Robot Cleaner Wheel Displacement Sensing for Obstacle Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robot cleaners often experience traveling disablement due to obstacles like lifted driving wheels or jamming, as they lack sensors to detect and prevent these conditions, leading to ineffective obstacle avoidance and cleaning disruptions.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating sensors and controllers in the driving wheel assemblies to detect displacement and adjust the traveling path, determining if wheels are lifted or jammed by comparing displacement to predetermined threshold values, and using standardized parameters like voltage to sense separation distances and angles, allowing the robot cleaner to adapt its path to avoid obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If robot cleaners are provided with sensors to detect lifting or jamming, then the reliability of cleaning operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the sensing function into the existing driving wheel assembly structure. The sensor is integrated with the driving wheel assembly to detect displacement, merging the sensing system with the driving system rather than adding a separate complex sensing subsystem. This reduces overall device complexity while maintaining reliability improvement.
Solution Approach 2:
The driving wheel assembly performs dual functions: both driving the robot and sensing displacement through the integrated sensor. The system uses its own structural components (driving wheel assembly) to detect its own state (displacement), eliminating the need for separate sensing mechanisms and reducing system complexity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If robot cleaners stop driving when obstacles are detected, then the harmful effects of collision are reduced, but the productivity of cleaning operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor detects displacement of the driving wheel before complete lifting or jamming occurs. By detecting the preliminary state of displacement, the system can take preventive action (adjust traveling path) before the harmful collision or complete jamming happens, thus reducing damage while maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors driving wheel displacement through the sensor and provides feedback to the control unit. When displacement exceeds the reference range, the control unit adjusts the traveling path. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables real-time obstacle avoidance without complete stoppage, reducing collision damage while maintaining cleaning productivity.
3Measurement precision
If the sensor detects small displacement values, then the measurement precision is improved, but the device complexity increases due to more sensitive detection requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a magnetic sensor to detect the position of a magnet attached to the driving wheel, replacing complex mechanical measurement systems. The magnetic field detection provides precise displacement measurement without mechanical contact or complex mechanical linkages, achieving high measurement precision while reducing device complexity.
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
Enables the robot cleaner to maintain continuous operation by detecting and responding to lifted or jammed wheels, preventing disruptions and ensuring effective obstacle avoidance during cleaning.
Implementation Method 1
A magnet may be provided at one end of the sensed body, and the sensor may sense the separation distance between the sensor and the sensed body through magnetic interaction with the magnet
Data Source
AI summary
A robot cleaner having an improved structure which executes a cleaning operation without stoppage of travelling of the robot cleaner due to obstacles present in a space to be cleaned, and a control method thereof. The control method of the robot cleaner which is provided with a main body, driving wheels driving the main body, and driving wheel assemblies, each of which includes each driving wheel, includes detecting displacement of each driving wheel with respect to a reference position by sensing a sensed body provided on each driving wheel assembly, judging whether or not the displacement is within a predetermined reference range, and changing a travelling path of the main body, upon judging that the displacement deviates from the reference range.