Robotic Mower Travelling Containment Zones for Even Lawn Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robotic lawn mowers often inefficiently cover lawns due to random travel patterns and varying property boundaries, leading to uneven cutting and potential hang-ups in narrow areas, which can extend mowing times and result in missed areas.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where the mower operates within a dynamically changing 'travelling containment zone' defined by virtual boundaries, allowing for even coverage and efficient navigation across the lawn by adjusting speed and movement based on cutting load and obstacles, ensuring all areas are adequately covered.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the mower uses a random travel pattern within a fixed property boundary, then the mower can operate autonomously without complex path planning, but the coverage becomes uneven and some areas may be missed or repeatedly mowed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static fixed boundary into a dynamic travelling containment zone that moves across the work region over time. The virtual boundary is continuously updated to encompass only the uncut portion of the lawn, allowing the mower to systematically cover the entire area while maintaining autonomous operation. This dynamic adjustment ensures uniform coverage without requiring complex pre-planned paths.
2Device complexity
If the mower operates in a fixed boundary zone, then the containment area is simple to define, but the mower may get hung-up in narrow areas and mow the same areas repeatedly
Solution Approach 1:
The travelling containment zone dynamically shrinks and relocates as the mower progresses through the work region. Instead of a fixed boundary, the virtual boundary continuously updates to reflect the remaining uncut area, preventing the mower from repeatedly entering already-mowed zones or becoming trapped in narrow passages. This increases productivity while maintaining simple boundary management.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from the mower's position and cutting progress to continuously update the travelling containment zone. The virtual boundary is adjusted based on real-time information about which areas have been mowed, ensuring the mower always operates in uncut regions and optimizing the mowing path without complex pre-planning.
3Device complexity
If the mower covers the entire work region in one pass, then the boundary definition is simple, but the mower may require recharging before completing the task
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the mowing task into multiple phases, each corresponding to a travelling containment zone. The work region is divided into sequential zones that the mower completes one at a time. When the battery needs recharging, the mower can return to the base station and resume from where it left off, rather than requiring completion of the entire large area in one continuous operation. This segmentation allows longer overall task duration without increasing boundary management complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Apparatus, systems, and methods for directing an autonomous robotic vehicle such as a lawn mower relative to a work region. In some embodiments, the vehicle travels in a random pattern within a travelling containment zone of a lesser size than the work region. The travelling containment zone may move or travel across the work region such that, over time, the travelling containment zone travels over most all of a working surface of the work region.