Robotic Cleaner Height Adjustment for Carpet Traversal and Docking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cleaners face difficulties in smoothly traversing varied surfaces, such as carpets, due to suction force issues and wheel slippage, which affects their automatic cleaning performance and manual docking with charging stands.
Innovation Solution
The cleaner incorporates a height adjuster mechanism coupled to a suspension assembly, allowing the main body to adjust its height based on slip rate or sensor feedback, maintaining contact with the floor and preventing carpet fibers from entering the suction port, while also ensuring secure docking with charging stands.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the cleaner maintains close contact with the floor during automatic cleaning, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but the cleaner cannot smoothly traverse varied surfaces such as carpets
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaner employs a dynamic height adjustment mechanism that automatically changes the cleaner body's height relative to the floor based on detected surface conditions. When carpets or obstacles are detected, the cleaner body is raised to avoid entanglement and slippage; when hard floors are detected, the cleaner body is lowered to maintain close contact for effective cleaning. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between maintaining cleaning contact and traversing varied surfaces smoothly.
2Reliability
If the cleaner raises the cleaning nozzle to prevent carpet fiber entanglement, then traversal reliability is improved, but cleaning effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the cleaner body height based on real-time surface detection. When carpets are detected, the cleaner body is raised to prevent fiber entanglement and ensure reliable traversal. When hard floors are detected, the cleaner body is lowered to maintain close contact for effective cleaning. This temporal separation of states resolves the contradiction between traversal reliability and cleaning effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameter of cleaner body height in response to detected surface conditions. By adjusting this parameter, the system optimizes performance for different surface types - raising the cleaner body for carpets improves traversal reliability, while lowering it for hard floors improves cleaning effectiveness.
3Reliability
If the cleaner body is raised to dock with the charging stand, then docking reliability is improved, but the cleaner cannot maintain floor contact for cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of the charging stand's position and height before initiating the docking maneuver. Once the charging stand is detected, the cleaner body is raised in advance to the appropriate height for docking, ensuring reliable connection. The cleaning operation is temporarily suspended during this transition, and normal cleaning resumes after successful docking.
4Use of energy by moving object
If the cleaner uses high voltage charging terminals, then energy replenishment efficiency is improved, but safety risks increase requiring precise docking
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs feedback mechanisms including ultrasonic sensors and cameras to detect the charging stand's position and height. The cleaner continuously monitors its own position relative to the charging stand and adjusts its movement and height accordingly. This feedback control ensures precise docking alignment, which is critical for safe connection of high voltage charging terminals.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces purely mechanical docking approaches with sensor-based detection and control. Ultrasonic sensors and cameras detect the charging stand's position, and the controller processes this information to guide the cleaner body's movement and height adjustment. This substitution of mechanical sensing with electronic sensing improves docking precision and safety for high voltage connections.
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 smooth traversal on different surfaces and secure automatic docking, enhancing both cleaning efficiency and reliability.
Implementation Method 1
a suspension assembly 300 to absorb shocks or impacts applied to the wheel assembly 200
Implementation Method 2
an ascending/descending mechanism 400 to adjust a height of the cleaner body 110
Data Source
AI summary
A cleaner may include a main body configured to be ascendable and descendable with respect to a suspension assembly provided to absorb shocks applied to a wheel assembly, thereby enabling the suspension assembly to continuously absorb shocks even when the height of the main body is adjusted. The cleaner may further include a charging terminal configured to connect to an external docking device to charge the cleaner and provided on a bottom surface of the main body, a drive assembly including a wheel assembly to drive the main body, a height adjuster coupled to the main body to ascend or descend together with the main body and mounted to the drive assembly so as to be ascendable and descendable, and a controller to ascend the height adjuster and raise the main body when the main body is set to be docked with the docking device.