CN111314411A - System comprising a ground processing device and a signal transmission device and method for operating the same - Google Patents

System comprising a ground processing device and a signal transmission device and method for operating the same Download PDF

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Publication number
CN111314411A
CN111314411A CN201911264047.8A CN201911264047A CN111314411A CN 111314411 A CN111314411 A CN 111314411A CN 201911264047 A CN201911264047 A CN 201911264047A CN 111314411 A CN111314411 A CN 111314411A
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CN
China
Prior art keywords
ground processing
environment
signal transmission
ground
signal
Prior art date
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Pending
Application number
CN201911264047.8A
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Inventor
H-P.阿诺德
T.布宁
B.弗莱佐克
R.弗里林豪斯
M.赫尔米克
L.希伦
C.霍尔兹
G.伊森伯格
A.莫斯巴赫
R.奥特曼
K.施米茨
F.维茨
N.范特费伦
H.海恩
S.雷斯克
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Vorwerk and Co Interholding GmbH
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Vorwerk and Co Interholding GmbH
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Publication date
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Publication of CN111314411A publication Critical patent/CN111314411A/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47LDOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L11/00Machines for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
    • A47L11/40Parts or details of machines not provided for in groups A47L11/02 - A47L11/38, or not restricted to one of these groups, e.g. handles, arrangements of switches, skirts, buffers, levers
    • A47L11/4011Regulation of the cleaning machine by electric means; Control systems and remote control systems therefor
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47LDOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L9/00Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
    • A47L9/28Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means
    • A47L9/2836Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means characterised by the parts which are controlled
    • A47L9/2847Surface treating elements
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47LDOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L9/00Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
    • A47L9/28Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means
    • A47L9/2836Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means characterised by the parts which are controlled
    • A47L9/2852Elements for displacement of the vacuum cleaner or the accessories therefor, e.g. wheels, casters or nozzles
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47LDOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L9/00Details or accessories of suction cleaners, e.g. mechanical means for controlling the suction or for effecting pulsating action; Storing devices specially adapted to suction cleaners or parts thereof; Carrying-vehicles specially adapted for suction cleaners
    • A47L9/28Installation of the electric equipment, e.g. adaptation or attachment to the suction cleaner; Controlling suction cleaners by electric means
    • A47L9/2894Details related to signal transmission in suction cleaners
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04LTRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/01Protocols
    • H04L67/12Protocols specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04LTRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/01Protocols
    • H04L67/12Protocols specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
    • H04L67/125Protocols specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks involving control of end-device applications over a network
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04LTRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/50Network services
    • H04L67/52Network services specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47LDOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47L2201/00Robotic cleaning machines, i.e. with automatic control of the travelling movement or the cleaning operation
    • A47L2201/04Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection

Abstract

The invention relates to a system comprising at least one ground processing device which travels automatically within an environment, at least one signal transmission device associated with a defined environment subregion for transmitting signals reporting the ground processing requirements, wherein the signal transmission device is associated univocally with the defined environment subregion in such a way that the signals emitted by the signal transmission device are automatically allocated to the respective environment subregion for ground processing, and a control device for controlling the ground processing in the defined environment subregion by the ground processing device. The control device is designed to control a planned ground processing program, which is planned ahead in time, with one or more program steps at a time predetermined by the ground processing program and to modify the ground processing program when the control device receives a signal containing a ground processing requirement, wherein the program steps corresponding to the ground processing requirement are included in the ground processing program or deleted therefrom.

Description

System comprising a ground processing device and a signal transmission device and method for operating the same
Technical Field
The invention relates to a system comprising at least one ground processing device which travels automatically within an environment, at least one signal transmission device which is assigned to a defined environment subregion and is used to transmit signals which report the ground processing requirements in the defined environment subregion, wherein the signal transmission device is used to be univocally associated with the defined environment subregion, so that the signals emitted by the signal transmission device are automatically allocated to the respective environment subregion, i.e. so that ground processing is to be carried out in this environment subregion, and a control device which is used to control the ground processing in the defined environment subregion by the ground processing device.
The invention further relates to a method for operating a system configured in this way, wherein at least one ground processing device travels automatically within an environment, wherein at least one signal transmission device associated with a defined environmental subregion transmits a signal reporting the ground processing requirement in the defined environmental subregion, and wherein a control device controls the ground processing by the ground processing device in the defined environmental subregion.
Prior Art
Systems consisting of a surface processing device and a signal control device are known in the prior art. A system of this type may, for example, have a home communication network, a so-called "smart home" network, in which networked devices and appliances communicate with one another via and are controlled by a central access point. The terrestrial processing requirements can be signalled via the home communications network by the signalling means and the terrestrial processing equipment which is then switched into the home communications network is controlled to effect terrestrial processing at a defined location in the environment which matches the signalling means from which the report was sent. However, the surface processing device and the signal transmitting apparatus may be directly communicatively connected to each other if not via a home communication network.
Document WO 2017/140726 a1, for example, discloses a system comprising a self-propelled robot and an external device which has a switch and a transmission unit and is designed to transmit a coded signal when the switch is actuated, wherein the robot is designed to receive a code contained in the coded signal. The code specifies a specific task to be completed in a specific local area of the robot application area. Furthermore, the robot may also have an electronic map of the robot application area, wherein specific areas are stored together with specific tasks.
Disclosure of Invention
Based on the prior art described above, the object of the invention is to control the operation of a ground processing device more efficiently, in particular to essentially make the ground processing device react intelligently to the signal of the signal transmission device, rather than driving directly to a certain environmental subregion only immediately or with a time delay.
In order to solve the problem, the control device is designed to control a ground processing program, which is planned in advance in time and has one or more program steps, at a time predetermined by the ground processing program, and to modify the ground processing program planned in advance in time when the control device receives a signal containing a ground processing requirement from the signal transmission device, wherein the program steps corresponding to the ground processing requirement are included in the ground processing program or deleted from the ground processing program.
According to this embodiment, the system or its control device is operated, for example, in such a way that the ground treatment installation is not immediately summoned to the environment subregion adapted to the signal transmission device, but rather only the ground treatment requirements are first reported and registered, wherein subsequently, if necessary, the ground treatment program planned for a specific time is adapted in such a way that the environment subregion relevant to the ground treatment is later processed in the course of the execution of the originally planned ground treatment program in that the program steps of the ground treatment program are supplemented, modified and/or replaced. The supplementation, modification or replacement is done in such a way that a ground treatment program planned in advance subsequently has the program steps of the ground treatment included in the environment sub-area for which the signal transmission device reports the ground treatment requirements.
Alternatively, it can be provided that the required ground processing work is carried out directly after the signal of the signal transmission device is received, and for this purpose the program steps corresponding to the ground processing requirement are deleted from the planned ground processing program, so that no repeated work in the same environmental subregion within the specified time frame results.
The planned surface treatment program of the system may comprise one or more program steps involving one or more surface treatment devices of the system. The floor treatment device can be, for example, a cleaning device, in particular a suction cleaning device and/or a wiping cleaning device, a polishing device, a sanding device, a lawn mower or the like. The signal transmission device is a transmission device assigned to a predetermined environment subregion. It may be a transmitting device in the form of a so-called "push Button" (Dash Button) or similar device, which is assigned to a defined environment subregion. The signal transmission device can be constructed in a separate form or integrated in a base station, for example. It is not necessarily necessary here for the signal transmission device itself to be stable in a defined environmental subregion. Within the scope of the invention, it is sufficient if the signal transmission device is associated univocally with a defined environment subregion, so that the signal emitted by the signal transmission device is automatically assigned to the respective environment subregion, i.e. so that a surface treatment is to be carried out in this environment subregion. The signal transmission means are exclusively assigned to a specific environmental subregion only, so that the operation of the signal transmission means certainly and exclusively means that only ground processing is carried out in this environmental subregion. The ground treatment program may be set up in the form of a table and/or calendar, wherein ground treatment jobs are planned for one or more ground treatment devices according to the date and/or day of the week and/or hour. For example, the floor treatment program can be designed in the form of program steps such that at a first time the first floor treatment device performs cleaning by suction in all rooms, i.e. all known environmental sub-areas, in the home, wherein subsequently the second floor treatment device performs cleaning by wiping only in specific environmental sub-areas. Furthermore, such cleaning cycles can be specified for specific days of the week, for example monday and thursday, wherein the first program step of the floor treatment program starts at a specified hour, for example in the morning. When the signal transmission device transmits the ground treatment request to the control device of the system, for example on thursday morning, the control device determines which ground treatment step is planned to be the next one in the field of the ground treatment program. For example, if the control device recognizes that the next floor treatment for the environment subregion specified by the signaling device is vacuum cleaning, vacuum cleaning is carried out in each environment subregion of the dwelling on thursday morning. In this case, the control device recognizes that there is no need to modify the floor treatment program, since the sub-area of the environment to be cleaned is already covered by the planned floor treatment program. If, however, the signal transmitted by the signaling device has, for example, instead a request that wiping cleaning is required or that the environment subregion should be cleaned not only by dust suction but also by wiping (however, the floor treatment program does not specify that the environment subregion is to be wiped clean), the control device modifies the program steps to wipe cleaning such that not only the environment subregion specified hitherto in the floor treatment program for wiping cleaning but also those environment subregions which have already been specified by the signaling device are wiped. Thus, a floor treatment program which has been planned before the floor treatment requirements are reported is modified with respect to the program step wiping cleaning. A particularly efficient use of one or more ground treatment devices of the system is thereby made possible, since the ground treatment operations are coordinated by the control device in such a way that first one or more ground treatment requests from one or more signal transmission devices are received and registered and subsequently it is determined whether the resulting ground treatment operations can be advantageously integrated into an existing, i.e. previously planned, ground treatment program. What is advantageously avoided thereby is: in the future, ground processing operations that are not yet performed, but which are already performed within the scope of the planned ground processing program, are additionally and thus repeated in a short time, since the signal transmission device requested such ground processing operations. In this sense, the control device is configured to carry out the ground processing in the environment subregion specified thereby directly after the ground processing requirement is reported by the signal transmission device, and then, however, to delete the respective ground processing steps of the ground processing program, which are specified for the same ground processing operation in this environment subregion, from the already planned ground processing program.
The system preferably has a home communication network, particularly preferably a wireless communication network, in particular a WLAN, in which at least one ground-based processing device and at least one signal transmission device are connected, which have corresponding communication modules. The control means of the system may be a component of the surface treatment apparatus or even a component of the signal transmission means or other participant of the home communication network. It is also possible, for example, for the control device to be associated with a server of the home communication network or even an external server, which is connected to the home communication network via a router. The control device is preferably equipped with a data memory in which one or more surface processing programs for one or more surface processing devices are stored. Preferably, a user of the system manually accesses the stored files and logs in, deletes or modifies the ground handlers. To this end, the user may access the stored files by means of a human-machine interface, preferably by means of a laptop, tablet or mobile phone.
According to the provisions, the signaling device has a key that can be pressed. The signal transmission means may, for example, be designed as a so-called "button", which provides a key surface that a user can press to cause the signal of the signal transmission means to be emitted. If a user wishes to perform floor treatment in a particular environmental subregion or room of the home, the user presses a button, for example, in the corresponding environmental subregion, and can report the floor treatment needs in the corresponding environmental subregion. It is however not necessary to arrange the keys themselves in this environment subregion. It is also possible, for example, to arrange a plurality of keys in a room, for example on a wall of the room, side by side, which keys belong to different sub-areas of the environment, for example a living room, a bedroom and a dining room. When a user desires to clean at a restaurant, for example, the user walks to the press-button and presses the corresponding button for the restaurant. Thereby reporting the surface treatment requirements to the control means of the system. The signaling device is composed, for example, of physical buttons or keys, a housing, if appropriate with fastening elements, and, for example, a communication module based on WiFi, bluetooth, zigbee or the like, and an energy supply device, for example, a battery.
According to the invention, the system has an environment map memory with at least one environment map in which the signaling device is adapted to the environment subregion. The environment map memory can preferably be matched to the same device of the system, for example a control device. It is also possible according to a preferred embodiment that the environment map memory is a local memory of the ground processing device. According to this embodiment, the surface processing device has a preferably self-generated environment map, which is obtained by detecting obstacles in the environment, for example by means of the so-called SLAM method. The environment map is also used for navigation and self-localization of the ground processing device and is updated as the ground processing device travels through the environment. The environment map typically contains the locations of obstacles, such as walls, furniture and other items on the floor of the room over a long period of time. The environment map can likewise contain the location of the signaling device and the defined position and spatial extent of the environment subregion. The input of the environment subarea in the environment map can be performed, for example, manually by a user, for example, in that the user inputs via a human-machine interface, preferably via a mobile device. In this case, the user can divide the environment, for example a room or a room part of a residence, into a plurality of environment sub-areas, which achieve meaningful ground processing associations for the ground processing devices. The detection of the signaling device and the input into the environment map can be done, for example, in such a way that the user distributes the signaling device in his house and activates it for the transmission of the registration signal. The ground processing apparatus may then detour around the house, for example during an exploration trip or ground processing operation, and identify the location of the signalling device and store it in an environmental map or transmit it to a separate storage device. The registration signal of the signal transmission device preferably has a low effective range or transmission power, so that the signal is only available in the respective room of the home. Preferably, the registration signal is transmitted within a specific time interval, whereby the surface processing apparatus is able to detect the registration signal during the normal duration of the exploration or surface processing trip. This ensures that the ground processing device is informed of the registration signal of the signaling device when it is detoured. The ground processing device preferably travels through all rooms of the home and looks for a prescribed registration signal of the signal transmission device. When the ground processing equipment detects the signal transmitting device, the ground processing equipment inputs the position of the signal transmitting device into the environment map. When the user wishes to treat the respective room or room sub-area later, the user presses the respective signaling device, which then signals the need for floor treatment. Preferably, the user uses an external terminal device with an application with which the user can adjust the position of the environment subregion. For example, the user can adjust, in particular move, the environment subregion in order to have a preferred position, shape and/or area size. The corrected environment subregion position thus formed does not necessarily coincide with the environment subregion in which the signal transmission device is located. Furthermore, the user may also determine if-right regulators in the application for specific floor treatment jobs, specific types of floor treatments in the respective environmental sub-area, e.g. dry cleaning only and/or dry cleaning together with subsequent wet cleaning etc. The surface treatment apparatus may be programmed to take regular patrol runs in order to detect and incorporate in the map of the environment newly installed signalling devices in the environment.
According to the specification, the signal of the signal transmission device contains a unique identifier, in particular a device ID of the signal transmission device. The identifier can inform the ground processing device or the control device of the system which signaling device is currently signaling. The unique identifier for a particular device is, for example, a Mac address, an identification code, a characteristic signal frequency, etc. The identifier can preferably already be matched to the surface treatment device from the manufacturer's side. The signal transmission device uses an identifier in each transmitted signal, i.e. both in the registration signal when the signal transmission device of the control device of the system has not been identified, and in the signal indicating the ground processing requirements. This always makes it possible to clearly identify from which signal transmission device the signal originates. In addition, it is also possible for the registration signal to have other types of identifiers, for example in the form of a QR code, an NFC code, an RFID code, etc. Furthermore, the surface processing device can recognize this code by means of a suitable detection device and can be matched to the environment map. The surface processing device can register the identifier by means of a camera, for example, during driving. As an alternative, the communication connection can also be established by NFC or an RFID tag for unambiguous identification can be read.
Furthermore, it is provided that the identifier of the signaling device is associated with an environment subregion stored in the environment map. Each signaling device of the home communication network thus has a unique ID, with which it is adapted to a specific location and, if appropriate, to a specific function in the environment map. The control means of the system receiving the signal of the signal transmitting means analyses said signal and compares the identifier contained in the signal with the identifiers of the different environmental sub-areas stored in the file, and is then able to identify the particular environmental sub-area of the environment in which the ground treatment is desired. Control instructions may then be transmitted to the system at the surface processing equipment responsible for the respective sub-area of the environment, which control instructions cause surface processing by the respective surface processing equipment. If the system has a plurality of floor treatment devices, the control device can transmit control commands only to the floor treatment devices which are assigned to the stored environment subregion and which are suitable for carrying out a floor treatment task which is defined for this environment subregion, for example defined hard floor cleaning or carpet floor cleaning.
In this case, provision may be made for the environment subregion to be additionally matched to information about the type of ground treatment work to be carried out and/or for the signal of the signal transmission device to contain information about the type of ground treatment work to be carried out. Within the scope of the above-described alternative, the control device of the system thus obtains information about what specific ground treatment operations are requested within the scope of the ground treatment requirements, matching the identifier of the transmitting signal transmission device with the defined sub-area of the environment, which is also matched to the specific ground treatment operation. The control device accesses a file which contains information about the type of ground treatment operation with which the sub-areas of the environment have been processed, for example in the form of an environment map. In the environment map, the identifier of the corresponding signaling device is adapted for each environment subregion, so that the control device, upon receipt of a specific identifier, identifies the associated environment subregion and reads the ground treatment job to be carried out from the memory or the environment map. Alternatively, the signal emitted from the signaling device may contain, in addition to the identifier, also simultaneously and directly the type of ground treatment operation requested, for example information about the wet wiping requirements of the corresponding environmental subregion. The control device of the system receives the signal of the signal transmission device and matches the identifier contained in the signal with a specific environmental subregion, in which the simultaneously transmitted information about the floor treatment job shows that wiping cleaning is desired. Thus, the necessary information about where in the environment the ground treatment work should be performed is combined by the signal contained in the signal transmitting device and the information accessed by the control device in the memory. The request for the implementation of the ground treatment operation by a particular ground treatment device or other plan at the time of the ground treatment is then made by the control means of the system, which transmits corresponding control instructions within the scope of the stored ground treatment program to one or more ground treatment devices.
According to a particular embodiment, it is provided that the signal transmission device has a communication module which is designed to provide a temporary access point to which the communication module of the surface processing device can be connected. The temporary access point of the signal transmission device is used for a direct communication connection between the ground processing device and the signal transmission device. The surface processing device and the signal transmission device therefore no longer communicate via the access point of the home communication network, but rather directly with one another.
According to this embodiment, the communication module of the surface processing device is advantageously designed to automatically identify a temporary access point of the signal transmission device, to connect to the temporary access point, and to transmit network entry data for connection to the home communication network to the signal transmission device. In this case, provision may preferably be made for the temporary access point of the signaling device to be activated by the user pressing a corresponding button on the signaling device, whereupon the signaling device transmits the entry data for connecting the surface treatment device to the temporary access point. The surface processing device receives the entry data and uses the entry data to log into the temporary access point of the signaling device. The entry data of the signal transmission device can be transmitted to the surface processing device, preferably by means of NFC communication, so that the spatial coverage is limited and only surface processing devices in the vicinity of the signal transmission device can receive the signal. The surface processing device may then communicate network entry data for the home communication network to the signal transmitting device, thereby enabling the signal transmitting device to subsequently log onto the home communication network. The temporary network of signal transmission devices can preferably be used only in the respective region of the environment and only within a defined time range, in which it is generally ensured that the ground treatment devices located in the respective sub-region of the environment can log in. The surface processing facility patrols the environment and looks for one or more temporary access points available to the signaling device. After the surface processing device is connected to the access point, the surface processing device sends ingress data for the home communications network to the signaling device. The temporary access point is then closed, in particular time-controlled, or even after having received the network entry data, and the signaling device then acquires its function for transmitting the ground processing requirements.
In addition to the above-described system, there is also provided with the present invention a method for operating the above-described system, wherein at least one ground processing device travels automatically within the environment, wherein at least one signal transmission means associated with a defined sub-area of the environment transmits a signal reporting the ground processing requirements in the defined sub-area of the environment, and wherein the control means controls the surface treatment by the surface treatment apparatus in a prescribed environmental sub-area, wherein a temporally advanced planned ground treatment program with one or more program steps is controlled by the control device at times predetermined by the ground treatment program, and when the control device receives a signal containing a ground processing requirement from the signal transmitting device, modifying a ground processing program planned in advance in time, wherein the program steps corresponding to the ground processing requirements are either incorporated into the ground processing program or deleted from the ground processing program. The method according to the invention works as proposed above in connection with the system according to the invention, wherein the signal transmission device reports to the control device of the system the ground processing requirements in a specific environment subregion (wherein this reporting is done indirectly by matching the environment subregion with the identifier of the signal transmission device), and the control device subsequently modifies the ground processing program specified in advance such that one or more ground processing devices of the system carry out the ground processing work particularly optimally and efficiently, without, for example, carrying out a plurality of ground processing works, in particular redundant ground processing works, unnecessarily in a short time. The system can thus be used energy-efficiently and time-optimally. Furthermore, as previously explained on the basis of the system according to the invention, advantages and features of the method according to the invention are given. The above description is omitted accordingly to avoid redundancy.
In particular, in the method aspect according to the invention, it is provided that the transmission of the signal reporting the terrestrial processing requirement is triggered manually by the user by actuating a button of the signal transmission device. Alternatively, the method may also provide that the transmission of the signal is triggered automatically by the control unit of the signal transmission device when the detection device of the signal transmission device recognizes a ground processing requirement in the respective environmental subregion. This embodiment describes a fully automatic operation of the system, wherein the signaling device fully automatically recognizes the ground processing requirements within the environment and reports them to the control device of the system. The signaling device in this case is additionally equipped with a sensor device, i.e. one or more detection devices, in order to fully automatically detect the ground processing requirements. A scenario that may be considered is, for example, the monitoring of a pet area inside an environment. The detection means may have a motion sensor, photodetector, weight scale, microphone, etc., and recognize the presence of the pet in a prescribed environmental subregion. After the pet has been identified as leaving the environment subregion, a floor treatment operation can be requested, for example, fully automatically after a specific time span, in that the signal transmission device transmits a signal to the control device of the system. The detection device can also have, for example, a camera which is directed, for example, at the floor of a dining area in a residence. The control device of the system can in this case access the already stored ground treatment program in order to supplement it with program steps relating to ground treatment operations in the reported environmental subarea. It is also possible that the ground treatment operation is controlled directly by the control device after the signal has been received and the corresponding program steps are subsequently deleted from the ground treatment program that is to be carried out shortly thereafter, so that the same type of ground treatment does not take place twice in a specific time frame, for example in the same day, in a defined environmental subregion.
Furthermore, it is provided that the following method steps are carried out for the signal transmission device to be connected to the home communication network: the method comprises the steps of activating a temporary access point of a communication module of the signal transmitting device, identifying the temporary access point through the ground processing equipment, connecting the communication module of the ground processing equipment with the temporary access point, transmitting inlet data for logging in the household communication network from the ground processing equipment to the signal transmitting device, and transmitting the inlet data from the signal transmitting device to the access point of the household communication network. This embodiment describes method steps which are provided for integrating a signaling device in a home communication network. For this purpose, a signaling device accessing the home communication network opens a temporary access point, a so-called hot spot, which the surface processing device detects and can use to transmit the access data for the home communication network to the signaling device. With this portal data, the signaling device can log into the home communication network and be connected in communication with a control device of the home communication network or with other participants of the home communication network.
Finally, it is provided for this purpose that the ground processing device automatically moves around in the environment in order to detect the signal transmission device and, when a temporary access point of the signal transmission device is detected, stores the position of the signal transmission device as a defined environment subregion in an environment map or reports it to other devices with an environment map, in particular to a control device, of the home communication network. The surface processing device is, for example, patrolling all rooms of the environment and looking for registration signals of one or more signal transmission devices that are intended to be connected to the domestic communication network. When the ground processing device receives a corresponding registration signal of the signal transmission device, the ground processing device connects to the temporary access point of the signal transmission device and sends access data for the home communication network, for example a home WLAN, to the signal transmission device. Meanwhile, the ground processing apparatus inputs the position of the signal transmitting device to the environment map, or transmits information about the position to other apparatuses having the environment map. The position can be modified, for example, subsequently by the user of the surface processing device, in particular if the position of the signal transmission device is not arranged in a sub-area of the environment to be processed of the environment.
Drawings
The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. In the drawings:
figure 1 shows an exemplary environment with different sub-areas of the environment,
figure 2 shows a planned ground handling procedure,
fig. 3 shows the environment subregion with the surface processing device, the signal transmission device and the control device.
Detailed Description
Fig. 1 shows a plan view of a residence with a plurality of rooms, i.e. environment sub-areas 2, 3, 4. The plan view corresponds here, for example, to at least one sub-area of an environment map 13, which contains a large number of features of the environment.
In this case, for example, two ground processing devices 1 are present in the environment sub-areas 2, 3, 4, each having a drive unit and a navigation device in order to be able to travel and position themselves within the environment sub-areas 2, 3, 4. For this purpose, the floor treatment devices 1 each have a detection device, not shown in detail, for example an omnidirectional laser scanner, with which the distance to objects inside the environment, for example furniture 18, can be measured. From the measured distance values, an environment map 13 can be created, which contains the detected positions of the furniture 18. Furthermore, the surface processing device 1 is designed to locate its own position and to enter it into the environment map 13. The floor treatment installation 1 is here, for example, an autonomous cleaning robot (a) in the environment subregion 3 and a likewise autonomous wiping robot (B) in the environment subregion 4. The surface processing device 1 accesses a home communication network 10, which is here, for example, a WLAN. The home communication network 10 has a central control device 9, which may be a component of a server device. The control means 9 also provides access points for the participants of the home communication network 10. The participants of the home communication network 10 are here, on the one hand, the ground processing device 1 and, on the other hand, the signal transmission means 5, 6, 7 which are each arranged in one of the environment sub-areas 2, 3, 4. The cleaning requirement can be reported manually by the user and/or automatically to the central control device 9 by means of the signaling device 5, 6, 7. For this purpose, the signal transmission means 5, 6, 7 emit a signal which contains a unique identifier (here a device ID) which respectively represents the signal transmission means 5, 6, 7. The signaling devices 5, 6, 7 transmit the signal 8 to the control device 9 of the home communication network 10 and thereby report the cleaning requirement in the environment sub-area 2, 3, 4 corresponding to the respective signaling device 5, 6, 7. The control device 9 has a file with the matching relationship of the respective signal transmission device 5, 6, 7 and the environment sub-area 2, 3, 4, so that the control device 9 can determine, by means of the device ID contained in the signal 8, for which environment sub-area 2, 3, 4 cleaning is requested. As shown in fig. 2 in particular, the control device 9 also has access to a memory in which a previously planned ground treatment program for the two ground treatment devices 1 of the home communication network 10 is stored.
The ground processing program shown in fig. 2 contains, in tabular form, a schedule divided by day of the week (columns) and hour (rows). Here, for example, it is planned to periodically change from 10:00 to 12: a program step at 00, which relates to the operation of the two ground treatment devices 1. The periodic ground processing programs may be created, modified, and deleted manually by the user. For this purpose, the user can use, for example, an external terminal (not shown) which is likewise connected to the home communication network 10. The external terminal device may be, for example, a personal computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, and the like. The floor treatment program established by the user involves cleaning steps to be carried out regularly in the environment sub-areas 2, 3, 4, wherein provision is made here for hard floor cleaning to be carried out by the floor treatment device 1 in the environment sub-area 3 from 10:00 to 11:00 monday and thursday, respectively, on the dates concerned, and subsequently for wiping cleaning to be carried out by the floor treatment device 1 in the environment sub-area 4 in the view according to fig. 1.
In the case shown in fig. 1, the surface treatment device 1 is located in a base station 19 inside the environment subregion 4, which is also used, for example, for charging a battery of the surface treatment device 1. The base station 19 may also receive, for example, dirt liquids and the like. The base station 19 furthermore has a detection device 17, here for example in the form of a camera, for monitoring the environment subregion 4 with regard to contamination of the ground region. The base station 19 also has a signal transmission device 7 for transmitting a signal 8 which indicates the cleaning requirement within the respective environment subregion 4. Furthermore, the own control unit 16 of the base station 19 is designed to evaluate the images detected by the detection device 17 and to determine the cleaning requirements of the environmental subregion 4. If it is ascertained that the pollution of the ground area exceeds the specified threshold value, the control unit 16 of the base station 19 controls the signal transmission means 17 to transmit a corresponding signal 8 indicating the ground treatment requirement to the control means 9 of the home communication network 10.
Fig. 3 shows the environment subregion 3 with the surface processing device 1, the signal transmission device 6 and the control device 9 in a detail view. According to this embodiment, the signal transmission means 6 is provided with a key 11 to be confirmed manually by the user, by means of which the user can report the need for cleaning inside the environment subregion 3 corresponding to the signal transmission means 6 to the control means 9. The signaling device 6 here has the form of a so-called "push button" on which the user presses in the event of a cleaning request and thereby immediately initiates the issuance of a corresponding cleaning request. The transmission of the signal 8 is carried out by means of the communication module 14 of the signal transmission device 6, i.e. in this case the WLAN module. The signal 8 is received by a corresponding communication module (not shown) of the control device 9 and the device ID of the signal transmission device 6 contained in the signal 8 is evaluated. From the device ID and the corresponding matching relationship (for example in the environment map 13), the control device 9 identifies to which environment subregion 3 the transmitting signal transmission device 6 corresponds. The file accessed by the control device 9 includes the following description: which form of cleaning is desired when the keys 11 of the signal transmission device 6 are operated. In this case, for example, it can be stored that the user requests cleaning by actuating the button 11.
After acquiring the signal 8, the control device 9 determines whether the stored floor treatment program (see for example fig. 2) already contains a cleaning step in the relevant environment sub-area 3. If the control device 9 here confirms, for example, that cleaning, i.e. dust cleaning with subsequent wiping cleaning, is to be carried out in all the environment sub-areas 2, 3, 4 every monday and thursday, the control device 9 checks the time interval between the current time and the next cleaning scheduled in advance. If the request of the signaling device 6 occurs, for example, at 08:00 am on monday morning, the control device 9 can determine that the time span until the program step "dust removal by robot a" started at 10:00 is below the specified time span, and therefore the cleaning request should be ignored. Alternatively, however, it is also possible for the control device 9 to control the immediate cleaning of the environment subregion 3 by means of the floor treatment appliance 1 and to modify the program steps which periodically start at 10:00 in such a way that the floor treatment appliance 1 skips over the environment subregion 3 when starting the vacuum cleaning at 10:00, since this environment subregion 3 has already been sucked through. According to a further embodiment, it is also possible to integrate program steps not yet included in the planned ground treatment program when operating the buttons 11 of the signaling devices 5, 6, 7. For example, it can be provided that a further program step is inserted between the program steps "robot a" and "robot B" of the monday program, which further program step comprises a specific cleaning with a specific cleaning element or cleaning attachment of the floor treatment device 1. The control device 9 can extract the corresponding parameters from the stored file, wherein the signals 8 or the contained device IDs of the signaling devices 5, 6, 7 match the corresponding cleaning parameters and the environmental sub-areas 3, 4, 5. It is also possible that the signal 8 of the signaling device 5, 6, 7 already informs the control device 9 about which environmental sub-area 2, 3, 4 the signal 8 relates to and what type of cleaning operation is requested.
Fig. 3 also illustrates an exemplary access of the signaling devices 5, 6, 7 to the home communication network 10. The signaling device 6 embodied as a "button" does not have a human-machine interface, with which a user can transmit network entry data for logging in of the signaling device 6 to the home communication network 10. It is therefore necessary to inform the signalling means 6 of the network entry data in other ways. For this purpose, the devices already networked in the domestic communication network 10, i.e. the ground processing devices 1 in this case, transmit network entry data to the signal transmission device 6. For this purpose, the signal transmission device 6 or its communication module 14 connected to the home communication network 10 opens the temporary access point and transmits its own temporary access point entry data to the environment, so that the ground processing apparatuses 1 travelling through the radio coverage area detect the temporary access point of the signal transmission device 6 and can log in to it. The ground processing device 1 then transmits the network entry data stored in the ground processing device to the signal transmitting means 6. The signal transmission device 6 stores the network entry data and logs in the home communication network 10 using the network entry data. The signal transmission device 6 can then be connected in communication with the control device 9 as described above or with other participants of the home communication network 10, for example with the surface treatment device 1. The detection of the signal transmission devices 5, 6, 7 by the surface processing device 1 is usually carried out during an exploration drive or even during a normal cleaning drive, wherein the environment is scanned in order to access new signal transmission devices 5, 6, 7, for example, into the home communication network 10. Furthermore, when detecting the signal transmission devices 5, 6, 7, the surface processing device 1 also determines the position of the signal transmission devices 5, 6, 7, i.e. the environment sub-areas 2, 3, 4 in the environment in which the relevant signal transmission devices 5, 6, 7 are arranged. The ground processing device 1 thus receives the location of the signal transmission means 5, 6, 7 in the created environment map 13, for example, so that a matching between the signal transmission means 5, 6, 7 and the environment sub-areas 2, 3, 4 is achieved in the environment map 13 of the ground processing device 1. Furthermore, the environment map 13 can be transmitted by the surface treatment device 1 to other devices of the home communication network 10, for example to the control device 9.
List of reference numerals
1 ground treatment facility
2 sub-area of the environment
3 sub-area of the environment
4 sub-area of the environment
5 Signal transmitting device
6 signal transmitting device
7 Signal transmitting device
8 signal
9 control device
10 home communication network
11 push button
12 environment map memory
13 Environment map
14 communication module
15 communication module
16 control unit
17 detection device
18 furniture
19 base station

Claims (11)

1. A system is composed of at least one ground processing device (1) which travels automatically within an environment, at least one signal transmission device (5, 6, 7) which is assigned to a defined environment subregion (2, 3, 4) and is used for transmitting a signal (8) reporting the ground processing requirement in the defined environment subregion (2, 3, 4), wherein the signal transmission device (5, 6, 7) is associated univalently with the defined environment subregion (2, 3, 4) in such a way that the signal transmitted from the signal transmission device (5, 6, 7) is automatically allocated to the corresponding environment subregion (2, 3, 4), i.e. in such a way that ground processing is to be carried out in this environment subregion (2, 3, 4), and a control device (9) which is used for controlling the ground processing device (1) in the defined environment subregion (2, 3, 4), 3. Ground processing in accordance with 4), characterized in that the control device (9) is designed to control a ground processing program with one or more program steps planned ahead in time at a time predetermined by the ground processing program and to modify the ground processing program planned ahead in time when the control device (9) receives a signal (8) containing a ground processing requirement from the signal transmission device (5, 6, 7), wherein the program steps corresponding to the ground processing requirement are included in the ground processing program or deleted from the ground processing program.
2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the signal transmission means (5, 6, 7) have a key (11) which can be operated by pressing.
3. System according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system has an environment map memory (12) with at least one environment map (13), in which the signaling device (5, 6, 7) is adapted to the environment subregion (2, 3, 4).
4. System according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the signal (8) of the signal transmission means (5, 6, 7) contains a unique identifier.
5. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the environment sub-areas (2, 3, 4) are matched with information about the type of ground treatment work to be carried out and/or that the signal (8) of the signal transmission means (5, 6, 7) contains information about the type of ground treatment work to be carried out.
6. The system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the signal transmission means (5, 6, 7) have a communication module (14) designed to provide a temporary access point to which a communication module (15) of the ground processing device (1) can be connected.
7. A system according to claim 6, characterized in that the communication module (15) of the ground processing device (1) is designed to automatically identify a temporary access point of the signalling means (5, 6, 7), to connect to said temporary access point and to inform the signalling means (5, 6, 7) of network entry data for connection to the home communication network (10).
8. Method for operating a system according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein at least one ground processing device (1) travels automatically within an environment, wherein at least one signal transmission device (5, 6, 7) assigned to a defined environment sub-area (2, 3, 4) transmits a signal (8) reporting the ground processing requirement in the defined environment sub-area (2, 3, 4), and wherein a control device (9) controls the ground processing by the ground processing device (1) in the defined environment sub-area (2, 3, 4), characterized in that a ground processing program planned with one or more program steps ahead in time is controlled by the control device (9) at a time predetermined by the ground processing program, and when the control device (9) transmits the signal (5, 6), 7) When a signal (8) containing a ground processing requirement is received, a ground processing program planned in advance in time is modified, wherein program steps corresponding to the ground processing requirement are included in the ground processing program or deleted from the ground processing program.
9. Method according to claim 8, characterized in that the transmission of the signal (8) reporting the ground treatment need is triggered manually by the user by operating a key (11) of the signal transmission device (5, 6, 7) and/or the transmission of said signal (8) is triggered automatically by a control unit (16) of the signal transmission device (5, 6, 7) when the detection device (17) of the signal transmission device (5, 6, 7) recognizes the ground treatment need in the respective environment sub-area (2, 3, 4).
10. Method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that for accessing the signal transmission means (5, 6, 7) into the home communication network (10), the following method steps are carried out: -activating a temporary access point of a communication module (14) of the signaling device (5, 6, 7), -identifying the temporary access point by the ground processing device (1), -connecting a communication module (15) of the ground processing device (1) to the temporary access point, -transmitting ingress data for logging into the home communication network (10) from the ground processing device (1) to the signaling device (5, 6, 7), -transmitting the ingress data from the signaling device (5, 6, 7) to the access point of the home communication network (10).
11. Method according to claim 10, characterized in that the ground processing device (1) automatically moves around in the environment in order to detect the signal transmission means (5, 6, 7) and, upon recognition of a temporary access point of the signal transmission means (5, 6, 7), stores the position of the signal transmission means (5, 6, 7) as a defined environment subregion (2, 3, 4) in the environment map (13) or reports it to other devices with an environment map of the home communication network (10).
CN201911264047.8A 2018-12-11 2019-12-11 System comprising a ground processing device and a signal transmission device and method for operating the same Pending CN111314411A (en)

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