Experience-based roadmap for a robotic cleaning device
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic cleaning devices face inefficiencies in navigation and collision avoidance, particularly in large or complex spaces, due to reliance on incomplete sensor data, which can lead to getting stuck or lost, and require expensive electronic components for data extraction.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the registration of roadmap nodes with positional information during cleaning, linking these nodes to form a roadmap graph, and adding shortcut links to enhance navigation efficiency and safety, allowing the device to find obstacle-free paths and reduce collision risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If robotic cleaning devices navigate using sensor data and make assumptions about their environment, then they can avoid collisions, but they run a high risk of getting stuck or lost and require expensive electronic components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the environment through a roadmap graph data structure that represents the cleaning space and obstacles. Instead of relying on expensive sensor arrays to perceive the environment in real-time, the system uses a simplified computational model (roadmap with nodes and links) that captures essential navigation information. This virtual representation allows the robot to navigate reliably using less complex electronics.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary mapping by registering roadmap nodes and links before navigation begins. During the cleaning process, the robot builds up the roadmap graph incrementally as it explores the environment, creating a pre-planned navigation structure. This preliminary action eliminates the need for complex real-time sensor processing during navigation, as the path planning is based on the pre-established roadmap.
2Productivity
If robotic cleaning devices use random motion to clean surfaces, then they can eventually cover the entire surface, but the cleaning efficiency is low and navigation is not very efficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions the cleaning system from static random motion to dynamic adaptive navigation. The roadmap graph structure allows the robot to dynamically adjust its path based on the cleaned areas and remaining work. Instead of purely random movement, the system uses the roadmap to guide efficient transitions between cleaning zones, optimizing the cleaning path while maintaining complete surface coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback by continuously updating the roadmap graph as cleaning progresses. The robot tracks which areas have been cleaned and uses this information to plan subsequent movements efficiently. This feedback mechanism allows the system to adapt its navigation strategy in real-time, avoiding re-cleaning already cleaned areas and prioritizing uncleaned regions, thereby significantly improving cleaning efficiency.
3Productivity
If robotic cleaning devices drive back and forth stroke by stroke to clean surfaces, then they can clean systematically, but the risk of colliding with obstacles during navigation is comparably high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cleaning environment into discrete roadmap nodes and links, creating a structured representation of the space. This segmentation allows the systematic stroke-by-stroke cleaning method to be overlaid on a pre-planned safe navigation path. The roadmap graph divides the continuous space into manageable segments that can be navigated safely while maintaining systematic cleaning coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The roadmap graph serves as an intermediary between the systematic cleaning requirement and the safe navigation requirement. It acts as a mediator that translates the cleaning stroke pattern into a sequence of safe navigation actions. By using the roadmap as an intermediate representation, the system can plan both cleaning paths and navigation paths simultaneously, ensuring that systematic cleaning is performed along pre-validated safe routes.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a method of operating a robotic cleaning device (10) over a surface to be cleaned comprising the steps of: registering (S01) roadmap nodes (34a, 34b, 34', 34'', 34''', 34'''', 34''''') at intervals on the surface during cleaning, said roadmap nodes comprising positional information; linking (S02) the roadmap nodes to form roadmap links (36) in a roadmap graph (38, 38'), if the robotic cleaning device is driving directly from a previously registered roadmap node (34') to a currently registered roadmap node (34); wherein the roadmap links (36) in the roadmap graph facilitate navigation of the robotic cleaning device.