Detachable Sensor Pool Cleaner for Continuous Multi-Robot Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Large swimming pools often require a single commercial pool cleaner, which can lead to downtime and inefficiencies if the cleaner needs servicing or repair, and there is a need to reduce human intervention and improve efficiency in pool cleaning processes.
Innovation Solution
A set of pool cleaning robots that can work together, with features like collision and cable entanglement avoidance, different cleaning capabilities, and interchangeable modules, to ensure continuous operation and efficient cleaning of various pool regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single commercial pool cleaner is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability decreases due to downtime during servicing or repair
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the pool cleaning task into multiple independent robots that can operate simultaneously. Each robot is a separate unit with its own sensors, propulsion, and cleaning mechanisms, allowing the system to segment the overall cleaning function across multiple devices rather than relying on a single complex unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of robot quantity from one to multiple, fundamentally altering the operational parameters. This allows the pool cleaning system to maintain continuous operation through parallel execution of cleaning tasks by multiple robots rather than sequential operation of a single robot.
2Productivity
If a single pool cleaner is used, then the ease of operation is maintained, but the productivity decreases due to inability to clean multiple pool regions simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
Each pool cleaning robot is equipped with autonomous navigation capabilities, including sensors for detecting pool boundaries, obstacles, and other robots. The robots independently determine their own cleaning paths and adjust their operations without requiring complex external coordination, thereby maintaining ease of operation while significantly improving productivity through simultaneous multi-region cleaning.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple pool cleaners are deployed, then the adaptability to different pool surfaces and conditions is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pool cleaning robots are designed with universal cleaning capabilities that allow them to effectively clean various pool surfaces including floors, walls, and waterlines. Each robot is equipped with interchangeable modules such as brushes, sponges, and sensors that can be adapted to different cleaning requirements, enabling a single robot design to perform multiple cleaning functions across diverse pool regions without increasing overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A pool cleaning robot that may include a housing, a propulsion mechanism configured to propel the pool cleaning robot along an interior surface of a pool; brushes to clean surfaces of the pool during a cleaning cycle, a filtering system, a suction mechanism to draw liquid from the pool through an inlet into the housing and to discharge it from an outlet; and a detachable sensor that is detachably coupled to the housing and comprises inductive electrical and data transfer connections.