Cleaning Robot Skid Support for Adaptive Ride Height
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous mobile cleaning robots face challenges in maintaining effective debris extraction and mobility across various floor surfaces due to the rigid connection between drive wheels and the robot's body, which restricts the ride height and increases energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
The use of a plurality of skids to support the robot's body and define the ride height, allowing the drive wheels to move freely and reducing the load variance, while the skids engage with the floor to maintain cleaning effectiveness and stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the drive wheels are rigidly connected to the robot's body, then the robot maintains structural stability, but the ride height cannot adapt to different floor surfaces and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot's support system is segmented into multiple independent elements: multiple drive wheels and multiple skids. This segmentation allows each element to independently adapt to floor variations while maintaining overall robot stability. The skids are separated from the main body and can move independently to define ride height, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection between the skids and the robot body is made dynamic rather than rigid. The skids can move relative to the body to adjust ride height in response to different floor surfaces. This dynamic adjustment mechanism allows the robot to adapt to varying terrain conditions while maintaining energy efficiency, as the skids automatically adjust to the floor surface without requiring active control energy.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the drive wheels are rigidly connected to the robot's body, then the robot maintains structural stability, but mobility across various floor surfaces is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The skids serve as intermediary elements between the robot body and the floor surface. These skids can move independently to accommodate different floor conditions while the robot body remains stable. The skids mediate the interaction between the rigid body and variable terrain, allowing mobility adaptation without compromising structural stability of the main robot body.
3Productivity
If multiple skids are used to support the robot body, then debris extraction effectiveness is maintained, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The skids serve multiple functions simultaneously: they support the robot body, define ride height, engage with the floor surface for stability, and maintain cleaning effectiveness by keeping the cleaning head at the proper distance from the floor. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby managing device complexity while achieving debris extraction effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile cleaning robot can include a body, a drive wheel, and a plurality of skids. The drive wheel can be connected to the body and can be engageable with a floor surface of an environment. The drive wheel can be operable to move the mobile cleaning robot about an environment. The skids can be separate skids that can be connected to the body and can be engageable with the floor surface to support, together with the drive wheel, the mobile cleaning robot with respect to the floor surface.