CN106997177B

CN106997177B - Control method of air purification robot or self-moving robot system

Info

Publication number: CN106997177B
Application number: CN201610045077.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 汤进举
Original assignee: Ecovacs Robotics Suzhou Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ecovacs Robotics Suzhou Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-01-22
Filing date: 2016-01-22
Publication date: 2020-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 2036-01-22
Also published as: CN111123922B; CN111123922A; CN106997177A

Abstract

A control method of an air purification robot or a self-moving robot system, the air purification robot system is composed of more than one air purification robot arranged in the same working area, and the purification robots can effectively communicate with each other, the control method comprises the following steps: step 100: the method comprises the steps that a first robot (001) obtains map information of a working area, and the working area is divided into a plurality of sub-areas according to a preset division principle; step 200: the first robot sends map information to other robots; step 300: all robots are in position in respective subareas and enter a combined operation mode; step 400: and finishing the purification work. The invention adopts a plurality of purifying robots or self-moving robots to form a robot system, each robot in the system cooperates to purify or work in each sub-area, the control method is simple and easy to implement, and the purification work or other works can be efficiently and rapidly completed by a plurality of working area division methods and working modes.

Description

Control method of air purification robot or self-moving robot system

Technical Field

The invention relates to a control method of an air purification robot or a self-moving robot system, and belongs to the technical field of self-moving robot manufacturing.

Background

With the development of industry, more and more waste gas is discharged into the atmosphere, resulting in poorer and poorer air quality, which seriously affects the quality of life and health of people, therefore, the purifying robot gradually starts to enter the home of common people. The theory of operation of cleaning machines people is mainly with indoor air suction cleaning machines people back, through filter screen, active carbon or other purification structure wherein to inhaling the inside air of cleaning machines people and purify, filter PM2.5 solid-state particle wherein, harmful gas even, then will purify the air escape after the purification for the air is in the indoor continuous purification circulation, thereby reaches the better purifying effect to the air. However, since the single decontamination robot is limited by the power and volume structure conditions, each decontamination robot has the largest area that it can decontaminate, namely: a nominal purge zone. Only when the actual purification area is smaller than the rated purification area, the purification robot can effectively purify the purification area, so that a better purification effect can be achieved, the purification robot cannot run in an overload mode, and the service life of the purification robot cannot be shortened. However, when the actual purification area is larger than the rated purification area or is in multiple areas, the operation of the purification robot is overloaded only by using one purification robot, or the work cannot be completed due to insufficient electric energy and the like; and because the region is great, and waste gas is more, can't make all waste gas in this region obtain purifying, purifying effect is unsatisfactory, and the overload operation of purification robot also shortens its life correspondingly.

In addition to the above-described air cleaning robot, when the working area is large, there are also problems that overload operation and working effect are not ideal in other self-moving robots.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a control method of an air purification robot or a self-moving robot system aiming at the defects of the prior art, wherein a plurality of purification robots or self-moving robots are adopted to form the robot system, each robot in the system is cooperated to purify, the control method is simple and easy to implement, and purification work or other work can be efficiently and rapidly completed through a plurality of work area division methods and work modes.

The technical problem to be solved by the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

a control method of an air purification robot system, the system is composed of more than one air purification robot arranged in the same working area, and the purification robots can effectively communicate with each other, the control method comprises the following steps:

step 100: the method comprises the steps that a first robot obtains map information of a working area, and the working area is divided into a plurality of sub-areas according to a preset dividing principle;

step 200: other robots receive map information containing the plurality of sub-areas;

step 300: all robots are in position in respective subareas and enter a combined operation mode;

step 400: and finishing the purification work.

Specifically, the preset division principle in step 100 is an equipartition principle, and specifically includes: the first robot processes the acquired map information of the work area and automatically divides the work area into a plurality of sub-areas having substantially equal areas.

The preset division principle in the step 100 is an equipartition and pollution degree combination principle, and specifically includes: the first robot scans and constructs a map, stores position information corresponding to the pollution degree of a working area, and records the distribution position of the pollution degree on the map according to the pollution degree; on the basis of the equipartition, the area of the subarea with heavy pollution degree is reduced, and the area of the subarea with light pollution degree is increased.

The preset dividing principle in the step 100 is an outline dividing principle, and specifically includes: and the first robot processes the acquired map information of the working area and automatically divides the working area into a plurality of sub-areas with closed outlines.

The positioning in step 300 specifically includes: the divided sub-areas are distributed according to a clockwise or anticlockwise sequence, after the plurality of robots receive the map information of the working area, the initial positions of the robots in the complete working area are determined according to the surrounding environment, and then the robots respectively enter the corresponding sub-areas according to a preset distribution principle. The distribution principle is the ranking of the robot; or on a near-by basis.

The combined operation mode in step 300 includes a fast operation mode, specifically:

step 301: the robot determines the direction of the pollution source as a central area;

step 302: starting the first robot to enable the air inlet of the purifying robot to face the central area;

step 303: and meanwhile, the first robot sends signals to other robots, so that the air inlets of the other robots face to the central area.

The step 301 further comprises: determining the direction of the pollution source by means of automatic detection of a robot; or, the direction of the pollution source is determined by means of manual input.

The combined operation mode in step 300 includes an efficient operation mode, specifically:

step 310: the robot determines the direction of the pollution source as a central area;

step 320: and moving and adjusting the positions of the robots to enable the robots to be positioned on a circle, wherein the air inlet of each robot is aligned with the air outlet of the adjacent robot, and the air outlet of the robot is aligned with the air inlet of the other adjacent robot, so that the operation is repeated.

The step 400 specifically includes: and setting a minimum threshold value in the robots, acquiring real-time data by the plurality of robots through the sensor modules, comparing the data with the threshold value, and finishing the purification work when the pollution values are lower than the minimum threshold value.

The invention also provides a control method of the self-moving robot system, the system is composed of more than one self-moving robot arranged in the same working area, and the self-moving robots can effectively communicate with each other, the control method comprises the following steps:

step 300: all robots are in place in respective subareas and work in the respective subareas;

step 400: and finishing the work.

In summary, the present invention provides a method for controlling an air purification robot or a self-moving robot system, wherein a plurality of purification robots or self-moving robots, generally not less than two, are arranged in the robot system of the present invention, a certain purification robot in the system is used to work and obtain an environmental map, after the position of the robot is determined, the robot is in communication with other purification robots or self-moving robots in the system, and the directions of the air inlet and the air outlet of each purification robot in the robot system are adjusted as required, so that the plurality of purification robots work together, thereby facilitating to complete the air purification work or other works in a work area more efficiently and quickly.

The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the inner components of the cleaning robot according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the fast operating mode of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the efficient operation mode of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The cleaning robot as an existing product should belong to the prior art for its internal component composition, but for easier understanding of the technical solution of the present invention, it is still necessary to describe its main component components and the functions of each component in general. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the components of the robot cleaner. As shown in fig. 1, each cleaning robot mainly includes: the map building system comprises a processor 100, a data transmitting and receiving module 200, a sensor module 300, a map building module 400, a purification module 500, a moving module 600 and a storage module 700. The processor 100 is electrically connected to all other modules, and the data transmitting and receiving module 200, the sensor module 300 and the map building module 400 are respectively electrically connected to the storage module 700. The data transmitting and receiving module 200 can enable a plurality of purifying robots to transmit and receive information with each other, so as to perform effective communication.

The processor 100 may process data in the data transmitting and receiving module 200, the map building module 400, and the sensor module 300, and the map building module 400 may build a surrounding map of a working environment through a laser scanning technology or an image acquisition technology, acquire related data, and store the data in the storage module 700, thereby accurately positioning a position of itself. The sensor module 300 is mainly used for detecting the air quality of the surrounding environment, such as: distribution and content of PM2.5, formaldehyde or other harmful gases, and transmits the acquired related data to the processor 100 and stores in the storage module 700. The purification module 500 is mainly used for purifying air in the surrounding environment, and the purification module 500 mainly includes, but is not limited to, a filter screen, activated carbon, and other core components capable of purifying air. The moving module 600 may be a mechanism including various structures such as a roller, a track, etc. for driving the cleaning robot to move in the working environment. The storage module 700 is mainly used for storing the data of the air condition in the ambient environment acquired by the sensor module 300, the data of the ambient map acquired by the map building module 400, and the data transmitted and received by the data transmitting and receiving module 200. In addition, each purifying robot is provided with an air inlet and an air outlet, and the purifying robot can adjust the directions of the air inlet and the air outlet.

Fig. 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams of a fast operation mode and an efficient operation mode of the present invention, respectively. As shown in fig. 2 and fig. 3, no matter which operation mode is adopted by the cleaning robot to operate, since the operation area includes a large range, the operation area needs to be divided into small operation areas, and then the plurality of cleaning robots perform cleaning operation in the operation area at the same time. In the embodiment shown in fig. 2 and 3, the working area is divided into four small working areas, namely a first area a, a second area B, a third area C and a fourth area D; in these four areas, there are four cleaning robots working together, namely: a first robot 001, a second robot 002, a third robot 003, and a fourth robot 004.

The division of the complete working area can adopt the following three modes, wherein the first mode mainly adopts an equipartition principle; the second mode is mainly to divide the whole working area based on the principle of uniform division and in combination with the principle of pollution degree; the third way is the contour dividing principle.

Specifically, the first way is to scan a map of the complete working area by one of the cleaning robots, for example, the first robot 001, and then process the map information by the processor 100 to automatically divide the area into four sub-areas of substantially equal area, namely, a first area a, a second area B, a third area C, and a fourth area D. The first robot 001 then remains in one of the zones, assumed to be the first zone a. The first robot 001 transmits the map information and the sub-area information of the complete working area to another cleaning robot, such as the second robot 002, through the data transmitting and receiving module 200, and issues an instruction to move the cleaning robot to the corresponding sub-area, such as: and a second region B. Likewise, the map information is transmitted again through the data transmission/reception module 200 and the instructions are given to the third robot 003 and the fourth robot 004, respectively, to move to the third zone C and the fourth zone D, respectively. Thus, the four cleaning robots respectively cooperate with each other in the corresponding areas to perform the air cleaning operation. The sub-areas divided according to the equipartition principle may be distributed in a clockwise or counterclockwise order, as shown in fig. 2, in the embodiment, the first area a, the second area B, the third area C, and the fourth area D are arranged in a clockwise direction, and then each robot corresponds to a different position area. Because only one of the four purifying robots scans the complete map information of the working area, the map information needs to be sent to other purifying robots, after the other purifying robots receive the complete map information, the initial positions of the other purifying robots in the complete working area are determined according to the surrounding environment, and then the other purifying robots enter the corresponding sub-areas to work according to the instruction of the first robot 001. The plurality of cleaning robots judge whether each has moved to the corresponding sub-area in place in the above manner. It should be noted that, the above embodiment does not limit how to send or receive the map information among the multiple robots, and the map information may be sent by the first robot to other robots, or the map information may be sent by the first robot to the second robot, the map information may be sent by the second robot to the third robot, and the map information may be sent by the third robot to the fourth robot.

In addition to the above-mentioned division manner, the division may be performed by using an average division principle in combination with a pollution degree principle, that is, when the first robot 001 creates a map, the position information of the pollution degree of the corresponding area is stored at the same time, so that the distribution position of the pollution degree is recorded on the map according to the degree of the pollution degree. On the basis that the sub-area substantially meets the equal division condition, the area of the area with the heavier pollution degree is slightly smaller, and the area of the area which is relatively clean is larger. This will be more favorable to the rational use of energy.

And the third contour dividing principle is to automatically divide the working area into a plurality of sub-areas with closed contours.

After the sub-regions are divided, the four purifying robots can be matched with each other to purify the air. After the direction of the pollution source is judged by means of automatic detection of the purifying robot, the direction in which the pollution source is located is determined as a central area, for example: when a plurality of cleaning robots all detect that the pollution source comes from the middle part of the working area, the air in the central area needs to be cleaned quickly. At this time, as shown in fig. 2, the fast operation mode is started. The specific working process is as follows: first the first robot 001 is started so that the air inlet of the cleaning robot faces substantially the center O of the entire working area, i.e. the middle of the stored map. If the purification area is an irregular area, it may be substantially the middle. Meanwhile, the first robot 001 sends signals to the other three cleaning robots through the signal transmitting and receiving module 200, so that the air inlets of the other three cleaning robots all face the central area O of the working area. The orientation and the position of the purifying robot can be determined by a pose sensor (such as a gyroscope and an angle sensor) and a position sensor (a coded disc and an encoder) which are arranged on the purifying robot body, and then the fact that the air inlets of all the purifying robots are aligned to the central area is judged. Therefore, the air in the center O of the area can be quickly sucked away by the four purifying robots for purification, as shown in fig. 2, the arrow directions represent the wind directions of the air inlets and the air outlets of the four purifying robots, and the directions of the air outlets of the four purifying robots are opposite to the directions of the corresponding air inlets, so that the air sucked by the purifying robots is discharged towards the edge direction of the whole purifying area, the purification operation on the center area is quickly performed, and the purification effect is good. Through setting up minimum threshold value in purifying robot, four purifying robot all gather real-time data and threshold value contrast through sensor module, when the pollution value all is less than minimum threshold value, then purify and accomplish. Besides the above-mentioned manner of automatically detecting and determining the direction of the pollution source and automatically starting the fast operating mode by the cleaning robot, the method can also be manually input, for example: a separate controller may be provided, namely: and a remote controller. This controller includes treater, signal transmission receiving module, structures such as power, the treater, the mutual electric connection of signal transmission receiving module and power, the user can make signal transmission receiving module send out the signal to four purification robot through the controller, make the direction of its air intake of each purification robot adjustment and air outlet, make the air intake aim at whole purification area's central direction, the direction of air outlet is opposite rather than the direction of air intake, thereby make the air of central area be purified the quick suction of robot and wherein purify, then discharge towards the edge direction of whole purification area through the air outlet, purifying effect is good and quick. And similarly, a central area is defined by storing a map, and the orientation pose and the position of the cleaning robot are determined by the pose sensor to judge whether the air inlet is aligned to the central direction of the whole cleaning area.

As shown in fig. 3, the operation of the high efficiency operation mode is as follows: when the area to be purified is large, the area to be purified can be divided into four areas, and the area dividing method is the same as the area dividing method in the fast operating mode, so the details are not repeated herein. Each cleaning robot performs air cleaning operation in a corresponding area. When repeated purification is needed, the purification robot can be started or a controller is arranged for starting, and the starting method is also the same as the rapid working mode, so the details are not repeated herein. Then the four purifying robots start to adjust the positions thereof through the moving module, so that the four purifying robots are positioned on a circle, by means of a storage map, and determining the orientation pose and the position of the robots through the pose sensor, it is judged that the air inlet of each purifying robot is aligned with the air outlet of the purifying robot adjacent to the air inlet of the purifying robot, and the air outlet of each purifying robot is aligned with the air inlet of the other purifying robot adjacent to the air inlet of the purifying robot, so that air enters the purifying robot from the air inlet of one purifying robot for purification, is discharged from the air outlet, is sucked into the purifying robot by the air inlet of the other purifying robot adjacent to the air outlet for purification, is discharged from the air outlet again, is sucked into the purifying robot by the air inlet of the other purifying robot adjacent to the air outlet, and is repeatedly purified in such a way, so that the air can be repeatedly purified for a plurality of times, and, The air quality is greatly improved by the harmful substances such as solid particles, and the like, thereby being beneficial to the health of people. Therefore, the high efficiency purification mode as shown in fig. 3 is a circulation mode, and the air purified by each purification robot is purified again by the next purification robot, so that the air quality is cleaner.

In summary, according to the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling an air cleaning robot system, the air cleaning robot system including at least one air cleaning robot disposed in a same work area, the air cleaning robot system being capable of performing effective communication with each other, the method including:

step 100: an air purification robot, namely: the first robot obtains map information of a working area, and divides the working area into a plurality of sub-areas according to a preset dividing principle.

Specifically, the preset division rule in step 100 may be an average division rule, that is: the first robot processes the acquired map information of the working area, and automatically divides the working area into a plurality of sub-areas with approximately equal areas; the principle of equally dividing and combining the pollution degree can also be considered, namely: the first robot scans and constructs a map, stores position information corresponding to the pollution degree of a working area, and records the distribution position of the pollution degree on the map according to the pollution degree; on the basis of the equipartition, the area of the subarea with heavy pollution degree is reduced, and the area of the subarea with light pollution degree is increased. When the working area has a plurality of rooms, the area division can be carried out according to the outline division principle, namely: and the first robot processes the acquired map information of the working area and automatically divides the working area into a plurality of sub-areas with closed outlines according to the outline information. It should be noted that the sub-area with closed contour is not a completely closed area, but an area with substantially closed contour, such as each room in a home (the robot determines the position of the door after closing the wall, and can substantially determine the contour of one room). For how to determine the door position and the room distribution information, reference may be made to chinese patent publication CN 201510076065.9.

Step 200: other robots receive map information containing the plurality of sub-areas.

Step 300: all robots are in position in respective subareas and enter a combined operation mode.

The combined operation mode in step 300 includes an efficient operation mode, and may specifically be:

Step 400: and finishing the purification work. The method specifically comprises the following steps: and setting a minimum threshold value in the robots, acquiring real-time data by the plurality of robots through the sensor modules, comparing the data with the threshold value, and finishing the purification work when the pollution values are lower than the minimum threshold value.

In the embodiment of the invention, four robots are used to form the air purification robot system, and the number of the robots to work can be reasonably set according to the size of the working area (such as the number of rooms).

In addition to the air cleaning robot system, the present invention provides a control method for a self-moving robot system, the system including at least one self-moving robot disposed in a same working area, the self-moving robot being capable of performing effective communication with each other, the control method including the steps of:

step 400: and finishing the work.

In particular, when a plurality of self-moving robots do not need to be combined or assisted to work, different robots can be distributed to work in different areas. If the working area has a plurality of rooms, other robots can work in different sub-areas correspondingly by using the map information obtained by the first robot.

In summary, the present invention provides a method for controlling an air purifying robot or a self-moving robot system, wherein a plurality of purifying robots or self-moving robots are arranged in the robot system, generally not less than two purifying robots or self-moving robots are arranged in the robot system, a certain purifying robot in the system works and obtains an environment map, after the position of the purifying robot is determined, the purifying robot and other purifying robots or self-moving robots in the system perform communication interaction, and the directions of an air inlet and an air outlet of a single purifying robot in the robot system are adjusted as required, so that the plurality of purifying robots work together or the plurality of self-moving robots work independently at the same time, thereby facilitating to complete air purifying work or other work in a working area more efficiently and quickly.

Claims

1. A control method of an air purification robot system, the system is composed of more than one air purification robot arranged in the same working area, and each purification robot can effectively communicate with each other, the control method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

step 100: the method comprises the steps that a first robot (001) obtains map information of a working area, and the working area is divided into a plurality of sub-areas according to a preset division principle;

step 400: finishing the purification work;

the combined operation mode in step 300 includes an efficient operation mode, which specifically includes:

2. The method of controlling an air cleaning robot system according to claim 1, wherein the preset division rule in step 100 is a equipartition rule, and specifically comprises: the first robot (001) processes the acquired map information of the work area and automatically divides the work area into a plurality of sub-areas having substantially equal areas.

3. The method of controlling an air cleaning robot system according to claim 1, wherein the preset division rule in step 100 is an equipartition combined pollution degree rule, which specifically includes: the method comprises the following steps that when a first robot (001) scans and constructs a map, position information corresponding to the pollution degree of a working area is stored, and the distribution position of the position information is recorded on the map according to the light and heavy pollution degree;

on the basis of the equipartition, the area of the subarea with heavy pollution degree is reduced, and the area of the subarea with light pollution degree is increased.

4. The method for controlling an air cleaning robot system according to claim 1, wherein the preset partition rule in the step 100 is a contour partition rule, and specifically comprises: the first robot (001) processes the acquired map information of the work area and automatically divides the work area into a plurality of sub-areas with closed outlines.

5. The control method of an air cleaning robot system according to claim 1, wherein the positioning in step 300 specifically comprises: the divided sub-areas are distributed according to a clockwise or anticlockwise sequence, after the plurality of robots receive the map information of the working area, the initial positions of the robots in the complete working area are determined according to the surrounding environment, and then the robots respectively enter the corresponding sub-areas according to a preset distribution principle.

6. The control method of the air cleaning robot system according to claim 5, wherein the distribution rule is a ranking of the robot itself; or on a near-by basis.

7. The method for controlling an air cleaning robot system according to claim 1, wherein the combined operation mode in step 300 includes a fast operation mode, specifically:

step 302: starting the first robot (001) so that an air inlet of the cleaning robot faces the central area;

8. The control method of an air cleaning robot system according to claim 7, wherein the step 301 further comprises: determining the direction of the pollution source by means of automatic detection of a robot;

or, the direction of the pollution source is determined by means of manual input.

9. The method of controlling an air cleaning robot system according to claim 1, wherein the step 400 specifically includes: and setting a minimum threshold value in the robots, acquiring real-time data by the plurality of robots through the sensor modules, comparing the data with the threshold value, and finishing the purification work when the pollution values are lower than the minimum threshold value.

10. A control method of a self-moving robot system, the system is composed of more than one self-moving robot arranged in the same working area, and effective communication can be carried out among the self-moving robots, the control method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

step 400: finishing the work;

the operation in each sub-area in step 300 specifically includes:

determining the direction of a pollution source as a central area from the mobile robot; and moving and adjusting the positions of the self-moving robots to enable the self-moving robots to be positioned on a circle, aligning the air inlet of each self-moving robot with the air outlet of the self-moving robot adjacent to the air inlet of the self-moving robot, and aligning the air outlet of the self-moving robot with the air inlet of another self-moving robot adjacent to the air outlet of the self-moving robot.