Moving Robot Floor Sensing to Prevent False Cliff Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional moving robots struggle to accurately distinguish between a cliff and obstacles like carpets or door thresholds, leading to incorrect cliff detection and prevention of entering rooms for cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A moving robot equipped with a floor sensing unit comprising multiple transmitters and a receiver, which determines the floor state by calculating distances based on signal reflections, allowing for differentiation between flat floors, obstacles, and cliffs, enabling precise navigation and cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a single infrared sensor is used to detect cliffs, then the device complexity is low, but the measurement precision of floor state is insufficient leading to wrong detection
Solution Approach 1:
The floor sensing unit is segmented into multiple transmitters (first, second, third sensors) and a receiver, where each transmitter is positioned to detect different floor conditions. This segmentation allows the system to distinguish between carpets, door thresholds, and actual cliffs by analyzing which specific transmitter's signal is blocked, thereby improving detection accuracy without requiring overly complex processing.
2Reliability
If the robot avoids all detected obstacles, then the reliability of cliff avoidance is improved, but the productivity decreases due to inability to enter cleanable areas
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by assigning different detection zones to different transmitters. The first sensor detects short-range obstacles, the second sensor detects medium-range obstacles, and the third sensor detects long-range obstacles. By analyzing which specific sensor's signal is blocked, the system can locally identify the type of obstacle and apply appropriate responses - avoiding actual cliffs while proceeding through carpets and door thresholds to access cleanable areas.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution prevents wrong cliff detection, allows the robot to enter previously inaccessible areas, and ensures effective cleaning by accurately determining floor states and adjusting travel settings accordingly.
Implementation Method 1
the floor sensing unit is further configured to, when the signals are respectively transmitted from the plurality of transmitters toward the floor, determine the state of the floor by calculating a distance from a bottom surface of the main body to the floor in response to a signal which is reflected and then incident on the receiver
Data Source
AI summary
A moving robot comprises a floor sensing unit comprised of a plurality of transmitters, for which different sensing distances are set, and a single receiver, and, since a floor state is sensed using a plurality of sensors, it is possible to sense a normal floor states, an obstacle or a cliff present on a floor, and a long-distance state at a distance farther than the normal floor state, thereby preventing wrong sensing of a cliff due to an obstacle, and, since whether to keep traveling is set depending on the obstacle and a traveling speed is controlled, even an area previously not allowed to enter due to the wrong sensing may be cleaned and therefore a cleaning area may be increased.