Method for operating a floor-cleaning device and floor-cleaning device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Self-propelling and self-steering floor-cleaning devices face inefficiencies in executing cleaning plans due to incorrect room identification, leading to unnecessary energy consumption and potential damage when attempting to perform tasks in inappropriate rooms, especially when physically separated by floors or buildings.
Innovation Solution
The device determines its location using sensors and stored maps, interrupting or ending cleaning tasks if it is not in the intended room, allowing for efficient task execution and communication with the user to adjust plans or relocate the device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the floor-cleaning device automatically executes cleaning tasks based on stored maps and cleaning plans, then productivity is improved, but the device may perform cleaning tasks in incorrect rooms leading to energy waste and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The device uses sensor units to continuously detect the current room and provides feedback to the control unit, which compares the detected room with the target room from the cleaning plan. This feedback mechanism ensures the device only performs cleaning tasks in the correct room, preventing energy waste while maintaining high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual room verification with automated sensor-based room identification. The sensor unit detects room characteristics (such as wall distances, corner positions, or RFID tags) and the control unit automatically verifies whether the current room matches the target room, eliminating the need for manual intervention and preventing energy waste.
2Ease of operation
If the device performs cleaning tasks without verifying room location, then ease of operation is improved, but harmful factors increase due to potential damage in incorrect rooms
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor unit provides continuous feedback about the current room environment to the control unit. The control unit processes this information to verify room identity before executing cleaning tasks, ensuring that cleaning operations only occur in the intended room and preventing damage to incorrect rooms while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs preliminary room verification using sensor detection before executing the cleaning task. By checking whether the current room matches the target room in advance, the system prevents harmful cleaning actions in incorrect rooms, thereby eliminating potential damage before it can occur.
3Reliability
If the device uses sensor units to determine room location before task execution, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor unit continuously provides feedback about room characteristics to the control unit, which processes this information to accurately identify the current room. This feedback-based approach ensures high reliability in room identification while keeping the system architecture modular and manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit acts as an intermediary between the sensor unit and the cleaning execution system. It processes sensor data to determine room identity and then controls the cleaning task execution accordingly, simplifying the overall system architecture by centralizing the decision-making logic.
4Loss of time
If the device interrupts or ends cleaning tasks upon incorrect room detection, then loss of time is reduced, but productivity may be affected by task interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The device performs preliminary room verification using sensor detection before initiating or continuing cleaning tasks. By detecting the current room and comparing it with the target room in advance, the system prevents time waste on incorrect cleaning tasks while ensuring that valid tasks proceed without interruption, thereby maintaining high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit performs preliminary checks to verify room identity before executing cleaning tasks. This preliminary action ensures that cleaning operations only start or continue in the correct room, preventing time waste while maintaining smooth task execution and high productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for operating a self-propelling and self-steering floor-cleaning device is provided, wherein at least one map of at least one room to be cleaned is storable in a storage unit of the floor-cleaning device, as is a user-predeterminable cleaning plan having one or more cleaning tasks, wherein at least one cleaning task is associated with a particular room that is identifiable from a map, and the floor-cleaning device is placed in a room. In order to provide a method of this kind that enables efficient execution of the cleaning plan, when the cleaning plan is executed, the floor-cleaning device determines whether the room in which it is placed is the particular room, and, if the result of this determination is negative, performance of the cleaning task is not carried out, is interrupted, or is ended. A floor-cleaning device for performing the method is also provided.