Method for operating an automatically moving cleaning device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cleaning devices struggle to optimize cleaning operations for surfaces with low contamination levels, particularly during prolonged user absence, as they lack a method to adjust cleaning frequency and intensity based on overall contamination levels rather than individual area measurements.
Innovation Solution
The cleaning device compares the overall contamination level to a reference level determined during a previous cleaning activity, adjusting cleaning parameters such as frequency and power based on this comparison, and applies these parameters uniformly across all surface areas to optimize cleaning efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If cleaning devices use individual contamination levels of partial surface areas to control cleaning operations, then cleaning intensity can be individually adjusted in contaminated areas, but cleaning operations become unnecessarily intensive for surfaces with low overall contamination levels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the contamination assessment into two levels: overall contamination level for the entire surface and individual contamination levels for partial surface areas. The overall contamination level serves as a gatekeeper that determines whether detailed partial area analysis and intensive cleaning should be performed at all, thereby reducing unnecessary energy consumption while preserving the ability to perform targeted intensive cleaning when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by performing full detailed contamination analysis and intensive cleaning operations only partially - specifically, only when the overall contamination level exceeds a threshold. When overall contamination is low, the system performs minimal cleaning despite having the capability for detailed partial area analysis, thereby avoiding excessive energy consumption while maintaining cleaning effectiveness.
2Reliability
If cleaning devices perform frequent cleaning operations to maintain surface cleanliness, then surface cleanliness is maintained, but device travel and battery consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback control by continuously monitoring the overall contamination level and using it to dynamically adjust cleaning operations. The system only initiates cleaning operations when the overall contamination level exceeds a predetermined threshold, creating a feedback loop that maintains surface cleanliness only when necessary, thereby reducing unnecessary device travel and battery consumption while ensuring cleanliness is maintained when contamination occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms continuous cleaning operations into periodic actions triggered by contamination threshold exceedance. Instead of performing frequent routine cleaning, the system waits for contamination to reach a threshold level before initiating cleaning operations, thereby reducing device travel time and battery consumption while maintaining surface cleanliness through event-driven periodic cleaning.
3Ease of operation
If cleaning devices clean all partial surface areas with identical parameters, then operational simplicity is achieved, but cleaning efficiency decreases for surfaces with heterogeneous contamination distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cleaning decision-making process into two distinct stages: first assessing overall contamination level uniformly across the entire surface, then segmenting into partial surface area analysis only when overall contamination exceeds a threshold. This segmentation maintains operational simplicity for low-contamination scenarios while enabling detailed efficiency-optimized cleaning for high-contamination scenarios.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic adaptability by making the cleaning parameter application conditional on the overall contamination level. When overall contamination is low, identical simplified parameters are applied to all areas for operational simplicity. When overall contamination exceeds a threshold, the system dynamically switches to detailed partial area analysis with differentiated cleaning parameters, thereby optimizing cleaning efficiency for heterogeneous contamination distributions while maintaining simplicity when appropriate.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for operating a cleaning device that automatically moves within an environment, wherein the cleaning device cleans a surface according to a prescribed work plan, wherein a detection device of the cleaning device detects contamination levels of several partial surface areas of the surface, wherein a cleaning operation of the cleaning device is varied as a function of the detection result, wherein an overall contamination level is determined for the surface from the contamination levels of several partial surface areas, and the cleaning operation is performed with cleaning parameters identical to the overall contamination level for the entire surface. In order to create an alternative to conventional operating methods, the determined overall contamination level is compared with at least one reference contamination level, specifically with an overall contamination level determined during a chronologically preceding cleaning activity.