Autonomous Lawn Mower Slip Control via Speed Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robot lawn mowers and other autonomous running working machines face challenges in preventing slips during autonomous operation, which can cause deviations from defined paths and lawn damage due to errors in odometry values and slip-induced positional inaccuracies.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous running working machine equipped with a positional information acquisition unit, slip rate acquisition unit, and a running control unit that adjusts speed and path based on slip rates, decelerating at high slip points and avoiding them to reduce slip generation, thereby maintaining path accuracy and preventing lawn damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the robot lawn mower runs at high speed during autonomous operation, then productivity is improved, but slip generation increases causing path deviation and lawn damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by acquiring slip rate information in advance and storing it in a storing unit before actual lawn mowing operations. The running control unit then references this pre-acquired slip rate data to proactively adjust running speed and avoid high slip-rate areas, preventing path deviation before it occurs rather than reacting after slips happen
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by using the slip rate acquisition unit to continuously monitor slip conditions and feed this information back to the running control unit. The control unit adjusts running speed based on this feedback, creating a closed-loop control system that maintains path following accuracy while optimizing productivity through dynamic speed adjustment
2Reliability
If the robot lawn mower reduces running speed to prevent slips, then path following accuracy is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by making running speed control localized to specific areas rather than uniformly reducing speed across the entire lawn. The running control unit adjusts speed only when entering high slip-rate areas identified from stored slip rate information, maintaining high speed in low-risk areas to preserve productivity while ensuring path accuracy in problematic zones
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses partial action by selectively applying speed reduction only in necessary high slip-rate areas rather than continuously reducing speed throughout operation. This partial speed adjustment maintains overall productivity while providing sufficient path following accuracy where needed, avoiding excessive speed reduction that would unnecessarily decrease productivity
Data Source
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AI summary
To reduce generation of slip during an autonomous running. The robot lawn mower 2 that executes lawn mowing work while autonomously running includes: a positional information acquisition unit 50 for acquiring positional information P; a slip rate acquisition unit 52 for acquiring a slip rate λ indicating a slip degree; a storing unit 58 for storing control information 70 in which the positional information P acquired by the positional information acquisition unit 50 and the slip rate λ acquired by the slip rate acquisition unit 52 are associated with each other; and a running control unit 60 for controlling the autonomous running based on the control information 70 stored in the storing unit 58.