JPH0546246A - Cleaning robot and its travelling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the nearly perfect cleaning without remaining the unfinished cleaning at the corners of a room. CONSTITUTION:The rotation movement to advance and guide a robot main body 2 up to the front wall along a side wall, abut to the front wall or stop immediately before it based on the output of an ultrasonic sensor 19, next, go back only to the distance necessary for the direction change, next, perform the direction change along the front wall, next, go back suitably along the front wall, steps such as advancing, going back, direction change and going back are taken at the corners of the room, and change only the direction without changing the central position is performed and the unfinished cleaning is eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning robot capable of cleaning a room without leaving a cleaning residue in a corner and a traveling method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An industrial cleaning robot usually has a predetermined cleaning target, so that a running space in which a landmark or a guideline for a geographical guide is installed so that the robot can travel along a fixed route every time. There are many types of cleaning. On the other hand, in an ordinary household, when using a cleaning robot to unattendedly clean a room with a different size or shape,
The robots are required to have artificial intelligence capable of recognizing the shape of the room and autonomously traveling only because the guide signs and the like have little room for general acceptance. However, most of the cleaning robots currently considered are mostly robots having a simple structure that changes direction when hitting a wall or an obstacle.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional cleaning robot does not attach much importance to the traveling style of traveling along the wall of the room, and therefore, for example, when it hits a right angle along the wall of the room. In this case, since the direction of the front wheels was changed to change the direction at the same position or a slightly retracted position, it is natural that there is a gap between the traveling locus of the cleaning robot and the wall, especially between the corners of the wall. However, in the case of a cleaning robot, there is a problem that this gap remains as a cleaning residue. In addition, conventional cleaning robots can be used to some extent in rooms with almost no obstructions such as furniture and tables, but in order to evenly clean uneven or obstructed rooms, a path determination mechanism is required. Is too simple and lacks rigor, and when temporary automatic cleaning is completed, there is no clue as to which part of the room has been cleaned, so the uncleaned part that could not be cleaned It was necessary to re-clean with a certain amount of intuition, so it took a considerable amount of time to complete the general cleaning, and there was a problem that efficiency was extremely poor.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems and has a robot main body having steered wheels and drive wheels, and a robot main body provided on the robot main body and provided in a boundary wall of the cleaning space or in the cleaning space. Detecting means for detecting an existing obstacle, and controlling the steered wheels and the driving wheels based on the output of the detecting means to guide the robot body forward along the side wall of the cleaning space to the front wall, Abutting or stopping shortly before the front wall, then retracting by the distance required for turning, then turning along said front wall,
Next, there is provided direction changing control means for appropriately retracting along the front wall and stopping the rear surface of the cleaning robot in contact with the side wall or immediately before that. Also, the present invention guides an autonomously traveling cleaning robot forward along a side wall to a front wall, abuts on the front wall, or stops immediately before the front wall, and then retracts by a distance necessary for turning. Next, the direction is changed along the front wall, and then it is appropriately retracted along the front wall, and the rear surface of the cleaning robot abuts against the side wall or is stopped immediately before that. It is a thing.

[0005]

According to the present invention, an autonomously traveling cleaning robot is guided forward along a side wall to a front wall, abutting on the front wall or stopped immediately before, and then retracted by a distance necessary for turning. , Then turn around along the front wall, then retreat appropriately along the front wall, and stop the back of the cleaning robot against the sidewall or just before it, at the corner of the room. Exile the cleaning residue that is likely to occur in.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the cleaning robot of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the cleaning robot shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows a sensor arrangement of the cleaning robot shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a circular traveling locus of the cleaning robot shown in FIG. 1, and FIG.
6 is a diagram showing a cleaning path of the cleaning robot shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the direction changing operation of the cleaning robot shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a map displayed on the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 8 is shown in FIG. CP
9 is a flow chart for explaining the starting point search operation by U, FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining the mapping operation by the CPU shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining the direction change processing operation shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the traveling mode determination operation by the CPU shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 12 is FIG.
5 is a flowchart for explaining a cleaning control operation by the CPU shown in FIG.

The cleaning robot 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a robot for cleaning an arbitrary room designated as a cleaning space. The cleaning robot 1 first circulates inside the room to be cleaned, and then travels in advance. Create a map showing the size and shape of, and then clean the entire room according to this map. As the traveling mode imposed on the robot body 2 during cleaning, for example, the course is gradually changed while traveling back and forth from one wall to another, that is, a traveling mode in which the vehicle travels over the entire surface by so-called zigzag traveling, or during mapping operation. There is a running mode such as spiral running that narrows the radius of the orbital run as it goes around.

In the cleaning robot 1, a suction type cleaner 5 is integrated with a dome-shaped robot body 2 supported by a total of three wheels including a front wheel 3 as a steering wheel and a pair of left and right rear wheels 4 as driving wheels. The robot body 2 has a suction port 6 opened at the bottom of the front surface of the robot body 2. The distance from the rear end of the suction port 6 to the rear end of the robot body 2 is larger than the width of the robot body 2 so that cleaning cannot be left when the robot body 2 is turned around at the corner of the room. Considered to be short. That is, the value obtained by subtracting the depth of the suction port 6 from the body length of the robot body 2 is
It is smaller than the body width of the robot body 2 and therefore the suction port 6
Is larger than the value obtained by subtracting the body width from the body length of the robot body 2. If the body length of the robot body 2 is equal to or smaller than the body width, the depth of the suction port 6 can be arbitrarily determined, but the body length of the robot body 2 is larger than the body width. In this case, care must be taken in designing the shape of the suction port 6, especially in determining the depth dimension thereof. Rotating brushes 7 are attached to both sides of the suction port 6 to collect dust, the dust sucked from the suction port 6 is stored in the dust collection pack 8, and the air passing through the dust collection pack 8 is sucked by the intake fan 9 As a result, the air is exhausted from the exhaust port 10 that is opened on the side surface of the robot body 2. Dust collection pack 8
Can be replaced by opening the lid 11 on the upper surface of the robot body 2. In the embodiment, the front wheels 3 are used for measuring the traveling distance,
The pair of left and right rear wheels 4 can be driven in the forward and reverse directions independently of each other by a motor 13 which is driven and controlled by a motor drive circuit 12. That is, the rotation of the front wheels 3 is converted via the encoder 14 into a traveling distance having a positive or negative sign, and is integrated by the integrating distance meter 15, and then the CPU 16
Is taken into. Further, the rotation of the rear wheel 4 is also controlled by the encoder 1
Motor drive circuit 12 as left and right independent data via 7
It is taken into the CPU 16 via.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a contact sensor 18 and a pair of ultrasonic sensors 19 are incorporated in the front and back surfaces of the robot body 2 and the left and right side surfaces, respectively. Monitor the driving environment so that the vehicle runs without hitting walls or obstacles. As the contact sensor 18, a sensor such as a proximity switch or a pressure-sensitive switch that detects a direct contact of an object is used, and monitors the collision between the object that has entered the blind spot of the ultrasonic sensor 19 and the robot body 2.
The ultrasonic sensor 19 is a pair of ultrasonic transmitting elements 1
9a and the ultrasonic receiving element 19b are arranged side by side, and the distance to the object is measured from the time until the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitting element 19a is reflected by the object and returns to the ultrasonic receiving element 19b. can do. Two ultrasonic sensors 19 are arranged on each surface of the robot main body 2 because the robot main body 2 is controlled in posture so that the distances to the objects detected by the two ultrasonic sensors 19 are matched. This is because the parallelism of each surface with respect to the wall of can be taken out exactly.

The cleaning robot 1 shown in the embodiment adopts a cord type in which the power cord 20 is used by connecting it to a commercial power source. Therefore, the power cord 20 is loosened or pulled in the course of autonomous traveling. In order to prevent the traveling of the robot body 2 from being hindered, the cord reel 21 for winding the power cord 20 is driven by the motor 22 in the forward and reverse directions,
The power cord 20 can be always fed in a required length in association with the traveling of the robot body 2.

Further, the main feature of the cleaning robot 1 is that while the room is being cleaned, it circulates around before forming the room to form a map concerning the size and shape of the room and the position and size of obstacles. The point is that the so-called mapping operation is automatically performed. Similar to other operations such as a cleaning operation for cleaning the room in earnest or a starting point search operation for searching for a starting point of mapping, all such mapping operations are centrally controlled by the CPU 16. That is, for example, at the time of mapping operation, the CPU 16 determines the course of the robot body 2 from the output of the detection means such as the contact sensor 18 and the ultrasonic sensor 19, and from the output of the integrating distance meter 15 and the orientation of the robot body 2. The current position is specified, and it is determined that the robot body 2 has completed the orbit. Furthermore, the CPU 16 stores the map data obtained by the mapping in the memory 23, and at the same time, the map relating to the size and shape of the room and the position and size of the obstacle is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 25 via the liquid crystal drive circuit 24.
To display. The liquid crystal display panel 25 is attached to the upper surface of the robot body 2.

By the way, when cleaning a room whose size and shape are completely unknown, first, the cleaning robot 1 is brought into the room, placed in an appropriate place, and the power cord 20 is connected to an outlet near the wall. Next, when the power button is pressed, the cleaning robot 1 first starts the starting point search. The origin search is a preparatory work for finding a corner of the room near the place where the cleaning robot is placed, and using this as a starting point to move to mapping. Here, as shown in FIG. 8, first, in step (101), the distance to the nearest wall is measured by the ultrasonic sensor 19 provided on each surface of the robot body 2. Then, in the following step (102), the wall with the shortest distance is set in the traveling direction, and when straight traveling is acceptable, in the step (104) following the determining step (103), the rear wheels 4 are driven to travel straight.
However, if a turn is required, step (105)
And goes straight ahead. At this time, the robot body 2
As shown in steps (105) and (106),
While the ultrasonic sensor 19 measures the distance to the target wall, and while the contact sensor 18 monitors contact, the vehicle continues straight ahead. When it is detected that the robot body 2 has reached the wall surface, the determination step (107) is performed,
In step (108), the driving by the motor 13 is interrupted and the robot body 2 is temporarily stopped. Next, in order to make the robot body 2 parallel to the wall, the robot body 2 is turned to the left or right in step (109). Then, after finishing the direction change, as shown in step (110), it is judged from the output of the ultrasonic sensor 19 on the surface facing the wall whether or not the robot body 2 reaches the corner of the room. If it has not reached the corner of the room, return to step (104) and repeat the above operation,
If it is confirmed that the robot body 2 has reached the corner of the room, in step (111), the robot body 2 with its head facing the wall can move forward with the wall next to it as a right angle to the left or right. Turn to the final step (11
In 2), with the current position as the starting point A, the coordinate origin (0,
0) is stored in the memory 23.

In this way, the starting point search necessary for the next mapping operation is completed, and the robot main body 2 shifts to the circular traveling shown by the dotted line in FIG. In the mapping operation, it is necessary to go around the room to grasp the size and shape of the room, but since the robot body 2 has already waited in parallel with the wall at the starting point A defined in one corner of the room by the starting point search. As shown in step (201) of FIG. 9, it is possible to immediately proceed straight ahead. In the embodiment, the intake fan 9 is operated during the orbital traveling accompanying the mapping operation, and the orbital cleaning is also performed to improve the cleaning efficiency.
While the vehicle is traveling straight ahead, as shown in steps (202) to (204), distance measurement by the ultrasonic sensor 19, contact detection by the contact sensor 18, and integration distance measurement by the integration distance meter 15 are performed. That is, here, the traveling direction of the robot body 2 is constantly monitored so that the outputs of the pair of ultrasonic sensors 19 facing the wall surface continue to show about 2 cm, respectively, and the distance from the wall surface to the robot body 2 is deviated. In this case, the direction is corrected by changing the direction of the front wheel 3. Further, since the azimuth does not change while traveling straight along the wall, the traveling distance S of the robot body 2 directly indicates the current position (0, S) of the robot body. Further, when the ultrasonic sensor 19 detects an object which is obviously different from the wall or confusing with the wall, these objects are collectively regarded as an obstacle for the time being,
Based on the judgment in step (205), the coordinates (X ', Y') of the object regarded as an obstacle are set in step (2).
In 06), the data is written in the memory 23.

Thus, when the robot body 2 reaches the corner of the room, the output of the ultrasonic sensor 19 for monitoring the front also detects that the wall surface 2 cm ahead is detected. 208)
The drive of the motor 13 is stopped, and the robot body 2 is stopped in a posture in which the front surface faces the wall. When the motor drive is stopped, the coordinates (0, Y2) of the end point B, which is the stop position, are written in the memory 23. When the writing of the coordinates to the memory 23 is completed, the direction changing process shown in step (210) is started. In this case, if the robot main body 2 is simply turned rightward, a gap is created between the traveling locus of the robot main body 2 and the wall, so that it is a little complicated here, but shown in FIG. As described above, the center of the robot body 2 is at the same position and only the direction is changed to a right angle.

That is, first, the step (2
In 11), it is determined whether or not there is a wall in front, and if not, that is, if the vehicle is traveling along a convex wall in the room, there is no wall in front, so the processing from step (221) described below is performed. Run. However, here
As the result of the traveling shown in FIG. 6 (A) is a direction change when there is a wall in front, the motor 13 is first driven in reverse, and as shown in step (212), the robot is moved a predetermined distance. The main body 2 is retracted. Figure 6
When the robot main body 2 retreats to the position indicated by the dotted line in (B), the motor 13 is switched to the normal rotation drive this time, and as shown in step (213), the robot moves away from the left side wall while advancing, that is, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6C, here, the vehicle turns right. And step (2
As shown in 14), when the direction is changed to the right by the designated angle of 135 degrees, the right turn advance is stopped at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 6D. Next, step (215)
As shown in FIG. 6, the robot main body 2 is changed in direction while retreating, and the robot main body 2 is moved in the direction shown in FIG. 6 (E). Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (F), when the back surface of the robot body 2 faces the guide wall up to then, the judgment result of step (216) is received, and the motor 13 is driven in step (217). Stop. Further, in step (218), the posture of the robot main body 2 is controlled in the manner of width adjustment while driving the motor 13 slightly forward and reverse so that the left side surface of the robot body 2 is parallel to the wall, for example, 2 cm away from the wall surface. Wait for the affirmative judgment at step (219). In this way, the robot main body 2 is changed from a state in which the front surface faces the wall surface to a state in which the center is at the same position and only the direction is changed to a right angle, and the rear surface faces the wall surface. Therefore, there is no leftover cleaning. by the way,
Here, the case where the posture control of the robot body 2 is performed in the manner of width adjustment in the step (218) has been described as an example, but the backward movement and the direction change of the robot body 2 are controlled well while monitoring the output of the ultrasonic sensor 19. As a result, it is possible to travel once on an ideal movement route that does not require position correction by width adjustment. However, both movement methods are claimed whether the movement from the position shown in FIG. 6 (E) to the position shown in FIG. 6 (F) is completed in one operation or with width adjustment. It goes without saying that it is included in the traveling method described in 2.

When the robot body 2 travels from the end point C to the end point D on the convex wall CDEF in the room shown in FIG. 4, a negative determination result in the determination step (211) is received, and the robot 2 goes around in the step (221). The output of the ultrasonic sensor 19 facing the wall serving as a guide is captured. As a result, it can be seen that, just after passing the end point D, the wall that had been guided around the circuit was broken. At this time, except for the case where the wall is cut due to the wall pocket narrower than the main body width of the robot main body 2 or there is no room for turning even if the wall is cut, steps (222), (2)
In response to the determination result of 23), in step (224), the robot body 2 is advanced by the designated distance. next,
In the step (225), the robot main body 2 is turned along the wall, and then the robot main body 2 joins the step (218).

When the robot main body 2 makes a round along the wall of the room and returns to the starting point A, it is determined in step (230) in FIG. 9 that the current position of the robot main body 2 is the starting point A, and the orbiting operation is performed. Complete. And the robot body 2
Of the closed surface ABCDEFGH obtained during the orbit of
(0,0) and each turning point B (0, Y2), C (X1,
Y2), D (X1, Y1), E (X2, Y1), F (X
2, Y2), G (X3, Y2), and H (X3, 0) coordinates, the CPU 16 can know the size and shape of the room. That is, the orbited room has a vertical Y2 and a horizontal X
It can be seen that the shape has a vertical Y2-Y1 and horizontal X2-X1 convex wall based on the rectangle of No. 3. On the other hand, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 4, when there is an obstacle in the room, each end point I (X of the obstacle surrounded by the closed curve IJKL is
4, Y3), J (X4, Y4), K (X5, Y4), L
The position and shape of the obstacle can be known from the coordinates (X5, Y3).

The coordinate data on the room and the obstacle found by the round trip are supplied as map data from the CPU 16 to the liquid crystal drive circuit 24, and the shape of the room is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 25 as a plan view. That is, FIG.
As shown in (A), the cleaned area, that is, the area that has traveled around for mapping is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 25.
Is highlighted in black and is distinguished from the remaining uncleaned area.
When the mapping operation is completed, the robot body 2 travels in the opposite direction along the path that has been traveled up to then, and the motor 1
3 is driven in reverse, and the power cord 20 is returned to the starting point while being rewound on the cord reel 21. This is because when the robot body 2 completes its orbit and reaches the starting point A, the power cord 20
Power source cord 2 with the robot body 2 stopped at the starting point A,
This is to prevent an accident in which the power cord 20 is wrapped around an obstacle or the like and is entangled when the 0 is rewound. Therefore, if it is known that there is no obstacle in the room, only the power cord 20 may be rewound while the robot body 2 is stopped.

After the power cord 20 has been unwound, the cleaning work is finally started. Here, in order to carry out a running pattern such as a full-scale run by zigzag running, it is necessary to change the direction less frequently and shorten the direction. The traveling direction of zigzag traveling is determined so that the cleaning work is completed in time. This determination is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, first step (3
Check the room shape in step 01) and follow the steps (3
In 02), it is determined whether the length of the long side of the room is 10 m or more. The value “10 m” handled here is a value corresponding to twice the distance that the ultrasonic sensor 19 used can measure with a certain accuracy, and the long side is 10 m.
In a room above, it is more reliable for the robot body 2 to travel straight without separating from the left and right side walls as much as possible, and at this point it is necessary to make a judgment for cleaning while moving back and forth in the long side direction. Therefore, when the ultrasonic sensor 10 whose measurement distance exceeds 1/2 of the long side of the room is used, the determination step (302) may be omitted.
When the length of the long side of the room is 10 m or less, in the subsequent steps (302) to (306), it is confirmed that there are no protrusions or depressions on the X side or the Y side of the room, and the long side is in the X-axis direction. If not, the Y-axis direction is determined as the cleaning direction in step (308). Also, when there is a protrusion or a depression on the X side, the Y-axis direction is the cleaning direction as in the above case, but in other cases, the X-axis direction is the cleaning direction. If the length of the long side of the room is 10 m or more, step (307)
Follow the judgment results in.

Thus, after the cleaning direction is decided, the actual cleaning operation is started. In this case, as shown in FIG. 12, first, in step (401), the robot body 2 waiting at the starting point A is advanced toward the wall facing directly.
As shown in steps (402) to (404), the robot body 2 continues the contact detection by the contact sensor 18, the distance measurement by the ultrasonic sensor 19 and the confirmation of the current position by the integrating distance meter 15 even while traveling straight ahead. .. Then, when the robot body 2 reaches the wall facing directly, the arrival of the turning point is detected from the output of the ultrasonic sensor 19 for forward monitoring. In the step (406) following the step (405) of judging the arrival at the turning point, it is checked whether or not there is an error between the distance on the map and the distance actually traveled. If there is an error, the robot body 2 is corrected and moved by that amount, and then step (4
At 08), the traveling of the robot body 2 is stopped.

Simultaneously with the stop of the robot body 2, in step (409), the traveling route up to this point is displayed in black on the liquid crystal display panel 25, as shown in FIG. 7B. Further, at this point, only a part of the room has finished traveling, so in the step (411) following the step (410), the robot body 2 is just turned in the opposite direction, and the process returns to the step (401). Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the robot body 2 cleans the room while repeating zigzag running from wall to wall. When the robot body 2 reaches the end point H (X3,0) after cleaning the entire room, the distance to the wall is measured by the ultrasonic sensor 19 in step (412). And from the measurement result at that time,
In step (413), it is determined whether or not there is an error between the cleaning area on the map and the actual cleaning area. If there is a region error, the coordinates of the current position of the robot body 2 are corrected in step (414), and after step (411), step (401)
Return to. Furthermore, when there is an uncleaned portion in the center of the room, the process proceeds to step (416) based on the judgment of step (415), and the cleaning of the uncleaned portion is completed.
Finally, in step (417), the robot body 2 is returned to the starting point A, and the cleaning operation is completed.

As to the area where the cleaning is completed, as shown in FIG. 7 (C), the liquid crystal display panel 25 is displayed in black inversion, so that if the cleaning is left uncleaned due to the presence of obstacles or the like. After confirming the uncleaned portion from the display of the liquid crystal display panel 25, for example, after moving or removing the obstacle, only the uncleaned portion can be cleaned.

As described above, according to the cleaning robot 1, when cleaning a completely unknown room, the size and shape of the room can be recognized according to the map obtained by the previous round trip, and the room can be moved most efficiently. Therefore, it is possible to surely clean without leaving an uncleaned portion. Further, the robot main body 2 is guided forward along the side wall to the front wall, and abuts on the front wall or is stopped immediately before that.
Next, the robot body 2 is retracted by a distance necessary for the direction change, then the direction is changed along the front wall, and then it is appropriately retracted along the front wall, and the rear surface of the robot body 2 abuts against the side wall or immediately before that. Since it was stopped at, when cleaning the corner of the room, the robot main body 2 that has advanced along the side wall,
Instead of simply turning right or left in the corner of the room, move forward,
It is possible to perform rolling motion such as reversing, changing direction, retreating, changing direction, and changing the direction without changing the center position. Also, the running locus of the robot body 2 and the corner of the room during the turning motion period. Since there is no gap between the two, there is no cleaning residue left in the corner of the room, and therefore it is possible to clean the room almost completely while performing unattended cleaning. Furthermore, the front wheel 3 and the rear wheel 4 of the robot body 2 are controlled based on the outputs of the contact sensor 18 and the ultrasonic sensor 19 that detect the traveling environment, and the robot body 2 performs a turning motion to fill the corner of the room. The robot body 2 uses the contact sensor 18 and the ultrasonic sensor 19 corresponding to human eyes and hands to detect the location of a wall or the like to be turned, and the front wheel corresponding to a human foot. Accurate turning motion is possible by changing the direction using 3 or the rear wheel 4 and moving forward or backward. Further, the robot body 2 is provided with a suction port 6 having a length equal to or longer than the length of each side face, and a suction type vacuum cleaner 5 for cleaning the traveling surface while collecting dust from the suction port 6 is integrated. By making the robot main body 2 turn around along the corner of the room, it is possible to clean the robot main body 2 with a width close to the traveling locus of the robot main body 2.
Therefore, there is no cleaning left before and after turning,
From the structural aspect of the robot body 2, it is possible to thoroughly eliminate the cleaning residue.

In the above embodiment, the orientation of the robot body 2 is determined from the direction of the front wheels 3.
For example, a vibration gyro that detects the azimuth using the Coriolis force may be mounted on the robot body 2 so that the correct course can be grasped each time the robot body 2 changes direction. Further, the detection means is not limited to the ultrasonic sensor 19, and other non-contact sensor such as an infrared sensor may be used. Besides the liquid crystal display panel 25, for example, a display panel in which light emitting diodes are arranged, a CRT display, a plasma display, or the like can be used as the map display means. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the cord type robot main body 2 used by connecting the power cord 20 to the outlet is taken as an example, but the robot main body 2 can also be equipped with a rechargeable battery for cleaning without a cord. .. In that case, it becomes unnecessary to wind the power cord or the like before the next traveling operation is completed and the next cleaning operation is started. Therefore, when the mapping operation is completed, it is possible to immediately shift to the cleaning operation without reversing the circular traveling locus.

[0025]

As described above, according to the cleaning robot of the present invention, the steered wheels and the drive wheels provided on the robot body are controlled based on the output of the detection means for detecting the traveling environment, and the robot body is controlled to detect the room. Since it is configured to perform a turning motion that fills in a corner, the robot body detects the location of the wall or the like that should change direction using a detection means equivalent to human eyes and hands, and also corresponds to human legs. By turning or moving forward or backward using the steered wheels and the driving wheels, it is possible to achieve an accurate turning motion.

Further, according to the cleaning robot traveling method of the present invention, the autonomously traveling cleaning robot is guided forward along the side wall to the front wall, and either abuts on the front wall or is stopped immediately before it. To the direction necessary to change direction, then to the direction along the front wall, then to the appropriate direction along the front wall, and the rear surface of the cleaning robot abuts against the side wall or stops immediately before that. By doing so, when cleaning the corner of the room, the cleaning robot that has advanced along the side wall does not simply turn right or left in the corner of the room, but takes steps such as forward, backward, direction change, backward. In this way, it is possible to make a turning motion as if changing the direction without changing the center position, and since there is no gap between the running trajectory of the cleaning robot and the corner of the room during the turning motion, sweeping the corner of the room. Not leaving the remaining, thus an excellent effect of equal are possible almost perfectly clean room near while unattended cleaning.

Further, according to the cleaning robot of the present invention,
Since the robot body has a suction port with a length equal to or longer than the length of each side, it is close to the trajectory of the robot body when the robot body is turned along the corner of the room. Since the cleaning can be performed with the width, therefore, the uncleaned residue does not occur before and after the direction change, and the uncleaned residue can be thoroughly eliminated from the structural aspect of the robot body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a cleaning robot of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the cleaning robot shown in FIG.

3 is a plan view showing a sensor arrangement of the cleaning robot shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a circular traveling locus of the cleaning robot shown in FIG. 1.

5 is a diagram showing a cleaning path of the cleaning robot shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a direction changing operation of the cleaning robot shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a map displayed on the liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG.

8 is a flowchart for explaining a starting point search operation by the CPU shown in FIG.

9 is a flowchart for explaining a mapping operation by the CPU shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the direction change processing operation shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a running style determination operation by the CPU shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining a cleaning control operation by the CPU shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cleaning Robot 2 Robot Main Body 3 Steering Wheel (Front Wheel) 4 Drive Wheel (Rear Wheel) 5 Suction Type Vacuum Cleaner 6 Suction Port 16 Direction Change Control Means (CPU) 18 Detecting Means (Contact Sensor) 19 Detecting Means (Ultrasonic Sensor)

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location // B25J 5/00 E 9147-3F

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A robot body having steered wheels and drive wheels, and a detection means provided on the robot body for detecting an obstacle existing in a boundary wall of the cleaning space or in the cleaning space,
The steered wheels and the drive wheels are controlled based on the output of the detection means, and the robot body is guided forward along the side wall of the cleaning space to the front wall and abuts on the front wall or immediately before that. Stop, then retreat a distance required for turning, then turn along the front wall, then back appropriately along the front wall, with the back of the cleaning robot on the side wall. A cleaning robot, comprising: a direction change control unit that abuts or stops immediately before that. 2. An autonomously traveling cleaning robot is guided forward along a side wall to a front wall, abutting on the front wall or stopped immediately before, and then retracted by a distance required for turning. Next, the cleaning is performed by changing the direction along the front wall and then retracting it appropriately along the front wall so that the rear surface of the cleaning robot abuts against the side wall or is stopped immediately before. How to run a robot. 3. The cleaning robot according to claim 1, wherein the robot body has a suction port having a length equal to or longer than the length of each side surface.