This makes it possible to prevent the vacuum cleaner 130 from approaching the feet of a person present in a narrow space such as a kitchen and interfering with the person's work.

[0037] Furthermore, even if an area has been set as an uncleaned area 300 due to the presence of a biological obstacle 200, the area setting unit 175 may cancel the set uncleaned area 300 in an area where furniture legs such as table legs and chair legs are concentrated, such as under a dining table. This is because an area where furniture legs are concentrated has a high possibility of erroneous determination because the cross-sectional shape of the furniture legs is similar to the cross-sectional shape of a human foot, and it takes a long time for the main body 131 to enter and escape from an area where furniture legs are concentrated.

[0038] The sound determination unit 176 determines whether or not there is an audio equipment sound, which is a sound emitted from an audio equipment, in the environmental sounds around the biological obstacle 200 whose stop has been detected. An audio equipment is, for example, a television or audio equipment, and is a device that emits sound using a speaker. The method of determining the audio equipment sound is not particularly limited, but for example, human conversation, singing, playing, etc. emitted from a speaker are included in the audio equipment sound, and sounds generated at a monotonous cycle or at a constant volume are excluded from the audio equipment sound.

[0039] Next, a description will be given of the control operation of the control device 170 provided in the vacuum cleaner 130. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the control device.

[0040] The vacuum cleaner 130 performs cleaning according to the cleaning plan until the cleaning plan is completed (S101). During cleaning, the position information of obstacles is successively acquired using the position information acquisition means 136 (S102). The vacuum cleaner 130 performs the cleaning plan while recognizing its own position on the floor map using the position information acquisition means 136 and a self-position detection device, etc.

[0041] The motion detection unit 171 detects the motion of the obstacle based on the position information sequentially acquired by the position information acquisition unit 136 (S103). When an obstacle within the distance threshold is moving, the movement control unit 173 controls the movement unit 132 to make the main body 131 perform an avoidance motion until it is determined that the obstacle is farther away than the distance threshold (S104). When the obstacle moves away from the main body 131, if it is predicted that the main body 131 and the moving obstacle will not come into contact with each other, the motion detection unit 171 may not pause in consideration of the relative movement direction between the obstacle and the main body 131.

[0042] Next, it is determined whether or not a stopped obstacle that is not present on the floor map is a living organism (S105). If the obstacle is a non-living organism obstacle 210, the robot approaches the non-living organism obstacle 210 to within a second distance and performs cleaning (S106). Note that the robot also approaches non-living organism obstacles 210 present on the floor map to within the second distance and performs cleaning according to the cleaning plan.

[0043] When the obstacle is a biological obstacle 200 and the environmental sound around the biological obstacle 200 includes an acoustic device sound (S107), cleaning is performed in a silent mode, such as performing cleaning while avoiding the biological obstacle 200 at a third distance (S108). When the environmental sound around the biological obstacle 200 does not include an acoustic device sound (S107), cleaning is performed in a normal mode other than the silent mode, while avoiding the biological obstacle 200 at a first distance (S109).

[0044] Next, the area setting unit 175 sets the area that could not be cleaned by performing cleaning while avoiding the stopped bio-obstacle 200 as the uncleaned area 300 (S110). The above process is performed until the cleaning plan for each area is completed (S101), and when the cleaning plan for one area is completed (S101: Yes), the cleaning control unit 174 checks whether the bio-obstacle 200 exists in the set uncleaned area 300 based on the position information from the position information acquisition means 136 (S111). When the presence or absence of the bio-obstacle 200 in the uncleaned area 300 cannot be confirmed at the stage when the cleaning plan is completed, the cleaning control unit 174 moves the main body 131 to a position where the uncleaned area 300 can be confirmed. When the bio-obstacle 200 does not exist in the uncleaned area 300, the cleaning control unit 174 performs cleaning of the uncleaned area 300. The area setting unit processes the uncleaned area 300 that has been cleaned as having been cleaned.

[0045] The above process is performed for each partitioned cleaning area, but uncleaned areas 300 that could not be cleaned due to the presence of a biological obstacle 200 are saved until the cleaning plan for all cleaning areas 300 is completed.

[0046] According to the vacuum cleaner 130 of the above embodiment, if there is a moving obstacle within the distance threshold, it is possible to avoid a collision by temporarily stopping the movement of the main body 131. In addition, for a stopped biological obstacle 200, cleaning is performed at a greater distance than the distance for a non-biological obstacle 210, making it possible to respond to a sudden change in the posture of the biological obstacle 200.

[0047] In addition, based on the knowledge that a stationary biological obstacle 200 will eventually move, the cleaning plan can be completed by cleaning the uncleaned area 300 that could not be cleaned due to the presence of the biological obstacle 200 after the cleaning plan for a specified area is completed.

[0048] In addition, if the environmental sounds around the biological obstacle 200 include the sound of an audio device, it is possible to estimate that the biological obstacle 200 is watching television, listening to music, etc., and to reduce the noise during cleaning by suppressing the sound of the vacuum cleaner 130 that the biological obstacle 200 hears.

[0049] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, the present disclosure may be realized by combining the components described in this specification in any way, or by excluding some of the components. In addition, the present disclosure also includes modifications obtained by applying various modifications that a person skilled in the art can think of to the above-mentioned embodiment without departing from the gist of the present disclosure, that is, the meaning of the words described in the claims.

[0050] For example, in the above embodiment, the total cleaning area is divided into four areas, and an uncleaned area is cleaned each time cleaning of one area is completed. However, it is also possible to clean an uncleaned area after cleaning of all areas is completed.

[0051] Furthermore, when the cleaning time exceeds a predetermined time, cleaning of uncleaned areas may not be performed even after cleaning of one area or cleaning of all areas has been completed.

[0052] Furthermore, the vacuum cleaner 130 may include a communication means capable of communicating with the terminal device 160, and may transmit a floor map included in the vacuum cleaner 130 to the terminal device 160, and transmit uncleaned information indicating the position and range of an uncleaned area on the floor map. The terminal device 160 may include a display means 161 and a display control unit (not shown) that display the uncleaned information by superimposing it on the received floor map.

[0053] Terminal device 160 may also include a reception unit that receives an input of whether or not to clean after finishing cleaning of a specific area by, for example, a tap by the user of an uncleaned area displayed on display means 161, and may transmit the received reception information to vacuum cleaner 130. Cleaning control unit 174 that has acquired the reception information may clean uncleaned area 300 according to the reception information. [Industrial Applicability]

[0054] The present disclosure can be used for a vacuum cleaner that travels autonomously and cleans a predetermined area. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 130 Vacuum cleaner 131 Main unit 132 Transportation 133 Suction unit 134 Cleaning means 136 Location information acquisition means 138 Intake port 139 Bumper 140 Wheels 141 Housing 142 Caster 143 Dust holding part 146 Rotating Brush 147 Brush Drive Motor 148 Environmental sound acquisition means 160 Terminal Equipment 161 Display means 170 Control device 171 Motion detection unit 172 Biometrics Unit 173 Movement control section 174 Cleaning control section 175 Area setting section 176 Sound judgment section 200 Biological Obstacles 201 First distance 210 Non-living obstacles 300 Uncleaned area

Claims

1. The main body, A moving means for moving the main body; A cleaning means attached to the main body; a position information acquiring means for acquiring position information indicating a relative positional relationship of an obstacle with respect to the main body based on light that is reflected by the obstacle and returned by emitting light; A control device that processes the position information and controls the moving means and the cleaning means; A vacuum cleaner comprising: The control device includes: a motion detection unit that detects stopping and moving of an obstacle based on the position information; a living body determination unit that compares a plurality of cross-sectional shapes of a human body at the height position where the light is irradiated with a shape obtained from position information and determines whether a stationary obstacle is a living body obstacle or a non-living body obstacle; a movement control unit that controls the moving means to make the main body take an avoidance action including stopping when a distance between the biological obstacle whose movement is detected and the main body is within a distance threshold; a cleaning control unit that controls the moving means and the cleaning means so as to clean a position at a first distance from the biological obstacle where the stop is detected, and to clean a position at a second distance that is shorter than the first distance from a non-biological obstacle; and a region setting unit that sets an uncleaned region including the position of the biological obstacle in a stopped state as an uncleaned region, The cleaning control unit is After the cleaning of the predetermined cleaning area is completed, if there is no biological obstacle in the uncleaned area, the moving means and the cleaning means are controlled so as to clean the uncleaned area. Vacuum cleaner.

2. The motion detection unit is Detecting a moving direction of a biological obstacle relative to the body; The movement control unit is Based on the detected moving direction of the biological obstacle and the moving direction of the main body, the moving means is controlled so that the movement of the main body continues unless the moving biological obstacle and the main body collide in the future.

2. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1.

3. The predetermined cleaning area is one of a plurality of areas into which the entire cleaning area is divided.

3. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The region setting unit is Areas that cannot be cleaned due to obstructions caused by biological obstacles that have been detected as stopped are also set as uncleaned areas. A vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The region setting unit is If a biological obstacle is present in an area surrounded by the obstacle and the area is equal to or smaller than an area threshold, the area surrounded by the obstacle is set as an uncleaned area. A vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. An environmental sound acquisition means for acquiring an environmental sound around an obstacle is provided, The control device includes: a sound determination unit that determines whether or not an audio device sound, which is a sound emitted from an audio device, is present in the environmental sound around the biological obstacle whose stop has been detected; The cleaning control unit is When the sound determination unit determines that there is an acoustic device sound, at least one of the moving means and the cleaning means is controlled so as to suppress the sound reaching the biological obstacle. A vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The cleaning control unit is When the sound determination unit determines that there is an acoustic device sound, the moving unit and the cleaning unit are controlled so as to clean a position at a third distance from the biological obstacle that is longer than the first distance.

7. The vacuum cleaner of claim 6.

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