Surface Touch Monitoring for Targeted Robotic Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robotic systems lack the ability to efficiently and accurately identify and clean surfaces that have been touched by actors, leading to indiscriminate cleaning and inefficiencies in resource usage and timing.
Innovation Solution
A robotic device equipped with sensors and control circuitry that generates a map of the environment, identifies keypoints representing actor body locations, and determines if these keypoints are within a threshold distance of stationary features, thereby pinpointing and cleaning only the touched areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If robotic systems perform indiscriminate cleaning of all surfaces, then cleaning coverage is improved, but resource usage efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from uniform cleaning of all surfaces to localized cleaning of only those surfaces that have been touched by actors. Sensors identify specific touched regions, and the robotic device applies cleaning resources only to those localized areas, thereby maintaining cleaning coverage for contaminated surfaces while eliminating waste on clean surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning task is segmented into identification and execution phases. First, sensors segment the environment by identifying which specific surfaces have been touched. Then, the cleaning operation is segmented to apply cleaning only to those identified portions rather than treating the entire surface area uniformly.
2Reliability
If robotic systems clean all surfaces, then sanitation effectiveness is improved, but cleaning time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system focuses cleaning efforts on locally identified contaminated areas rather than treating all surfaces uniformly. By using sensors to detect which specific surfaces have been touched by actors, the system maintains sanitation effectiveness for contaminated surfaces while reducing overall cleaning time by skipping clean areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection of touched surfaces before executing cleaning operations. Sensors continuously monitor and identify which surfaces require cleaning, allowing the robotic device to plan and execute cleaning only where necessary, thereby reducing total cleaning time while maintaining sanitation effectiveness.
3Manufacturing precision
If robotic systems use more cleaning products, then cleaning thoroughness is improved, but environmental impact worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies cleaning products locally only to touched surfaces rather than distributing them across all surfaces. Sensors identify specific contaminated areas, and the robotic device delivers cleaning products precisely to those locations, maintaining cleaning thoroughness for contaminated areas while minimizing overall product consumption and environmental impact.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts the cleaning action from a blanket application approach and targets it specifically to contaminated portions. By removing unnecessary cleaning product application to clean surfaces, the system maintains thoroughness where needed while eliminating excess substance use that would otherwise harm the environment.
4Reliability
If robotic systems implement contactless cleaning, then safety is improved, but cleaning accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses sensors as intermediaries to detect touched surfaces without physical contact. The sensors act as mediators between the robotic device and the environment, identifying contaminated surfaces from a distance, thereby maintaining safety through contactless operation while preserving cleaning accessibility through accurate surface identification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces mechanical contact-based surface detection with sensor-based detection. Instead of using physical probes or direct contact to identify surfaces needing cleaning, the system uses sensors to detect touched surfaces, thereby maintaining safety through contactless operation while preserving cleaning accessibility through accurate remote identification.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a robotic device, a sensor disposed on the robotic device, and circuitry configured to perform operations. The operations include determining a map that represents stationary features of an environment and receiving, from the sensor, sensor data representing the environment. The operations also include determining, based on the sensor data, a representation of an actor within the environment, where the representation includes keypoints representing corresponding body locations of the actor. The operations also include determining that a portion of a particular stationary feature is positioned within a threshold distance of a particular keypoint and, based on thereon, updating the map to indicate that the portion is to be cleaned. The operations further include, based on the map as updated, causing the robotic device to clean the portion of the particular stationary feature.