Cleaning Robot Speed and Alignment Control for Perimeter Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cleaning robots with nearly circular bodies struggle to effectively clean corners and perimeters due to their design, and often encounter issues like side brush tangling with wires or clogging from foreign materials, which can lead to reduced cleaning efficiency and potential damage.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning robot equipped with an obstacle sensor and controller that adjusts speed and direction to minimize collision impact and align with obstacles, allowing for effective perimeter cleaning, and includes a contact sensor to manage suction force and prevent clogging by monitoring suction motor RPM.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the cleaning robot uses a nearly circular main body for easy direction changes, then the robot can change direction easily, but the robot cannot effectively clean corners or perimeters
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by changing the robot's shape from a nearly circular symmetric form to a rectangular asymmetric form. This allows the robot to maintain easy direction changes while effectively cleaning corners and perimeters, as the rectangular shape can align with walls and edges for thorough perimeter cleaning.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the cleaning robot reduces driving speed before contacting an obstacle, then the collision impact with the obstacle is minimized, but the cleaning time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the robot reduce driving speed before contacting an obstacle. The controller detects an obstacle ahead and reduces the driving speed in advance, so that when the robot body contacts the obstacle, the collision impact is minimized. This preliminary speed reduction prevents damage while allowing the robot to continue cleaning operations.
3Productivity
If the cleaning robot aligns the front outline with the obstacle outline upon contact, then the perimeter cleaning effectiveness is improved, but the control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies feedback by using a contact sensor to detect when the robot body contacts an obstacle, and then the controller responds by aligning the front outline of the robot with the outline of the obstacle. This feedback mechanism enables effective perimeter cleaning through simple conditional logic: upon contact detection, the robot adjusts its orientation to align with the obstacle edge.
Data Source
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Figure 2c~3
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AI summary
Disclosed is a cleaning robot including: a driving unit configured to move the cleaning robot; an obstacle sensor configured to sense an obstacle; and a controller configured to reduce, if a distance between the cleaning robot and the obstacle is shorter than or equal to a reference distance, a driving speed of the cleaning robot so that the driving speed of the cleaning robot is lower than a shock absorbing speed when the cleaning robot contacts the obstacle.