Mobile Robot Spot Cleaning Using Vision-Based Coordinate Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cleaning robots lack the ability to efficiently target specific spots or regions for cleaning without user intervention, requiring manual placement and complex instructions.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a mobile computing device with cameras and data processors to establish a coordinate system, identify the position of cleaning spots and robots, and send instructions for the robots to navigate and clean specific areas using augmented reality and deep machine learning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conventional cleaning robot roams around the room to clean the entire floor area, then the robot can cover most floor areas, but the robot cannot efficiently clean specific spots or regions without manual user intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables the cleaning robot to autonomously navigate to and clean specific spots without requiring manual user placement or complex instructions. The robot uses onboard sensors and processing to independently determine its location, interpret cleaning targets from images, and execute spot cleaning operations automatically.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical placement of the robot by the user with an automated vision-based system. The mobile computing device captures images, processes them to identify spots and robot positions using computer vision algorithms, and sends automated navigation instructions to the robot, eliminating the need for physical user intervention.
2Ease of operation
If the user manually places the robot near the spot to be cleaned, then spot cleaning can be performed, but the process requires complex user instructions and manual intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces complex manual instruction-giving with automated image processing. The mobile computing device captures an image of the cleaning target, uses computer vision to identify the spot's location and the robot's position, automatically calculates navigation paths, and sends simplified commands to the robot, reducing instructional complexity from multiple steps to a single image capture action.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a mobile computing device with image processing capabilities as an intermediary between the user and the cleaning robot. This intermediary automatically interprets visual information about the cleaning target and translates it into navigation and cleaning commands, serving as a smart mediator that eliminates the need for direct complex user-robot interaction.
3Reliability
If the robot makes several passes across the room to cover floor areas, then comprehensive cleaning is achieved, but time is consumed and the robot cannot quickly respond to specific cleaning needs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary identification of cleaning spots using image capture and processing before the robot begins navigation. The mobile computing device analyzes the image to determine the exact location and boundaries of the spot to be cleaned, pre-calculates the optimal navigation path, and prepares cleaning parameters in advance, allowing the robot to execute spot cleaning immediately upon arrival without delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the cleaning task into distinct segments: (1) image capture and spot identification by the mobile computing device, (2) navigation instruction generation, (3) robot traversal to the target location, and (4) focused spot cleaning execution. This segmentation allows the system to concentrate cleaning resources on specific high-priority areas rather than uniformly cleaning entire floors, reducing overall response time for urgent cleaning needs.
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.