Robot Cleaner Rotatable Sensor for Adaptive Obstacle Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional robot cleaners have a fixed obstacle sensing range, which limits their ability to efficiently adapt to varying situations during operation, such as changing directions based on walls or obstacles, leading to ineffective navigation.
Innovation Solution
A robot cleaner with a sensor that can rotate within a predetermined angle range, controlled by a processor to adjust its sensing direction and range dynamically, allowing it to change its reference direction based on sensed obstacles and events like charging or traveling states, ensuring effective obstacle detection and navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed type sensor is mounted on the robot cleaner, then the sensor structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the sensing range is fixed and cannot adapt to various proceeding situations during driving
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor is made rotatable relative to the cleaner main body through a sensor driver, transforming the fixed sensing structure into a dynamic one. The sensor can rotate within a predetermined angle range about a reference direction, allowing the sensing range to adapt to various driving situations while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the sensor rotates to change sensing direction, then the adaptability to various situations is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional rotation mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor driver serves multiple functions: it rotates the sensor to change sensing direction, adjusts the reference direction based on cleaner rotation, and modifies the reciprocating rotation range dynamically. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate mechanisms, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving high adaptability.
3Productivity
If the reciprocating rotation range is adjusted dynamically, then the obstacle detection efficiency is improved, but the control system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The processor receives feedback from the displacement sensor about the actual reciprocating rotation range and dynamically adjusts the rotation range to match the predetermined angle range. This feedback mechanism enables efficient obstacle detection by optimizing the sensing range while using the existing sensor and processor to minimize additional control system complexity.
4Measurement precision
If the sensor is arranged inclined downward, then the obstacle sensing capability on floor surface is improved, but the sensor mounting structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor is arranged inclined downward specifically to optimize its sensing capability for obstacles on the floor surface. This localized structural adjustment improves measurement precision for floor-level obstacles without requiring complex overall mounting structures, as only the sensor orientation needs to be modified rather than the entire mounting system.
Data Source
AI summary
A robot cleaner includes a cleaner main body, a driver to move the cleaner main body, a sensor to sense an obstacle, and a sensor driver to rotate the sensor so that the sensor reciprocates in left and right directions within a predetermined angle range about a reference direction. In addition, a processor controls the driver to adjust a traveling direction of the cleaner main body based on the sensing result of the sensor, and to change the reference direction with a rotation direction if the cleaner main body is rotated.