Robot Vacuum with Pusher Pads and Scoop for Obstacle Relocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robotic vacuum cleaners face challenges in effectively navigating and cleaning cluttered floors, as they often struggle with obstacles such as static and movable objects, limiting their ability to provide efficient cleaning and safety.
Innovation Solution
A tidying robot system equipped with a vacuuming assembly, pusher pad arms, and a scoop, which uses a robotic control system to navigate, identify, and manage obstacles by picking up, relocating, or avoiding them, allowing it to maintain efficient cleaning operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the robot uses a simple avoidance strategy for obstacles, then the navigation is simple and device complexity is low, but cleaning productivity decreases due to frequent path alterations
Solution Approach 1:
The robot dynamically adjusts its navigation strategy based on real-time obstacle detection and classification. Instead of using a fixed avoidance pattern, the system modifies its behavior adaptively - switching between avoidance, pickup, and relocation strategies depending on the obstacle type and current task state, thereby maintaining high cleaning productivity while managing navigation complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The navigation system is segmented into multiple specialized modules: obstacle detection module, obstacle classification module, path planning module, and execution module. Each module handles a specific aspect of obstacle management, allowing the system to process complex navigation decisions efficiently without overwhelming the overall system complexity
2Productivity
If the robot attempts to pick up and relocate all obstacles, then cleaning productivity improves by maintaining clear paths, but device complexity increases due to additional manipulation mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The robot employs pusher pads that serve multiple functions: they can push obstacles aside during navigation, capture small objects for pickup, and assist in relocating larger items. This multi-functional design enables the robot to handle various obstacle types with a single mechanism, improving cleaning productivity without proportionally increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The pusher pads act as intermediary tools between the robot's navigation system and obstacles. Rather than the robot directly manipulating all objects, the pusher pads mediate the interaction by pushing, capturing, or positioning obstacles, thereby enabling complex manipulation tasks while keeping the core navigation system relatively simple
3Reliability
If the robot frequently alters its path to avoid obstacles, then safety improves by preventing collisions, but time consumption increases reducing overall productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The robot performs preliminary obstacle classification and assessment before executing path alterations. By pre-evaluating obstacles and determining the optimal response strategy in advance, the system minimizes unnecessary path changes and reduces the time lost during navigation, while still maintaining high collision avoidance reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The navigation system incorporates real-time feedback from obstacle detection sensors and continuous path monitoring. This feedback loop allows the robot to make informed, minimal adjustments to its path only when necessary, preventing both collisions and excessive time consumption through optimized decision-making based on current environmental conditions
4Manufacturing precision
If the robot maintains a constant tidiness level requirement, then cleaning quality is consistent, but user time burden increases as users must constantly maintain tidiness
Solution Approach 1:
The robot autonomously handles obstacle management including detection, classification, pickup, and relocation of objects during cleaning operations. This self-service capability allows the robot to maintain consistent cleaning quality without requiring users to constantly maintain tidiness, thereby eliminating the user time burden while preserving cleaning quality consistency
Data Source
AI summary
A tidying robot system is disclosed that includes a robot capable of moving aside or picking up and redepositing objects that obstruct areas the robot intends to vacuum. The robot includes a chassis, a robot vacuum system with a vacuum generating assembly and a dirt collector, a scoop, pusher pad arms with pusher pads, a robot charge connector, mobility system, a battery, a processor, and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, allow operation and control of the robot. The tidying robot system also includes a base station with a base station charge connector configured to couple with the robot charge connector. The tidying robot system also includes a robotic control system in at least one of the robot and a cloud server. The tidying robot system also includes logic to implement the operations and methods disclosed.