Robot cleaner and control method thereof
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robot cleaners face challenges in effectively avoiding obstacles and navigating narrow areas while maintaining efficient cleaning performance, as they often require rotating their body to change direction, which can increase battery consumption and delay cleaning time.
Innovation Solution
The robot cleaner is equipped with multi-directional moving wheels and a rotatable sensor module that allows it to determine and follow a traveling route without rotating its body, enabling forward, rearward, leftward, rightward, diagonal, and rotational movements to avoid obstacles and reach targets like walls or docking stations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the robot cleaner rotates its body to change direction, then it can navigate to different areas, but battery consumption increases and cleaning time is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The robot divides its movement capability into two independent parts: body orientation (sensor rotation) and body displacement (wheel movement). The sensor module can rotate independently to detect obstacles in different directions while the body remains stationary, eliminating the need for energy-consuming body rotations during navigation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces rotational freedom in a different dimension - the sensor module rotates around the body's vertical axis to scan the environment, while the body itself remains fixed in position. This separates the sensing dimension from the movement dimension, allowing directional awareness without body rotation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the robot cleaner rotates its body to avoid obstacles, then it can change its traveling direction, but cleaning efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot separates obstacle detection (sensor rotation) from obstacle avoidance execution (body movement). The sensor can rapidly rotate to detect obstacles in all directions without requiring the heavy body to rotate, enabling quick response to obstacles while maintaining cleaning efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical body rotation system with an independent sensor rotation system for environmental perception. This lighter, faster-responding sensor subsystem handles the adaptive function without the inertia and energy constraints of rotating the entire cleaning body.
3Device complexity
If the robot cleaner uses traditional wheels, then the structure is simple, but movement freedom in narrow areas is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel assembly incorporates a rotating mechanism that allows the wheel plane to change orientation dynamically. The wheel can rotate around a vertical axis in addition to its primary rotation for forward motion, enabling the robot to move diagonally, sideways, and in tight spaces without requiring complex multi-wheel configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple movement functions into a single wheel assembly. The wheel structure integrates both the primary drive function (rotation for forward motion) and the directional change function (rotation of the wheel plane), eliminating the need for separate steering mechanisms while achieving omnidirectional capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A robot cleaner and a traveling algorithm of the robot cleaner having wheels capable of moving in all directions to have enhanced traveling ability in various directions includes a body unit, a sensor provided to be rotatable with respect to the body unit to sense obstacles, a multi-directional moving wheel provided at a lower portion of the body unit to move the body unit in various directions, and a controller configured to determine a traveling route of the robot cleaner to avoid the detected obstacles and control the multi-directional moving wheel when the traveling route is determined so that the robot cleaner moves to the determined traveling route in a state where the body unit is not rotated.