Floor Cleaner Safety Zone Control for Faster Wall Following
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous surface treatment vehicles, such as floor cleaning devices, are limited by safety systems that require slow speeds near walls due to worst-case scenario considerations, leading to inefficient operation and compliance challenges with safety standards.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous surface treatment vehicle with a safety system that can switch between different safety zone selection algorithms, allowing for increased speed near walls by restricting direction changes, enabling faster operation while maintaining safety compliance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the safety system uses worst-case scenario considerations to determine safety zones, then safety compliance is ensured, but the vehicle speed near walls is limited to slow speeds
Solution Approach 1:
The safety system dynamically switches between different safety zone selection algorithms based on the operational context. When operating near walls, the system can select from multiple pre-stored safety zone configurations, each optimized for different scenarios (e.g., slow speed for general areas, faster speed for wall-following operations). This dynamic selection resolves the contradiction by adapting the safety parameters to the specific operational context rather than using a single worst-case configuration for all situations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of the safety zone selection algorithm based on the operational mode. Different algorithms are selected from pre-stored options, each with different parameter sets for safety zone dimensions and speed limits. This allows the system to optimize speed parameters for wall-following operations while maintaining adequate safety margins, resolving the contradiction between safety compliance and operational speed.
2Reliability
If the vehicle maintains a reasonable driving distance to the wall for safety, then collision prevention is achieved, but the operational efficiency for cleaning is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The safety distance to the wall is dynamically adjusted based on the selected safety zone algorithm and operational context. The system can maintain larger safety distances in areas with higher risk or when using conservative algorithms, while allowing smaller safety distances when wall-following operations are detected and appropriate algorithms are selected. This dynamic adjustment enables the vehicle to clean closer to walls efficiently while maintaining collision prevention through algorithm-based safety margins.
Solution Approach 2:
Different safety zone configurations are applied to different operational contexts locally. The system identifies specific operational modes (e.g., wall-following, open area cleaning, corner navigation) and applies locally-optimized safety zone parameters for each mode. This allows the vehicle to operate closer to walls in wall-following mode with appropriate safety algorithms, while maintaining larger safety margins in other contexts, thereby improving overall cleaning efficiency without compromising collision prevention.
3Speed
If the safety system restricts direction changes to allow higher speeds, then faster operation near walls is enabled, but the vehicle's ability to respond to obstacles is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts direction change restrictions based on the selected safety zone algorithm and detected operational context. When wall-following operations are detected and appropriate algorithms are selected, the system allows higher speeds with moderate direction change restrictions. However, the system continuously monitors for obstacles and can switch to more conservative algorithms that allow greater direction changes when obstacles are detected, thus maintaining adaptability while enabling faster operation in safe conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety system uses feedback from the sensor system to continuously monitor the operational environment and adjust the selected safety zone algorithm accordingly. When the vehicle is operating near walls without obstacles, the system selects algorithms that allow higher speeds with restricted direction changes. When obstacles or unexpected conditions are detected, the feedback mechanism triggers a switch to algorithms that permit greater direction changes for rapid response, thus maintaining both speed and adaptability through continuous environmental monitoring and algorithm selection.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention provides an autonomous surface treatment vehicle, e.g. a floor cleaner, with an autonomy system navigating according to a map, a scanning sensor to detect a position of an obstacle within a scanning zone and generate a detection signal. A safety system is arranged to generate a safety stop in case the detection signal indicates an obstacle within a safety zone. The safety system can enter a special mode of operation, e.g. upon request from the autonomy system, where a special safety zone selection algorithm selects the safety zone e.g. from a special set of pre-determined safety zones. Especially, such special mode can provide safety zones with a relaxed speed limit in combination with a restricted direction limit, so as to provide a faster driving near a wall or similar known obstacle.