Loading-Space Cleaning Robot With Contactless Wall Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cleaning robots for transport device loading spaces require manual alignment, which can lead to errors and inferior cleaning results due to deviations from the longitudinal axis, and mechanical guidance systems risk contaminating the walls.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning robot with a frame, chassis, and sensor device that includes drive tracks and distance sensors to automatically align and navigate within the loading space without physical contact, using control units to adjust operating parameters based on sensor data for precise cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual alignment is used to position the cleaning robot, then the alignment process is simple, but the alignment precision deteriorates leading to inferior cleaning results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical alignment with an automated optical guidance system. The cleaning robot is equipped with a sensor device that detects position markers on the transport device walls, and a control unit automatically calculates and adjusts the robot's orientation and position based on detected marker coordinates, eliminating manual alignment operations while achieving high precision positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses position markers as optical copies or references of the desired position information. These markers are placed on the transport device walls and contain encoded position data that the sensor device reads to determine the robot's location and orientation, allowing automatic alignment without direct mechanical measurement or manual positioning.
2Reliability
If mechanical guide devices are used to center the cleaning robot, then the guidance reliability improves, but the walls become contaminated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical contact-based guidance systems with a non-contact optical guidance system. The sensor device detects position markers on the walls using optical fields (cameras or sensors) without physical contact, and the control unit processes this information to maintain robot centering, thereby eliminating contamination from guide rollers or mechanical contact elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces position markers as an intermediary medium between the robot and the walls. Instead of direct mechanical contact between the robot and wall surfaces, the robot interacts with the markers through optical detection, and the markers convey position information to the robot's control system, enabling contactless guidance.
3Quantity of substance
If the cleaning robot runs the entire length of the loading space, then the cleaning coverage is complete, but the cleaning time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-positioning position markers on the transport device walls before the cleaning operation. These markers contain encoded position information that allows the robot to quickly determine its location and optimize its cleaning path, eliminating the need for slow, methodical traversal of the entire space and enabling more efficient cleaning coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
A cleaning robot configured to clean a loading space of a transport device, the cleaning robot comprising a frame; a chassis; a cleaning unit arranged at the frame; and a sensor device, wherein the chassis includes two drive tracks drivable independently, wherein the cleaning unit includes a plurality of cleaning nozzles configured to dispense a cleaning fluid, wherein the sensor device includes at least one distance sensor configured to capture information regarding distances of the cleaning robot from side walls arranged opposite to one another and laterally defining the loading space of the transport device and to transmit the information to a data processing device, and wherein the data processing device is configured to process the information and control the chassis as a function of the information, so that the drive tracks are temporarily driven differently, so that the cleaning robot is rotatable about its vertical axis.