Navigation of autonomous mobile robots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous cleaning robots face challenges in navigating and cleaning floor surfaces adjacent to obstacles, particularly in areas with complex geometries and narrow widths, often getting stuck or failing to effectively cover these areas.
Innovation Solution
The autonomous cleaning robot is designed with a specific configuration and sensor system that allows it to navigate along obstacles, including corner geometries, by using a forward portion with side surfaces and a drive system to move forward, turn, and reverse, while employing sensors to detect and adjust its path, ensuring it can clean adjacent areas without getting stuck.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the robot navigates along obstacle surfaces to clean adjacent floor portions, then cleaning coverage is improved, but the robot may get stuck in narrow areas between obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The robot uses sensors to continuously detect the distance to obstacle surfaces and provides feedback to the controller. When the sensor detects that the robot is approaching a narrow space between obstacles, the controller receives this feedback and adjusts the navigation path to prevent the robot from getting stuck, thus maintaining both cleaning coverage and mobility reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The robot dynamically adjusts its navigation behavior based on real-time environmental conditions. The controller modifies the cleaning path on-the-fly when narrow passages are detected, allowing the robot to adapt its motion pattern to avoid getting trapped while still maximizing cleaning coverage of accessible areas
2Adaptability or versatility
If the robot turns along arcuate trajectories to navigate corner geometries, then the ability to clean adjacent to obstacles is improved, but the navigation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot employs arcuate (curved) trajectories instead of sharp angular turns to navigate corner geometries. This curved path approach allows the robot to smoothly follow the contours of obstacles and clean adjacent floor portions in corner areas while maintaining manageable navigation control complexity through standardized curved motion patterns
3Manufacturing precision
If the robot uses sensors to detect obstacle surfaces for precise navigation, then cleaning precision along obstacles is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor system acts as an intermediary between the robot and the obstacle surfaces. The sensors detect obstacle surfaces and provide measurement data to the controller, which then uses this information to calculate and execute precise navigation paths. This intermediary approach enables cleaning precision through sensor-based obstacle detection while managing device complexity by using the sensor data for path computation rather than direct mechanical control
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous cleaning robot includes a controller configured to execute instructions to perform one or more operations. The one or more operations includes operating a drive system to move the cleaning robot in a forward drive direction along a first obstacle surface with a side surface of the cleaning robot facing the first obstacle surface, then operating the drive system to turn the cleaning robot such that the side surface of the cleaning robot faces a second obstacle surface, then operating the drive system to move the cleaning robot in a rearward drive direction along the second obstacle surface, and then operating the drive system to move the cleaning robot in the forward drive direction along the second obstacle surface.