Floor Robot Chassis Gravity Channels for Internal Electronics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous floor-traversing robots are vulnerable to liquid damage from spills, which can short circuit or malfunction electronics if liquids come into contact with internal components.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a wheeled body with a chassis and motorized wheels, a protective cover with primary and secondary drainage channels, and a graspable handle that tilts the robot to direct liquids away from sensitive components, including a liquid-tight button plate to prevent ingress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the robot is equipped with a protective cover and drainage channels to prevent liquid damage, then the reliability of the robot is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective cover is divided into multiple sections with primary and secondary drainage channels, creating segmented pathways for liquid flow. This segmentation allows liquid to be directed through specific routes away from sensitive components while maintaining a manageable structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The drainage channels act as intermediary structures between the protective cover and the robot's internal components. These channels serve as mediators that intercept and redirect liquid flow, preventing direct contact between liquids and electronic components while adding only moderate structural complexity
2Ease of operation
If the handle is positioned offset from the center of gravity to enable lifting, then the ease of operation is improved, but the stability of the robot deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The handle is deliberately positioned asymmetrically offset from the robot's center of gravity, creating an asymmetric weight distribution. This asymmetric placement allows the handle to extend beyond the robot's footprint, providing accessible lifting points for users while the asymmetric configuration is designed to maintain overall structural balance
3Volume of moving object
If the robot is designed with a compact chassis to reduce size, then the volume of the robot is reduced, but the area for drainage channels is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The drainage channels are designed to utilize three-dimensional space within the compact chassis by incorporating vertical depth and multiple levels. The channels extend in multiple dimensions rather than solely horizontally, allowing adequate drainage capacity within a reduced footprint while maintaining effective liquid redirection
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
Effectively prevents liquid from reaching internal electronics by guiding it through drainage channels and into a cleaning bin, reducing the risk of damage and ensuring the robot's operational integrity.
Implementation Method 1
The lower surface of the primary drainage channel is downwardly sloped along a radial direction from the center of the chassis, so as to guide liquid to egress from the robot through an area along a side of the robot when the robot is placed substantially flat on the floor
Data Source
AI summary
An autonomous floor-traversing robot includes: a wheeled body including a chassis and at least one motorized wheel configured to propel the chassis across a floor, the chassis defining an interior compartment disposed beneath a chassis ceiling; a cover extending across at least a central area of the chassis ceiling; and a graspable handle connected to the chassis and located outside the cover so as to be accessible from above the robot, the handle arranged to enable lifting of the robot. The chassis ceiling defines drainage channels configured to conduct the liquid away from the central area of the chassis ceiling.