Cleaning Robot Charging Dock Selection to Avoid Multi-Robot Conflicts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cleaning robots often collide with each other when returning to charging stations, and conflicts arise due to insufficient charging stations, highlighting the need for a method to select unoccupied charging stations and navigate to them efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning robot system that includes a communication module to request and receive occupancy information of charging stations, a controller to determine unoccupied stations, and a movement module to navigate to the closest unoccupied station while avoiding obstacles, using position information and charging progress rates to make charging decisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a cleaning robot returns to the nearest charging station, then the charging time is minimized, but collision with other cleaning robots occurs and conflicts arise
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by having cleaning robots transmit their charging status information before actually charging. When a robot approaches a charging station, it first checks whether the station is occupied by receiving occupancy information from other robots. This advance information exchange allows robots to select alternative charging stations before collision occurs, resolving the contradiction between minimizing charging time and avoiding collisions.
2Productivity
If multiple cleaning robots share limited charging stations, then resource utilization is improved, but conflicts and collisions increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where cleaning robots continuously transmit and receive occupancy information about charging stations. Each robot monitors the charging status of other robots and adjusts its charging station selection based on this feedback. This real-time information exchange enables multiple robots to share limited charging stations efficiently while avoiding conflicts and collisions, thus improving resource utilization without compromising safety.
3Ease of operation
If a cleaning robot selects a charging station without checking occupancy, then the operation is simple and fast, but collision and conflicts occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables cleaning robots to autonomously check charging station occupancy and select appropriate stations without external intervention. Each robot independently transmits its identification and charging status, receives occupancy information from other robots, and autonomously determines the best charging station to use. This self-service approach maintains operational simplicity while preventing collisions through automated occupancy checking and station selection.
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosure relates to a cleaning robot, controlling method thereof, and cleaning robot charging system, and more particularly, to a technology for a cleaning robot to select a charging device by taking into account whether the charging device is occupied and a distance to the charging device when the charging device is returning to the charging device for charging. The cleaning robot includes a main body; a movement module moving the main body; a communication module configured to request identification information of a charging device occupied by another cleaning robot to the other cleaning robot; and a controller configured to determine a charging device not occupied by the other cleaning robot based on the identification information of the charging device received from the other cleaning robot through the communication module, and to control the movement module to move the main body to the non-occupied charging device.