Robot Cleaner Floor Sensing for Adaptive Suction and Steering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional robot cleaners fail to automatically adjust their travel direction and suction force based on the type of floor, leading to inefficient cleaning and battery consumption issues when operating on either hard or soft floors.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an infrared sensor system with a processor that uses threshold voltages to control the robot cleaner's travel direction and suction mode, switching between modes based on the output voltage from the infrared sensor, allowing for adaptive operation on different floor types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the robot cleaner uses a strong suction force suitable for soft floors, then cleaning performance improves on soft floors, but battery consumption increases unnecessarily on hard floors
Solution Approach 1:
The suction force is dynamically adjusted based on real-time floor type detection. The system switches between high suction force mode for soft floors and low suction force mode for hard floors, preventing unnecessary energy consumption on hard floors while ensuring adequate cleaning performance on soft floors
Solution Approach 2:
The suction force parameter is changed according to the detected floor type. The processor monitors the floor type and adjusts the suction force parameter accordingly, reducing the parameter value on hard floors to save battery and increasing it on soft floors to maintain cleaning effectiveness
2Device complexity
If the robot cleaner uses only an infrared sensor for direction control, then the device complexity remains low, but the adaptability to different floor types is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The infrared sensor is given multiple functions: it serves both for travel direction control (by detecting reflected infrared rays from the floor) and for floor type recognition (by analyzing the intensity of the reflected infrared rays). This multi-functionality approach allows the system to achieve adaptability without adding separate dedicated sensors for each function
Solution Approach 2:
The infrared sensor performs self-service by simultaneously executing direction control and floor type detection tasks. The sensor's output signal is processed by the processor to determine both the travel direction and the floor type, allowing the single sensor to serve multiple purposes without requiring additional specialized components
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
Improves cleaning efficiency and battery life by dynamically adjusting the suction force and travel direction in response to varying floor types, enhancing user satisfaction and reducing unnecessary battery consumption.
Implementation Method 1
an infrared sensor including a light emitting device configured to output an infrared ray to a floor and a light receiving device configured to receive the infrared ray reflected from the floor
Implementation Method 2
a light receiving device configured to receive the infrared ray reflected from the floor and convert the received infrared ray into an electric signal
Implementation Method 3
a suction unit configured to suck dust on the floor; and a processor configured to control the suction unit to operate in a first suction mode having a first suction force when a soft floor is detected and control the suction unit to operate in a second suction mode having a second suction force less than the first suction force when a hard floor is detected
Data Source
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AI summary
A robot cleaner is disclosed. The robot cleaner includes an infrared sensor including a light emitting device configured to output an infrared ray to a floor and a light receiving device configured to receive the infrared ray reflected from the floor and convert the received infrared ray into an electric signal and output the electric signal; and a processor configured to determine an output voltage of the electrical signal if the electrical signal is received from the infrared sensor, control a travel direction of the robot cleaner based on the output voltage and a predetermined first threshold voltage, and control a suction mode of the robot cleaner based on the output voltage and a predetermined second threshold voltage, wherein the second threshold voltage is higher than the first threshold voltage.