CN111973065A

CN111973065A - Robot, robot system, dust box and control method

Info

Publication number: CN111973065A
Application number: CN201910431089.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王辉
Original assignee: Ecovacs Robotics Suzhou Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ecovacs Robotics Suzhou Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-05-22
Filing date: 2019-05-22
Publication date: 2020-11-24
Also published as: US20220218170A1; WO2020233450A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a robot, a robot system, a dust box and a control method. Wherein the robot comprises: the machine body is provided with a suction port and a dust box, and the suction port is communicated with the dust box; the dust box is provided with a plurality of dust discharge ports and dust inlet ports communicated with the suction ports; wherein, under the first working mode of the machine body, the plurality of dust discharge ports are closed, and substances on the surface of the machine body are collected into the dust box through the suction ports; and under the second working mode, the machine body is used for cooperatively working with the plurality of dust discharge ports so as to discharge the stored substances in the dust box under the action of the suction airflow. The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can effectively reduce the dust residual in the dust box.

Description

Robot, robot system, dust box and control method

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of robotics, and in particular, to a robot, a robot system, a dust box, and a control method.

Background

While a floor processing robot (such as a sweeping robot) automatically moves on a floor, impurities such as dust and loose debris on the floor can be sucked into a dust box of the robot through an air duct, and an area where the robot travels is cleaned. Robots are well developed and widely used for their convenience of use.

In order to avoid the frequent ash falling of the user, a large-sized dust collector and a suction unit are added on a charging seat matched with the robot. When the cleaning robot returns to the charging stand to charge, the suction unit sucks dust in the robot dust box into the dust collector of the charging stand, which is also called dust dumping. It has now been found that some dust remains in the dust box of the robot after the dust has been sucked back.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present application provide a robot, a robot system, a dust box, and a control method that can solve or partially solve the problems in the prior art.

In one embodiment of the present application, a robot is provided. The robot includes:

the machine body is provided with a suction port and a dust box, and the suction port is communicated with the dust box;

the dust box is provided with a plurality of dust discharge ports and dust inlet ports communicated with the suction ports;

wherein, under the first working mode of the machine body, the plurality of dust discharge ports are closed, and substances on the surface of the machine body are collected into the dust box through the suction ports;

and under the second working mode, the machine body is used for cooperatively working with the plurality of dust discharge ports so as to discharge the stored substances in the dust box under the action of the suction airflow.

In another embodiment of the present application, a robotic system is provided. The robot system comprises a robot and a base; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the robot includes:

a machine body, on which a suction port and a dust box are arranged; the suction port is communicated with the dust box;

the base comprises a dust collecting chamber and a vacuum source;

when the machine body is in a first working mode, the plurality of dust discharge ports are closed, and substances on the surface of the machine body are collected into the dust box through the suction ports;

and in a second working mode, the machine body is in butt joint with the base, and the plurality of dust discharge ports work cooperatively to discharge the stored objects in the dust box to the dust collection chamber under the action of suction airflow generated by the vacuum source.

In yet another embodiment of the present application, a dust box for application to a cleaning device is provided. Wherein, the dust box comprises an ash inlet. The dust box is also provided with two ash discharge ports, namely a first ash discharge port and a second ash discharge port, and the first ash discharge port and the second ash discharge port are respectively distributed on two sides of the ash inlet.

In yet another embodiment of the present application, a robot control method is provided. The method comprises the following steps:

in a first working mode, executing a setting action to collect substances on the surface of the robot into a dust box;

switching to a second working mode under the condition that the amount of the storage in the dust box of the robot meets the dumping condition;

and in the second working mode, controlling a plurality of dust discharge ports on the dust box to work cooperatively so as to discharge the stored substances in the dust box under the action of the suction airflow.

In yet another embodiment of the present application, a pedestal control method is provided. The method comprises the following steps:

after the fact that the robot finishes the butt joint action is detected, determining a cooperative working mode of a plurality of dust discharge ports on a dust box of the robot;

and controlling the suction force generated by the vacuum source based on the cooperative working mode so that the stored substances in the dust box are discharged to the dust collection chamber through the plurality of dust discharge ports which cooperate under the action of suction airflow generated by the vacuum source.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the dust discharging openings are formed in the dust box, and when the machine body is in the second working mode, the dust discharging openings work in a coordinated mode so as to discharge stored substances in the dust box under the action of suction airflow; compared with the prior single dust discharging opening, the dust box can effectively reduce the residual amount of dust in the dust box.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the internal airflow of a conventional dust box during dust exhaust;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a robot according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a dust box;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the schematic diagram shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the internal airflow of the dust box after two dust discharge ports are arranged on the dust box according to the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of two ash discharge ports disposed above the ash inlet port;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing two ash discharge ports disposed above and below the ash inlet port, respectively;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the ash discharge port disposed at the side;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the ash discharge opening with a concave structure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the structure of the sealing device;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a robotic system;

fig. 12 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a robot control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a base control method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The automatic dust discharging device of a robot, such as a sweeping robot, uses a wind field to drive the movement of dust and other media, and discharges the dust and other media in a dust box of the robot out of the dust box. At present, dust discharging of the dust box is a single outlet, namely, only one dust discharging opening is arranged on the dust box. The single dust discharging port can generate vortex in the dust box in the dust discharging process, and the vortex is the main dust collecting position; the dust accumulated at the vortex cannot be discharged from the dust box. Referring to the analysis of the airflow shown in fig. 1, it can be seen that at the vortex formed at the region 1 of the dust box, a part of the dust is swirled at this position, causing retention. Therefore, after the existing robot sucks dust reversely, some dust always remains in the dust box, and the dust box cannot be discharged completely.

To this end, the present application provides the following embodiments to solve or improve the problems of the prior art. In order to make the technical solutions better understood by those skilled in the art, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

In some of the flows described in the specification, claims, and above-described figures of the present application, a number of operations are included that occur in a particular order, which operations may be performed out of order or in parallel as they occur herein. The sequence numbers of the operations, e.g., 101, 102, etc., are used merely to distinguish between the various operations, and do not represent any order of execution per se. Additionally, the flows may include more or fewer operations, and the operations may be performed sequentially or in parallel. It should be noted that, the descriptions of "first", "second", etc. in this document are used for distinguishing different messages, devices, modules, etc., and do not represent a sequential order, nor limit the types of "first" and "second" to be different. In addition, the embodiments described below are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of a robot provided in an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating one possible configuration of a dust box provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the robot includes a body 2. A suction port 3 and a dust box 4 are arranged on the machine body 2; the suction port 3 communicates with the dust box 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the dust box 4 is provided with a plurality of dust discharge ports 6 and dust inlet ports 5 communicated with the suction ports 3. The body 2 of the robot can comprise at least two working modes, wherein in the first working mode of the body 2, the plurality of dust discharge ports 6 are closed, and substances on the surface of the body 2 are collected into the dust box 4 through the suction ports 3; in the second working mode of the machine body 2, the plurality of dust discharge ports 6 work in cooperation to discharge the stored matters in the dust box 4 under the action of the suction airflow. It is noted that the suction force forming the suction airstream is generated by a vacuum source on the robot or base.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment, the dust discharging openings are formed in the dust box, and when the machine body is in the second working mode, the dust discharging openings work in a coordinated mode so as to discharge stored substances in the dust box under the action of suction airflow; compared with the prior single dust discharging opening, the dust box can effectively reduce the residual amount of dust in the dust box.

FIG. 3 shows an example of two dust discharge openings provided in the dust box; in specific implementation, three or more dust boxes can be arranged on the dust box, and certainly, the three or more dust boxes need to be determined according to the actual size of the dust box, the structure of the dust box, specific requirements in actual design and the like.

Taking two ash discharge ports as an example, the two ash discharge ports are a first ash discharge port 61 and a second ash discharge port 62 respectively, and the first ash discharge port 61 and the second ash discharge port 62 are distributed on two sides of the ash inlet 5 respectively, as shown in fig. 3. The first dust discharge port 61 and the second dust discharge port 62 are provided at positions shown in fig. 3, i.e., at both ends of the dust box in the longitudinal direction (y direction in fig. 3). Referring to fig. 4, fig. 5 is a diagram showing an analysis of the air flow in the dust box 4 when the first dust discharge opening 61 and the second dust discharge opening 62 are simultaneously opened. As can be seen from fig. 5, the machine body 2 is in the second working mode, the first dust discharge opening 61 and the second dust discharge opening 62 are simultaneously opened, the suction airflow flows from the dust inlet 5 to the dust box 4 and then spreads out, and a multi-flow airflow is formed from the dust inlet 5 to the first dust discharge opening 61 and the second dust discharge opening 62 respectively, so that the stored substance in the dust box 4 is discharged through the first dust discharge opening 61 and the second dust discharge opening 62 under the action of the suction airflow. Therefore, compared with a single dust discharging port, the first dust discharging port 61 and the second dust discharging port 62 are simultaneously opened, so that the dust discharging efficiency of the robot is improved, and the dust residual amount in the dust box is reduced.

Generally, a dust box has an airflow swirling zone where, for example, airflow swirling tends to be formed in areas near the side walls on both sides of the dust inlet of the dust box, such as area 1 shown in fig. 1. In order to better understand the airflow vortex area, only one dust discharging port can be preferentially arranged, in the working mode of dust discharging, the area where dust is easily left in the dust box is usually the airflow vortex area, and the dust discharging port is additionally arranged in the airflow vortex area, so that the dust discharging efficiency of the dust box can be obviously improved, and the dust left can be reduced. That is, in the above-mentioned example where two dust discharge ports are provided, the dust box has an airflow vortex region, and the first dust discharge port or the second dust discharge port is provided in the airflow vortex region.

In a specific implementation example, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, the dust box 5 is a plane-symmetric structure; the position of the symmetrical plane 50 of the dust box 5 is the middle part; the ash inlet 5 is arranged in the middle part; the first ash discharge port 61 and the second ash discharge port 62 are symmetrically arranged relative to the symmetry plane 50. This embodiment is at two ash discharge openings of dirt box symmetry arrangement, with vortex dispersion to ash discharge opening department, also easily form the regional ash discharge opening that sets up of air current swirl in the dirt box, can effectual solution or improve the not thorough problem of ash discharge that prior art exists. Meanwhile, the symmetrical arrangement also achieves the effect of attractive appearance.

In an achievable solution, the first ash discharge port 61 and the second ash discharge port 62 are located at the same time below the ash inlet 5, as shown in fig. 3. Alternatively, as shown in fig. 6, the first ash discharge port 61 and the second ash discharge port 62 are both located above the ash inlet 5. Or, as shown in fig. 7, one of the first ash discharge port and the second ash discharge port is located above the ash inlet, and the other is located below the ash inlet.

Further, as shown in fig. 3, 6 and 7, the dust box 5 has a hexahedral structure. The hexahedral structure includes: a top surface 51, a bottom surface 52, four side surfaces connecting the top surface 51 and the bottom surface 52; wherein the four sides include: first 55 and second (unnumbered) opposite sides, third 53 and fourth 54 opposite sides. In specific implementation, the ash inlet 5 may be disposed on the first side surface 55 or the second side surface; the first dust discharge port 61 may be provided at the bottom surface 52 or the third side surface 53; the second ash discharge port 62 is disposed on the bottom surface 52 or the fourth side surface 54.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a structure in which an exhaust port is provided in a side surface of the dust box. Referring to fig. 8, the second ash discharge opening 62 is disposed on the fourth side 54. Alternatively, the dust discharge port is a concave structure, such as the structure shown in fig. 9.

Furthermore, each ash discharge port of the plurality of ash discharge ports is provided with a sealing device. When the machine body is in a first working mode, the sealing device plugs the ash discharge port; when the machine body is in a second working mode, vacuum is formed on one side of the ash discharge port, and when the acting force of the air pressure difference formed by the vacuum degree on the sealing device meets a first preset condition, the sealing device acts to open the ash discharge port.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram of a specific implementation structure of the sealing device. As shown in fig. 10, the sealing device includes: sealing door 71, rotating shaft 73 and torsion spring 72. The pivot 73 sets up the mouth edge at the ash discharge opening, the torsional spring 72 cover is established on the pivot 73, the one end of torsional spring with sealing door 71 is connected, and the other end is fixed. The initial installation angle of the torsion spring 72 forms an initial torsion force to keep the sealing door closed in a normal state. When discharging ash, a certain vacuum is formed in the ash discharging channel (namely, one side of the dust box 4), and when the force formed by the vacuum degree is greater than the torsion force of the torsion spring 72, the sealing door 71 is opened, so that the ash discharging channel can smoothly discharge ash. Further, it is possible to add: when discharging ash, a plurality of ash discharge ports of the dust box are butted with the butt joint port on the base, and the butt joint port of the base can be coated with soft rubber, so that the dust box has better air tightness.

In another implementable aspect, the robot further comprises: a plurality of closing doors, a driving device and a first controller. The plurality of sealing doors are used for respectively sealing or opening the plurality of ash discharge openings; the driving device is used for providing motion power for the plurality of closing doors; and the first controller is connected with the driving device and is used for controlling the driving device to output corresponding driving force to drive the plurality of closed doors to cooperatively work when the machine body is in the second working mode.

When the device is specifically implemented, the driving device can be realized by adopting a mode of a motor and a transmission assembly, the motor outputs power, and the transmission assembly drives the corresponding sealing door to act under the driving of the motor so as to realize the cooperative work of a plurality of ash discharge ports.

The plurality of ash discharge ports can have the following cooperative working modes:

mode one, simultaneous open mode

The machine body is in a second working mode, and the plurality of ash discharge openings are opened simultaneously. Take two ash discharge openings as an example, that is, the first ash discharge opening and the second ash discharge opening are simultaneously opened. Meanwhile, the open ash discharging efficiency is high; however, because of the two dust outlets, if the output power of the power source (e.g., a vacuum source on the base providing a charging function for the robot) generating the suction airflow is the same as that of a single dust outlet, the flow rate of the suction airflow in the dust box will be reduced, which is not beneficial to discharging large-particle solids, and at this time, a high-power source needs to be configured to increase the flow rate of the suction airflow in the dust box.

Mode two, switching open ash discharge port mode

When the machine body is in a second working mode, one part of the ash discharge openings in the plurality of ash discharge openings is opened; and closing the opened ash discharge port and opening another part of the ash discharge ports when a second preset condition is met. Taking two ash discharge ports as an example, the switching open ash discharge port mode can be simply understood as: when the first ash discharge port is opened, the second ash discharge port is closed; when the first ash discharge port is closed, the second ash discharge port is opened to discharge ash.

In the concrete implementation, the time can be taken as the basis for judging whether to switch; for example, after the first ash discharge port is opened for a first preset time, the first ash discharge port is closed, and the second ash discharge port is switched to be opened. Or, the residual amount of the storage material in the dust box is used as the basis for judging whether to switch; for example, a sensor is arranged on the machine body and used for detecting the amount of the stored substance in the dust box, and when the residual amount of the stored substance in the dust box is judged to be lower than a first preset amount based on a real-time sensing signal of the sensor, the first dust discharging port is closed, and the second dust discharging port is switched to be opened.

Compared with the first mode, the second mode has low ash discharging efficiency, but does not need to be provided with a high-power source.

Mode III, dynamically increasing mode of opening ash discharge port

The machine body is in a second working mode, one part of the ash discharge openings in the ash discharge openings is opened, and the other part of the ash discharge openings is opened when a third preset condition is met. Taking two ash discharge ports as an example, the dynamic increase open ash discharge port mode can be simply understood as: the first ash discharge port is opened first, and the second ash discharge port is opened when the conditions are met.

Wherein, the above-mentioned satisfied condition may be: whether the opening time of the first ash discharge opening reaches a second preset time or not; or whether the residual amount of the contents stored in the dust box is less than a second predetermined amount, etc.

What needs to be added here is: the first preset time length, the second preset time length, the first preset amount and the second preset amount can be obtained based on experience or through experiments, calculation and the like; the present embodiment is not limited to specific values.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic structural diagram of a robot system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown, the robotic system includes a robot and a base. Wherein the robot comprises a body 2. A suction port 3 and a dust box 4 are arranged on the machine body 2; the suction port 3 is communicated with the dust box 4; the dust box 4 is provided with a plurality of dust discharge ports 6 and dust inlet ports 5 communicated with the suction ports 3. The base 8 comprises a dust chamber 9 and a vacuum source (not explicitly shown). In the first working mode of the machine body 2, the plurality of dust discharge ports 6 are closed, and substances on the surface of the machine body 2 are collected into the dust box 4 through the suction port 3; in the second working mode of the machine body 2, the machine body 2 is in butt joint with the base 8, and the plurality of dust discharge ports 6 work cooperatively to discharge the stored objects in the dust box 4 to the dust collection chamber 9 under the action of the suction airflow generated by the vacuum source. In practice, the base 8 may have one or more docking ports for docking with the ash discharge port. For example, after a plurality of dust discharge ports 6 on the dust box are converged into a discharge port at the bottom of the robot, the discharge port can be butted with a butt joint port arranged on the base; when the plurality of dust discharge ports 6 on the dust box correspond to the plurality of discharge ports respectively at the bottom of the robot, each discharge port can be respectively butted with the butting port at the butting position on the base.

Here, it should be noted that: the robot in this embodiment can be implemented by using the technical solutions provided in the above embodiments, and specific implementation structures may refer to the above embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Further, the base 8 may further include:

the second controller is connected with the vacuum source and is used for controlling the vacuum source to generate suction force adaptive to the cooperative working mode based on the cooperative working mode of the plurality of ash discharge ports 6;

wherein the cooperative working mode comprises: the plurality of ash discharge openings are simultaneously opened in at least one of a mode, a mode of switching the opened ash discharge openings and a mode of dynamically increasing the opened ash discharge openings. For the content of each mode, reference may be made to the corresponding content in the above embodiments, which is not described herein again.

When the vacuum sealing device is specifically implemented, the caliber of the ash discharge port is arranged corresponding to the caliber of the suction end of the vacuum source, and the suction end (also called as a butt joint) of the vacuum source can be coated with soft rubber, so that the vacuum sealing device has better air tightness after being butted.

For the sweeping robot, the first working mode is a sweeping mode, and the second working mode is an ash discharging mode. In the cleaning mode, a rechargeable battery in the robot body serves as an energy source for supplying energy to the drive unit and the controller. The driving unit drives the robot body to move on the ground to be treated through the energy supply of the rechargeable battery, and meanwhile, dust particles on the ground to be treated enter the dust box through the suction port. During cleaning, sensors provided on the robot may detect the amount of dust and debris accumulated in the dust box, and the detected data is transmitted to the controller. In operation, the controller determines from the data whether the amount of dust and debris accumulated within the dust bin exceeds a standard value.

When it is determined in operation that the amount of dust and debris accumulated in the dust box exceeds a standard value, the robot stops the automatic cleaning operation and moves toward the base until moving to the base and completing docking with the base.

In the dust discharging mode, a dust discharging port at the bottom of the robot body is connected with a suction channel of a dust collecting box in the base. When the robot returns to the base to charge, the charging battery of the robot body is successfully butted with the charging electrode of the charging seat. After the suction channel of the base is communicated with the ash discharge port of the robot body, the robot enters a charging and ash discharge mode, and a vacuum source in the base starts to work. Under the suction of a vacuum source, air enters the dust box from the dust inlet, and air flow passes through the dust box in the robot body to drive dust particles in the dust box to flow out of the air channel and enter the suction channel of the base, so that the dust particles finally enter the dust box of the base.

The user can set the cooperative working mode of a plurality of ash discharge ports of the robot in the ash discharge mode through a client application (such as a mobile phone APP) or an operation panel on the robot. For example, the user completes the setting of the cooperative work mode through the cooperative work mode selection control on the client interface. Or, the user completes the setting of the cooperative working mode through the control corresponding to the corresponding mode on the touch control operation panel.

After the setting is completed, the robot is in the ash discharge mode, and the controller of the robot controls the plurality of ash discharge ports to operate according to a preset cooperative working mode, for example, simultaneously open, or open a part first and then open another part, or open a part first and then switch to open another part, and the like.

For the susceptor, the susceptor can control the vacuum source to generate a corresponding amount of suction corresponding to different cooperative working modes. For example, if the cooperative operation mode is a mode in which a plurality of ash discharge ports are simultaneously opened, the vacuum source is controlled to operate at a high power to generate a large suction force; and if the cooperative working mode is the mode of switching the open ash discharge port, controlling the vacuum source to work under low power.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a robot control method according to an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the method provided by the embodiment can be a controller of a robot. Specifically, as shown in fig. 12, the robot control method includes:

101. in a first operating mode, a setting action is performed to collect the substances on the surface of the robot into a dust box.

102. And switching to a second working mode under the condition that the storage amount in the dust box of the robot meets the dumping condition.

103. And in the second working mode, controlling a plurality of dust discharge ports on the dust box to work cooperatively so as to discharge the stored substances in the dust box under the action of the suction airflow.

In the above 102, it may be determined that the amount of the storage in the dust box of the robot meets the dumping condition based on the sensing signal sent by the sensor. What needs to be added here is: the base also has the function of charging the robot. Therefore, it is possible that the robot is docked with the base when charging is required, and the amount of the contents in the dust box does not meet the dumping condition, and the robot can be switched to the second operation mode.

In 103, the "controlling the plurality of dust discharge ports on the dust box to cooperatively work to discharge the stored objects in the dust box under the action of the suction airflow" may specifically be implemented by the following steps:

1031. controlling the plurality of ash discharge openings to be opened simultaneously; or

1032. A part of the ash discharge openings are opened; when a second preset condition is met, closing the opened ash discharge ports and opening another part of the ash discharge ports so as to switch to open the ash discharge ports; or

1033. One part ash discharge port among a plurality of ash discharge ports is opened, and open when waiting that the third preset condition satisfies another part ash discharge port among a plurality of ash discharge ports to the open ash discharge port of dynamic increase.

1032 "above, a part of the plurality of ash discharge ports is opened; when waiting that second preset condition satisfies, close open row ash mouth and open another part row ash mouth in a plurality of row ash mouths, can specifically be:

one part of the ash discharge openings is opened, and when the opening time of the opened ash discharge openings is longer than a first preset time, the opened ash discharge openings are closed and the other part of the ash discharge openings are opened; or

Some row of ash mouth opens in a plurality of row ash mouths, treats based on the sensing signal judgement that the sensor sent close open row of ash mouth and open when storing volume in the dirt box is less than first predetermined volume another part row of ash mouth in a plurality of row ash mouths.

1033 "a part of the plurality of ash discharge openings is opened, and another part of the plurality of ash discharge openings is opened when a third preset condition is satisfied", the method may specifically be:

one part of the ash discharge openings is opened, and the opening duration of the ash discharge openings to be opened is longer than a second preset duration; or

One part of the plurality of ash discharge openings is opened, and the other part of the plurality of ash discharge openings is opened when the storage amount in the dust box is lower than the second preset amount based on the sensing signal sent by the sensor.

Fig. 13 shows a flowchart of a pedestal control method according to an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the method provided by the embodiment can be a controller of the base. Specifically, the method comprises the following steps:

201. and after the fact that the robot finishes the butt joint action is detected, determining the cooperative working mode of the plurality of dust discharge ports on the dust box of the robot.

202. And controlling the suction force generated by the vacuum source based on the cooperative working mode so that the stored substances in the dust box are discharged to the dust collection chamber through the plurality of dust discharge ports which cooperate under the action of suction airflow generated by the vacuum source.

Wherein, the collaborative work mode includes: the plurality of ash discharge openings are simultaneously opened in at least one of a mode, a mode of switching the opened ash discharge openings and a mode of dynamically increasing the opened ash discharge openings. Accordingly, the above-mentioned "controlling the suction force generated by the vacuum source based on the cooperative operation mode" in 201 can be implemented by:

controlling a suction force generated by a vacuum source based on the cooperative mode of operation, comprising:

under the condition that the cooperative working mode is the mode that the plurality of ash discharge ports are opened simultaneously, controlling a vacuum source to work at a first power;

Under the condition that the cooperative working mode is the mode of switching the open ash discharge port, controlling the vacuum source to work at a second power;

controlling the vacuum source to work at a third power under the condition that the cooperative working mode is a dynamic increase open ash discharge port mode;

wherein the first power is greater than the second power. The third power may be equal to the first power; or a value greater than the first power, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions provided in the present application, the following description is made in conjunction with specific application scenarios.

Application scenario 1

The user uses the sweeping robot at home, and starts the sweeping robot to enable the sweeping robot to be in a first working mode, namely a sweeping mode. The driving unit of the sweeping robot drives the robot body to move on the ground and sucks dust particles on the ground into the dust box through the suction port. During the cleaning process, sensors on the robot detect that the amount of accumulated dust and debris in the dust bin exceeds a standard value. The standard value is a set value, and the sweeping robot is preset when leaving a factory. At the moment, the sweeping robot stops the automatic cleaning operation, moves towards the direction of the base which is installed in advance indoors, and is butted with the base after moving to the base. After the butt joint is successful, the dust discharging port on the dust box of the sweeping robot is connected with the suction channel of the dust box in the base. The sweeping robot enters a second working mode, namely an ash discharge mode; while the vacuum source of the susceptor starts operating. Under the suction of the vacuum source, a plurality of dust discharging ports, such as a first dust discharging port and a second dust discharging port, on the dust box are simultaneously opened, and dust particles in the dust box enter the dust box of the base through the communication channel.

Application scenario 2

The sweeping robot moves in the living room for sweeping and detects that the electric quantity of the rechargeable battery is insufficient. The sweeping robot stops automatic cleaning operation, moves towards the direction of the base, and is butted with the base after moving to the base. A rechargeable battery of the sweeping robot is in butt joint with a charging electrode of the base, and an ash discharge port of the dust box is in butt joint with an interface of the base. After the base detects that the floor sweeping robot is successfully butted, the base is started to supply power to the floor sweeping robot, and a vacuum source is started to work. The sweeping robot enters an ash discharge mode, and under the suction force of a vacuum source, dust particles in a dust box of the sweeping robot enter a dust box of the base through the communication channel.

The above-described embodiments of the apparatus are merely illustrative, and the units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the present embodiment. One of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without inventive effort.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that each embodiment can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware. With this understanding in mind, the above-described technical solutions may be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc., and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the embodiments or some parts of the embodiments.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and not to limit the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A robot, comprising:

2. The robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dust box is provided with two dust discharge ports, namely a first dust discharge port and a second dust discharge port; the first ash discharge port and the second ash discharge port are respectively distributed on two sides of the ash inlet.

3. The robot as claimed in claim 2, wherein the dust box has an airflow swirling area, and the first or second dust discharge port is provided in the airflow swirling area.

4. The robot of claim 2,

the first ash discharge port and the second ash discharge port are positioned above the ash inlet at the same time; or

The first ash discharge port and the second ash discharge port are positioned below the ash inlet at the same time; or

One of the first ash discharge port and the second ash discharge port is positioned above the ash inlet, and the other one of the first ash discharge port and the second ash discharge port is positioned below the ash inlet.

5. The robot of claim 2, wherein the dust box is a plane-symmetric structure;

the position of the symmetry plane of the dust box is the middle part;

the ash inlet is arranged in the middle part;

the first ash discharge port and the second ash discharge port are symmetrically arranged relative to the symmetrical plane.

6. The robot according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the dust box is of a hexahedral structure;

the hexahedral structure includes: the top surface, the bottom surface, four side surfaces connecting the top surface and the bottom surface; wherein the four sides include: first and second opposing sides, third and fourth opposing sides;

the ash inlet is arranged on the first side surface or the second side surface;

the first ash discharge port is arranged on the bottom surface or the third side surface;

the second ash discharge port is arranged on the bottom surface or the fourth side surface.

7. Robot according to any of the claims 1 to 4,

The machine body is in a second working mode, and the plurality of ash discharge openings are simultaneously opened;

the suction airflow flows from the dust inlet to the dust box and then is dispersed to form multi-flow airflow from the dust inlet to the plurality of dust discharge ports respectively, so that the stored objects in the dust box are discharged from the plurality of dust discharge ports under the action of the suction airflow.

8. The robot as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of ash discharge ports is provided with a sealing device;

when the machine body is in a first working mode, the sealing device plugs the ash discharge port;

when the acting force of the air pressure difference formed by the vacuum degree on the sealing device meets a first preset condition, the sealing device acts to open the ash discharge port.

9. Robot according to any of the claims 1 to 5,

when the machine body is in a second working mode, one part of the ash discharge openings in the plurality of ash discharge openings is opened; when a second preset condition is met, closing the opened ash discharge ports and opening another part of the ash discharge ports so as to switch to open the ash discharge ports; or

The machine body is in a second working mode, one part of the ash discharge openings in the ash discharge openings are opened, and the other part of the ash discharge openings in the ash discharge openings are opened when a third preset condition is met, so that the opened ash discharge openings are dynamically increased.

10. The robot of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of closing doors for closing or opening the plurality of ash discharge ports, respectively;

the driving device is used for providing motion power for the plurality of closing doors;

and the first controller is connected with the driving device and is used for controlling the driving device to output corresponding driving force to drive the plurality of closed doors to cooperatively work when the machine body is in the second working mode.

11. A robot system includes a robot and a base; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the robot includes:

the base comprises a dust collecting chamber and a vacuum source;

12. The robotic system as set forth in claim 11 wherein said base further comprises:

the second controller is connected with the vacuum source and used for controlling the vacuum source to generate suction force adaptive to the cooperative working mode based on the cooperative working mode of the plurality of ash discharge ports;

wherein the cooperative working mode comprises: the plurality of ash discharge openings are simultaneously opened in at least one of a mode, a mode of switching the opened ash discharge openings and a mode of dynamically increasing the opened ash discharge openings.

13. The utility model provides a be applied to cleaning device's dirt box contains into grey mouthful, its characterized in that, the dirt box still is equipped with two ash discharge openings, is first ash discharge opening and second ash discharge opening respectively, just first ash discharge opening and second ash discharge opening distribute respectively advance the both sides of grey mouthful.

14. A robot control method, comprising:

15. The method of claim 14, wherein controlling the plurality of dust discharge openings in the dust box to cooperate to discharge the stored contents of the dust box under a suction airstream comprises:

controlling the plurality of ash discharge openings to be opened simultaneously; or

A part of the ash discharge openings are opened; when a second preset condition is met, closing the opened ash discharge ports and opening another part of the ash discharge ports so as to switch to open the ash discharge ports; or

One part ash discharge port among a plurality of ash discharge ports is opened, and open when waiting that the third preset condition satisfies another part ash discharge port among a plurality of ash discharge ports to the open ash discharge port of dynamic increase.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a portion of the plurality of ash discharge openings are open; close open row ash mouth and open when waiting that second preset condition satisfies another part row ash mouth in a plurality of row ash mouths includes:

17. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein a part of the plurality of ash discharge openings is opened, and another part of the plurality of ash discharge openings is opened when a third preset condition is satisfied, comprising:

18. A susceptor control method, comprising:

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the cooperative mode of operation comprises: the plurality of ash discharge ports are simultaneously in at least one of an open mode, a switching open ash discharge port mode and a dynamic increasing open ash discharge port mode; and

wherein the first power is greater than the second power.