Robot Cleaner Remote Monitoring With Cleaning Map Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current robotic cleaners lack advanced remote monitoring and control capabilities, limiting user convenience and system management efficiency, especially in terms of generating cleaning maps and monitoring images for specific areas.

Innovation Solution

A robotic cleaner equipped with monitoring cameras, a control unit, and a communication server that captures and transmits monitoring images and cleaning maps to external devices, allowing for remote control and authentication, while using sensors and image processing for obstacle detection and location recognition.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If remote monitoring and control capabilities are added to robotic cleaners, then user convenience and system management efficiency are improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser convenienceVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The robotic cleaner is designed with multi-functionality by integrating cleaning operations, monitoring camera, communication server, and control unit into a single device. This allows the robot to perform both cleaning tasks and remote monitoring/control functions, improving user convenience without requiring separate devices.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

A communication server acts as an intermediary between the robotic cleaner and external devices. The communication server receives images from the monitoring camera and transmits them to external devices, enabling remote monitoring and control while isolating the complexity of communication protocols from the main cleaning system.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If monitoring cameras and communication servers are integrated into the robotic cleaner, then remote monitoring efficiency is enhanced, but manufacturing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveremote monitoring efficiencyVSAvoidmanufacturing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The system is segmented into distinct functional modules: monitoring camera, communication server, control unit, and cleaning mechanisms. Each module can be manufactured and tested independently, then integrated into the final robotic cleaner product, reducing overall manufacturing complexity despite the advanced features.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Ease of operation

If images and cleaning maps are transmitted to external devices, then user access and control from distance is improved, but loss of time for data transmission occurs

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveremote accessVSAvoiddata transmission time
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The robotic cleaner captures and prepares images and cleaning map data during its normal cleaning operations, before remote viewing is requested. The control unit continuously updates the cleaning map as the robot moves, so when a user requests remote viewing, the data is already prepared and can be transmitted quickly without requiring real-time processing delays.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP2381328B1Robot cleaner and remote monitoring system using the same
Publication Date: 2021.06.09 LG ELECTRONICS INC
  • EP2381328B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP2381328B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP2381328B1 patent drawingFigure 5

AI summary

A robot cleaner (100) has a camera to generate an image of a cleaning area, a controller to prepare a cleaning map based on the image and to drive a robot cleaner, and a communicator to transmit the image and cleaning map to an external device (200) and to receive a control command from the external device. The image and map may be transmitted over a local or wide area network, and the external device may be a computer, television, smart phone, portable phone, or other type of wireless access device.