Mobile Robot Spot Cleaning Using Camera-Based Coordinate Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cleaning robots lack the ability to efficiently perform spot cleaning tasks without user intervention, requiring manual placement and complex instructions to navigate to specific cleaning locations.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a mobile computing device with cameras and data processors to establish a coordinate system, identify cleaning spots and robot positions, and send instructions for the robot to navigate and clean specific areas, employing augmented reality and deep learning for precise navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional cleaning robots roam around to clean entire rooms, then they can cover most floor areas, but they cannot efficiently perform spot cleaning tasks and require manual placement by users
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables the cleaning robot to autonomously navigate to designated spot cleaning locations using coordinate information and navigation instructions transmitted from the mobile computing device, eliminating the need for manual placement and enabling self-directed spot cleaning operations
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile computing device acts as an intermediary between the user and the cleaning robot, receiving user input for spot locations, processing navigation routes, and transmitting both coordinate information and step-by-step navigation instructions to guide the robot to the target cleaning area
2Extent of automation
If the robot is manually placed near the spot to be cleaned, then spot cleaning can be performed, but the system lacks autonomous navigation capability to specific cleaning locations
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system is divided into distinct functional modules: a coordinate determination module that establishes the cleaning location coordinates, a route planning module that generates navigation paths, and an execution module on the robot that follows the provided instructions, allowing complex autonomous navigation to be achieved through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses coordinate information (a digital representation) to replicate the physical navigation task, transmitting location data and navigation instructions from the mobile computing device to the robot, enabling the robot to navigate to the correct location without direct physical guidance
Data Source
AI summary
A system for enabling spot cleaning includes a mobile computing device and a mobile cleaning robot. The mobile computing device includes at least one camera configured to capture images of an environment, and at least one data processor configured to (a) establish, based at least in part on first information provided by the at least one image sensor, a coordinate system in the environment, (b) determine, based at least in part on second information provided by the at least one camera, a first set of coordinates of a region at a first location, (c) determine, based at least in part on third information provided by the at least one camera, a second set of coordinates of a mobile cleaning robot at a second location, (d) send the first set of coordinates and second set of coordinates, or coordinates of the first location relative to the second location, to the mobile cleaning robot, and (e) send an instruction to the mobile cleaning robot to request the mobile cleaning robot to travel to the first location.