Method for operating a system with at least two automatically moving floor processing devices as well as system for implementing such a method
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems with multiple automatically moving floor processing devices, such as vacuum or mopping robots, do not effectively coordinate their activities to minimize user disruption and ensure simultaneous completion of tasks, leading to uncomfortable situations for users who may have to wait for ongoing cleaning activities to finish.
Innovation Solution
The system tracks and stores the movement route and timespan of each device while detecting environmental features, allocating partial areas to devices based on their processing capabilities to ensure that each partial area group is completed nearly simultaneously, with adjustments for device-specific speeds and task distribution to minimize waiting time for users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple floor processing devices operate independently without coordinated task allocation, then device complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but user disruption increases and task completion efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The environment is divided into multiple partial areas that are further grouped into partial area groups, which are then allocated to different floor processing devices. This segmentation allows independent device operation while ensuring coordinated completion by balancing the workload across devices based on their individual capabilities and the characteristics of assigned areas.
2Productivity
If partial areas are allocated without considering device-specific processing speeds, then allocation simplicity is improved, but task completion time increases and productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines device-specific processing times for each partial area based on device characteristics such as movement speed and processing capability. This parameter adjustment enables optimal task allocation that balances the total processing time across multiple devices, ensuring they complete their assigned partial area groups simultaneously and minimizing overall waiting time.
3Use of energy by moving object
If floor processing devices operate without coordinated task distribution, then device complexity is reduced, but energy efficiency deteriorates and resource utilization suboptimizes
Solution Approach 1:
The task allocation system dynamically adjusts the distribution of partial area groups to multiple floor processing devices based on real-time device characteristics and area properties. This dynamic optimization balances the workload to minimize total energy consumption while maintaining manageable device complexity through automated coordination.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for operating a system with at least two floor processing devices includes detecting environmental features of an environment and generating an area map based on the detected features. The area map is divided into partial areas that are assigned to the floor processing devices so that each partial area is only processed by one of the floor processing devices. A movement route and a movement timespan of the floor processing device is detected and stored with the area map. Several partial areas are combined into partial area groups, and the partial areas are allocated to the floor processing devices based on the stored movement route and movement timespan so that a floor processing of a first partial area group by a first floor processing device takes place at essentially the same time as a floor processing of a second partial area group by a second floor processing device ends.