KR102289334B1 - Robot cleaner and method for operating thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A robot cleaner and an operating method thereof are disclosed. The robot vacuum cleaner detects objects located in front or the recognition tape attached to the front floor through the driving part that drives the robot cleaner, the vacuum cleaner that sucks in and stores foreign substances, the area sensor that detects fluorescent materials, and the area sensor that detects fluorescent substances. When the detection tape is located, it sets the area where the detection tape is located as a cleaning prohibited area, and includes a control unit that controls to avoid the set cleaning prohibition area to perform driving and cleaning, and the recognition tape is coated with a fluorescent material, and it is easy to attach and detach. An easy-to-peel adhesive is applied.

Description

Robot cleaner and method of operation thereof

The present invention relates to a robot cleaner and an operating method thereof.

In general, a robot cleaner refers to a device that cleans while driving according to a built-in driving algorithm in a limited area without user manipulation. In such a robot cleaner, various expensive sensors are installed to calculate the position and travel path of the robot cleaner and to avoid obstacles so as to accurately travel to a set place and perform cleaning. However, even if an expensive sensor is installed, it is impossible to clean the entire set place according to the condition of the floor, the shape of the circumferential obstacle, and the like. That is, an area that cannot be cleaned may occur due to a change in the traveling path of the robot cleaner due to the shape of foreign substances or obstacles on the floor.

For example, a conventional robot cleaner may perform cleaning by sucking foreign substances on the floor while moving straight while changing directions according to a preset driving algorithm. In this case, when the conventional robot cleaner detects an obstacle through a sensor provided while going straight, it can calculate an angle and a direction for changing a direction, and change the direction according to the calculated angle and direction to run. Thereafter, the robot cleaner may stop operating when cleaning is completed.

A robot cleaner that runs and cleans according to such a preset driving algorithm can run while avoiding obstacles, but due to various types of obstacles in the obstacle avoidance process, it may not be able to accurately identify the area where the obstacle is located or fail to recognize the obstacle. can In this case, the robot cleaner may repeatedly move forward and backward toward the obstacle to generate unnecessary energy consumption due to idle rotation. In addition, the robot cleaner may repeatedly travel on the same travel route due to a collision with an obstacle, resulting in a malfunction or an error in the travel route, but may not be able to travel in a specific area at all.

Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2009-0115526 (2009.11.05)

The present invention is a robot cleaner that uses a sensor that detects an object or a recognition tape attached to the floor of a place to be cleaned, sets a cleaning prohibited area when the recognition tape is sensed, and runs and cleans by avoiding the set cleaning prohibited area And to provide a method of its operation.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a robot cleaner is disclosed.

A robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a driving unit that drives the robot cleaner, a vacuum cleaner that sucks and stores foreign substances, a zone detection sensor that detects a fluorescent substance, and an object located in the front or the front through the zone detection sensor. When the recognition tape attached to the floor is sensed, a control unit configured to set an area in which the detected recognition tape is located as a cleaning prohibited area, and to avoid the set cleaning prohibited area to perform driving and cleaning, wherein the recognition The fluorescent material is applied to the tape, and an easy-to-peel adhesive is applied to facilitate attachment and detachment.

The zone detection sensor is an ultraviolet sensor detecting the fluorescent material, and the ultraviolet sensor includes an ultraviolet light emitting diode emitting ultraviolet light and a detector detecting visible light generated by reflecting the emitted ultraviolet light to the fluorescent material. do.

The zone detection sensor is a front surface of the robot cleaner and a UV sensor for front detection that is mounted facing the front so as to emit ultraviolet rays and detect reflected light with a recognition tape attached to the object located in front of the front surface of the robot cleaner. It includes an ultraviolet sensor for floor detection that is mounted on the lower side toward the front floor to emit ultraviolet light with a recognition tape attached to the front floor and detect reflected light.

In the recognition tape, perforated lines are formed at regular intervals as much as a preset use length, an adhesive non-applied area is formed at the tip of the adhesive surface of the recognition tape of the used length, and an adhesive application area is formed in an area other than the adhesive non-applied area. is formed, and the fluorescent material is applied to the opposite surface of the adhesive surface.

The control unit resets the driving route so as not to travel to the set cleaning prohibited area, and controls the driving and cleaning to be performed.

When the control unit is adjacent to the set cleaning prohibited area while driving, the control unit checks whether the recognition tape is detected again at the position where the recognition tape was sensed, and when the recognition tape is not detected again, sets the cleaning prohibited area release

When the recognition tape is attached to an arbitrary point on the lower side of the object, the controller sets an area within a preset radius based on the point to which the recognition tape is attached as the cleaning prohibited area.

The control unit sets an area within a preset radius based on a point at which the recognition tape is attached on the front floor as the cleaning prohibited area.

When a plurality of recognition tapes are attached to the front floor, the control unit connects the plurality of recognition tapes with an imaginary line, regards the connected line as a boundary of the cleaning prohibited area, and an area beyond the considered boundary is set as the cleaning prohibited area.

When one recognition tape is sensed, the control unit controls to change the direction to the left or right based on the sensed one recognition tape and drive to check whether there is another recognition tape attached to the surrounding floor. It is checked whether the other recognition tape is detected.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of operating a robot cleaner having a zone detection sensor for detecting a fluorescent material is disclosed.

The method of operating a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of performing driving and cleaning according to a preset driving algorithm, detecting an object located in front or a recognition tape attached to the front floor through the zone detection sensor Step, setting the area in which the detected recognition tape is located as a cleaning prohibited area, and resetting the travel route to avoid the set cleaning prohibited area to perform travel and cleaning, wherein the recognition tape contains the fluorescent light. A material is applied and an easy-to-peel adhesive is applied to facilitate attachment and detachment.

A robot cleaner and an operating method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention uses a sensor for detecting a recognition tape attached to an object or a floor of a place to be cleaned, and when the recognition tape is sensed, a cleaning prohibited area is recognized, and the recognized cleaning is performed. By avoiding the prohibited area and performing driving and cleaning, the robot cleaner accurately identifies the area where the obstacle is located and prevents failure to recognize the obstacle, thereby reducing unnecessary energy consumption due to idling and cleaning the entire area to be cleaned. there is.

1 is a view schematically illustrating the configuration of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 to 6 are views for explaining the operation of the robot cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As used herein, the singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as “consisting of” or “comprising” should not be construed as necessarily including all of the various components or various steps described in the specification, some of which components or some steps are It should be construed that it may not include, or may further include additional components or steps. In addition, terms such as "...unit" and "module" described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented as hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software. .

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 6 are views for explaining the operation of the robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 , with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6 .

Referring to FIG. 1 , a robot cleaner 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a traveling unit 110 , a vacuum cleaner 120 , a sensor unit 130 , and a control unit 140 .

The driving unit 110 is a means for driving and changing the direction of the robot cleaner 100 , and may include a plurality of wheels provided under the robot cleaner 100 and a motor for rotating each wheel.

For example, the robot cleaner 100 may include a left wheel, a right wheel, and a front wheel at the lower part for traveling and direction change, and may include a left wheel motor and a right wheel motor that transmit power to the left wheel and the right wheel, respectively. That is, the robot cleaner 100 may separately control the driving of the left and right wheels to travel and change directions, and the front wheels may serve to maintain the level of the robot cleaner 100 to provide driving stability.

The vacuum cleaner 120 is a small vacuum cleaner, which sucks and stores foreign substances from the lower part of the robot cleaner 100 . That is, the vacuum cleaner 120 may clean the floor of the cleaning target place according to the driving of the robot cleaner 100 .

In addition, the vacuum cleaner 120 may further include an ultraviolet sterilization module (not shown) for sterilizing the cleaned floor using ultraviolet rays by sucking foreign substances. For example, the ultraviolet sterilization module may include an ultraviolet light source (for example, an ultraviolet light emitting diode) emitting ultraviolet rays of a wavelength for sterilization, and the ultraviolet light source is the robot cleaner 100 in the vicinity of the suction port for sucking foreign substances. It can be mounted facing the floor in the rear part of the traveling direction.

The sensor unit 130 detects obstacles and recognition tapes encountered during driving and cleaning of the robot cleaner 100 .

That is, the sensor unit 130 includes an obstacle detecting sensor 131 and an area detecting sensor 132 as shown in FIG. 1 .

For example, the obstacle detecting sensor 131 may be an infrared sensor for detecting an obstacle. Here, the infrared sensor for detecting an obstacle may include an infrared light emitting diode that emits infrared and a photo transistor that detects infrared rays reflected by the emitted infrared rays from the obstacle. Such an infrared sensor may be mounted on the front of the robot cleaner 100 to detect obstacles appearing in front of the robot cleaner 100 .

In addition, the zone detection sensor 132 may be an ultraviolet sensor that detects a fluorescent material. Here, the ultraviolet sensor for detecting the fluorescent material may include an ultraviolet light emitting diode emitting ultraviolet light and a detector detecting visible light generated by reflecting the emitted ultraviolet light on the fluorescent material. Here, the fluorescent material emits light by converting the irradiated ultraviolet light into long-wavelength visible light when irradiated with ultraviolet light. For example, a fluorescent material that responds to ultraviolet light of a specific wavelength may be used, and in this case, an ultraviolet sensor (ie, an ultraviolet light emitting diode) may be set to generate ultraviolet light of a wavelength to which the fluorescent material responds.

In particular, the zone detection sensor 132 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be an ultraviolet sensor for detecting a recognition tape coated with a fluorescent material. Here, the recognition tape is a tape coated with an adhesive that is easy to peel off, such as a masking tape that is easy to attach and detach.

For example, Fig. 2 shows an example of a recognition tape according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2 , in the recognition tape 10 , perforated lines 13 are formed at regular intervals by a preset length. The perforation lines 13 are punched at regular intervals so that the recognition tape 10 is easily cut, or are simply marked, so that the recognition tape 10 is cut by a separate cutter (eg, scissors, knife, etc.) may be

The adhesive surface of the recognition tape 10 may be divided into an adhesive application area 11 and an adhesive non-applied area 12 and 13 , and the above-described fluorescent material may be applied to the opposite surface of the adhesive surface. Here, the adhesive non-applied regions 12 and 13 may be formed at the tip of the recognition tape 10 having a preset length, as shown in FIG. 2 . In this case, the user can easily remove the recognition tape 10 of a preset length from the roll on which the recognition tape 10 is wound, using the adhesive non-applied area 12 , or the surface of an object to be attached such as an obstacle or the surface of the floor. This is to make the recognition tape 10 easy to attach and detach.

In addition, the ultraviolet sensor may be mounted on the front of the robot cleaner 100 in order to detect the recognition tape that appears in front of the robot cleaner 100 .

In particular, the zone detection sensor 132 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an ultraviolet sensor for front detection and an ultraviolet sensor for floor detection.

For example, FIG. 3 shows an example in which the zone detection sensor 132 according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured in the robot cleaner 100 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the front side of the robot cleaner 100 emits ultraviolet rays with a recognition tape attached to an object located in the front and faces forward to detect the reflected light. can And, on the lower front side of the robot cleaner 100, a UV sensor 137 for floor sensing may be mounted to emit UV light with a recognition tape attached to the front floor and to face the front floor to detect reflected light.

The controller 140 generally controls the overall operation of the robot cleaner 100 . That is, the controller 140 controls the operations of the driving unit 110 and the vacuum cleaner 120 to perform driving and cleaning according to a preset driving algorithm.

In particular, the control unit 140 controls the driving according to the detection signal of the sensor unit 130 .

First, when an obstacle is detected through the obstacle detection sensor 131 , the controller 140 may calculate an avoidance direction and a direction change angle according to a preset algorithm to perform an avoidance operation.

And, when the recognition tape 10 attached to the front floor or an object located in the front is detected through the zone detection sensor 132, the control unit 140 sets the area where the detected recognition tape 10 is located in the cleaning prohibited zone. It is set to and controlled to avoid the set cleaning prohibition area and perform driving and cleaning. For example, when a cleaning prohibition zone is set, the controller 140 may reset the driving route so as not to travel to the set cleaning prohibition zone. However, since the obstacle may be moved by the user, in consideration of this, the controller 140 detects the recognition tape 10 again at the position where the recognition tape 10 was previously sensed when it is adjacent to the cleaning prohibited area while driving. You can check whether or not If the recognition tape 10 is not detected again, the control unit 140 may cancel the setting of the cleaning prohibited area.

According to another embodiment, when driving and cleaning are started according to the input of the operation start command, the controller 140 activates only the obstacle detecting sensor 131 and the floor detecting UV sensor 137, and the front detecting UV sensor. (136) does not activate. Thereafter, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detecting sensor 131 , the controller 140 may activate the forward sensing ultraviolet sensor 136 and check whether the recognition tape 10 is detected. That is, only when an obstacle is detected through the obstacle detecting sensor 131 , the controller 140 activates the forward sensing ultraviolet sensor 136 to check whether the recognition tape 10 is detected.

4 to 6 show an example of setting a cleaning prohibited area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 4 , the user may attach the recognition tape 10 to any point on the floor in order to set the cleaning prohibition zone 1 in a desired area of the indoor floor. In this case, the controller 140 may set an area within a preset radius r based on the point at which the recognition tape 10 is attached as the cleaning prohibition zone 1 .

Next, referring to FIG. 5 , the user may attach a plurality of recognition tapes 10 along the outside of the corner to set a specific area, such as the corner of the indoor floor, as the cleaning prohibited area 1 . In this case, the controller 140 connects the plurality of recognition tapes 10 with a virtual line, regards the connected line as the boundary of the cleaning prohibited area 1, and sets the area beyond the considered boundary to the cleaning prohibited area ( 1) can be set.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , when one recognition tape 10 attached to the indoor floor is sensed, the controller 140 determines whether there is another recognition tape 10 attached to the surrounding floor. Check it. That is, the controller 140 may control the driving unit 110 to travel by changing the direction to the left or right based on the sensed recognition tape 10 , and may check whether another recognition tape 10 is detected. At this time, the control unit 140 may control the robot cleaner 100 to move to a distance equal to or less than twice the radius of the cleaning prohibition zone 1 set in FIG. 5 . That is, when the cleaning prohibition zone 1 is set by using the plurality of recognition tapes 10 , the attachment interval of the plurality of identification tapes 10 so that the cleaning prohibition area 1 of each recognition tape 10 is in contact with each other This can be determined.

Next, referring to FIG. 6 , the user wants to set the cleaning prohibition zone 1 in an area where an object existing in the room, such as a chair, is located. can At this time, the recognition tape 10 may be attached to the object in consideration of the detection height of the UV sensor 136 for front detection of the zone detection sensor 132 . In this case, the controller 140 may set an area within a preset radius r based on the point at which the recognition tape 10 is attached as the cleaning prohibition zone 1 .

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a robot cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S710 , the robot cleaner 100 performs driving and cleaning according to a preset driving algorithm according to an input of an operation start command. At this time, the robot cleaner 100 may activate all the sensors 131 , 132 , 136 , and 137 of the sensor unit 130 , but only when an obstacle is detected through the obstacle detection sensor 131 , UV for forward sensing. In order to activate the sensor 136 to check whether the recognition tape 10 is detected, only the obstacle detection sensor 131 and the floor detection UV sensor 137 are activated, and the forward detection UV sensor 136 is not activated. can

In step S720 , the robot cleaner 100 determines whether an object located in the front or the recognition tape 10 attached to the front floor is detected through the zone detection sensor 132 .

In step S730 , when the recognition tape 10 is sensed, the robot cleaner 100 sets an area in which the sensed recognition tape 10 is located as a cleaning prohibition zone.

For example, the robot cleaner 100 may set an area within a preset radius r based on the point where the recognition tape 10 is attached on the indoor floor as the cleaning prohibition zone 1 . In addition, when the plurality of recognition tapes 10 are attached along the outside of the corner portion of the indoor floor, the robot cleaner 100 connects the plurality of recognition tapes 10 with a virtual line, and connects the connected line to the cleaning prohibition zone. It can be regarded as the boundary of (1), and the area beyond the considered boundary can be set as a cleaning prohibited area (1). In addition, when the recognition tape 10 is attached to an arbitrary point on the lower side of an object existing in the room, such as a chair, the robot cleaner 100 has a preset radius r based on the point to which the recognition tape 10 is attached. ) can be set as a cleaning prohibited area (1).

In step S740 , the robot cleaner 100 resets the travel route to avoid the set cleaning prohibition zone and perform driving and cleaning.

In step S750 , the robot cleaner 100 determines whether cleaning is complete. For example, when it is determined that the entire area of the cleaning target place has been driven according to a preset driving algorithm, the robot cleaner 100 may determine that cleaning has been completed.

Next, when it is determined that the cleaning is not completed, the robot cleaner 100 enters step S710 and drives and cleans according to the reset travel route.

And, when it is determined that the cleaning is completed, the robot cleaner 100 may stop running and cleaning, stop the operation, or return to the charging station to stop the operation and charge.

On the other hand, the components of the above-described embodiment can be easily grasped from a process point of view. That is, each component may be identified as a respective process. In addition, the process of the above-described embodiment can be easily understood from the point of view of the components of the apparatus.

In addition, the technical contents described above may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the medium may be specially designed and configured for the embodiments or may be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magnetic such as floppy disks. - includes magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specially configured to store and carry out program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine language codes such as those generated by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. A hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for the purpose of illustration, and various modifications, changes, and additions will be possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention by those skilled in the art having ordinary knowledge of the present invention, and such modifications, changes and additions should be regarded as belonging to the following claims.

100: robot vacuum cleaner
110: driving unit
120: vacuum cleaner
130: sensor unit
131: obstacle detection sensor
132: area detection sensor
140: control unit

Claims (11)

a driving unit for driving the robot vacuum cleaner;
a vacuum cleaner for sucking and storing foreign substances;
an ultraviolet sensor for front detection, which is mounted on the front of the robot cleaner to face the front so as to detect the fluorescent material by emitting ultraviolet light to a recognition tape coated with a fluorescent material attached to an object located in front and detecting the reflected light;
an ultraviolet sensor for floor sensing mounted toward the front floor to detect the fluorescent material by emitting ultraviolet light to a recognition tape coated with a fluorescent material attached to the front floor on the lower front side of the robot cleaner and detecting the reflected light; and
When an object positioned in front or a recognition tape attached to the front floor is detected through the UV sensor for front detection or the UV sensor for floor detection, an area in which the detected recognition tape is located is set as a cleaning prohibition zone, and Controls to perform driving and cleaning by resetting the driving route to avoid the set cleaning prohibited area, and when adjacent to the set cleaning prohibited area during the driving, whether the recognition tape is detected again at the position where the recognition tape was detected Check, if the recognition tape is not detected again, cancel the setting of the cleaning prohibited area, and when one recognition tape is detected, to check whether there is another recognition tape attached to the surrounding floor, the detection A control unit configured to check whether the other recognition tape is detected by controlling the driving by changing the direction to the left or right based on the recognized one recognition tape,
The recognition tape is coated with the fluorescent material, and an easy-to-peel adhesive is applied to facilitate attachment and detachment;
The control unit is
When the recognition tape is attached to any point on the lower side of the object, an area within a preset radius based on the point where the recognition tape is attached is set as the cleaning prohibited area,
An area within a preset radius based on the point where the recognition tape is attached on the front floor is set as the cleaning prohibited area,
When a plurality of identification tapes are attached to the front floor, the plurality of identification tapes are connected with an imaginary line, the connected line is regarded as the boundary of the cleaning prohibited area, and the area beyond the considered boundary is cleaned A robot cleaner, characterized in that it is set as a prohibited area.
According to claim 1,
The UV sensor includes a UV light emitting diode emitting UV light and a detector detecting visible light generated by reflecting the emitted UV light on the fluorescent material.
delete According to claim 1,
In the recognition tape, perforated lines are formed at regular intervals as much as a preset length of use,
An adhesive non-applied area is formed at the tip of the adhesive surface of the recognition tape of the used length, and an adhesive applied area is formed in an area excluding the adhesive non-applied area,
A robot cleaner, characterized in that the fluorescent material is applied to the opposite surface of the adhesive surface.
delete delete delete delete delete delete The front sensing UV sensor and the robot, which are mounted on the front of the robot cleaner to face the front so as to detect the fluorescent material by emitting ultraviolet light with a recognition tape coated with a fluorescent material attached to an object located in front, and detecting the reflected light A robot cleaner equipped with an ultraviolet sensor for floor detection mounted toward the front floor to detect the fluorescent material by emitting ultraviolet light with a recognition tape coated with a fluorescent material attached to the front floor on the lower front side of the cleaner and detecting the reflected light In the method of operation of
performing driving and cleaning according to a preset driving algorithm;
detecting an object positioned in front or a recognition tape attached to the front floor through the UV sensor for front detection or the UV sensor for floor detection;
setting an area in which the sensed recognition tape is located as a cleaning prohibited area;
performing driving and cleaning by resetting the driving route to avoid the set cleaning prohibited area;
When it is adjacent to the set cleaning prohibited area during the driving, it is checked whether the recognition tape is detected again at the position where the recognition tape was sensed, and if the recognition tape is not detected again, canceling the setting of the cleaning prohibited area comprising steps,
The recognition tape is coated with the fluorescent material, and an easy-to-peel adhesive is applied to facilitate attachment and detachment;
The step of detecting the recognition tape,
When one recognition tape is detected, in order to check whether there is another recognition tape attached to the surrounding floor, the other recognition tape is moved by changing the direction to the left or right based on the detected one recognition tape. check whether it is detected,
The step of setting the cleaning prohibited area includes:
When the recognition tape is attached to any point on the lower side of the object, an area within a preset radius based on the point where the recognition tape is attached is set as the cleaning prohibited area,
An area within a preset radius based on the point where the recognition tape is attached on the front floor is set as the cleaning prohibited area,
When a plurality of identification tapes are attached to the front floor, the plurality of identification tapes are connected with an imaginary line, the connected line is regarded as the boundary of the cleaning prohibited area, and the area beyond the considered boundary is cleaned A method of operating a robot cleaner, characterized in that it is set as a prohibited area.

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