Air Cleaner with Moving Agent for Space-Adaptive Cleaning Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional air cleaners fail to perform optimized air cleaning due to the lack of consideration for the specific structure and situation of indoor spaces, leading to inefficient cleaning and increased costs from requiring multiple sensors to monitor various situations.
Innovation Solution
An air cleaner that uses feature information from moving agents to determine the type and situation of indoor spaces, adjusting its operation mode, wind volume, and wind direction for optimal cleaning, thereby eliminating the need for extensive sensor networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple sensors are used to monitor various situations in indoor space, then cleaning optimization is improved, but device cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a moving agent (such as a mobile robot or drone) as an intermediary device that travels through the indoor space to collect environmental data. This external mediator performs the sensing function that would otherwise require multiple fixed sensors, thereby reducing on-site device complexity while maintaining comprehensive monitoring capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The moving agent is designed to perform multiple functions: it collects various types of environmental data (air quality, temperature, humidity, particulate matter) using integrated sensors, navigates through the space autonomously, and communicates findings to the air cleaning system. This single multi-functional device replaces what would traditionally require multiple specialized sensors distributed throughout the space.
2Productivity
If air cleaning is performed without considering indoor space structure, then device simplicity is maintained, but cleaning effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary mapping and structure analysis of the indoor space before initiating air cleaning operations. The moving agent first navigates through the space to create a digital map identifying walls, obstacles, airflow paths, and problematic areas. This preliminary information is stored and used to optimize subsequent cleaning operations, allowing the system to adapt to different space configurations without requiring complex real-time decision-making hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback loop where data collected by the moving agent about indoor space structure and air quality is continuously fed back to the air cleaning controller. Based on this feedback, the controller dynamically adjusts cleaning parameters such as fan speed, airflow direction, and operational timing to optimize effectiveness for each specific space configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
An air cleaner disposed in an indoor space is disclosed. The air cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a blowing device including a suction port and a discharging port, a fan motor configured to cause air flow, a purification unit installed in the blowing device to clean air, a flow conversion configured to change a flow direction of air discharged from the discharging port, a communication unit configured to communicate with a moving agent moving in the indoor space, and a processor configured to receive feature information collected by the moving agent and associated with a structure of the indoor space, obtain a type of the indoor space by using the feature information, and control an operation of at least one of the fan motor and the flow conversion device by using the type of the indoor space to adjust at least one of an operation mode, a wind direction, and a wind volume.