Semi-Autonomous Surface Cleaner With Omni-Wheel Obstacle Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing semi-autonomous cleaning devices face challenges such as inaccurate object sensing, difficulty in navigating around obstacles, inefficient path planning, and limited ability to reach corners and tight spaces, leading to suboptimal cleaning performance.
Innovation Solution
A semi-autonomous cleaning robot equipped with a frame, a drive system, and an electronic system that includes a processor to redefine paths based on sensor signals, allowing for efficient navigation and effective cleaning of surfaces by using omni-directional wheels and a cleaning assembly that can engage surfaces to transfer detritus to a storage volume.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a robot travels along a predetermined path, then the path definition is simple, but the robot cannot adapt to unexpected obstacles and requires extensive programming
Solution Approach 1:
The robot performs self-positioning and self-navigation using sensors to detect obstacles and dynamically adjust its path without requiring extensive external programming. The system serves itself by autonomously adapting to environmental changes while maintaining simplified path planning logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot uses sensors to continuously monitor its environment and receives feedback about obstacles and surface conditions. This feedback enables the robot to dynamically redefine its travel path in real-time, adapting to unexpected obstacles while maintaining operational simplicity.
2Measurement precision
If object-sensing methods such as sonar are used, then the robot can detect obstacles, but the sensing is limited, inaccurate, and difficult to program
Solution Approach 1:
The robot employs a multi-functional sensor system that can detect both obstacles and navigate surfaces using the same sensing infrastructure. This universal sensing approach eliminates the need for specialized sonar systems while improving both accuracy and programming simplicity through integrated sensor processing.
3Reliability
If a robot is configured to travel along a predetermined path, then the control is simple, but the robot may deviate from the path in an unrecoverable manner without user intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The robot continuously monitors its position and environmental conditions through sensors, providing real-time feedback that enables automatic path correction. When deviations occur due to obstacles or surface changes, the system autonomously adjusts its trajectory without requiring user intervention, maintaining both reliability and ease of operation.
4Manufacturing precision
If extensive programming is used to define the predetermined path, then the path can be precise, but it consumes extensive time and is often not the most efficient path
Solution Approach 1:
The robot employs dynamic path planning that adapts to real-time environmental conditions rather than relying on pre-programmed static paths. This dynamic approach achieves precise navigation by continuously optimizing the trajectory based on current surface conditions and obstacles, eliminating time-consuming programming while maintaining efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a frame, a drive assembly supported by the frame, an electronic system supported by the frame, and a cleaning assembly coupled to the frame. The drive assembly is configured to move the frame along a surface. The cleaning assembly is configured to engage the surface to transfer detritus from the surface to a storage volume supported by the frame. The electronic system has at least a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to define a path along which the drive assembly travels and is configured to redefined a path along which the drive assembly travels based on at least one signal received from at least one sensor.