Autonomous travel body device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous traveling body devices, such as vacuum cleaners, face challenges in efficiently finding a charging station, especially in environments with multiple divided regions, as they consume battery power during search and travel, necessitating a method to shorten the search time for the charging device.
Innovation Solution
The autonomous traveling body device employs a dual traveling mode system, where it travels straight in the first mode and curves along detected objects in the second mode, switching between modes based on the presence of the charging device's signal and the number of region changes, to efficiently locate the charging station.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the autonomous traveling body uses the first traveling mode (traveling straight and changing direction upon object detection) to search for the charging device, then the search coverage is improved, but the search time increases when the charging device is located in a different region
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by dynamically switching between two traveling modes based on real-time detection results. The control means transitions from the first traveling mode (straight travel with direction change upon object detection) to the second traveling mode (curved travel along detected objects) when the charging device is not found within the current region, enabling adaptive search behavior that optimizes both coverage and time efficiency
2Reliability
If the autonomous traveling body continuously travels to search for the charging device, then the search thoroughness is improved, but the battery energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic action through alternating between two traveling modes. The control means periodically switches from the first traveling mode to the second traveling mode when the charging device is not detected after a predetermined period of traveling, ensuring thorough search while preventing excessive energy consumption through structured, periodic mode transitions
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3(a)~3(b)
AI summary
Provided is a vacuum cleaner device (10) having a vacuum cleaner main body (11) capable of finding a charging device (12) more efficiently. A control unit (20) has a first traveling mode and a second traveling mode. In the first traveling mode, the control unit (20) controls operation of driving wheels so that a main casing (15) is made to travel straight and, upon detection of an object by an object sensor (31), the main casing (15) is changed in traveling direction and made to travel straight. In the second traveling mode, the control unit (20) controls the operation of the driving wheels so that the main casing (15) travels in a curved shape along an object detected by the object sensor (31). When the charging device (12) is not found by a signal reception part (33) during traveling within a region by the first traveling mode, the control unit (20) is changed over to the second traveling mode. The control unit (20) is changed over to the first traveling mode when it is decided a specified number of times or more that the main casing (15) has moved to a different region by the second traveling mode.