Robot Cleaner Path Planning Using Sub-Area Connection Points
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional robot cleaners face inefficiencies in calculating full travel paths and maintaining optimal cleaning performance as the area to be cleaned increases, requiring extensive memory and time to regenerate maps, leading to suboptimal travel and cleaning performance.
Innovation Solution
A robot cleaner that divides the cleaning area into sub-areas, calculates full paths based on connection points and travel paths within each sub-area, and updates these paths without regenerating the entire map, using a control unit to manage the driving, storage, and obstacle detection units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If the robot cleaner uses a conventional method to calculate the full travel path for the entire cleaning area, then the complete path can be obtained, but the calculation time increases significantly when the cleaning area increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning area is divided into multiple sub-areas, and the full travel path is calculated by connecting individual sub-area paths through connection points. This segmentation allows the robot to calculate paths for smaller regions independently and combine them, significantly reducing the overall calculation time compared to computing the entire path at once.
2Reliability
If the robot cleaner stores the complete map of the entire cleaning area, then the full path calculation can be performed, but the memory capacity requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complete cleaning map is divided into multiple sub-area maps that are stored separately in memory. Each sub-area map contains only the necessary information for that specific region, reducing the total memory capacity required compared to storing a single comprehensive map of the entire cleaning area.
3Productivity
If the robot cleaner calculates the shortest distance for the entire cleaning area, then optimal travel efficiency is achieved, but the calculation complexity increases with larger areas
Solution Approach 1:
The shortest path calculation is performed separately for each sub-area and then combined using connection points. This approach reduces calculation complexity by breaking down the large-scale optimization problem into multiple smaller, more manageable sub-problems, while still achieving optimal travel efficiency through systematic path connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The path calculation problem is transformed from a single large-scale optimization problem into a multi-level hierarchical structure where individual sub-area paths are first optimized, then connected through connection points. This dimensional transformation of the problem structure simplifies the overall calculation while maintaining travel efficiency.
4Reliability
If the robot cleaner regenerates the complete map when the cleaning area extends, then the map remains accurate, but the time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning area is pre-divided into sub-areas with predefined connection points, and individual sub-area maps are maintained separately. When the cleaning area extends, only the new sub-area needs to be added and integrated with existing connection points, rather than regenerating the entire map from scratch. This preliminary structuring enables efficient map updates.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention provides a robot cleaner for cleaning an area to be cleaned, the area to be cleaned being divided into a plurality of sub-areas, the robot cleaner comprising: a driving unit to drive at least one wheel to move the robot cleaner, a storage unit to store connection points between the sub-areas and a travel path within each sub-area, and a control unit to divide the area to be cleaned into the plurality of sub-areas and to control the driving unit so as to move the robot cleaner along a full path, wherein the control unit is configured to calculate the full path based on a first path being a travel path in a first sub-area originating from and terminating at a first connection point, and a second path connecting the first connection point to a second travel path, wherein the full path is formed by adding the first path to the second path.