WO2014135008A1

WO2014135008A1 - Edge-to-center cleaning method used by robot cleaner

Info

Publication number: WO2014135008A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/072266
Authority: WO
Inventors: 简毅; 程洪; 洪雪飞
Original assignee: Jian Yi; Cheng Hong; Hong Xuefei
Priority date: 2013-03-06
Filing date: 2014-02-19
Publication date: 2014-09-12
Also published as: CN103099586A; TW201434546A; CN103099586B

Abstract

A cleaning method used by a robot cleaner for traversing an area to be cleaned comprising multiple rooms, and reducing repeated lines of travel, that is, an edge-to-center cleaning method used by a robot cleaner: the robot cleaner advances along an exterior wall in a room, and in the process, the robot cleaner leaves the exterior wall several times and moves in a direction away from the exterior wall to clean the floor. Each time the robot cleaner moves a certain distance away from the exterior wall or encounters an obstacle, the robot cleaner first rotates a preset angle, advances a preset distance, and then returns to the exterior wall, thus traversing and cleaning the area to-be-cleaned.

Description

Cleaning method for cleaning robot extending along side navigation

Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of cleaning robot technology, and in particular to the travel control of a cleaning robot.

Background technique

[0002] With the development of science and technology, clean robots with certain functions have gradually entered the family and office environment, reducing people's labor burden. These cleaning robots automatically scrub in a certain operating mode as the area to be cleaned or use a vacuum cleaner to clean dust and dirt from the floor. In terms of how to clean the area to be cleaned, at present, the more common ones are: random direction cleaning method, cleaning method using multiple path combinations, cleaning method based on establishing grid map, cleaning method with navigation system, etc. .

[0003] The random direction cleaning method means that the cleaning robot does not take path planning, and when encountering an obstacle while walking, it randomly rotates through a certain angle to continue walking cleaning. This cleaning method is simple to control and does not require too many high-precision sensors, so the cost is low. However, the sweep mode based on its random direction makes it easy to clean some places, while others are repeatedly cleaned. Although it is theoretically possible to achieve complete coverage of the area requiring cleaning without limiting time, it is difficult to achieve complete coverage of the area requiring cleaning due to limitations in battery power.

[0004] A plurality of path combination cleaning methods are a combination of an equidistant spiral mode, a wall walking mode, and a random mode, which are cyclically operated. This cleaning method does not require expensive sensors, and the accuracy requirements for positioning control are not high, and the cleaning efficiency is also improved compared to a single random direction cleaning method. However, due to the lack of better rules for several modes of conversion, the cleaning path still has some uncertainty, which makes the cleaning efficiency and effect unsatisfactory.

[0005] The winding path combined with the edge square wave path cleaning method is to clean the room from the inside to the outside, or from the outside to the inside with a certain winding pattern; when the obstacle is encountered, the outer wall of the obstacle is traveled and the cleaning operation is performed; The cleaning robot walks along the remaining path determined by the winding pattern and performs a cleaning operation when the path of the winding pattern determination is reached while traveling along the obstacle and performing a cleaning operation. However, in the process of cleaning according to the winding pattern, the cleaning robot traverses and cleans the main area of the room in a surrounding manner, which requires high positioning accuracy and motion control precision. And, for In the cleaning of multiple rooms, the adaptability is poor, because this cleaning method is not easy to find the entrance of the room, it is difficult to dig through multiple rooms.

[0006] The cleaning method based on the establishment of the environment grid map is that the cleaning robot first walks along the wall or against the wall obstacle to obtain the position data of the boundary of the area to be cleaned, and then traverses the area to be cleaned for the first time in a preset manner while acquiring the area. Obstacle contour position data, establish an environmental raster map. The area is cleaned at the same time as the first time traversing the area or at a later time, and the cleaned area is memorized according to the walking direction and distance of the cleaning robot, and the uncleaned area is obtained by comparing the built grid map with the cleaned area. The sweep is also performed on the unswept area. This cleaning method improves efficiency over the previous random mode, but there are obviously many deficiencies for larger and larger rooms. For example, first, the boundary of the cleaning area needs to be walked along the edge to obtain the boundary position data, and then the traversal of the area to be cleaned is simultaneously acquired to obtain the obstacle contour data, and finally the grid map is established; secondly, a larger memory is needed to store the grid. Information. On the other hand, as the walking distance increases, the accumulated error will become larger and larger, resulting in a large distortion of the built map information and the cleaning robot's own position information, which makes the cleaning effect unsatisfactory unless more expensive to install. The sensor ensures the reliability of the measured raster map and the location of the cleaning robot itself.

[0007] With the cleaning method of the navigation system, the navigation method of the cleaning robot includes electromagnetic navigation, ranging, visual navigation, sound, etc., and the adoption of these navigation sensors and devices, combined with a certain path planning, can make the cleaning robot easier to implement the following: Function: Efficiently clean the floor, avoid obstacles and traverse multiple rooms. However, these navigation devices are often expensive, making cleaning robots costly and expensive, and not easy to use.

Summary of the invention

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning method for a cleaning robot that implements traversal of a multi-room cleaning area and reduces repeated travel routes.

[0009] The technical solution adopted for achieving the object of the present invention is such that a cleaning robot that expands inwardly along the side of the cleaning robot, the cleaning robot travels along the outer wall of the wall of the room, in the process, the cleaning robot The outer wall of the wall is moved away from the outer wall of the wall and cleans the ground. After the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall at a certain distance or encounters an obstacle, it rotates a preset angle, then travels for a predetermined distance, and then returns to the outer wall of the wall to realize traversal of the area to be cleaned. And clean.

[0010] when there is a wall edge obstacle that is tight with the outer wall of the wall, the cleaning machine The person's face that is not in contact with the outer wall of the wall of the wall edge is considered to be the outer wall of the wall as it travels.

[0011] According to the technical idea of the present invention, there is also provided a cleaning robot control method starting from an arbitrary position and capable of effectively identifying an obstacle in a room, that is, a cleaning method of the cleaning robot extending along the side navigation, including The following steps:

1) The cleaning robot initially starts from an arbitrary placement point in the room and looks for the outer wall of the wall.

[0012] 2) Stop when the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle and use the obstacle encountered as a presumed wall of the wall. The cleaning robot travels along the outer wall of the hypothetical wall. In the process, the cleaning robot moves away from the outer wall of the wall a plurality of times away from the outer wall of the wall and cleans the ground. After the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall at a certain distance or encounters an obstacle, it rotates a preset angle, then travels for a predetermined distance, and then returns to the outer wall of the wall to realize traversal of the area to be cleaned. And clean.

[0013] 3) The cleaning robot determines, according to the trajectory of its operation, whether the assumed outer wall of the wall is an outer wall of the wall or an obstacle in the room. If the wall of the hypothetical wall is the outer wall of the wall of the room, stop or jump to step 2). If the hypothetical wall of the wall is an obstacle in the room, it travels away from the obstacle in the room and then jumps to step 2).

[0014] The present invention has the following significant advantages over the prior art:

1. The cleaning robot can effectively avoid sweeping or repeated cleaning by moving along the wall and moving away from the wall;

2. The cleaning robot not only improves the cleaning efficiency in a relatively empty environment, but also covers the floor area of a room where the obstacles are concentrated.

[0015] 3. The cleaning robot is always moved and cleaned along the wall or wall obstacles, making it easy for the cleaning robot to find the entrance and exit of the room, achieving complete cleaning of each room, and having extremely high cleaning efficiency.

DRAWINGS

[0016] The apparatus of the present invention can be further illustrated by the non-limiting embodiments set forth in the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic view of a cleaning robot entering a plurality of rooms along a wall in an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of the cleaning robot starting from a certain point in any direction and encountering an obstacle in one embodiment;

3 is a schematic view of the cleaning robot in FIG. 2, that is, a schematic diagram of leaving the obstacle after one week of traveling as an obstacle in FIG. 2; Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing the cleaning of the cleaning robot when cleaning the restaurant in one embodiment; Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the cleaning robot in one embodiment.

[0018] FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of the cleaning robot in one embodiment.

detailed description

The present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. However, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention is limited to the embodiments described below. Various alterations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Embodiment 1:

A cleaning method for a cleaning robot that expands inward along the side navigation, the cleaning robot traveling along the outer wall of the wall of the room. The cleaning robot travels along the outer wall of the wall of the room. During this process, the cleaning robot moves away from the outer wall of the wall several times away from the outer wall of the wall and cleans the ground. After the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall at a certain distance or encounters an obstacle, it rotates a preset angle, then travels for a predetermined distance, and then returns to the outer wall of the wall to realize traversal of the area to be cleaned. And clean. It is worth noting that the preset distance and the preset angle described in this paragraph can be adjusted according to actual needs. In order to distinguish from the movement after the cleaning robot returns to the wall in the following paragraph, the preset distance and the preset angle are described in this paragraph. Recorded as the preset distance I and the preset angle I, respectively. In addition, each time the robot returns to and from the wall of the wall, it needs to change the direction of travel, so you can rotate a preset angle before this.

[0021] In this embodiment, it is possible to control when the cleaning robot cleans the ground and when to stop cleaning the ground. When the cleaning robot performs the cleaning operation, the range covered by the bottom surface is not necessarily the range in which it is actually cleaned. In this embodiment, when the cleaning robot is defined to perform the cleaning operation, the minimum width of the cleaning range in the width direction of the traveling path is w, and the value range is the same as that of the commercially available cleaning robot, which is usually about 300 mm.

[0022] Generally, the cleaning robot stops when it is required to travel along the outer wall of the wall for at least one week from the beginning to the end. Therefore, the cleaning robot needs to be displaced along the outer wall of the wall in the floor of the room, and the timing of the displacement may be every time the cleaning robot returns to the outer wall of the wall, or the cleaning robot may leave each time. When the outer wall of the wall reaches the farthest point, it can also be on the way of leaving/returning, or both. From this point of view, no matter how the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall and how to return to the outer wall of the wall, it is finally possible to travel around the outer wall of the wall for one week. It should be noted that The cleaning robot is cleaned on the floor of the room. For the convenience of description and understanding, the outer wall of the wall or the obstacle against the wall is regarded as a top view projection line of the wall and the wall obstacle on the floor of the room.

[0023] More specifically:

Manner 1: After the cleaning robot returns to (returns to) the outer wall of the wall, it rotates a preset angle, then travels a predetermined distance along the outer wall of the wall, and then leaves the outer wall of the wall. In this paragraph, the preset angle and the preset distance are respectively recorded as the preset distance II and the preset angle II. In this embodiment, the preset distance I and the preset distance II may be equal, usually w or a value smaller than w. The preset angle I and the preset angle II may also be equal, usually 90°. It is a matter of course that the direction of travel of the cleaning robot along the outer wall of the wall is the direction in which the outer wall of the wall extends forward, and when it encounters a corner, it can automatically turn.

[0024] Manner 2: It is necessary to judge the situation when the cleaning robot reaches the farthest point, that is, when the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall and reaches the farthest point, there are two situations and countermeasures: A ) Rotate a preset angle and then travel a preset distance, and then return to the outer wall of the last wall; or B) rotate a preset angle, travel less than the preset distance and encounter obstacles, then return to the end The wall of the wall that left the wall.

[0025] The use of modes one and two is a better embodiment, and the traversal of the room can be most realized. In the embodiment, since the cleaning range of the cleaning robot used is not a center symmetrical pattern, or the cleaning robot employed is inconvenient to travel in multiple directions. In order to overcome the above situation, each time the cleaning robot returns to the outer wall of the wall and/or reaches the farthest point, the preset angle of rotation is usually 90° and continues to travel.

The method disclosed in this embodiment can be applied to a multi-room situation. Because, when the door is opened, the outer wall of the wall of the plurality of rooms is continuous, and the cleaning robot travels along the outer wall of the wall of the room, periodically reciprocating between them, and finally traversing a plurality of rooms.

[0027] Example ² :

The basic situation of this embodiment is the same as that of the embodiment 1, except that a "inward expansion" manner is provided. That is, the expansion time is divided into three cases: the distance between the farthest point and the outer wall of the wall is at least 1/2 of the width of the room, or the farthest point is stopped when the cleaning robot travels due to encountering an obstacle. The distance between the point, or the farthest point and the outer wall of the wall is a preset value.

[0028] Further, the distance between the farthest point and the outer wall of the wall may be set by the user, or the width of the room may be measured by a sensor disposed on the cleaning robot. Preferably, the distance is not less than the distance between the leaving boundary and the opposite boundary between the cleaning robots Half the distance on the path to ensure coverage of the area to be cleaned.

[0029] Of course, if there is an obstacle in the room, the cleaning robot cannot reach the preset farthest point by going straight. At this time, it is usually possible to make the cleaning robot not reach the preset farthest point, that is, rotate a preset angle, and return after a predetermined distance, or it can be understood that the farthest point at this time is the cause of the cleaning robot traveling. The point where you stop when you encounter obstacles.

[0030] In addition, if the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle while returning to the outer wall of the wall, the cleaning robot bypasses the obstacle along the obstacle and returns to the outer wall of the wall.

Example 3:

The basic situation of this embodiment is the same as that of the second embodiment, but it is only a case in which the arrangement of obstacles in the room is complicated.

[0032] Referring to Figure 1, the two rooms with several obstacles are shown. In an embodiment, when there is a wall edge obstacle that is tight with the outer wall of the wall, the cleaning robot regards a surface of the wall edge obstacle that is not in contact with the outer wall of the wall as an outer wall of the wall when traveling ( As shown in Figure 1, the obstacle immediately below the first room). In this embodiment, the cleaning robot travels along the wall from the "cleaning start point" in the first room. As it continues to leave the wall and keep returning, it is easy to get to the entrance and exit of the room to clean up multiple rooms. At point D in Figure 1, the cleaning robot smoothly entered the second room from the first room. Similarly, when the cleaning robot cleans the second room, it will smoothly return to the first room and clean the uncleaned area.

[0033] In an embodiment, the cleaning robot records the path that has passed. When the cleaning robot travels to the path that has not passed, the cleaning operation is performed; when the cleaning robot travels to the path that has passed, the cleaning operation may not be performed. In addition, the cleaning robot judges the amount of dust per unit area of the passing area at any time during the traveling; when the amount of dust on the unit area is greater than the threshold, the cleaning robot repeatedly performs the cleaning operation along the path that has been traveled, Then continue to travel. Figure 4 illustrates a more complicated situation. The circle at the center of the figure indicates the bottom of the dining table in the restaurant (more dirt), and the cleaning robot performs repeated cleaning operations here.

Example 4:

The embodiment discloses a cleaning method for a cleaning robot that expands inward along the side navigation, mainly that the cleaning robot starts from an arbitrary position in the room and actively recognizes an obstacle in the room. Implement room traversal. Specifically, the following steps are included:

1) The cleaning robot initially starts from an arbitrary placement point in the room to find the outer wall of the wall;

2) Stop when the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle and use the obstacle encountered as the presumed wall of the wall. The cleaning robot travels along the outer wall of the hypothetical wall. During this process, the cleaning robot moves away from the outer wall of the wall several times away from the outer wall of the wall and cleans the ground. After the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall at a certain distance or encounters an obstacle, it rotates a preset angle, then travels for a predetermined distance, and then returns to the outer wall of the wall to realize traversal of the area to be cleaned. And clean. In this step, the assumed wall outer wall may be a real wall outer wall, and the cleaning robot operates as in the first embodiment. However, if the assumed outer wall of the wall is an obstacle in the room, if it is operated as in the first embodiment, it is difficult to remove the trouble, so it is necessary

[0035] 3) The cleaning robot determines, based on the trajectory of its operation, whether the assumed outer wall of the wall is an external wall of the wall or an obstacle in the room (generally determined by judging whether or not it enters the interior). It is worth noting that in general, the cleaning robot needs to run along the outer wall of the assumed wall for one week before it can accurately determine whether it is surrounded by the actual wall of the wall or the obstacle in the room.

[0036] In this step, if the assumed outer wall of the wall is the outer wall of the wall of the room, jump to step 2) or stop. In other words, the cleaning robot directly finds the outer wall of the wall at this time, and can be implemented according to the schemes of Embodiments 1 to 3, and can stop the work and continue to clean along the outer wall of the wall.

[0037] In this step, if the assumed wall outer wall is an obstacle in the room, the cleaning robot travels away from the obstacle in the room, and then jumps to step 2), the purpose is to avoid the robot Always travel around obstacles and not get out of trouble. Of course, after the cleaning robot has moved away from the obstacles in the room encountered in this step, it may encounter other obstacles in the room again. At this point, loop to step 2) and record the path that has been experienced until When the robot reaches the outer wall of the actual wall, an operation similar to that of Embodiments 1 to 3 is performed to complete the cleaning of the room.

[0038] Figures 2 to 3 illustrate the above process:

Referring to Fig. 2, the cleaning robot starts from the Do point and starts traveling in any direction (the robot in the figure travels toward the middle of the room). After that, the cleaning robot encountered an isolated obstacle in the middle of the room (all faces are not against the wall). At this point, the cleaning robot will isolate the middle of the room The obstacle is mistaken for the wall, the "assumed wall", and performs the intended cleaning operation. At point D1 in Fig. 2, it is the position where the cleaning robot travels one week after the "assumed wall".

3 is a continuation of FIG. 2, and both Do and D1 points are the same as FIG. 2. In Fig. 3, the cleaning robot judges at the D1 that the "assumed wall" is an isolated obstacle in the middle of the room, indicating that most of the room is not cleaned. At this point, the cleaning robot needs to travel away from the isolated obstacle to find the real wall, and then perform the predetermined operations to complete the traversal and cleaning of the room.

Claims

Claim

A cleaning method for a cleaning robot that expands inwardly along an edge, characterized in that: the cleaning robot travels along an outer wall of a wall of a room; in the process, the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall several times away from the The direction of the outer wall of the wall moves and cleans the ground; after the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall at a certain distance or encounters an obstacle, it rotates a preset angle, then travels for a preset distance, and then returns to the wall. External wall, traversing and cleaning the area to be cleaned.

2 . The cleaning method of the cleaning robot extending in the side-by-side navigation according to claim 1 , wherein: after each returning to the outer wall of the wall, the cleaning robot first rotates a preset angle and then follows the wall. The outer wall travels a predetermined distance and then exits the outer wall of the wall.

3. The method of cleaning a cleaning robot extending inward along an edge according to claim 2, wherein: when the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall and reaches a farthest point: A) rotating a pre- After setting the angle, travel a preset distance, and then return to the outer wall of the last wall; or B) rotate a preset angle, travel less than the preset distance and encounter the obstacle, then return to the last segment The outer wall of the wall.

4. The method of cleaning a cleaning robot extending inwardly along an edge according to claim 3, wherein: the distance between the farthest point and the outer wall of the wall is at least 1/2 of the width of the room, or The farthest point is the point at which the cleaning robot stops when it encounters an obstacle, or the distance between the farthest point and the outer wall of the wall is a preset value.

5. The cleaning method of the cleaning robot extending inward along the side navigation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, when there is a wall edge obstacle which is tight with the outer wall of the wall, the cleaning robot The surface of the wall edge barrier that is not in contact with the outer wall of the wall is considered to be the outer wall of the wall as it travels.

6. The cleaning method of the cleaning robot extending in the side-by-side navigation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: the cleaning robot records the path that passes when traveling; when the cleaning robot travels to the When the path is passed, the cleaning operation is performed; when the cleaning robot travels to the path that has passed, no cleaning operation is performed.

7. The cleaning method of the cleaning robot extending in the side-by-side navigation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: during the traveling, the cleaning robot determines the amount of dust per unit area of the passing area; When the amount of dust per unit area is greater than a threshold, The cleaning robot repeatedly performs a cleaning operation along a path that has already traveled.

8. The method of cleaning a cleaning robot extending inward along an edge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: if the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle on the way back to the outer wall of the wall, The obstacle bypasses the obstacle and returns to the outer wall of the wall.

9. A method of cleaning a cleaning robot that extends inwardly along an edge, characterized by comprising the following steps:

2) stopping when the cleaning robot encounters an obstacle, and using the obstacle encountered as a presumed wall of the wall; the cleaning robot travels along the outer wall of the assumed wall; in the process, the cleaning robot leaves several times The outer wall of the wall moves away from the outer wall of the wall and cleans the ground; each time the cleaning robot leaves the outer wall of the wall at a certain distance or encounters an obstacle, first rotates a preset angle, and then advances a section Set the distance and then return to the outer wall of the wall to achieve traversal and cleaning of the area to be cleaned;

3) The cleaning robot determines, according to the trajectory of the operation, whether the assumed wall outer wall is an external wall of the wall or an obstacle in the room; if the assumed wall outer wall is the outer wall of the room, the stop or jump Go to step 2); if the hypothetical wall of the wall is an obstacle in the room, travel away from the obstacle in the room and then jump to step 2).