GNSS Lawn Mower Path Calibration for Wire-Free Boundary Accuracy

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing smart lawn mowers require physical wires or electronic fences for boundary definition, which are cumbersome to arrange, especially for irregular areas, and suffer from positioning precision issues, leading to inefficiencies and increased failure risks due to environmental factors.

Innovation Solution

An intelligent mowing system with a path calibration module that uses GNSS and position sensors to accurately determine and adjust the lawn mower's path, eliminating the need for physical boundaries and improving positioning precision by calibrating direction and speed based on preset paths and sensor data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If physical wires or electronic fences are used to define mowable area boundaries, then the mowing area can be defined and controlled, but the system becomes complex and difficult to arrange especially for irregular areas

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveboundary definition reliabilityVSAvoidwiring complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the physical wires and electronic fences from the system, extracting the boundary definition function from physical infrastructure to virtual coordinate-based control. The lawn mower uses GPS/北斗 positioning to operate within virtual boundaries defined by coordinate data, eliminating the need for physical boundary markers and complex wiring arrangements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical wire-based boundary system with an electronic positioning and coordinate-based control system. Instead of using physical wires that require manual arrangement and maintenance, the system uses satellite positioning (GPS/北斗) combined with pre-defined coordinate data to establish and enforce mowing boundaries automatically.

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

2Reliability

If physical wires or electronic fences are pre-arranged for large coverage or irregular areas, then boundary definition is achieved, but the arrangement process becomes troublesome and user experience deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveboundary definition accuracyVSAvoidsetup ease
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary action by pre-defining the mowing area boundaries through coordinate data collection and processing before the actual mowing operation. The system collects coordinate information of the mowing area in advance, processes it into usable boundary data, and stores it for automatic recognition during mowing, eliminating the need for on-site wire arrangement and setup by users.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a virtual copy of the physical mowing area boundary through coordinate data. Instead of physically marking the boundary with wires or fences, the system digitally replicates the boundary geometry using coordinate points, which can be easily stored, transmitted, and processed by the control system for automatic boundary recognition and adherence.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

3Measurement precision

If boundary wires are exposed in the air for traditional smart lawn mowers, then positioning is enabled, but the wires are prone to damages from wind, rain and animals causing increased failure probabilities

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepositioning precisionVSAvoidsystem reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the positioning function from the physical wire infrastructure and relocates it to the lawn mower's onboard positioning system using GPS/北斗 satellites. The boundary definition is transferred from external physical wires to internal electronic navigation systems, making the system immune to environmental damage while maintaining positioning capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces satellite positioning signals as an intermediary between the lawn mower and the boundary definition system. Instead of direct interaction with physical wires for positioning, the mower uses satellite signals to determine its location relative to the virtual boundary, creating a reliable indirect positioning mechanism that avoids environmental vulnerabilities of exposed wires.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Quantity of substance

If physical wires are used for boundary definition, then low cost is achieved, but the system is subjected to antenna effect and easily affected by lightning causing inaccurate positioning

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecost efficiencyVSAvoidpositioning accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces the electrical wire-based positioning system with a satellite-based electronic positioning system. Instead of using physical wires that conduct electricity and are susceptible to electromagnetic interference and lightning effects, the system uses radio frequency satellite signals for positioning, which are not affected by ground-based electrical interference while maintaining cost-effectiveness through standardized consumer-grade satellite receivers.

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

Data Source

PatentEP3698618B1Smart lawn mowing system
Publication Date: 2022.01.05 NANJING CHERVON IND
  • EP3698618B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3698618B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3698618B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present disclosure is an intelligent mowing system including: a base station to receive at least one kind of satellite positioning signal sent by the satellite system at a fixed location; an intelligent lawn mower including: a mobile station group mounted on the intelligent lawn mower and communicated with the base station to receive at least one kind of satellite positioning signal sent by the satellite system during the walking process of the intelligent lawn mower, wherein the mobile station group includes at least a first mobile station and a second mobile station arranged at intervals that determines the posture of the intelligent lawn mower; a controller configured to control the intelligent lawn mower to generally walk within the predetermined line width, and thus increase the accuracy of mowing along a preset path by acquiring the posture information of the intelligent lawn mower.