JPH0833598A - Cleaning-robot control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remove dirty water remaining in a stop position, by lifting a squeegee, when a robot stops temporarily, thereby sucking most of the dirty water, also by stopping the scatter of washing water, and by moving a vehicle to and flo while rotating a cleaning brush and sucking the dirty water with the squeegee. CONSTITUTION:When an obstacle is detected by anterior-obstacle sensors 17a-17c in the course of cleaning, the drive of drive motors 11a and 11b, one on the left and the other on the right, stop in response to a detection signal from a control part 16, so that a cleaning robot 10 stops. Simultaneously a squeegee moves upwards and its opening part is separated from a floor surface. The scatter of washing water stops but the suction of dirty water by the squeegee goes on, and the cleaning of the floor surface by cleaning brushes 13a-13c continues. After the temporary stop of the cleaning robot 10, it is moved to and fro a distance equal to the overall length of the cleaning robot 10. During this time, the squeegee is lowered to bring the opening part into contact with the floor surface, and the sucking operation of the squeegee and the rotating operations of the cleaning brushes 13a-13c are continued.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a cleaning robot having an automatic cleaning function and an autonomous traveling function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, cleaning robots having an automatic cleaning function and an autonomous traveling function have been developed. Such cleaning robots use a motor that uses a storage battery as a power source to enable autonomous traveling, drive wheels that are driven by the motor, a sensor that detects an obstacle or a direction, and a motor that uses the output of the sensor. The vehicle is equipped with a microcomputer that controls the operation of the. In addition to a suction nozzle that sucks in dust and a cleaning brush so that automatic cleaning is possible, a means for spraying a cleaning liquid onto the floor surface, cleaning the floor surface with the cleaning brush, and cleaning it, and suctioning the dirty water after cleaning is provided. There is. As a cleaning robot having such a function, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-16
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 1852.

Further, JP-A-3-13611, JP-A-5-158536, or JP-A-5-161.
In Japanese Patent No. 577, as a method of controlling a cleaning robot, when an obstacle such as a person is detected by a sensor in front of the cleaning robot while traveling on a predetermined trajectory, or when the traveling trajectory is corrected,
A method of stopping traveling and stopping the cleaning operation at the same time is disclosed. In this control method, control is performed so that the traveling of the robot is stopped at the end of the cleaning work and the cleaning function is stopped at the same time.

[0004]

However, the conventional control of the cleaning robot has the following problems. When an obstacle is detected during cleaning and the running and cleaning operations are stopped, the sewage liquid remains between the edge of the squeegee tip and the floor surface, and a trace of dye remains after drying. Therefore, it is necessary for the worker to wipe off with a mop or the like after the cleaning is completed, which is a waste of time.

Further, conventionally, when the cleaning robot finishes cleaning the predetermined area, it stops traveling and stops spraying the cleaning liquid and sucking the dirty water. For this reason, the sewage liquid remains in the uncleaned area or between the sprinkling port and the squeegee, and it is necessary to wipe it off by the operator.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a control method for a cleaning robot that eliminates the need for manually wiping off the dirty water during or after a temporary stop during cleaning.

[0007]

A cleaning robot control method according to the present invention detects an obstacle and an azimuth, and a control unit controls a vehicle drive mechanism based on the detection result to drive the vehicle autonomously. The control unit is a method of controlling the cleaning operation of the cleaning unit, wherein the cleaning unit rotates the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning liquid tank through the cleaning liquid valve from the water spray port to the floor surface, while rotating. A cleaning brush that slides on the floor surface as the vehicle travels, and moves up and down so that the opening portion can contact or not contact the floor surface, and sucks the dirty water remaining on the floor surface from the opening portion. A squeegee, the control unit opens the cleaning liquid valve to sprinkle the cleaning water to rotate the cleaning brush during normal cleaning performed while the vehicle is traveling to rotate the cleaning brush to open the squeegee on the floor surface. Sewage in contact with When the vehicle is temporarily stopped, the cleaning liquid valve is closed to stop spraying the cleaning water and the cleaning brush is continuously rotated to prevent the opening of the squeegee from contacting the floor surface. The vehicle is moved backwards and stopped by a predetermined distance in a state in which the waste liquid is sucked, and then the opening of the squeegee is lowered to bring it into contact with the floor surface to suck the waste liquid and the cleaning liquid valve is turned on. It is characterized in that the vehicle drive mechanism and the cleaning unit are controlled so that the vehicle is advanced to at least the temporary stop position in a state where the cleaning liquid is opened to spray the cleaning liquid on the floor surface and the cleaning brush is continuously rotated. .

According to another control method of the present invention, when the normal cleaning is finished, the vehicle is stopped at a stop position and the cleaning liquid valve is closed to stop spraying the cleaning liquid for a predetermined time. After rotating the cleaning brush to suck the dirty liquid left on the floor by the squeegee, the vehicle is turned by about 180 degrees, the cleaning liquid valve is opened to spray the cleaning liquid, and the cleaning brush is rotated to rotate the squeegee. While sucking the sewage liquid in, the vehicle is advanced by a predetermined distance and stopped, the cleaning liquid valve is closed to stop the spraying of the cleaning liquid, the cleaning brush is rotated for a predetermined time, and the squeegee is used to suck the sewage liquid, Almost 18 vehicles
The vehicle drive mechanism and the cleaning unit are controlled so as to stop the cleaning operation after the vehicle is moved forward to the stop position while rotating the cleaning brush by rotating the cleaning brush by 0 degree to suck the dirty water with the squeegee. It is characterized by doing.

[0009]

[Operation] When the vehicle is temporarily stopped during normal cleaning while the vehicle is running, sewage liquid remains between the floor surface and the squeegee edge, but the squeegee is raised and the opening does not contact the floor surface. By sucking in this way, most of the sewage liquid is sucked in,
Furthermore, by closing the cleaning liquid valve and stopping the spraying of cleaning water, the cleaning brush is rotated and the squeegee is used to suck in the cleaning liquid to move the vehicle backwards and forwards so that the residual cleaning liquid near the stop position can be handled manually. Can be removed automatically without.

When the normal cleaning is finished, the cleaning valve is closed and suction is performed with the squeegee for a predetermined time to prevent the cleaning liquid remaining between the cleaning liquid tank and the sprinkling port from dripping on the floor surface. Furthermore, by turning the vehicle and cleaning it for a predetermined distance in the same way as during normal cleaning, the residual sewage liquid remaining between the uncleaned area, the sprinkle port and the squeegee is removed, and the vehicle is turned and the cleaning valve is closed. Finishing cleaning can be performed by stopping the sprinkling of the cleaning liquid, rotating the cleaning brush, and sucking with a squeegee, and it is possible to clean the uncleaned area and prevent the cleaning liquid from remaining without human intervention.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A cleaning robot control method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows a cleaning robot 1 to be controlled in this embodiment.
0 shows the outline of the traveling mechanism.

A pair of drive wheels 12a and 1 on either side of the vehicle.
2b are provided for each drive wheel 12a and 12b
The drive motors 11a and 11b are provided corresponding to. Further, motor drivers 15a and 15b are provided corresponding to the drive motors 11a and 11b, respectively. The motor drivers 15a and 15b are the control unit 1
Drive motor 11a based on a command signal given from
And 11b, respectively.

A distance sensor 14 for measuring the traveling distance of the cleaning robot 10 is provided on the rotary shafts of the drive motors 11a and 11b.
a and 14b are provided. Also, the cleaning robot 1
A front obstacle sensor 17a that detects a front obstacle is provided on the front side of 0, and front obstacle sensors 17a and 17b that detect an obstacle in each direction are provided on the left and right sides of the cleaning robot 10. Further, an azimuth sensor 18 for detecting the azimuth is provided. The detection signals output from the distance sensors 14a and 14b, the front obstacle sensors 17a to 17c, and the azimuth sensor 18 are given to the control unit 16.

A more detailed circuit configuration of the control unit 16 is shown in FIG. The control unit 16 has interfaces 19a to 19d.
And a main controller 20 and a counter 21.

The interface 19a receives the detection signals from the front obstacle sensors 17a to 17c, performs processing such as amplification and level shift and outputs them to the main controller 20, and the interface 19b receives the detection signals from the direction sensor 18. Then, the signal is amplified and processed, and output to the main controller 20.

Further, the counter 21 detects the number of rotations from distance sensors 14a and 14b attached to the drive shafts of the right drive motor 11a and the left drive motor 11b, respectively.
The counter 21 counts and calculates the traveling distance, and the result is given to the main controller 20.

The main controller 20 commands the driving of the motor based on the presence or absence of the front obstacle detected by the front obstacle sensors 17a to 17c, the azimuth detected by the azimuth sensor 18, and the traveling distance calculated by the counter 21. A signal and a command signal for controlling the cleaning unit are generated and output to the interface 19c and the interface 19d, respectively.

The command signal given to the interface 19c is given to the left and right motor drivers 15a and 15b, and the motor drivers 15a and 15b are driven by the right drive motor 1.
The drive of each of the 1a and the left drive motor 11b is controlled. For example, a predetermined cleaning area 51 as shown in FIG.
The operations of the right drive motor 11a and the left drive motor 11b are controlled so that the cleaning robot 10 travels in the predetermined path indicated by the arrows D1 to D11.

The command signal given to the interface 19d is given to the cleaning unit controller 33 included in the cleaning unit. As shown in FIG. 5, the cleaning unit includes a cleaning unit controller 33, brush rotation motors 30a and 30b connected to the output terminals of the cleaning unit controller 33, and a blower motor 3 respectively.
1, a cleaning liquid valve 32, and a squeegee lifting motor 34. The cleaning unit controller 33, based on the command signal given from the main controller 20 via the interface 19d, the brush rotation motors 30 and 30.
b, command signals are output to the blower motor 31, the cleaning liquid valve 32, and the squeegee lifting motor 34, respectively.

The cleaning section has a structure as shown in FIG. Cleaning brushes 13a to 13c, which are rotated by driving the brush rotation motors 30a and 30b, are provided below the lower portion of the cleaning robot 10.

Behind the cleaning brushes 13a to 13c, a squeegee 43 having a width substantially the same as the width of the cleaning robot 10.
Is provided. The squeegee 43 is for sucking the wastewater liquid after cleaning from the opening 43a, and is moved vertically by the squeegee lifting motor 34 to move the squeegee 4
The opening 43a of No. 3 comes into contact with or separates from the floor surface.

The opening 43a of the squeegee 43 has a bellows hose 39 provided so as to be movable up and down, and a conduit 40.
And the end of the conduit 40 is located in the waste water tank 36. The inside of the dirty water tank 36 is sucked by a blower 41 which is rotationally driven by a blower motor 31. As a result, the sewage liquid remaining on the floor is sucked from the opening 43a of the squeegee 43 and stored in the sewage tank 36 from the bellows hose 39 through the pipe line 40.

In front of the cleaning brushes 13a to 13c, there is provided a water spray port 42 for spraying the cleaning liquid. The sprinkling port 42 communicates with a cleaning liquid tank 37 provided on the upper part of the cleaning robot 10 via a cleaning liquid valve 32 that controls the outflow of the cleaning liquid.

The cleaning robot 10 having such a configuration
Will be described. Normal cleaning is performed as follows while the cleaning robot 10 is traveling on a predetermined route in the cleaning area. The cleaning liquid valve 32 is opened, and the cleaning brushes 13a to 13c are rotated while spraying the cleaning liquid from the water spray port 42 to clean the floor surface, and the squeegee 43 has the opening 43a in contact with the floor surface to remove the wastewater liquid after cleaning. Suction.

Next, as a first embodiment of the present invention, control will be described when an obstacle such as a person is detected during normal cleaning and the traveling of the cleaning robot is temporarily stopped.

When an obstacle is detected by the front obstacle sensors 17a to 17c during normal cleaning, a detection signal is given to the control unit 16 and a command signal is sent from the control unit 16 to the cleaning unit controller 33 and the left and right motor drivers. 15a and 15b
The control as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is performed based on this command signal.

As step 101, the motor driver 1
5a and 15b stop the drive of the right drive motor 11a and the left drive motor 11b, and the cleaning robot 10 stops temporarily. At the same time, the squeegee lifting motor 34 moves the squeegee 43 upward by the control of the cleaning unit controller 33 to which the command signal is given, so that the opening 43a is separated from the floor surface.

As step 102, the cleaning unit controller 33 closes the cleaning liquid valve 32 to stop the spraying of cleaning water. The blower motor 31 continues to rotate, and the squeegee 43 continues to suck the dirty water. In addition, the brush rotation motors 30a and 30b are rotated so that the cleaning brush 1
Cleaning of the floor surface with 3a to 13c continues.

After the cleaning robot 10 is temporarily stopped,
The right drive motor 11a and the left drive motor 11b are rotated in the opposite directions, and in step 103, the cleaning robot 10 is moved backward by a distance 1 that is substantially equal to the entire length of the cleaning robot 10 and stopped. The squeegee lifting motor 34 is rotated to lower the squeegee 43 so that the opening 43a is in contact with the floor surface. Squeegee 20
And the rotating operation of the cleaning brushes 13a to 13c are continued.

As step 104, the cleaning robot 10
Move forward to the position where was paused. During this time, as indicated by step 105, the suction operation of the squeegee 43 and the rotation operation of the cleaning brushes 13a to 13c are continued.

In step 105, it is judged whether or not the vehicle has moved forward by the distance l, and while the distance l is not reached, the operations in steps 104 and 105 are continued. Distance l
When the forward movement is completed, the washing liquid valve 32 is opened to sprinkle the washing liquid at step 107, and the squeegee 43
The suction operation and the rotation operation of the cleaning brushes 13a to 13c are continued. In this state, while the cleaning robot 10 is running, the normal cleaning operation is resumed.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, when an obstacle or the like is detected during normal cleaning and the traveling and cleaning operations are temporarily stopped, the squeegee 43 is moved from the tip of the opening 43a. Although the sewage liquid remains on the floor surface, the squeegee 43 is raised to prevent the sewage liquid from adhering to the floor surface, and further backwards and forwards are performed to clean the part that was temporarily stopped and then restart the cleaning. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the residual sewage from remaining on the floor surface without human intervention.

Next, as a second embodiment of the present invention, a control method for ending cleaning will be described. In this case, control is performed so as to operate as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, as step 201, the cleaning robot 10 stops running.

As step 202, the cleaning liquid valve 32
Close and stop the sprinkling of wash water. Cleaning brush 13a-
The rotation of 13c and the suction of the squeegee 43 are continuously performed, and as shown in step 203, the rotation is continued for about 5 seconds and then stopped.

As step 204, the cleaning robot 10
Turn 180 degrees.

As step 205, the cleaning liquid valve 32 is opened to make the cleaning water sprinkled on the floor surface, and step 20
The cleaning robot 10 is moved forward as 6. Step 20
7, the cleaning liquid valve 32 is opened to spray cleaning water, and the cleaning brushes 13a to 13c are rotated to bring the squeegee 43 into a state of suction. Further, in step 208, the cleaning robot 10 is advanced by a distance 1 which is substantially equal to the total length of the cleaning robot 10.

As step 209, the cleaning robot 10
Stop running.

As step 210, the cleaning liquid valve 32 is closed to stop the spraying of the cleaning liquid, and in this state, step 21
Rotation of the cleaning brushes 13a to 13c and suction by the squeegee 43 are continued for about 5 seconds as indicated by 1.

As step 212, the cleaning robot 10
Turn 180 degrees.

As step 213, the cleaning robot 10
To move forward. At this time, as shown as step 214, the cleaning liquid valve 32 is closed to stop the spraying of the cleaning liquid, and the rotation of the cleaning brushes 13a to 13c and the suction by the squeegee 43 are continued.

The cleaning robot 10 is moved forward in step 21.
The distance l is performed as shown as 5. After this,
As step 216, the traveling and cleaning operations of the cleaning robot 10 are all stopped.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, when the cleaning is completed, the retreat and the forward movement are performed to clean the uncleaned portion, and the dirty water remaining between the sprinkler 42 and the squeegee 43. It is possible to clean the floor surface without manual labor so that the sewage liquid does not remain.

The above-mentioned embodiments are all examples and do not limit the present invention. For example, the structure of the cleaning unit is not limited to that shown in FIG. 4, and any structure may be used as long as it has a function of sprinkling the cleaning liquid on the floor surface, cleaning it with a cleaning brush, and sucking the dirty water solution remaining on the floor surface. Good. Furthermore, although three obstacle sensors are provided in order to detect an obstacle more reliably in the embodiment, one or two or four or more obstacle sensors may be provided.

[0045]

As described above, according to the cleaning robot control method of the present invention, when the cleaning robot is temporarily stopped during normal cleaning, the squeegee is raised to suck the opening so that the opening does not contact the floor surface. As a result, most of the sewage liquid remaining between the floor surface and the tip edge of the squeegee is sucked, the washing water is stopped to be spun, the cleaning brush is rotated, and the squeegee is sucked into the squeegee liquid to move the vehicle backwards. By moving forward, the wastewater remaining near the stop position can be automatically removed without the need for manual labor, so that the working efficiency can be improved.

Further, according to another control method of the cleaning robot of the present invention, when the normal cleaning is finished, the sprinkling of the cleaning liquid is stopped and the squeegee sucks the liquid for a predetermined time, so that the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid tank to the water spouting port is discharged. The cleaning liquid remaining in the space was prevented from dripping on the floor surface, and the vehicle was turned to clean a predetermined distance in the same manner as during normal cleaning, so that it remained between the uncleaned area, the sprinkler port, and the squeegee. The uncleaned area can be performed without human intervention because the waste water is removed, the vehicle is turned, the cleaning valve is closed to stop the spraying of the cleaning solution, the cleaning brush is rotated and the squeegee is used to perform the final cleaning. It is possible to prevent the cleaning and cleaning liquid remaining.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a cleaning robot to which a control method according to first and second embodiments of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a control unit in the cleaning robot.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a route along which the cleaning robot travels in a cleaning area.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the structure of a cleaning unit in the cleaning robot.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a cleaning unit in the cleaning robot.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a cleaning robot control method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a cleaning robot control method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 cleaning robot 11a right drive motor 11b left drive motor 12a, 12b drive wheels 13a-13c cleaning brushes 14a, 14b distance sensor 15a, 15b motor driver 16 controller 17a-17c front obstacle sensor 18 direction sensor 19a-19d interface 20 main Controller 21 Counter 30a, 30b Brush rotation motor 31 Blower motor 32 Cleaning liquid valve 33 Cleaning unit controller 34 Squeegee lifting motor 39 Bellows hose 40 Pipe line 41 Blower 42 Cleaning liquid sprinkling port 43 Squeegee 43a Opening 51 Cleaning area D1-D11 Path

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning robot which detects an obstacle and an azimuth direction, controls a vehicle drive mechanism based on the detection result to drive a vehicle autonomously, and controls the cleaning operation of the cleaning unit. In the control method, the cleaning unit slides the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning liquid tank through a cleaning liquid valve from a water spray port onto the floor surface, and a cleaning liquid spraying unit that rolls on the floor surface while the vehicle is running. A cleaning brush; and a squeegee that moves up and down so that the opening can contact or not contact the floor surface and sucks the wastewater liquid left on the floor surface from the opening, the control unit comprising: During normal cleaning performed while the vehicle is traveling, the cleaning liquid valve is opened to spray the cleaning water, the cleaning brush is rotated, and the opening of the squeegee is brought into contact with the floor surface to suck the dirty liquid, The vehicle is one When stopped, the cleaning liquid valve is closed to stop spraying the cleaning water, and the cleaning brush is continuously rotated to move upward so that the opening of the squeegee does not come into contact with the floor surface and suck the dirty water. In this state, the vehicle is moved backward by a predetermined distance and stopped.After that, the opening of the squeegee is lowered to bring it into contact with the floor surface to suck the wastewater liquid and open the cleaning liquid valve to bring the cleaning liquid to the floor surface. A method for controlling a cleaning robot, comprising: controlling the vehicle drive mechanism and the cleaning unit so as to advance the vehicle to at least the temporary stop position while sprinkling water and continuously rotating the cleaning brush. 2. A cleaning robot for detecting an obstacle and an azimuth direction, and based on the detection result, a control unit controls a vehicle drive mechanism to drive the vehicle autonomously, and the control unit controls a cleaning operation of the cleaning unit. In the control method, the cleaning unit slides the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning liquid tank through a cleaning liquid valve from a water spray port onto the floor surface, and a cleaning liquid spraying unit that rolls on the floor surface while the vehicle is running. A cleaning brush; and a squeegee that moves up and down so that the opening can contact or not contact the floor surface and sucks the wastewater liquid left on the floor surface from the opening, the control unit comprising: During normal cleaning performed while the vehicle is traveling, the cleaning liquid valve is opened to spray the cleaning water, the cleaning brush is rotated, and the opening of the squeegee is brought into contact with the floor surface to suck the dirty liquid, The normal Qing When finishing, the vehicle is stopped at the stop position and the cleaning liquid valve is closed to stop the spraying of the cleaning liquid, and the cleaning brush is rotated for a predetermined time to suck the dirty liquid left on the floor surface by the squeegee. After that, the vehicle is turned by about 180 degrees, the cleaning liquid valve is opened to spray the cleaning liquid, the cleaning brush is rotated, and the squeegee sucks the waste liquid to advance the vehicle for a predetermined distance to stop the vehicle. The cleaning liquid valve is closed to stop the spraying of the cleaning liquid, the cleaning brush is rotated for a predetermined time to suck the dirty water with the squeegee, and then the vehicle is swung by about 180 degrees, and the cleaning brush is rotated with the squeegee. After advancing the vehicle to the stop position while sucking the liquid,
A control method for a cleaning robot, comprising controlling the vehicle drive mechanism and the cleaning unit so as to stop the cleaning operation.