Wet Floor Cleaning Robot Routing to Avoid Wheel Marks

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing cleaning robots often leave traces on wet or damp sections of the floor due to their inability to accurately determine and avoid these areas during operation.

Innovation Solution

A method for controlling a cleaning robot that involves determining the moisture level of a floor section based on past cleaning data and only accessing sections with a moisture level below a predetermined threshold, ensuring that the robot plans its route to avoid wet sections.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the cleaning robot re-drives over already cleaned areas to ensure complete coverage, then cleaning completeness is improved, but visible wheel marks are left on the cleaned surface

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecleaning completenessVSAvoidvisible wheel marks
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The robot determines the moisture level of floor sections before traveling over them using sensors. By checking the moisture level in advance, the robot can plan its route to avoid wet sections, preventing wheel marks from being left on the cleaned surface while still ensuring complete coverage of dry areas.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Manufacturing precision

If the robot uses sensors to detect moisture level and avoid wet sections, then the quality of cleaned surface is improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecleaning qualityVSAvoidsensor and control system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces complex mechanical solutions with sensor-based detection and electronic control. Instead of using complex mechanical mechanisms to avoid wet areas, the robot uses moisture sensors and a control unit to detect and navigate around wet sections, simplifying the overall system while improving cleaning quality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Speed

If the robot travels over wet floor sections, then navigation speed is maintained, but the drive wheel grip is reduced and navigation accuracy decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenavigation speedVSAvoidnavigation accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The robot determines the moisture level of floor sections before traveling over them. By checking moisture levels in advance and planning its route accordingly, the robot maintains its drive wheels on dry sections, ensuring both navigation speed and accuracy are maintained throughout the cleaning process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This approach ensures that the robot does not leave any traces on wet or damp sections of the floor, maintaining a clean and trace-free surface, while also allowing the robot to navigate more efficiently by avoiding wet areas.

Implementation Method 1

The sensor can be optical, capacitive, or resistive, for example

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectOptical detection: Reflection

Implementation Method 2

The sensor can be optical, capacitive, or resistive, for example

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectCapacitive detection: Capacitance

Implementation Method 3

The sensor can be optical, capacitive, or resistive, for example

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectResistive detection: Electrical Resistance

Data Source

PatentEP4289327B1Wet cleaning of a floor surface
Publication Date: 2025.04.30 BSH HAUSGERATE GMBH
  • EP4289327B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4289327B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP4289327B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

A method (300) for controlling a robot (100) for wet cleaning a floor surface (105) comprises steps of driving (310) over the floor surface (105) and wet cleaning (310) a driven-over section of the floor surface (105). The moisture level of a section of the floor surface (105) to be driven over by the robot (100) is determined (330, 335); and the section is driven over only if the moisture level is below a predetermined threshold.