Autonomous Lawnmower Boundary Mapping With Hard-Soft Limit Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous working devices, such as lawn mowers, face challenges in efficiently and safely defining and navigating their working areas, particularly in distinguishing between hard and soft boundaries, which are crucial for avoiding hazards and optimizing operation without unnecessary restriction of comfort and speed.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a detection device and control unit that differentiate between hard and soft limits of the working area, allowing for automatic adaptation and correction of soft boundaries based on detected natural limits, enabling efficient and safe operation by reducing the effort in defining the working area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the working area is precisely and completely defined by an operator, then safety and reliability are improved, but the time and effort required for initial setup increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary mapping of the working area using detection devices before the operator needs to define boundaries. The control unit stores this pre-acquired spatial information, allowing the operator to rely on automatically detected limits rather than manually defining every boundary, thus reducing initial setup time while maintaining safety through pre-validated area data
Solution Approach 2:
The detection device continuously provides feedback about the working area boundaries and obstacles. The control unit processes this feedback to automatically adjust and refine the defined working area, reducing the need for extensive manual initial definition while ensuring safety through ongoing verification and adaptation
2Measurement precision
If the operator manually defines all working area boundaries, then measurement precision is improved, but the device complexity and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous working device performs self-mapping and self-definition of its working area using integrated detection devices and control units. The system automatically detects boundaries, stores spatial information, and identifies soft versus hard limits without requiring extensive manual intervention, thereby reducing operational complexity while maintaining accurate boundary definition through automated measurement processes
3Ease of operation
If soft limits are automatically adapted to natural limits, then ease of operation is improved, but the risk of incorrect boundary detection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts soft limits based on detected natural limits in the environment. The control unit evaluates detected features and adaptively modifies the working area boundaries accordingly, making the system flexible and easy to operate while maintaining reliability through continuous environmental verification and adaptive correction rather than static pre-definition
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit changes the parameters of soft limits based on detected natural features. By adjusting boundary parameters dynamically according to environmental conditions and detected obstacles, the system achieves ease of operation through automatic adaptation while maintaining accuracy through sensor-based verification of natural limits
4Reliability
If the detection device continuously monitors the working area, then reliability and safety are improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The detection device operates periodically rather than continuously, monitoring the working area at scheduled intervals. The control unit activates detection at appropriate moments during autonomous operation, maintaining safety and reliability through regular verification while reducing energy consumption by avoiding constant active sensing, thus achieving a balance between monitoring thoroughness and energy efficiency
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an autonomous work device, in particular an autonomous lawnmower, with at least one detection device (12) designed to detect an initially defined, temporary working area (14), and with at least one control and/or regulating unit (16) designed to at least partially map an absolute working area (18) that at least substantially comprises the temporary working area (14). It is proposed that the control and/or regulating unit (16) be designed to distinguish between hard boundaries (20) and soft boundaries (22) of the temporary working area (14) when mapping the absolute working area (18).