Autonomous Floor Cleaning Robot with Pad-Sensing Mode Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional floor cleaning methods, such as using wet mops, require manual effort and user intervention, leading to potential errors and physical strain, especially when cleaning large areas.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous mobile robot equipped with a cleaning pad that can autonomously select cleaning modes based on the type of pad attached, reducing user intervention and errors by detecting unique identification marks on the pad to determine the appropriate cleaning fluid amount and pattern.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual floor cleaning with wet mops is used, then cleaning can be performed on hard surfaces, but it requires significant physical effort and user intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning system performs cleaning operations autonomously without requiring continuous user intervention. The robot navigates, applies cleaning fluid, and maneuvers the cleaning pad independently, allowing the system to serve itself in the cleaning process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical cleaning operations with an autonomous robotic system that uses sensors, controllers, and automated mechanisms to perform cleaning tasks, substituting human physical effort with automated mechanical and electronic systems.
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual selection of cleaning modes is required, then cleaning parameters can be adjusted, but user errors may occur in selecting the correct mode
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses sensors to detect the type of cleaning pad attached and provides feedback to the controller, which automatically selects the appropriate cleaning mode based on the detected pad type, ensuring accurate mode selection without user error.
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning system automatically determines the correct cleaning mode by detecting the attached pad type, eliminating the need for manual user selection and enabling the system to self-adjust cleaning parameters based on the specific pad characteristics.
3Reliability
If the robot autonomously detects pad type using identification marks, then user errors are reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses visually distinct identification marks or color codes on different pad types that can be detected by optical sensors, allowing the robot to identify pad types through simple optical detection rather than complex mechanical or electronic identification systems.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A~2C
AI summary
An autonomous floor cleaning robot includes a robot body defining a forward drive direction, a controller supported by the robot body, a drive supporting the robot body and configured to maneuver the robot across a surface in response to commands from the controller, a pad holder disposed on an underside of the robot body and configured to retain a removable cleaning pad during operation of the cleaning robot; and a pad sensor arranged to sense a feature of a cleaning pad held by the pad holder and generate a corresponding signal. The controller is responsive to the signal generated by the pad sensor, and configured to control the robot according to a cleaning mode selected from a set of multiple robot cleaning modes as a function of the signal generated by the pad sensor.