Cleaning Robot Floor Detection for Defecation Pad Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cleaning robots lack the ability to effectively avoid defecation pads while navigating, risking the spread of pet excrement or its ingestion by the robot.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning robot equipped with a floor detection sensor and a method to identify fibrous floor areas, determining whether they are defecation pads based on size and location, and controlling its movement to avoid these areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the cleaning robot uses a floor detection sensor to identify fibrous floor areas, then the robot can detect carpets and increase suction power, but the robot may incorrectly identify defecation pads as carpets and attempt to clean them, causing contamination spread
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different identification criteria to different locations. Defecation pads are typically found in specific areas (near pet feeding zones, corners), while carpets are distributed throughout living spaces. By considering location information alongside size, the robot can distinguish between these similar-looking surfaces and avoid cleaning defecation pads.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters used for identification from solely size-based to a combination of size and location parameters. This multi-parameter approach allows the robot to differentiate between defecation pads and carpets, which may have similar sizes but different typical locations within the cleaning area.
2Productivity
If the cleaning robot increases suction power when moving on carpets, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but the robot may suck in pet excrement from defecation pads, creating health hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The robot performs preliminary identification of defecation pads using size and location criteria before initiating cleaning operations. By identifying these areas in advance and adding them to the avoidance list, the robot prevents the harmful action of sucking in excrement before it can occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the potential harm of high suction power (which could pick up excrement) into a benefit by using the same suction capability to detect and identify defecation pad locations during the mapping phase, then using this information to avoid those areas during cleaning operations.
3Productivity
If the cleaning robot cleans all fibrous floor areas, then comprehensive cleaning is achieved, but the robot spreads pet excrement to surrounding areas by cleaning defecation pads
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the cleaning area into different zones based on floor type and location characteristics. By dividing the fibrous floor areas into carpets (to be cleaned) and defecation pads (to be avoided), the robot can selectively clean only the appropriate areas, maintaining comprehensive cleaning coverage while excluding contaminated zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot performs preliminary identification and classification of all fibrous floor areas during the mapping phase, distinguishing between carpets and defecation pads based on size and location. This preliminary action allows the robot to plan its cleaning route to cover all appropriate areas while avoiding defecation pads, achieving comprehensive cleaning without contamination spread.
Data Source
AI summary
A cleaning robot for detecting a floor while moving around and a method of controlling the cleaning robot are provided. The method includes identifying, by the cleaning robot, a fibrous floor area through a floor detection sensor while the cleaning robot moves around on a cleaning area, determining, by the cleaning robot, based on at least one of a size of the fibrous floor area or a location of the fibrous floor area on a map of the cleaning area, whether the fibrous floor area is a defecation pad area, and causing, based on determining that the fibrous floor area is the defecation pad area, the cleaning robot to move around while avoiding the fibrous floor area.