Robot cleaner
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robot cleaners with spin-mops face challenges in maintaining a straight path due to varying frictional forces, leading to incomplete cleaning, especially near obstacles and in areas between spin-mops, resulting in uncleaned regions.
Innovation Solution
A robot cleaner with a controller managing the rotational directions and speeds of dual spin-mops to create a zigzag pattern, ensuring that one spin-mop's trajectory overlaps the other's during opposite directions of travel, effectively covering the entire floor surface without leaving uncleaned areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the robot cleaner uses conventional zigzag-pattern travel with spin-mops, then it can cover most floor areas, but uncleaned regions remain in the central part between the spin-mops
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by transitioning from conventional straight-line zigzag travel to three-dimensional spherical motion. The robot cleaner moves along the surface of an imaginary sphere, allowing the spin-mops to cover not only the lateral areas but also the central region between them through radial and tangential movement components, thereby eliminating uncleaned regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by enabling the robot cleaner to perform continuous, fluid spherical motion rather than rigid straight-line segments. The motion includes varying speeds and directions along spherical paths, allowing the spin-mops to dynamically cover overlapping areas and ensure complete cleaning of the central region while maintaining high productivity.
2Productivity
If the robot cleaner rotates spin-mops at high speed for faster cleaning, then productivity increases, but the varying frictional forces cause difficulty in maintaining a straight path
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by embracing dynamics - instead of attempting to maintain rigid straight-line stability at high speeds, the system adopts controlled spherical motion that naturally accommodates frictional variations. The multi-directional spherical paths allow the robot to continuously adjust its trajectory, converting potential instability into adaptive movement that maintains both high speed and effective cleaning coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies spheroidality by replacing straight-line travel with curved spherical paths. The robot cleaner moves along the surface of an imaginary sphere, using radial and tangential motion components to navigate. This curved trajectory approach naturally handles frictional force variations better than straight lines, as the continuous curvature allows for smoother adjustments in response to changing friction conditions while maintaining high cleaning speed.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the robot cleaner uses S-shaped moving pattern to improve path stability, then travel stability improves, but the cleaning speed and productivity decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transcends the two-dimensional S-shaped pattern by implementing three-dimensional spherical motion. Instead of alternating left-right curves in a plane, the robot moves along the surface of a sphere, adding a radial dimension to the motion. This enables more efficient coverage of the cleaning area with smoother, more continuous paths that maintain both stability and high cleaning speed, eliminating the need for the slower S-shaped alternating pattern.
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
This solution enables the robot cleaner to travel efficiently and thoroughly clean the floor, minimizing uncleaned regions and increasing cleaning speed while maintaining intuitive zigzag-pattern travel motions.
Implementation Method 1
the rotary members are concurrently rotated on a floor surface while portions of the mops fixed to the rotary members are in contact with the floor surface to generate friction forces to move the robot cleaner
Data Source
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Figure 5
AI summary
A robot cleaner includes a cleaning module having a left spin-mop and a right spin-mop configured to contact a floor while rotating in a clockwise direction or in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from above. The robot cleaner also includes a controller that manages the cleaning module such that, when the robot cleaner travels in a zigzag pattern including a first travel, during which the robot cleaner travels straight in a first direction, and a second travel, during which the robot cleaner travels straight in a second direction, which is opposite the first direction, a movement trajectory of the left spin-mop or the right spin-mop during the second travel overlaps a movement trajectory of the left spin-mop and a movement trajectory of the right spin-mop during the first travel.