Robot Cleaner Path Segmentation to Reduce Low-Height Obstacle Climbing

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional robot cleaners face challenges when encountering low-height obstacles like thresholds or carpets, as they repeatedly climb and move along these obstacles, leading to restraint issues, increased battery consumption, and stopped travel.

Innovation Solution

The robot cleaner employs a control method that determines whether it can climb an obstacle, stores the obstacle's boundary position, and defines regions within the cleaning area to avoid climbing low-height obstacles, allowing it to bypass and clean around them, minimizing travel disruptions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If the robot cleaner climbs low-height obstacles repeatedly, then it can clean areas on both sides of the obstacle, but it causes restraint issues and increased battery consumption

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecleaning coverageVSAvoidbattery consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The cleaning area is divided into multiple regions based on obstacle boundaries. The robot cleaner segments the cleaning path into first and second regions separated by low-height obstacles, allowing it to clean each region independently without repeatedly climbing the obstacle, thus reducing energy consumption while maintaining comprehensive cleaning coverage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The robot cleaner performs preliminary mapping and obstacle detection to identify low-height obstacles and their boundaries before cleaning. By pre-defining cleaning regions and planning paths around obstacles, the robot avoids unnecessary repeated climbing actions, thereby reducing battery consumption while ensuring complete cleaning coverage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Productivity

If the robot cleaner climbs low-height obstacles repeatedly, then it can access cleaning areas on both sides, but it leads to restraint issues at obstacle boundaries

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecleaning coverageVSAvoidtravel stability

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The cleaning area is divided into multiple regions based on obstacle boundaries. The robot cleaner segments the cleaning path into first and second regions separated by low-height obstacles, allowing it to clean each region independently without repeatedly climbing the obstacle, thus reducing energy consumption while maintaining comprehensive cleaning coverage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The robot cleaner performs preliminary mapping and obstacle detection to identify low-height obstacles and their boundaries before cleaning. By pre-defining cleaning regions and planning paths around obstacles, the robot avoids unnecessary repeated climbing actions, thereby reducing battery consumption and improving travel stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Measurement precision

If the robot cleaner uses multiple sensors to detect obstacles and positions, then it can navigate accurately, but it increases device complexity

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveobstacle detection accuracyVSAvoidsensor quantity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The robot cleaner employs a single sensor unit that performs multiple functions: detecting obstacles, measuring their heights, determining boundaries, and tracking positions. This multi-functional sensor replaces what would otherwise require multiple specialized sensors, achieving high measurement precision while keeping the device complexity low.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS11385655B2Robot cleaner and method for controlling the same

Publication Date: 2022.07.12 LG ELECTRONICS INC

AI summary

A robot cleaner may determine a climbable low height obstacle such as a threshold, a carpet, or the like in a cleaning area when the robot cleaner travels the cleaning area. The robot cleaner may be able to climb the obstacle after completing a travel of a region except for the corresponding obstacle.