KR20040047371A - Method and device for controlling of robot vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A robot cleaner and method for controlling the same is provided to precisely recognize the position and size of obstacles by using a vision system. CONSTITUTION: A robot cleaner is composed of a vision system(203) photographing obstacles and outputting a digital image signal, a memory unit(215,218) memorizing the digital image information output from the vision system, and a control unit(209). The control unit controls a running unit(251) with the digital image information so that the robot cleaner avoids the obstacles.

Description

Robot cleaner and control method {Method and device for controlling of robot vacuum cleaner}

The present invention relates to a robot cleaner, and more particularly, to a robot cleaner and a control method for automatically controlling the operation and running of the cleaner using a vision system (Vision System).

1 shows a general perspective view of a general cleaner.

As shown in the drawing, the cleaner operated on the cleaning floor 1 includes a cleaner body 20 having a built-in suction device and a suction port for sucking air containing foreign matter by suction power generated from the body 20 ( 39). Between the main body 20 and the suction port 39, a suction hose 36, a handle portion 35 connected to the end of the suction hose 36, and the handle portion 35 and the suction port 39 Extension pipes 38 and the like that are connected to each other are installed sequentially, so that the suction force generated in the main body 20 can be transmitted to the suction port 39.

The handle part 35 is provided with a key input part 37 including a switch for driving the suction motor 23 installed inside the main body 20 (if a brush motor is provided inside the suction port 39). If 25) is installed, a switch for driving the brush motor 25 is also included in the key input unit).

In the main body 20, a suction motor 23 for generating a suction force, a fan 24, and a foreign substance sucked into the suction hose 36 are left, and the filter filters the air to be discharged to the outside again. ) And a control circuit 33 for controlling the cleaner. And the power line 10 for supplying power to the control circuit 33 and the suction motor 23 is connected, the power line 10 is configured to allow the introduction of external power through the plug 15 have.

Although not shown in the drawing, the power supplied to the main body side through the power line 10 is supplied to the key input portion 37 of the handle portion 35 through the power line installed inside the suction hose 36. Supplied. In addition, a signal line is also accommodated in the suction hose 36 so that an operation signal of the key input unit 37 can be supplied to the control circuit 33.

In the conventional cleaner configured as described above, when power is supplied to the suction motor 23 in the cleaner main body through the power line 10, the suction motor 23 is driven while the suction force is generated. At this time, the suction force generated is transmitted to the suction port 39 through the suction hose 36 and the extension pipe 38.

At this time, the suction port 39 sucks dust, foreign matters, and the like, and dust and foreign matter sucked through the suction port 39 are collected in the body 20 through the extension pipe 38 and the suction hose 36. Inhaled as truth (not shown).

On the other hand, the conventional cleaner provides a configuration that a person can hold the cleaner by the handle portion 35 formed on the upper side of the extension pipe (38). Then, the extension pipe 38 is moved by using the handle part 35 to smoothly perform the cleaning of the partial parts. In addition, the body 20 is moved while the user's force is transmitted to the suction hose 36 associated with the handle 35.

Therefore, the conventional vacuum cleaner is comprised so that it may be moved by the force of the user who uses the vacuum cleaner. Therefore, the conventional cleaner can be moved only when the user moves the cleaner directly, and it is impossible to perform cleaning only by the cleaner itself. In addition, since a conventional cleaner has to be cleaned by a person at all times, a user has to set aside cleaning time.

On the other hand, the conventional vacuum cleaner comprised as mentioned above is equipped with the control structure as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional vacuum cleaner includes a control circuit 33 inside a main body 20. The control circuit 33 is equipped with electrical elements for the control of the cleaner on a PCB substrate, such as a printed circuit board.

That is, a memory 105 for storing various control programs and control data required for the control of the cleaner, a controller 106 for controlling all operations of the cleaner based on various data stored in the memory 105, In addition, a suction motor driver 133 for driving the suction motor 23 under the control of the controller 106 is mounted to the control circuit 33. The key input unit 37 of the handle 35 of the cleaner is configured to transmit a user selection signal to the control unit 106.

In the vacuum cleaner having such a control configuration, when the user selects various key signals through the key input unit 37 provided in the handle part 35 for the cleaning operation and other operations of the cleaner, the selected signal is a suction hose ( 36 is transmitted to the control unit 106 of the main body 20 through a signal line connected therein.

The controller 106 recognizes an input signal and reads out necessary data from the memory 105 to control the corresponding control.

Therefore, when the user selects the cleaning ON key provided in the key input unit 37, the key input unit 37 transmits this signal to the control unit 106, and the control unit 106 transmits the suction motor driver 133. By driving the suction motor 136 through, the cleaning operation is made to control.

As described above, the conventional cleaner includes a key input unit 37 for operating the cleaner on the handle part 35 of the extension pipe 38, and controls the on / off operation of the cleaner by an artificial human action. In addition, there is also a form not shown in the form of the main body of the cleaner is provided with an operating unit for the operation of the cleaner. And as mentioned above, the conventional cleaner is configured to be moved by the force of the user using the cleaner.

Therefore, the conventional vacuum cleaner can be moved only when the user directly moves the vacuum cleaner, and the operation of the vacuum cleaner itself must be operated artificially. Therefore, the conventional vacuum cleaner has a problem that the user has to spend the time of cleaning and has to spend the cleaning time, and a problem that requires the user's operation.

In addition, the conventional vacuum cleaner has a problem that the manufacturing cost is higher than the manufacturing cost for the design cost, the mold cost, the injection cost in order to make the operation part for artificially operating the man.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a robot cleaner and a control method thereof capable of automatically controlling operation and running of a cleaner using a vision system.

1 is a perspective view of a general cleaner,

2 is a control block diagram of a conventional cleaner;

3 is a control block diagram of the robot cleaner according to the present invention;

4 is a detailed configuration diagram of a vision system according to the present invention;

5 is a detailed configuration diagram of the driving unit according to the present invention;

6 is a detailed configuration of the cleaning unit according to the present invention,

7 is a control block diagram of the robot cleaner according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

203: Vision system 206: proximity switch

209: microprocessor 210: signal input unit

212: communication module 215: ROM

218: RAM 239: cleaning lady

242: display unit 251: driving unit

300: external device

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a robot cleaner, the method including: determining whether an image signal is detected through a vision system during automatic cleaning and automatic driving of a cleaner; Photographing the video signal through a vision system when the video signal is detected, and storing digital information on the photographed video signal; Controlling the running of the cleaner so that the obstacle can be deflected based on the digital information stored in the step; After resuming the running and cleaning of the cleaner, if the video signal is detected, the method may include determining whether the cleaning is completed by comparing with the previously stored video information.

In addition, the robot cleaner according to the present invention for achieving the above object, in the robot cleaner having a traveling unit for automatically controlling the running operation of the cleaner, and a cleaning unit for automatically controlling the cleaning operation of the cleaner, A vision system for photographing an obstacle to be disturbed and digitally outputting information on the photographed video signal; Storage means for storing the digital information output from the vision system; and control means for controlling the traveling means so as to deflect an obstacle based on the digital information output from the vision system.

The vision system includes an optical system for inputting an image; An image sensor for converting an image signal input through the optical system into an electrical signal; It comprises a frame grabber for converting the signal output through the image sensor into a digital signal of one frame unit.

The robot cleaner of the present invention further includes a proximity switch that is turned on / off by contact with an object, wherein the on operation signal of the proximity switch is applied to the control means as an interrupt signal to control to comb the object. It features.

The robot cleaner of the present invention further includes a communication module to communicate with an external device, and the robot cleaner is controlled from the outside through the communication module.

The robot cleaner of the present invention further includes a display unit for displaying an operation state of the current cleaner.

Hereinafter, a robot cleaner according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the present invention, a vision system is used for the operation and running of the robot cleaner. The vision system represents a system that receives two-dimensional data using an input medium called a camera and converts the two-dimensional data into a digital signal that can be recognized by a computer. Therefore, in the present invention, the robot cleaner is configured with a vision system, and cleaning is performed while controlling the running of the cleaner based on a signal input through the vision system.

3 is a control block diagram of the robot cleaner according to the present invention.

The robot cleaner of the present invention converts analog data input through a camera into digital data, and a vision for providing a source signal according to a place to be cleaned and whether to be cleaned by quantifying the size, shape, and brightness of the area to be measured. System 203.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the vision system 203 includes an optical system 221 for projecting image data in a three-dimensional space in two dimensions, and two-dimensional according to brightness of light output from the optical system 221. An image sensor 224 for converting image data into an electrical signal, and a frame grabber 227 for converting an analog signal output from the image sensor 224 into a digital signal and storing one frame of the image signal. It is configured to include.

The optical system 221 uses a lens as a device for collecting light. The image sensor 224 uses a charge coupled device (CCD). That is, the optical system 221 and the image sensor 224 is composed of a CCD camera. The digital signal output from the frame grabber 227 of the vision system 203 having such a configuration is input to the microprocessor 209 which collectively controls the cleaner. The algorithm for controlling the operation of the cleaner illustrated in FIG. 7 based on the signal input from the vision system 203 is stored in the ROM 215.

In addition, the robot cleaner of the present invention includes a traveling part 251 for controlling the running of the cleaner under the control of the microprocessor 209, and a cleaning part 239 for controlling the cleaning of the cleaner. The basic algorithm for controlling the cleaning operation of the cleaning unit 239 and the basic algorithm for automatically controlling the driving operation of the driving unit 251 are stored in the ROM 215. The stored data of the ROM 215 is preferably a permanent storage type that can be preserved even when a power supply is cut off, and is configured as a memory that cannot be modified or deleted.

The driving unit 251 is for moving the cleaner by a desired distance in left, right, front and back directions. Therefore, the lower wheel and the right wheel for moving the cleaner are mounted to the lower part of the cleaner.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, the driving unit 251 includes a left wheel motor 248, a right wheel motor 227, and a left wheel motor 248 that respectively drive the left wheel and the right wheel mounted on the lower part of the cleaner. A left wheel motor driver 245 for controlling the driving of the motor, a right wheel motor driver 244 for controlling the driving of the right wheel motor 227, and a left wheel encoder 221 for detecting the rotational state of the left motor 248; The right wheel encoder 230 detects a rotation state of the right wheel motor 227. The configuration of the driving unit 251 may also use a general known configuration that can move the cleaner in the left, right, front, back direction as desired.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the cleaning unit 239 suctions dust and foreign matter into the cleaner by the suction motor 236 generating a suction force and the suction force generated by the suction motor 236. Inlet port, and a dust collecting chamber (not shown) for storing the dust and foreign matter sucked through the suction port is provided. And a suction motor driver 233 for driving the suction motor 236 based on a cleaning signal output from the microprocessor 209 that recognizes the signal from the vision system 203.

Although not shown, the said suction port is a cleaner main body side, and is formed in the bottom part. Therefore, the suction force of the suction port has the strength of the suction force generated in the suction motor 236 as it is. Therefore, it becomes possible to prevent the loss of suction force caused by the conventional hose and extension tube. Therefore, the cleaner of the present invention does not need to be provided with an extension pipe, a suction hose, a handle part, and the like as in the prior art. That is, the cleaning unit 239 is configured to clean the actual house, and to store the dust sucked while performing the cleaning.

Reference numeral 210 denotes a signal input unit. The signal input unit includes a button for power on / off operation of the cleaner. The input signal of the signal input unit 210 is transmitted to the microprocessor 209.

The robot cleaner of the present invention includes a basic algorithm for controlling the operation of the cleaner, a ROM 215 storing a control algorithm for controlling the operation of the microprocessor 209, various data calculated during the operation of the cleaner, and the like. And a display unit 242 for displaying a display such as 'running', 'cleaning', and 'stopping' according to an operation state of the cleaner. The data stored in the ROM 215 cannot be modified except for a special case (A / S), and the data stored in the RAM 218 is configured to be updateable.

In addition, the robot cleaner of the present invention includes a communication module 212. The communication module 212 is provided to exchange signals wirelessly with the external device 300. Therefore, the robot cleaner of the present invention may perform wireless communication with a computer or a remote controller, which is an external device, by using the communication module 212. Of course, in this case, the same communication module capable of communicating with the communication module 212 should be provided in the computer or the remote controller. With this configuration, the robot cleaner of the present invention can be controlled through a computer at other places in real time.

And reference numeral 206 denotes a proximity switch. The proximity switch has a microswitch type and is turned on when a contact with an object is made to output a signal. At this time, the output signal is input to the microprocessor 209. When the signal is input, the microprocessor 209 detects that there is an obstacle in front of the current driving direction, and changes the driving direction of the cleaner to another direction. The proximity switch 206 is preferably mounted to the front of the cleaner by a predetermined amount. Therefore, the obstacle detected in front of the direction in which the cleaner is to travel. The signal generated by the proximity switch 206 is processed by the microprocessor 209 as an interrupt signal.

Next, a control operation of the robot cleaner according to the present invention having the above configuration will be described.

7 is an operation flowchart for controlling the robot cleaner according to the present invention.

When the user selects the power button of the cleaner, a signal corresponding to the power button set in the signal input unit 210 is input to the microprocessor 209. The microprocessor 209 performs control for the operation of the cleaner by the input signal at this time. Signal input according to the power button may be performed externally through the communication module 212. That is, when the external device 300 transmits the power button signal of the cleaner, the communication module 212 included in the cleaner inputs the power button signal and transmits the signal to the microprocessor 209. In this way, the microprocessor 209 can also recognize the power button signal.

After recognizing the power button signal in the microprocessor 209 from the above process, the microprocessor 209 initializes the system (step 300). Initialization in the step 300 indicates that the driving unit 251, the cleaning unit 239, the vision system 203, and the like of the cleaner are all controlled to an initial state.

When the initialization process is performed, the microprocessor 209 first controls the driving of the cleaning unit 239 according to the control routine of the cleaner stored in the ROM 215 to perform cleaning (step 303). That is, the microprocessor 209 starts the driving of the suction motor 236 by supplying power to the suction motor 236 through the suction motor driver 233.

At this time, when the suction motor 236 starts driving, the suction force for cleaning is generated and the suction force of the suction motor 236 is transmitted to the suction port. Thereafter, the suction port performs cleaning while inhaling surrounding foreign matter and dust with the suction force transmitted.

In addition, the microprocessor 209 controls the driving of the driving unit 251 in a state where the operation of the cleaning unit 239 is performed in step 303 to allow the cleaner to travel (step 306). The cleaner is driven by controlling the driving unit 251 based on a driving algorithm stored in the ROM 215.

The driving of the cleaner by the driving unit 251 allows power to be supplied to the left wheel motor 248 through the left motor driving unit 245 in the microprocessor 209 when it is to be moved to the left. In this operation, the left wheel motor 248 is driven to control the cleaner to the left. On the contrary, when the cleaner is to be moved to the right, the microprocessor 209 allows the left wheel motor 227 to be supplied with power through the right wheel motor driving unit 224. In this operation, the left wheel motor 227 is driven to move the cleaner to the right.

As described above, while the cleaning unit 239 is operated, the cleaner runs by the driving unit 251 in the cleaning state. Therefore, while the cleaner is moved by the driving unit 251, the cleaning is performed by the cleaning unit 239.

On the other hand, the microcomputer 209 is an image input through the vision system 203 in the state in which the operation of the cleaning unit 239 in the step 303 and the operation of the traveling unit 251 in the step 306 is performed. Check if there is a presence (step 309).

In step 309, while the cleaner is traveling while cleaning, the microprocessor 209 determines whether an image signal by an object (obstacle) is detected in front of the cleaner running through the vision system 203 ( Step 309).

That is, in step 300 to step 309, after the power is supplied to the cleaner, the cleaner performs cleaning and driving operations until the first obstacle is detected.

When an image signal is detected in operation 309, the optical system 221 photographs an object (obstacle) located in front of the cleaner. The image photographed through the optical system 221 is converted into an electrical signal while passing through the image sensor 224. The image signal converted into an electrical signal by the image sensor 224 is converted into a digital signal by one frame unit through the frame grabber 227. The video signal processed as a digital signal in this way is stored in the allocation address of the RAM 218 and input to the microprocessor 209 (step 312).

The microprocessor 209 recognizes the position, direction, and size of an object (obstacle) on the basis of the digital signal input through the frame grabber 227, and performs control to escape the obstacle. That is, the driving unit 251 of the cleaner is rotated by a predetermined amount in a predetermined direction (step 315). At this time, the cleaner is preferably rotated by a predetermined amount in any one direction. In this embodiment, the rotation is to the left by 30 degrees.

After performing the control in step 315, the microprocessor 209 continuously checks whether an image signal is input through the vision system 203 (step 318).

If the video signal is continuously input in step 318, the process returns to step 312 to capture an image, store the image in the RAM 218, and control the driving unit 251 to rotate the cleaner in a predetermined direction. Repeat the control.

That is, in step 309 to step 318, the cleaner performs a control operation for deviating from the obstacle while the cleaning and driving operations are not progressing further by the obstacle.

Thus, when there is no image signal input through the vision system 203 in step 318, the microprocessor 209 determines that the cleaner has escaped the obstacle (object). Then, the driving state of the cleaner is maintained and the cleaning unit 239 is controlled to perform cleaning (operation 321). In operation 324, the vehicle continues to run in the state of the cleaner. As described above, the microprocessor 209 may perform a control to display a 'cleaning' state through the display unit 242 in the state of cleaning and driving.

That is, the steps 321 and 324 are processes until the cleaner which finds the obstacle is released from the obstacle and resumes the cleaning and driving operation again.

Next, if the image signal is input again through the vision system 203 (step 327) while the cleaner performs cleaning and driving operations again in steps 321 and 324 (step 327), the microprocessor 209 In operation 330, the current input video signal is compared with the previous video signal.

In step 330, the video signal stored in the RAM 218 is read and compared with the currently input video signal. When the information (position, size, direction, color) of the two image signals coincide in step 330, the microprocessor 209 determines that the cleaning is completed, and thus, the operation of the driving unit 251 and the cleaning unit 239 is performed. Stop (Step 333).

However, when the information on the two image signals is different in step 330, the microprocessor 209 returns the cleaning control operation to step 312. And the subsequent process is repeatedly performed in the same process as described above.

That is, in step 327 to step 333, when the cleaner which resumes the cleaning and driving operation again inputs the video signal through the vision system 203, the input video signal is not the same as the previously photographed object. It is a process of comparing whether the cleaning is completed or not.

On the other hand, the microprocessor 209 determines that an obstacle (object) is located in the vicinity of the cleaner when an interrupt signal is input from the proximity switch 206 while controlling the cleaning operation of the cleaner by the above process. Therefore, the running direction of the cleaner is changed little by little so that the obstacle (object) can be deflected.

As mentioned above, the vacuum cleaner which concerns on this invention is equipped with the vision system. Therefore, the traveling operation of the cleaner is controlled so as to comb the obstacle while photographing the inside of the space to be cleaned by the vision system, and the cleaner running in this way is automatically cleaned. Therefore, the cleaner of the present invention can recognize the size, position, direction, and the like of the obstacle accurately by using the vision system, and can clean the obstacle while avoiding the obstacle.

The present invention described above can obtain the following effects.

First, the cleaner of the present invention performs cleaning automatically while avoiding an object using a vision system. Therefore, the cleaner of the present invention can accurately recognize the size, position, direction, and the like of the obstacle using the vision system, so that the cleaning can be performed more efficiently.

Second, the cleaner of the present invention does not require a control operation according to an artificial action of a person. That is, since the control of the cleaner is performed using the image signal using the vision system, it is possible to reduce the trouble of having to perform the cleaning time and the cleaning directly, simply and conveniently. In particular, the cleaner of the present invention is configured to enable automatic driving, so that the user does not need to use a force for moving the cleaner.

Claims (6)

Determining whether an image signal is detected through a vision system during automatic cleaning and automatic driving of the cleaner; Photographing the video signal through a vision system when the video signal is detected, and storing digital information on the photographed video signal; Controlling the running of the cleaner so that the obstacle can be deflected based on the digital information stored in the step; And after the driving and cleaning of the cleaner are resumed, determining whether the cleaning is completed by comparing with the previously stored image information when the image signal is detected. In the robot cleaner having a traveling unit for automatically controlling the running operation of the cleaner and a cleaning unit for automatically controlling the cleaning operation of the cleaner, A vision system for photographing obstacles that may hinder the operation of the robot cleaner and digitally outputting information on the photographed image signal; Storage means for storing digital information output from the vision system; And control means for controlling the traveling means to deflect the obstacle based on the digital information output from the vision system. The method of claim 2, The vision system includes an optical system for inputting an image; An image sensor for converting an image signal input through the optical system into an electrical signal; And a frame grabber for converting a signal output through the image sensor into a digital signal of one frame unit. The method of claim 3, wherein Further comprising a proximity switch that is turned on / off by contact with the object, The on-operation signal of the proximity switch is applied to the control means as an interrupt signal, and the robot cleaner is characterized in that the control is made to comb the object. The method of claim 4, wherein Further comprising a communication module to communicate with the external device, Robot cleaner, characterized in that the control of the robot cleaner from the outside through the communication module. The method of claim 5, wherein The robot cleaner further comprises a display unit for displaying the current operating state of the cleaner.