Robotic Sweeper Obstacle Removal for Complete Area Cleaning Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sweepers often bypass light and convenient furniture, leading to uncleaned areas and a poor user experience, as they are not designed to handle or move such obstacles during cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A sweeper that acquires a map of the target area, identifies obstacles, determines if they can be removed based on type and size, and if so, moves them to clean the area, then returns them to their original position for thorough cleaning and maintaining room layout.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the sweeper bypasses obstacles during cleaning, then collision avoidance is achieved, but cleaning coverage is reduced leaving uncleaned areas
Solution Approach 1:
The sweeper dynamically adjusts its cleaning strategy based on obstacle characteristics. For removable obstacles (light furniture), the system transitions from bypassing to removing and cleaning the area, while for non-removable obstacles, it maintains the bypassing behavior. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the cleaning approach conditional rather than fixed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of the sweeper based on obstacle analysis. By evaluating obstacle weight, size, and type, the system determines whether to activate the pushing mechanism or maintain avoidance behavior, thereby optimizing both collision avoidance and cleaning coverage through parameter-based decision making.
2Manufacturing precision
If the sweeper removes obstacles to clean occupied areas, then cleaning quality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of obstacles before cleaning begins. By pre-identifying removable obstacles and planning their removal in advance, the system avoids complex real-time decision making during cleaning, thereby improving cleaning quality while managing system complexity through advance preparation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from obstacle detection and classification to adjust cleaning behavior. By continuously monitoring obstacle characteristics and comparing them against removal criteria, the system makes informed decisions about whether to remove obstacles, ensuring high cleaning quality while maintaining manageable complexity through feedback-driven control.
3Productivity
If the sweeper attempts to move all obstacles, then cleaning coverage is maximized, but risk of damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different cleaning strategies to different local areas based on obstacle characteristics. Rather than uniformly attempting to move all obstacles, the system selectively removes only those obstacles that meet specific criteria (light weight, appropriate size, suitable location), thereby maximizing cleaning coverage in safe areas while avoiding damage risks in areas with fragile or heavy obstacles.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prioritizes removing lightweight, easily replaceable obstacles (such as temporary furniture or light items) while leaving heavier, more valuable, or fragile obstacles in place. This selective approach maximizes cleaning coverage by removing obstacles that pose minimal damage risk, while avoiding potential harm to more significant objects.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a cleaning method and a cleaning device. The method includes: acquiring a map of a target area, the map identifying an obstacle in the target area; determining an uncleaned area that cannot be cleaned due to occupancy of the obstacle in the target area according to the map; determining whether the obstacle occupying the uncleaned area can be removed by the sweeper; and the sweeper removing the obstacle and cleaning the uncleaned area, when the obstacle occupying the uncleaned area can be removed by the sweeper. In the technical solution, when an obstacle is encountered during cleaning, the sweeper may mark the area as an uncleaned area, and when it is determined that the obstacle occupying the area may be removed, the obstacle is removed and the area is cleaned.