Cleaning Robot Virtual Wall Detection Using Adaptive Signal Thresholds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cleaning robots face challenges in navigating complex environments due to inaccurate detection of virtual walls, leading to potential damage or misjudgments that require user intervention, especially when single signal thresholds are used.
Innovation Solution
Implementing two different signal thresholds to accurately identify virtual walls, allowing the robot to travel along the outer side of the wall, preventing the driving wheel from entering prohibited areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If autonomous navigation is implemented using existing technology, then the robot can perform basic navigation tasks, but it cannot determine its position when line markers are absent or cannot recognize obstacles that do not reflect infrared light
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multi-functionality by equipping the robot with multiple sensing systems that serve different purposes: infrared sensors for obstacle detection, cameras for visual navigation and QR code recognition, and encoders for motion tracking. This universal sensing approach allows the robot to navigate through various environments using different markers (line markers, QR codes, natural features) and detect diverse obstacle types, resolving the limitation of single-mode navigation systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces QR codes as intermediary markers that can be placed in the environment to provide reliable position reference points. These QR codes serve as mediators between the robot's navigation system and the physical environment, enabling accurate position determination even when traditional line markers are absent or insufficient. The vision system recognizes these intermediary markers to calculate the robot's position and orientation
2Object-affected harmful factors
If infrared sensors are used for obstacle detection, then the robot can detect reflective obstacles, but it cannot detect obstacles that do not reflect infrared light
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs multiple obstacle detection methods with different sensing principles: infrared sensors for reflective obstacles, cameras for visual obstacle detection and recognition, and ultrasonic sensors for non-reflective obstacles. This multi-functional sensing system ensures comprehensive obstacle type coverage, allowing the robot to detect and respond to various obstacle materials and surfaces effectively
3Ease of operation
If manual operation is used, then the robot can perform precise operations, but it requires continuous human intervention and cannot operate autonomously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the robot continuously monitors its environment using sensors, compares current state with target state, and automatically adjusts its actions. The system provides visual feedback through the camera system for operation verification and uses sensor feedback for real-time navigation adjustments, enabling autonomous operation with precision comparable to manual control
Solution Approach 2:
The robot performs self-navigation, self-positioning, and self-operation execution without continuous human intervention. It autonomously processes sensor data, determines its position using QR code recognition, plans its path, and executes operations based on pre-programmed instructions and real-time environmental feedback, achieving a high degree of automation while maintaining operational precision
Data Source
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AI summary
A cleaning robot (10), comprising: a control unit. The control unit is configured so as to perform the following: identifying, on the basis of a signal threshold and a virtual wall signal detected by a detection component, a virtual wall; adjusting, when the virtual wall is identified, the signal threshold; and controlling, on the basis of the adjusted signal threshold and the virtual wall signal, the robot to move along an exterior side of the virtual wall and to keep a drive wheel of the robot at the exterior side of the virtual wall. A robot controlling method is also provided. The method resolves the issue of a robot being unable to fully automatically complete a cleaning task in a complex environment without user intervention as a result of a drive wheel of the robot crossing over to an interior side of a virtual wall due to only setting a high signal threshold, or as a result of an error due to only setting a low signal threshold. The invention achieves, on the basis of accurate identification of a virtual wall, the effect of keeping a drive wheel of a robot at an exterior side of the virtual wall and not entering into an interior area within the virtual wall when the robot moves along the exterior side of the virtual wall.