KR102550372B1 - Air purifying robot and air purifying system including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatically controlled air cleaning robot. An air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a driving unit formed on a lower part of a main body and performing movement; a cleaning unit that purifies external air and discharges the purified air; a charging unit that receives and stores power; A control unit for controlling the driving unit to store location data for a plurality of charging stations that are connected to the charging unit and provide power, and to move to the location of a charging station corresponding to the calling signal when a call signal is received. include

Description

Air cleaning robot and air cleaning system including the same

The present invention relates to an air cleaning robot capable of driving and an air cleaning system including the same.

An air purifier is a device that inhales polluted air and purifies it into clean air by filtering dust and odor particles contained in the inhaled air with a filter. The air purified in this way is discharged back to the outside of the air purifier, that is, to the inside of the room.

In general, since an air purifier operates at a specific location, there is a problem in that air in some spaces where the air purifier is located is intensively purified while air in other spaces is not efficiently purified.

In addition, since air quality differs according to locations in a space, information on air quality in various locations is required to provide an active air purification function.

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-0745984

An object of the present invention is an air purifying robot capable of moving to various positions in a space and purifying air using a plurality of charging stations in order to overcome the limitations of an air purifier operating in a specific location, and an air purifying robot including the same. to provide a cleaning system.

An air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a driving unit formed on a lower part of a main body and performing movement; a cleaning unit that purifies external air and discharges the purified air; a charging unit that receives and stores power; A control unit for controlling the driving unit to store location data for a plurality of charging stations that are connected to the charging unit and provide power, and to move to the location of a charging station corresponding to the calling signal when a call signal is received. include

In addition, an air cleaning system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of charging stations capable of providing power; And a driving part formed on the lower part of the main body and performing movement, a cleaning part purifying external air and discharging the purified air, a charging part connecting to the charging station to receive and store power, and a plurality of charging stations. and an air cleaning robot including a control unit that stores location data and controls the driving unit to move to a location of a charging station corresponding to the call signal when a call signal is received.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since movement is performed to various positions in a space using a plurality of charging stations, air can be actively purified at a position where air purification is required.

In addition, since power can be provided by the plurality of charging stations, a problem of power supply and demand caused by continuously performing an air purification operation in various locations can be improved.

The various beneficial advantages and effects of the present invention are not limited to the above description, and will be more easily understood in the process of describing specific implementations of the present invention.

1 is a configuration diagram of an air cleaning system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic diagram of an air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram for explaining a map building operation of an air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram for explaining a calling operation and a cleaning operation of an air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart of a control method of an air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described so that those skilled in the art can easily practice the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments of the present invention can be modified into various other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. It should also be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different from each other, but are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

In the embodiments of the present invention, 'include' a certain component means that it may further include other components, not excluding other components unless otherwise stated, and having similar functions and actions. The same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings for parts.

In addition, the term of air cleaning used in the embodiments of the present invention shall include meanings such as humidification and cleaning with a humidification function added.

1 is a configuration diagram of an air cleaning system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an air cleaning system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an air cleaning robot 100 and a plurality of charging stations 190 . In addition, it may include a management server 300 and a user terminal 400 .

The air cleaning robot 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cleaning unit 110, a driving unit 120, and a control unit 130. In addition, the air cleaning robot 100 may further include a detection unit 140 , a communication unit 150 , and a display unit 160 .

The cleaning unit 110 may suck in and purify external air, and may discharge the purified air. To this end, the cleaning part 110 may include a suction part 111 , a filter part 112 , a blowing part 113 , and a discharge part 114 .

The blowing unit 113 forms an air flow so that external air is introduced into the air cleaning robot 100 through the suction unit 111 (A1). For example, the blower 113 may include a blower fan and a motor for driving the blower fan. Here, the blowing fan may be rotated by a motor to form an air flow, and since the rotational speed of the motor is controlled by the control unit 130, the wind speed of the air discharged from the cleaning unit 110 may be controlled.

The filter unit 112 may purify the air introduced into the air cleaning robot 100 by adsorbing contaminants in the air. For example, the filter unit 112 may include various types of filters such as a prefilter, a functional filter, a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air filter), and a deodorization filter. Here, the pretreatment filter is for removing relatively large dust, hair, pet hair, etc., the functional filter is for removing antibacterial, pollen, house mites, germs, bacteria, etc., and the HEPA filter is for removing fine dust, indoor mold, etc. It is for removing various bacteria such as, and the deodorizing filter is for removing various odors and harmful gases in the room.

In addition, the air purified through the filter unit 112 may be discharged to the outside through the discharge unit 114 (A2).

Meanwhile, as long as the purifier 110 can perform functions of sucking in and purifying external air and discharging the purified air, the specific configuration and function of the purifier 110 may be changed.

The traveling unit 120 moves so that the air cleaning robot 100 travels on the bottom surface. To this end, the driving unit 120 may include a sensing unit 121 , a driving unit 122 , and a charging unit 123 .

The sensing unit 121 is composed of a plurality of sensors that sense the position of an object so as to drive while avoiding an obstacle (hereinafter, an object). For example, a plurality of sensors may sense different areas, and the sensing unit 121 may determine the location of an object according to the sensing output of each sensor.

The driving unit 122 may move in a moving direction and a moving speed under the control of the control unit 130, and may include a wheel rotating in contact with a bottom surface and a motor driving the wheel.

The charging unit 123 includes a power storage device such as a battery that supplies power to components of the air cleaning robot 100 including the traveling unit 120 . The charger 123 may connect to an external charging station 190 to receive power and store the provided power in the power storage device. In addition, the connection between the charging unit 123 and the charging station 190 may be implemented by wireless power transmission technology.

The control unit 130 includes a cleaning controller 131 for setting the wind direction and speed of the cleaning unit 110, a space controller 132 for setting a space model and a movement path for the space in which the air cleaning robot 100 travels, and A travel controller 133 controlling the travel unit 120 may be included. Also, the control unit 130 may include a data storage unit 134 .

The data storage unit 134 stores location data for the plurality of charging stations 190 . The location data may be received from the management server 300 or the user terminal 400 through the communication unit 150 . Alternatively, it may be generated by an induction signal received through the communication unit 150. Here, the induction signal may be transmitted by the charging station 190 .

In addition, the location data may be provided to the display unit 160 and displayed by the display unit 160, or may be transmitted to the user terminal 400 through the communication unit 150 and displayed by the user terminal 400.

The space controller 132 may set a movement path within the set space model. Here, the spatial model may be received from the outside through the communication unit 150 or set by information on movement performed by the driving unit 120 and information on objects detected by the sensing unit 121. . Specifically, the space model may be set by a map building operation in which the air cleaning robot 100 moves along a wall surface of a space (ie, a boundary of the space) and stores a moved path.

The travel controller 133 may control the travel unit 120 so that the air cleaning robot 100 moves along the movement path.

While the air cleaning robot 100 is moving, the cleaning controller 131 may set the air direction and speed of the cleaning unit 110 according to the location of the moving air cleaning robot 100 .

Meanwhile, the control unit 130 may be implemented with a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA). , a memory for storing various data may be provided. In addition, the data storage unit 134 may be included in the control unit 130 in a form allocated to a partial area of the memory.

The detection unit 140 may measure the air pollution level outside the air cleaning robot 100 and provide the measured air pollution level to the control unit 130 . For example, the detection unit 140 may include a dust sensor for measuring the concentration of dust in the air, a CO ₂ sensor for measuring the concentration of CO ₂ in the air, and a concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOC) to measure air pollution. It can include various sensors, such as a VOC sensor that measures.

In addition, the detector 140 may include various sensors such as an illuminance sensor for measuring brightness, a temperature sensor for measuring air temperature, and a humidity sensor for measuring air humidity to measure environmental information.

In one embodiment, the detection unit 140 may measure air pollution while the air cleaning robot 100 is moving. In addition, the control unit 130 may control the cleaning unit 110 to adjust the wind speed and direction of the purified air according to the degree of air pollution, or control the traveling unit 120 to adjust the moving speed. For example, when the air pollution level is high, the wind speed may be increased to increase the amount of air to be purified, or the air pollution level may be stopped at a location where the air pollution level is high to purify the air for a certain period of time. In addition, the control unit 130 may control the cleaning unit 110 to adjust a wind direction through which purified air is discharged to a location with a high air pollution level while moving.

Meanwhile, the measured air pollution level may be transmitted to the management server 300 and used as analysis data for a purpose such as recommending a moving path of an air cleaning robot, and may be transmitted to the user terminal 400 and visually provided to the user. can

Accordingly, the air cleaning robot 100 can purify the air by actively responding to the air quality of the space while moving.

The communication unit 150 may communicate with the management server 300 . For example, the communication unit 150 may be implemented by a wireless communication technology widely known to those skilled in the art, such as Wi-Fi and ZigBee. In FIG. 1 , the communication unit 150 is illustrated as communicating with the user terminal 400 through the management server 300, but the communication unit 150 may be implemented to directly communicate with the user terminal 400.

In one embodiment, the communication unit 150 may receive location data from the management server 300 or the user terminal 400 or receive guidance signals from the plurality of charging stations 190 . In addition, the communication unit 150 may receive the air pollution level from the control unit 130 and transmit the air pollution level to the user terminal 400 .

The display unit 160 may display various types of information related to the operation of the air cleaning robot 100 .

Each of the plurality of charging stations 190 may be disposed at various positions in the space, and may be connected to the charging unit 123 of the air cleaning robot 100 to provide power. For example, when the amount of power stored in the charging unit 123 reaches a set value or less during movement, the control unit 130 moves the driving unit 120 to the nearest charging station among the plurality of charging stations 190. You can control it.

Hereinafter, the plurality of charging stations 190 will be described as including first to third charging stations 190a, 190b, and 190c. However, the number of charging stations included in the plurality of charging stations 190 may vary.

In addition, the air cleaning robot 100 may receive a call signal and move to a location of a charging station corresponding to the call signal. In addition, a cleaning operation of purifying air at or around the charging station may be performed. To this end, the control unit 130 stores the location data for the plurality of charging stations 190 and controls the driving unit 120 to move to the location of the charging station corresponding to the calling signal upon receiving a call signal. can do.

Also, the air cleaning robot 100 may receive an air pollution degree of air quality around the charging station 190 detected by the charging station 190 . For example, the call signal may include the air pollution level detected by the charging station 190. Accordingly, the air cleaning robot 100 may perform the cleaning operation according to the air pollution level provided by the charging station 190 .

Meanwhile, the call signal may be transmitted from the plurality of charging stations 190, the management server 300, or the user terminal 400.

2 is a schematic diagram of an air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the air cleaning robot 100 includes a cleaning unit 110 , a driving unit 120 , and a control unit 130 . In FIG. 2, the air cleaning robot 100 is illustrated as including a cleaning unit 110 constituting the head of the body, a control unit 130 disposed inside the body, and a driving unit 120 formed below the body. , the shape and arrangement of each component can be modified.

In one embodiment, the driving direction of the air cleaning robot and the air discharging direction may be adjusted independently of each other. To this end, the cleaning part 110 may be rotated on the body B of the main body (d1) or the body B of the main body may be rotated on the driving part 120 (d2). Alternatively, wheels of the driving unit 120 may be rotated.

The communication unit 150 may communicate with the management server 300 and the user terminal 400 through the relay 30 .

The charging station 190 may convert power received through the outlet 193 and may provide power by connecting to the charging unit 123 through the connection terminal 191 . In addition, the charging station 190 may further include a detection sensor 192 . For example, the charging station 190 uses the detection sensor 192 to measure the air pollution level of the air quality around where the charging station 190 is installed, and transmits the measured air pollution level to the communication unit of the air cleaning robot 100. (150).

In addition, the charging station 190 may transmit a call signal to move the air cleaning robot to the location of the charging station 190 when the air pollution level of the air quality detected by the detection sensor 192 is equal to or greater than a reference value. Meanwhile, the call signal may include the air pollution level measured by the detection sensor 192 .

3 is a diagram for explaining a map building operation of an air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As described with reference to FIG. 1 , the space model may be input from the outside or may be set based on information on a path traveled by the air cleaning robot and detected objects.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the space model Rm may be set by a map building operation in which the air cleaning robot 100 moves along the wall surface of the space and stores the moved path. Specifically, the space model Rm may be set by moving the air cleaning robot 100 starting from the first charging station 190a along the boundary of the space and storing the moved path Ps. Also, the space model Rm may be divided into a plurality of cells C.

In addition, the air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention may store location data for the plurality of charging stations 190a, 190b, and 190c. For example, the air cleaning robot may receive each induction signal from the second and third charging stations 190b and 190c during the above-described map building operation, and the second and third charging stations 190b and 190c may receive the second and second induction signals according to the reception sensitivity and reception direction of the induction signal. and determining the locations of the third charging stations 190b and 190c and storing the locations.

4 is a diagram for explaining a calling operation and a cleaning operation of an air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , upon receiving a call signal, the air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention may perform a call operation of moving to a location of a charging station corresponding to the call signal. For example, when a call signal corresponding to the second charging station 190b is received, movement to the location of the second charging station 190b may be performed (P1).

Also, after performing the call operation, the air cleaning robot may perform a cleaning operation of purifying the air around the charging station corresponding to the call signal. For example, after the air cleaning robot moves to the location of the second charging station 190b, the charging unit 123 (FIG. 1) of the air cleaning robot accesses the second charging station 190b to receive power, and at the same time The control unit 130 ( FIG. 1 ) may control the cleaning unit 110 ( FIG. 1 ) to purify air. Alternatively, after the air cleaning robot moves to the location of the second charging station 190b, the control unit controls the driving unit 120 (FIG. 1) to travel around the second charging station 190b, and at the same time cleans the air. The cleaning unit may be controlled to purify (P2). When the amount of power stored in the charging unit 123 (FIG. 1) during the circuit reaches a set value or less, the Singgi control unit returns to the second charging station 190b to receive power and continuously perform a cleaning operation.

The calling operation and the cleaning operation may be performed identically to the third charging station 190c.

As such, the air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention can actively purify air at various locations where air cleaning is required without a problem in power supply.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a control method of an air cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a process of automatically controlling the air cleaning robot described with reference to FIG. 1 . Since specific operations of each step can be understood in detail from the robot cleaning robot and the robot cleaning system described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4 , redundant descriptions will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the control method of the air cleaning robot starts with performing a map building operation (S10).

During the map building operation, the control unit 130 (FIG. 1) may store location data for a plurality of charging stations (S20). The location data may be generated by induction signals transmitted by a plurality of charging stations. Also, after the map building operation, the location data may be updated while the air cleaning robot is moving or may be updated by receiving new location data from the outside.

Thereafter, a call signal may be received (S30). The call signal may be transmitted from one charging station among a plurality of charging stations, or may be transmitted from the management server 300 or the user terminal 400 .

Next, the control unit 120 (FIG. 1) may control the driving unit 120 (FIG. 1) to move to the location of the charging station corresponding to the call signal.

After performing the movement, the charging unit 123 (FIG. 1) of the robot cleaning robot may be supplied with power by connecting to the charging station (S61). At the same time, the control unit may control the cleaning unit 110 (FIG. 1) to purify the air (S62).

Alternatively, after performing the movement, the control unit may control the driving unit to travel around the charging station corresponding to the call signal (S71), and at the same time, the control unit may control the cleaning unit to purify the air (S72). ).

Meanwhile, the step of accessing the charging station corresponding to the call signal (S61) and the step of circulating around the charging station corresponding to the call signal (S71) may be selectively performed. For example, after performing the movement according to the call signal, it may be determined whether the amount of power stored in the charging unit is less than or equal to a set value (S50). Specifically, when the amount of power stored in the charging unit is less than or equal to the set value, the step of accessing the charging station corresponding to the call signal (S61) may be performed. A step of traversing (S71) may be performed.

The present invention is not limited by the foregoing embodiments and accompanying drawings. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the components according to the present invention can be substituted, modified, and changed without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention.

100: air cleaning robot
110: cleaning unit
120: driving unit
130: control unit
140: detection unit
150: communication department
160: display unit
190: charging station

Claims (11)

A driving unit formed on the lower part of the main body and performing movement;
a cleaning unit that purifies external air and discharges the purified air;
a charging unit that receives and stores power; and
a control unit for controlling the driving unit to store location data for a plurality of charging stations that are connected to the charging unit and provide power, and to move to a location of a charging station corresponding to the calling signal when a call signal is received; including,
The control unit receives air pollution levels measured by the plurality of charging stations.
According to claim 1,
After moving to the location of the charging station corresponding to the call signal, the charging unit connects to the charging station corresponding to the call signal to receive power, and the control unit controls the cleaning unit to purify the air.
According to claim 1,
After moving to the location of the charging station corresponding to the call signal, the control unit controls the driving unit and the cleaning unit to purify air while traveling around the charging station corresponding to the call signal.
According to claim 3,
Further comprising a detector for measuring air pollution,
The control unit controls the cleaning unit to adjust a wind direction through which the purified air is discharged according to the measured air pollution level.
According to claim 1,
The location data is generated by an induction signal received from the charging station during a map building operation of moving along a wall surface and storing a moving path.
delete a plurality of charging stations capable of providing power; and
A driving unit formed on the lower part of the main body and moving, a cleaning unit that purifies external air and discharges the purified air, a charging unit that is connected to the charging station to receive and store power, and locations for the plurality of charging stations. an air cleaning robot including a controller that controls the traveling unit to store data and to move to a charging station corresponding to the call signal when a call signal is received; including,
Each of the plurality of charging stations includes a detection sensor for measuring air pollution of air quality around the charging station in which the corresponding charging station is installed.
air purification system.
delete According to claim 7,
The plurality of charging stations transmits the call signal when the measured air pollution level is equal to or greater than a reference value.
According to claim 7,
An air cleaning system further comprising a user terminal receiving the measured air pollution level.
According to claim 7,
Wherein the control unit controls the traveling unit to move to the nearest charging station among the plurality of charging stations when the electric power stored in the charging unit reaches a set value or less during movement.

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