JP2019217200A - Autonomous-type vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

To propose an autonomous-type vacuum cleaner capable of finishing cleaning without leaving dust stored around edges of obstacles arranged inside a cleaning place when setting a travel route on the basis of an environment map so as to perform cleaning by following the travel route.SOLUTION: An autonomous-type vacuum cleaner 1 includes: a main body case 21 to be autonomously moved; a map information storage section 77 for storing an environment map of a cleaning place; and a control section 43 for performing cleaning of a cleaning place by moving the main body case 21 on the basis of an environment map. The control section 43 collectively performs cleaning around edges of approach impossible areas existing inside a cleaning place on an environment map in a finishing stage of cleaning of a cleaning place.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  Embodiments according to the present invention relate to an autonomous vacuum cleaner.

  Take an image of the surroundings, create an environmental map from this image, set a traveling route based on this environmental map, and collect dust on the floor while autonomously traveling on the floor following this traveling route. Autonomous traveling vacuum cleaners (cleaning robots, autonomous vacuum cleaners) that clean or clean dirt are known.

JP 2018-015396 A

  By the way, simply running around on an environmental map does not necessarily mean that a cleaning place can be cleaned neatly. For example, the rotating brush provided in the suction port may fly dust to the cleaned area. The dust that has been blown off reaches the wall or reaches an obstacle such as a leg of a chair arranged inside the cleaning place, and accumulates on the spot.

  Therefore, the present invention sets a traveling route based on an environment map, and performs cleaning according to the traveling route without removing dust accumulated at the time of an obstacle disposed inside a cleaning place without removing the dust. We propose an autonomous vacuum cleaner that can finish.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an autonomous vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main body that can move autonomously, a storage unit that stores an environmental map of a cleaning place, and moves the main body based on the environmental map. And a control unit for cleaning the cleaning place, wherein the control unit identifies an obstacle existing inside the cleaning place on the environment map in a finishing step of cleaning the cleaning place. Clean the area at once.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an operation control system including an autonomous vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention. The right view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner concerning the embodiment of the present invention. The bottom view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner concerning the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an autonomous vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention. The schematic diagram of the driving | running style of the autonomous vacuum cleaner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram of the driving | running style of the autonomous vacuum cleaner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram of the driving | running style of the autonomous vacuum cleaner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The top view of an example of the cleaning place of the autonomous vacuum cleaner concerning the embodiment of the present invention.

  An embodiment of an autonomous vacuum cleaner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an operation control system including an autonomous vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment is communicably connected to an operation control system 2.

  The operation control system 2 includes a server 4 communicably connected to a telecommunication network 3. The operation control system 2 establishes a communication line for bidirectionally communicating information between the remote operation terminal 5 and the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1. The operation control system 2 also establishes a communication line for bidirectionally communicating information between the on-premises terminal 6 and the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1. The remote operation terminal 5 and the premises terminal 6 are collectively referred to as an operation terminal 7. The operation terminal 7 is an information terminal. The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 improves the usability (convenience) of the user through the operation control system 2, such as simplicity of operation, simplicity of operation, and ease of operation.

  The telecommunications network 3 includes an external network 8, a local communication network 9, and a relay communication device 11 that relays information between the local communication network 9 and the external network 8.

  The local communication network 9 is a wireless or wired telecommunication network including the relay communication device 11. The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 and the premises terminal 6 are communicably connected to a premises communication network 9. The private network 9 is a so-called intranet. The private network 9 provides a user with a very simple communication environment.

  The external network 8 includes the Internet 13. The relay communication device 11, the server 4, and the remote operation terminal 5 are connected to the Internet 13 via a public telephone network, a mobile telephone network, or the like. The operation control system 2 provides a user with an extremely simple communication environment between the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 and the remote operation terminal 5 by interposing the Internet 13.

  The server 4 mediates information between the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 and the remote operation terminal 5. The server 4 communicates with many autonomous vacuum cleaners 1 via the Internet 13. The server 4 assigns an identifier to each autonomous vacuum cleaner 1. According to the identifier provided by the server 4, the user of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can use the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 between the remote control terminal 5 and the home autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 or the remote control terminal 5 and the user. Two-way communication is established with the vacuum cleaner 1.

  The remote control terminal 5 is connected to the Internet 13 via a public wireless line or a mobile phone line. The remote operation terminal 5 performs two-way communication with the server 4. The remote operation terminal 5 receives an input of an operation instruction such as an instruction to start the cleaning operation of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 and an instruction to stop the operation. These operation instructions such as a cleaning driving start instruction and a stop instruction are transmitted to the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 via a communication line. In addition, the remote control terminal 5 acquires information notifying the state of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 such as driving, temporarily stopped, and stopped from the server 4 and displays the state of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 on a screen. Output. The operation control system 2 enables information including a command to be transmitted from the remote operation terminal 5 to the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 at home, and changes the state of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 from the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 to the remote operation terminal 5. The information including the information to be represented is made receivable. That is, the operation control system 2 can provide an environment in which the autonomous electric vacuum cleaner 1 at home can be operated from the remote control terminal 5 at a place where the user is away from home. The user can operate the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 to clean the house in a timely manner, for example, while he is away from home while away from home.

  The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 is a so-called robot cleaner. The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 moves (runs) autonomously by consuming power of a secondary battery 22 in a main body case 21 as a main body. The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 collects dust by moving around the cleaning surface (floor surface) of the cleaning area in the living room (moving comprehensively over the cleaning area). After the cleaning operation, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 returns to the charging stand 23 and waits for the next cleaning operation.

  The charging stand 23 is installed on the surface to be cleaned in the living room. The charging stand 23 has a shape that allows the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 to be connected or disconnected smoothly. The charging stand 23 includes a power cord 24 that guides electric power from a commercial AC power supply to the secondary battery 22 when the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 is connected. The power cord 24 is an electric path for transmitting power to the secondary battery 22. The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 returns to the charging stand 23 and charges the secondary battery 22 at the time of standby for the next cleaning operation, thereby saving the trouble of charging by the user and suddenly at the request of the user. Can handle cleaning operations.

  Next, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

  FIG. 2 is a right side view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Note that the solid arrow F in FIGS. 2 and 3 indicates the forward direction of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment includes a hollow main body case 21, a rotary brush 31 as a rotary cleaning body provided at the bottom of the main body case 21, and a rotary brush. A brush motor 32 for rotating and driving the motor 31; a dust container 33 provided at the rear of the body case 21; an electric blower 35 housed in the body case 21 and fluidly connected to the dust container 33; Running on the floor, a camera unit 42 provided on the main body case 21 for taking an image I around the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1, and a running unit 41 for controlling the running unit 41 on the surface to be cleaned. The control unit 43 includes an electric blower 35, a traveling unit 41, a camera unit 42, and a secondary battery 22 that stores power consumed by the control unit 43.

  The main body case 21 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin and has a flat cylindrical shape (disk shape). The substantially circular main body case 21 in plan view can suppress the turning radius at the time of turning to be smaller than other shapes. The bottom surface of the main body case 21 has a suction port 45 for sucking dust on the surface to be cleaned together with air.

  The suction port 45 sucks in dust together with air by the negative pressure generated by the electric blower 35. The suction port 45 extends in the width direction of the main body case 21. In other words, the opening width of the suction port 45 in the left-right direction is larger than the opening width of the suction port 45 in the front-rear direction. Since the bottom surface of the main body case 21 faces (faces) the surface to be cleaned during autonomous traveling, the suction port 45 provided on the bottom surface of the main body case 21 is provided with the dust on the surface to be cleaned or the rotating brush 31 for the surface to be cleaned. The dust that has been scraped up from can be easily sucked.

  Further, the suction port 45 is biased to one side in the width direction of the main body case 21, that is, to one of the left and right sides with respect to the traveling direction of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1. The suction port 45 of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment is biased, for example, on the left side of the main body case 21 (the left side with respect to the forward direction F. It is drawn on the right side in FIG. 3). .

  The rotating brush 31 is arranged at the suction port 45. The rotation center line of the rotating brush 31 is directed in the width direction of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1. The rotating brush 31 contacts the surface to be cleaned when the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 is placed on the surface to be cleaned so as to be able to run. Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can sweep up the dust on the surface to be cleaned and suck the dust into the suction port 45 efficiently by driving the rotating brush 31 to rotate during the forward running.

  The brush motor 32 rotates the rotating brush 31 in a forward direction (a direction for assisting the propulsive force of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 when moving forward) or in a reverse direction (a direction for assisting the propulsive force of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 when moving backward). Let it.

  The dust container 33 accumulates dust sucked from the suction port 45 by the suction negative pressure generated by the electric blower 35. The dust container 33 includes a filter for filtering and collecting dust, and inertial separation such as centrifugal separation (cyclone separation) and straight-apart separation (separation method for separating dust and air by a difference in inertia force between straight-moving air and dust). This is a separation device that accumulates dust.

  The electric blower 35 is driven by consuming the electric power of the secondary battery 22. The electric blower 35 sucks air from the dust container 33 to generate suction negative pressure. The negative pressure generated in the dust container 33 acts on the suction port 45. The main body case 21 has an exhaust port (not shown) through which the exhaust air (clean air) of the electric blower 35 flows out of the main body case 21.

  The traveling unit 41 includes at least a pair of driving wheels 46, electric motors 47 as a plurality of driving units that individually drive the driving wheels 46, and driven wheels 48 that support the main body case 21 on the floor together with the driving wheels 46. And

  The drive wheel 46 moves the main body case 21 on the surface to be cleaned. The drive wheel 46 has an axle (not shown) extending in the width direction (lateral width direction). The axles of the pair of drive wheels 46 are arranged substantially on the same line. Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can easily go straight and turn. A suction port 45 is arranged between the pair of drive wheels 46. The drive wheels 46 are pressed against the surface to be cleaned by a suspension device (a so-called suspension, not shown). The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 may include an endless track (not shown) instead of the driving wheel 46.

  The electric motor 47 drives each drive wheel 46 independently. In other words, the left and right drive wheels 46 rotate in the same direction to move straight ahead (forward or backward), and the left and right drive wheels 46 rotate in different directions to turn (turn right or turn left). The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 autonomously moves on the surface to be cleaned by combining straight traveling and turning (changing the traveling direction). In addition, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 raises and lowers the output of the left and right driving wheels 46 to adjust the forward or backward speed, or adjusts the turning radius by making the outputs of the left and right driving wheels 46 different. Or you can.

  The driven wheel 48 is disposed substantially at the center of the lower part of the main body case 21 in the width direction and at the front part. The driven wheel 48 is a circular rotating body, for example, a caster. The driven wheel 48 easily changes the direction by following the forward, backward, and turning movements of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1, and stabilizes the traveling (movement) of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 (main body case 21). In addition, it is preferable that the center of gravity of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 supported by the axle of the drive wheel 46 and the axle of the driven wheel 48 is disposed inside a triangle formed by the pair of drive wheel 46 and the driven wheel 48. In this case, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 (main body case 21) can move (run) stably with a reduced risk of falling. Note that the driven wheel 28 may not be provided.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the autonomous vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 4 in addition to FIGS. 2 and 3, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment includes a brush motor 32, a traveling motor 47, an electric blower 35, a camera unit 42, and a control unit 43. , And a secondary battery 22, a communication unit 51, a notification unit 52, and a display unit 53.

  The communication unit 51 includes a wireless communication unit (not shown) that is connected to the private communication network 9 so as to be capable of wireless two-way communication, a transmission unit that transmits an infrared signal to the charging stand 23, for example, includes an infrared light emitting element, and a charging stand. And a receiving unit (not shown) including, for example, a phototransistor for receiving an infrared signal from the remote controller 23 or a remote controller (not shown).

  A wireless communication line is established between the wireless communication unit and the relay communication device 11. The wireless communication unit transmits information to the operation terminal 7 via the relay communication device 11, and receives information from the operation terminal 7 via the relay communication device 11.

  The wireless communication unit transmits information to notify the operation terminal 7 via the relay communication device 11 that driving is to be started. Further, the wireless communication unit receives information including an instruction to stop driving from the operation terminal 7 via the relay communication device 11. That is, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can be remotely operated from the operation terminal 7 by the communication unit 51, thereby improving the convenience for the user.

  The notifying unit 52 notifies the user or a third party around the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 of appropriate information such as the start of driving by a sound such as a voice or a warning sound. The notification unit 52 is, for example, a speaker.

  The display unit 53 informs the user or a third party around the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 of appropriate information such as the start of driving by an optical display such as lighting or blinking, or by displaying characters or graphics. . The display unit 53 is, for example, a display provided on the top surface of the main body case 21.

  The user of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can easily know the state of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 through the sound output from the notification unit 52 and the visual information displayed on the display unit 53. Further, the user of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can easily know the state of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 through the operation control system 2 including the communication unit 51 and the operation terminal 7. In addition, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 may include only one of the notification unit 52 and the display unit 53.

  The camera unit 42 is provided in front of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 and photographs the front of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1. The camera unit 42 is, for example, a digital camera. That is, the camera unit 42 includes an image sensor 60 (image sensor) that converts a captured image into an electric signal, and an optical system 61 that forms (generates) an image on the image sensor 60. The image sensor 60 is, for example, a CCD image sensor (Charge-Coupled Device image sensor) or a CMOS image sensor (Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor). Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can immediately handle an image as digital data. That is, the image captured by the camera unit 42 is compressed into a predetermined data format by using, for example, an image processing circuit (not shown), converted into a binary image, or converted into gray scale. Can be. The camera unit 42 captures a digital image at predetermined time intervals such as every tens of milliseconds or every few seconds. The camera unit 42 captures, for example, an image in the visible light region. An image in the visible light region has better image quality than an image in the infrared region, for example, and can easily provide information that can be visually recognized by a user without performing complicated image processing.

  The optical system 61 includes, for example, a lens (not shown) and a lens cover (not shown). The lens cover covers and protects the lens. The lens cover may be a lens filter that adjusts light reaching the lens.

  The camera unit 42 may be a monocular camera (indicated by a broken line in FIG. 3) or a stereo camera (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3). In the case of a stereo camera, two images (stereo images) photographed at substantially the same time by the camera unit 42 overlap in a photographing range including a forward position where the center line in the width direction of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 is extended. ing. In this case, the camera unit 42 can obtain information on the depth in the shooting range (the separation distance viewed from the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1).

  The camera unit 42 may be provided with a lighting device (not shown) such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) or a light bulb. The illuminating device illuminates a part or all of the photographing range of the camera unit 42. The lighting device enables the camera unit 42 to acquire an appropriate image even in a dark place such as behind an obstacle such as furniture or in a dark environment such as at night.

  The control unit 43 includes, for example, a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU, not shown), an auxiliary storage device (for example, a Read Only Memory, a ROM) for storing various arithmetic programs and parameters executed (processed) by the central processing unit. , A main storage device (for example, a random access memory, a RAM, not shown) in which a work area of the program is dynamically secured. The main storage device is provided with an image storage unit 65 for storing images captured by the camera unit 42. The auxiliary storage device is preferably a rewritable device such as a nonvolatile memory.

  The control unit 43 is electrically connected to the brush motor 32, the running motor 47, the electric blower 35, the camera unit 42, the communication unit 51, the notification unit 52, the display unit 53, and the secondary battery 22. The control unit 43 controls the brush motor 32, the driving motor 47, the electric blower 35, the camera unit 42, and the communication unit in response to a command received from the operation terminal 7, the charging stand 23, and the remote controller via the communication unit 51. The control unit 51 controls the notification unit 52, the display unit 53, and the secondary battery 22.

  The control unit 43 includes an autonomous control unit 71 that controls the autonomous movement of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 and a camera control unit 72 that controls the operation of the camera unit 42.

  The autonomous control unit 71 includes a traveling control unit 75 that controls the operation of the electric motor 47 of the traveling unit 41, and a cleaning control unit 76 that controls the operations of the brush motor 32 and the electric blower 35.

  The traveling control unit 75 controls the magnitude and direction of the current flowing through the electric motor 47 of the traveling unit 41 to rotate the electric motor 47 forward or backward. The traveling control unit 75 controls the driving of the driving wheels 46 by rotating the electric motor 47 forward or backward.

  In addition, the traveling control unit 75 includes a map information storage unit 77 that stores environmental map information (Environment Map, not shown) of the cleaning place. The traveling control unit 75 sets a traveling route based on the environment map information, and causes the autonomous electric vacuum cleaner 1 to autonomously travel on the surface to be cleaned according to the traveling route. In other words, the control unit 43 moves the main body case 21 based on the environmental map information and cleans the cleaning place.

  The map information storage unit 77 is a set of data constructed in a storage area secured in the auxiliary storage device, and has an appropriate data structure. The map information storage unit 77 is used by being read from the auxiliary storage device into the main storage device, and is overwritten on the auxiliary storage device after being appropriately updated.

  The environmental map information is a so-called map. The environment map information may be prepared in advance when the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 is used, or may be created at the same time as self-position estimation by Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). . When creating the environmental map information by the SLAM, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 includes, in addition to the camera unit 42 that captures an image in front (forward direction) of the own machine, a camera and an encoder required for creating a map. It is preferable that various sensors (not shown) are provided. The environmental map information may be created and updated in the course of movement associated with the cleaning operation, or may be created and updated in the course of movement associated with the transport operation.

  An obstacle such as a chair leg, a table leg, and a table placed inside the cleaning place is a non-invasive area (hereinafter referred to as an inaccessible area) on the environmental map information where the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 is prevented from proceeding. "Inaccessible area").

  The environmental map information is shared between the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 and the operation terminal 7. Therefore, the communication unit 51 transmits the environment map information to the operation terminal 7 via the relay communication device 11. By sharing the environmental map information, the user can accurately grasp the current position (position information) of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 through the operation terminal 7. Further, the user can move the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 through the operation terminal 7 by specifying an arbitrary position on the environmental map information. Then, the user can easily grasp the situation where the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 has been moved (that is, the destination of the movement) based on the image captured by the camera unit 42.

  The cleaning control unit 76 controls the brush electric motor 32 and the electric blower 35 individually.

  The camera control section 72 controls the operation of the shutter of the camera section 42. By operating the shutter at predetermined time intervals, the camera unit 42 captures images at predetermined time intervals. The camera control unit 72 stores the image I captured by the camera unit 42 in the image storage unit 65. The image information stored in the image storage unit 65 may include all information of the image I captured by the camera unit 42. For example, the image I captured by the camera unit 42 may be converted to grayscale. (Hereinafter referred to as an image I as well as the original image I captured by the camera unit 42). In the case of a grayscale image, the pixel value of the image I matches the luminance value. When saving the image I converted to the gray scale, the control unit 43 can reduce the capacity (resource) of the memory area to be allocated to the image storage unit 65 in a small amount as compared with the case where the original image is stored. is there. Further, when the image I converted into the gray scale is used for the subsequent processing, the control unit 43 can reduce the load on the central processing unit as compared with the case where the original image is processed.

  The image processing including the grayscale conversion of the image I performed by the camera control unit 72 may be performed by the camera unit 42. Executing the image processing by the camera unit 42 reduces the load on the central processing unit.

  Further, the camera control unit 72 controls turning on and off of the lighting device.

  The secondary battery 22 is a power source for the brush motor 32, the running motor 47, the electric blower 35, the camera unit 42, the control unit 43, the communication unit 51, the notification unit 52, and the display unit 53. In other words, the electric power stored in the secondary battery 22 is spent for autonomous traveling. In FIG. 4, illustration of power lines for supplying power from the secondary battery 22 to each unit is omitted. The secondary battery 22 stores electric power supplied to the brush motor 32, the running motor 47, the electric blower 35, the control unit 43, the camera unit 42, and the communication unit 51. Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can freely travel autonomously without requiring a power cord and without being limited by the length of the power cord or the installation route.

  The secondary battery 22 is electrically connected, for example, to a charging terminal (not shown) provided on the bottom surface or the back surface of the main body case 21. When returning to the charging stand 23, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 electrically connects the charging terminal to the charging stand 23. Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can electrically connect the secondary battery 22 to the charging stand 23 without bothering the user, and wait for the next cleaning operation. During the operation, the secondary battery 22 can be charged.

  By the way, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 sets a traveling route based on environmental map information, and moves autonomously on the surface to be cleaned following the traveling route. At this time, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can set an efficient traveling route such that the cleaning place is cleaned by the shortest route.

  However, simply traveling over the entire surface to be cleaned of the cleaning place does not necessarily ensure that the cleaning place can be cleaned cleanly. For example, the rotating brush 31 may fly dust to a cleaned area. In addition, the drive wheel 46 and the driven wheel 48 may fly particulate dust such as sand particles to the cleaned area. The dust that has been blown off reaches the wall or reaches an obstacle such as a leg of a chair arranged inside the cleaning place, and accumulates on the spot. In other words, the fluttered dust accumulates at the outer edge of the environmental map or at the area where entry is impossible.

  Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment collectively cleans the inaccessible areas for identifying obstacles inside the cleaning place on the environment map after cleaning the cleaning place. .

  Here, first, a typical traveling mode (traveling pattern) of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 will be described.

  FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 are schematic views of a traveling mode of the autonomous vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment moves the room R along the outer edge of the cleaning place A (that is, at the outer edge of the environmental map), for example, along the wall W of the room R. The wall W of the room R is cleaned at least once. The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 moves clockwise (clockwise) while viewing the wall W of the living room R to the left in the traveling direction as shown in FIG. That is, when traveling along the outer edge of the cleaning place A, the main body case 21 moves along the left end of the main body case 21. Since the suction port 45 is biased to the left side of the main body case 21, when the main body case 21 runs along the outer edge of the cleaning place A, the dust on the wall W can be efficiently sucked.

  The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 may move counterclockwise (counterclockwise) while viewing the wall W of the living room R to the right in the traveling direction. That is, when traveling along the outer edge of the cleaning place A, the main body case 21 moves along the right end of the main body case 21. In this case, it is preferable that the suction port 45 is provided to be offset to the right side of the main body case 21.

  Along the outer edge of the cleaning place A, along at least one round of the cleaning place A, the traveling route R1 for cleaning the outer edge of the cleaning place A is referred to as “the outer edge cleaning traveling style (the outer edge cleaning traveling pattern). ".

  By the way, the charging stand 23 of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 is generally installed near the wall W near the plug receiver C (so-called outlet) of the plug-in for wiring. The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 waits for the cleaning operation while charging the secondary battery 22 while being electrically connected to the charging stand 23. Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 moves along the wall W when detaching from the charging stand 23 (starting) and starting cleaning, or immediately before returning to the charging stand 23 and returning to the standby state. And finish cleaning of the wall can be easily performed.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment defines a cleaning place A, and between two opposing outer edges, for example, between two opposing walls Wa and Wb of the living room R. Is moved in a zigzag manner (hereinafter referred to as “zigzag running”) to clean the entire surface to be cleaned. It is preferable that the distance between the outward path from one wall Wa to the other wall Wb and the return path from the other wall Wb to the one wall Wa is smaller than the width dimension of the suction port 45. By doing so, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 has an overlap between the trajectory of the suction port 45 on the outward path and the trajectory of the suction port 45 on the return path, and can clean the surface to be cleaned more clearly.

  Note that the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 changes its traveling direction even when it comes into contact with or approaches an obstacle O (that is, an inaccessible area) such as furniture arranged inside the cleaning place A. The inaccessible area is at least separated from the outer edge of the cleaning place A by a distance that allows the main body case 21 to pass through. An obstacle O that is too close to the outer edge of the cleaning place A such that the main body case 21 cannot pass through is regarded as the outer edge of the cleaning place A (that is, the outer edge of the environment map) for convenience. By doing so, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can reduce the burden of unnecessary calculation of the traveling route (for example, processing of identifying an unpassable area and excluding it from the traveling route).

  In addition, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 may clean the entire surface to be cleaned in a traveling mode according to a known rule such as random traveling or reflective traveling instead of or in addition to zigzag traveling. The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 combines running styles according to known rules such as zigzag running, random running, and reflective running, or repeats a single running style to clean the entire surface to be cleaned a plurality of times. good.

  The traveling route R2 that comprehensively cleans the entire surface of the cleaning place A in accordance with the known rules is referred to as “wide-area cleaning traveling mode (wide-area cleaning traveling pattern)”.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment has an obstacle O such as furniture arranged inside the cleaning place A (that is, an inaccessible area on the environmental map information). And clean them all together. Collectively cleaning the area around the obstacle O is hereinafter referred to as "collective cleaning around the obstacle".

  Here, the “collective cleaning with obstacles” includes a mode in which a plurality of obstacles O (O1, O2) inside the cleaning place A are successively walked and each of the obstacles O is cleaned. In addition, “collective cleaning of obstacles” includes a mode in which the user moves to another obstacle O before making a round of one obstacle O and cleans another obstacle O. In the "collective cleaning of obstacles", it is preferable to make at least one round of each obstacle O, but it is not necessary to make one round. In “collective cleaning of obstacles”, it is preferable to move between the plurality of obstacles O (O1, O2) along the shortest path, but this is not necessary. In “collective cleaning of obstacles”, when there are three or more obstacles O, it is preferable to move between adjacent obstacles O by the shortest route, but this is not necessary. That is, in the “collective cleaning of obstacles”, if there are three or more obstacles O, the obstacles O may be moved to non-adjacent obstacles O. Further, in the “collective cleaning of obstacles”, the electric blower 35 may be operated or stopped when moving from one obstacle O to another obstacle O. The “collective cleaning around obstacles” includes a mode of cleaning around one obstacle O inside the cleaning place A.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 moves counterclockwise (counterclockwise) while observing the obstacle O to the left in the traveling direction. That is, when traveling along the obstacle O, the main body case 21 moves along the left end of the main body case 21. Since the suction port 45 is biased to the left side of the main body case 21, when the main body case 21 runs along the outer edge of the cleaning place A, the dust on the wall W can be efficiently sucked.

  The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 may move clockwise (clockwise) while observing the obstacle O to the right in the traveling direction. That is, when traveling along the obstacle O, the main body case 21 moves along the right end of the main body case 21. In this case, it is preferable that the suction port 45 is provided to be offset to the right side of the main body case 21.

  In addition, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 may approach while approaching the obstacle O from the front of the main body case 21 and repeat this while circling around the obstacle O. In this case, it is preferable that the suction port 45 is provided at the front end of the travel of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 because the suction force from the suction port 45 easily reaches the obstacle O. The autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 is provided with a rotating brush (not shown) having a rotating shaft provided in front of the suction port 45 and extending vertically so as to sweep dust from the front side of the main body case 21 to the suction port 45. Is preferred.

  The traveling route R3 for cleaning the obstacle O collectively is referred to as “obstacle cleaning traveling mode (obstacle cleaning traveling pattern)”.

  The traveling routes R1, R2, and R3 of the outer edge cleaning traveling mode, the wide area cleaning traveling mode, and the obstacle cleaning traveling mode may be set so as to overlap each other on the environmental map, or may be set on the environmental map. It may be set so as not to overlap.

  Then, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment performs cleaning in accordance with an obstacle-based cleaning traveling style in a finishing stage of cleaning of the cleaning place A. That is, in the finishing stage of cleaning of the cleaning place A, the control unit 43 collectively cleans the inaccessible area for identifying the obstacle O inside the cleaning place A on the environment map.

  Here, the “finishing stage of cleaning” is a phase of a series of cleaning operations after at least one cleaning operation performed in the wide-area cleaning traveling style is completed. In addition, before the “cleaning finishing stage”, one or both of the cleaning moving in the cleaning driving mode near the outer edge and the cleaning moving in the cleaning driving mode near the obstacle may be included. By performing the cleaning that moves in the outer edge cleaning traveling mode before the wide area cleaning traveling mode, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can determine the outer edge of the cleaning location A, so that the traveling path in the wide area cleaning traveling mode can be easily set. Can be set to

  In addition, the control unit 43 may perform cleaning by moving in the cleaning traveling mode near the outer edge after performing cleaning in the cleaning traveling mode near the obstacle. That is, the control unit 43 may further clean the outer edge of the cleaning place A after cleaning the area where no entry is possible. In addition, at the finishing stage of the cleaning, the control unit 43 may perform both the cleaning that moves in the cleaning driving mode near the outer edge and the cleaning that moves in the cleaning driving mode near the obstacle in any order.

  If the control unit 43 determines that there are a plurality of non-accessible areas on the environment map and the remaining amount of the secondary battery 22 is insufficient to circulate through all of the non-accessible areas, the control unit 43 sets the traversable non-accessible areas. Restrict according to priority. The priority in the case of restricting includes, for example, the size (width) of the inaccessible area, the length of the separation distance between the inaccessible area and the charging stand 23, the shortest path to return to the charging stand 23 from the current position. This is the increase amount of the traveling route such as the length of the separation distance from the inaccessible area, or the rate of increase of the traveling route based on the traveling route returning to the charging stand 23 from the current position. Further, the priority may be arbitrarily selected by the user on the map of the operation terminal 7.

  The control unit 43 compares the total distance in the case where the entire inaccessible area is traversed with the travelable distance estimated from the remaining amount of the secondary battery 22, and determines whether the remaining amount of the secondary battery 22 is in the inaccessible area. It is determined whether or not it is insufficient to circulate through all of. Then, when it is determined that the remaining amount of the secondary battery 22 is insufficient to traverse the entire inaccessible area, the control unit 43 determines the total distance in the case where the inaccessible area to be circulated is reduced according to the priority. And the travelable distance estimated from the remaining amount of the secondary battery 22 is compared, and the inaccessible region to go around is extracted according to the priority.

  Further, if the control unit 43 determines that the remaining amount of the secondary battery 22 is insufficient to make one round (one round) of the inaccessible area, the control unit 43 may start returning to the charging stand 23 in the middle of the round. good.

  FIG. 8 is a plan view of an example of a cleaning place A of the autonomous vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment can divide the cleaning place A into smaller sections a smaller than that, and perform cleaning for each of the smaller sections a. For example, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 divides the cleaning place A into nine small sections a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, a7, a8, and a9, and sequentially sorts the small sections a1 to a9. Or out of order. At this time, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 starts cleaning the next small section a after finishing the finish cleaning of a certain small section a. In addition, it is preferable that the subsection a to start cleaning next is adjacent to the subsection a that has just finished cleaning. By doing so, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can efficiently clean the cleaning place A.

  These subsections a are identified in the environmental map information and stored in the map information storage unit 77. The subsection a may be automatically divided according to a predetermined rule on an environment map prepared in advance, or may be used for a user operation performed on the environment map displayed on the operation terminal 7. It may be classified based on the information. Further, the sub-section a may be automatically classified according to a predetermined rule on an environment map created at the same time as the self-position estimation by the SLAM.

  The rule for setting the subsection a is, for example, to divide the cleaning place A into a square having a maximum of 3 meters square. The rule for setting the subsection a is, for example, such that a plurality of living rooms and a corridor connecting the plurality of living rooms are divided into different subdivisions.

  Then, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 performs cleaning for each subsection a in the finishing stage of cleaning of the subsection a in accordance with the obstacle traveling cleaning driving style. That is, as shown in the traveling routes R3-1, R3-2, R3-3, R3-4, R3-5, R3-6, R3-7, R3-8, and R3-9, the control unit 43 For each subsection a, in the finishing stage of cleaning of the subsection a, cleaning is performed collectively on non-enterable areas for identifying obstacles inside the subsection a. In other words, the control unit 43 performs collective cleaning around obstacles for each subsection a.

  In addition, when the subsection a includes the outer edge of the cleaning place A, the control unit 43 performs cleaning around the outer edge of the cleaning place A included in the subsection a, and in other cases, The cleaning around the subsection a is not executed. Specifically, the subsections a1 to a4 and the subsections a6 to a9 in FIG. Therefore, as shown in the traveling routes R1-1, R1-2, R1-3, R1-4, R1-6, R1-7, R1-8, and R1-9, the control unit 43 starts from the small section a1. When cleaning the small section a9 from the small section a4 and the small section a6, cleaning is performed for each of the small sections a by moving in the outer edge cleaning traveling mode.

  The range moved in the outer edge cleaning traveling mode may be only the outer edge of the cleaning location A, that is, the outer edge in the environment map, or may be all the boundaries of the subsection a1, that is, the subsections passing inside the environmental map. The boundary of the minute a1 may be included. It is preferable that the stage of performing the cleaning moving in the outer edge cleaning traveling style is a finishing stage of cleaning of the small section a. The small section a5 in FIG. 8 does not include the outer edge of the cleaning place A. Therefore, when cleaning the small section a5, the control unit 43 may or may not perform the cleaning that moves in the outer edge cleaning traveling mode.

  As described above, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment, when finishing the cleaning of the cleaning place A, at the time of the inaccessible area for identifying the obstacle O inside the cleaning place A on the environmental map. And collectively clean. In other words, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 performs cleaning in accordance with the cleaning mode at the time of obstacle cleaning at the finishing stage of cleaning. For this reason, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 is likely to fly away during cleaning and leave dust accumulated at the time of an obstacle O such as a leg of a chair arranged inside the cleaning place A. Absent.

  In addition, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment recognizes an obstacle O that is at least separated from the outer edge of the cleaning place A by a distance at which the main body case 21 can pass as an inaccessible area on the environment map. . Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 identifies the obstacle O near the outer edge of the cleaning place A as a part of the outer edge of the environmental map so that the main body case 21 cannot pass through, and can reduce the burden of unnecessary calculation of the traveling route. .

  By the way, the burden of calculating the optimum traveling route in the wide area cleaning traveling mode or the obstacle cleaning traveling mode increases as the floor area of the cleaning place A increases and the total number of obstacles O existing inside the cleaning place A increases. Further, as the floor area of the cleaning place A increases and the total number of the obstacles O existing inside the cleaning place A increases, the total distance of the traveling route in the obstacle traveling cleaning traveling style increases. Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment divides the cleaning place A into a plurality of subsections a, and for each of the subsections a, at the finishing stage of cleaning of the subsection a, the inside of the subsection a. Are collectively cleaned at the area of the inaccessible area for identifying the obstacle O existing in the area. Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can reduce the load of the calculation of the traveling route and can set an efficient traveling route.

  In addition, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment has determined that there are a plurality of inaccessible areas on the environment map, and that the remaining amount of the secondary battery 22 is insufficient to traverse all of the inaccessible areas. In such a case, the inaccessible area to be visited is limited. For this reason, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 avoids stopping at the cleaning place A during cleaning in accordance with the cleaning traveling mode at the end of the cleaning, and as much as possible. The finish of the obstacle O can be cleaned.

  Furthermore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment further cleans the periphery of the cleaning place A after cleaning the area where no entry is possible. Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can remove dust accumulated on the wall of the cleaning place A in addition to dust accumulated at the obstacle O inside the cleaning place A.

  In addition, when the subsection a includes the outer edge of the cleaning place A, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment performs cleaning around the outer edge of the cleaning place A included in the subsection a. In other cases, cleaning around the subsection a is not performed. For this reason, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can more reliably remove the dust accumulated near the wall of the cleaning place A in addition to the dust accumulated at the obstacle O inside the cleaning place A.

  Furthermore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment has a suction port 45 that is provided so as to be deviated leftward or rightward with respect to the traveling direction, and at the time of the outer edge of the cleaning place A, and in the inaccessible area. When the vehicle travels along the edge of the cleaning place A, the vehicle travels along one side of the main body case 21 at the outer edge of the cleaning place A and at the time of the inaccessible area. Therefore, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 can more reliably collect dust accumulated at the outer edge of the cleaning place A and at the time of the inaccessible area.

  Therefore, according to the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 according to the present embodiment, when a traveling route is set based on the environment map and the cleaning is performed according to the traveling route, the obstacle disposed inside the cleaning place A is difficult. Cleaning can be finished without leaving the dust accumulated during the object O.

  As described above, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1 of the present embodiment cleans a wall defining an outer edge of a cleaning place, an outer edge obstacle such as furniture arranged along the wall, and a floor. Separately from the process, after completely cleaning the cleaning place, perform the process of cleaning the inside obstacle such as a desk or chair away from the outer edge obstacle and the floor surface as a finish cleaning . In this way, during cleaning of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 1, for example, even if dust is repelled by the rotating brush 31 and is left behind on the inside obstacle such as a desk or chair and the floor, finishing cleaning is performed. It can be removed in stages.

  However, the step of cleaning the area between the inner obstacle and the floor surface is not only performed as a final cleaning, but also a certain effect is obtained even before the entire cleaning place is cleaned (ie, a pre-processing step). be able to. Generally, some obstacles, such as walls, tend to accumulate more dust than other wide, flat places. Therefore, by performing a pre-processing step of cleaning the inside obstacle and the floor before cleaning the cleaning place as a whole, the amount of dust soaring by the cleaning traveling of the autonomous electric vacuum cleaner 1 is increased. Therefore, the amount of dust remaining on the floor after cleaning can be reduced. In this way, when performing the pre-processing step of cleaning the inside obstacle and the floor, when the outer obstacle and the floor are also cleaned before cleaning the entire cleaning place, It is effective to remove more dust first. This effect can be obtained by performing either the cleaning for the inner obstacle or the cleaning for the outer obstacle first.

  While some embodiments of the invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. These new embodiments can be implemented in other various forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and their equivalents.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Autonomous vacuum cleaner, 2 ... Operation control system, 3 ... Telecommunication network, 4 ... Server, 5 ... Remote operation terminal, 6 ... Premise terminal, 7 ... Operation terminal, 8 ... External network, 9 ... Premise communication network , 11 ... relay communication device, 13 ... Internet, 21 ... body case, 22 ... secondary battery, 23 ... charging stand, 24 ... power cord, 31 ... rotating brush, 32 ... brush motor, 33 ... dust container, 35 ... Electric blower, 41: traveling unit, 42: camera unit, 43: control unit, 45: suction port, 46: drive wheel, 47: electric motor, 48: driven wheel, 51: communication unit, 52: notification unit, 53: display Unit, 60: image sensor, 61: optical system, 65: image storage unit, 71: autonomous control unit, 72: camera control unit, 75: travel control unit, 76: cleaning control unit, 77: map information storage unit.

Claims (7)

An autonomously movable body,
A storage unit for storing an environment map of a cleaning place;
A control unit that moves the main body based on the environment map to clean the cleaning place,
The autonomous vacuum cleaner, wherein the control unit collectively cleans an inaccessible area for identifying an obstacle existing inside the cleaning place on the environment map in a finishing step of cleaning the cleaning place. 2. The autonomous vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the inaccessible area is separated from an outer edge of the cleaning place by at least a separation distance through which the main body can pass. 3. Sub-segments smaller than the cleaning location are identified in the environment map,
3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein, for each of the subsections, at a finishing stage of the subsections, at the time of a non-accessible area that identifies an obstacle existing inside the subsections, the control section performs cleaning. Autonomous vacuum cleaner. Equipped with a secondary battery that stores power consumed for autonomous driving,
If the control unit determines that there are a plurality of the inaccessible areas on the environment map, and the remaining amount of the secondary battery is insufficient to go through all of the inaccessible areas, The autonomous vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an inaccessible area is limited. The autonomous vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising cleaning an outer edge of the cleaning place after cleaning the area where the entry is impossible. When the subsection includes an outer edge of the cleaning place, the control unit performs cleaning around an outer edge of the cleaning place included in the subsection, and in other cases, the subsection includes the subsection. The autonomous vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cleaning around the minute is not performed. The main body has a suction port provided so as to be deviated to one of left and right with respect to the traveling direction, and when traveling along the outer edge of the cleaning place, and along the non-accessible area, The autonomous vacuum cleaner according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the autonomous vacuum cleaner travels along one side of the main body at an outer edge of a cleaning place and at the inaccessible area.

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