Automatic Pool Cleaner Navigation for Swimming Pool Stairs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automatic swimming pool cleaners struggle to effectively clean stairs and angled surfaces due to their size and lack of navigation control, often failing to clean narrow or longer stairs efficiently.
Innovation Solution
The development of an automatic pool cleaner (APC) equipped with sensors for depth detection, optical flow sensors for tracking movement, and a bypass valve assembly, allowing it to climb stairs, adjust its direction, and maintain depth, enabling it to clean stairs one step at a time with improved navigation and cleaning patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional APC structure is used, then the device is simple in structure, but it cannot effectively clean narrow or long stairs
Solution Approach 1:
The APC body is divided into multiple modular sections including a brush assembly, a flowable material reservoir, and a controller. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently while maintaining overall system simplicity, enabling the device to adapt to stair cleaning tasks without excessive complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The APC is designed with multi-functional capabilities to handle both flat pool surfaces and stair structures. The brush assembly can engage with different surface geometries, and the flowable material serves multiple purposes including traction and cleaning, allowing one device to perform multiple cleaning functions across varied surfaces
2Manufacturing precision
If the APC cleans stairs one step at a time, then cleaning precision is improved, but cleaning time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The APC applies flowable material to stair surfaces before brushing, preparing the surface in advance to enhance traction and cleaning effectiveness. This preliminary action allows the brush to work more efficiently on each step, maintaining precision while reducing the time needed for thorough cleaning
Solution Approach 2:
The APC maintains continuous contact with the stair surface through the flowable material, which provides constant traction and cleaning pressure. This continuous engagement eliminates idle movement between steps, ensuring that cleaning action is sustained throughout the entire stair-cleaning process rather than being intermittent
3Force
If the APC uses flowable material for climbing, then traction on angled surfaces is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The APC utilizes hydraulic principles by employing water-based flowable material that leverages the pool's existing water environment. The material's fluid properties allow it to conform to surface irregularities and provide hydraulic pressure for enhanced traction without requiring additional energy-intensive mechanical systems
Solution Approach 2:
The APC changes the physical parameters of the cleaning interface by introducing flowable material with specific viscosity and adhesion properties. This material parameter change enables effective traction on angled surfaces through its ability to maintain contact pressure and conform to surface geometry, reducing the energy needed for movement compared to rigid mechanical systems
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 APC effectively cleans stairs and angled surfaces by determining the highest step, altering its direction, and maintaining depth, providing improved cleaning compared to traditional cleaners that are too large or lack navigation control.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure sensor configured to detect a depth of the APC in the swimming pool
Implementation Method 2
a sensor for tracking a distance travelled by the APC
Data Source
AI summary
Described are apparatus, systems, and methods of improving cleaning of, e.g., stairs of swimming pools. Automatic swimming pool cleaners (APCs) capable of autonomous movement within water-containing vessels may be utilized to provide enhanced cleaning of sections of the vessels containing stairs or other angled surfaces.