ROBOT CLEANER AND SELF TESTING METHOD OF THE SAME

• US 20130025085A1
• Filed: 06/28/2012
• Published: 01/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Siyong, Kim, Jongju, Sung, Jihoon, Yun, Hyungtae
• Granted Patent: US 8,800,101 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 15/319
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/022 Recharging of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/04 Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2805 Parameters or conditions being sensed
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2857 User input or output elements for control, e.g. buttons, switches or displays
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2889 Safety or protection devices or systems, e.g. for prevention of motor over-heating or for protection of the user

Abstract

Disclosed are a robot cleaner and a self testing method thereof. The robot cleaner performs a self test when being initially operated or when required by a user. This may prevent malfunctions or breakdowns of the robot cleaner. Furthermore, the robot cleaner senses states of components and sensors mounted therein, and performs a self test based on characteristics, output values, etc. of the components and the sensors. This may prevent accidents or errors which may occur as the robot cleaner operates.

Claims

1. A robot cleaner comprising:

a body which forms an appearance;

a driving unit having a wheel motor to rotate right and left main wheels provided at two sides of a lower part of the body, and to move the body by driving the wheel motor;

a storage unit to store a test algorithm;

one or more sensing units provided at the robot cleaner to output sensing to information;

an input unit to receive an execution command of a self test mode;

a controller to execute the self test mode according to the test algorithm when the execution command is received, and to test the robot cleaner by receiving the sensing information from the one or more sensing units; and

an output unit configured to output an execution result of the self test mode.

2. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the controller checks one or more preset execution conditions before executing the self test mode.

3. The robot cleaner of claim 2, wherein the one or more preset execution conditions indicate one of a mounted state of a dust box, an attached state of a dustcloth plate and a battery state, or a combination thereof.

4. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensing units include an object sensing unit installed at the body to sense an object and to output the sensing information;

and

the controller to control the driving unit to move the robot cleaner in a predetermined pattern according to the test algorithm, and to control the object sensing unit to output the sensing information,

wherein the controller determines a state of the object sensing unit based on the sensing information of the object sensing unit.

5. The robot cleaner of claim 4, wherein the object sensing unit is at least one of an external signal sensor, a front sensor, an obstacle sensor, a cliff sensor, a lower camera sensor, and an upper camera sensor.

6. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the controller executes the self test mode only when a current operation mode corresponds to a charging mode.

7. A robot cleaner, comprising:

a body which forms an appearance;

a driving unit having a wheel motor to rotate right and left main wheels provided at two sides of a lower part of the body, and to move the body by driving the wheel motor;

a cleaning unit installed at the body to suck dust particles or foreign materials into the cleaning unit;

a storage unit to store an algorithm with respect to a plurality of operation modes, wherein one of the operation modes is a self test mode;

one or more sensing units provided at the robot cleaner to output sensing information on the robot cleaner;

a controller to execute the self test mode and to receive sensing information on the robot cleaner; and

an output unit configured to output an executed result on a self test mode based on the received sensing information.

8. The robot cleaner of claim 7, wherein the one or more sensing units include wheel sensors connected to the right and left main wheels to sense rotation states of the right and left main wheels and to output RPMs of the right and left main wheels.

9. The robot cleaner of claim 8, wherein the controller compares RPMs of the right and left main wheels with each other, the RPMs sensed by the wheel sensors while the robot cleaner moves straight, and tests whether the right and left main wheels are in an abnormal state based on a comparison result.

10. The robot cleaner of claim 7, wherein the one or more sensing units include a current sensor that senses a current applied to the wheel motor, and

wherein the controller tests a state of the wheel motor by comparing the sensed current with a reference current.

11. The robot cleaner of claim 7, wherein the cleaning unit includes:

a suction fan to suck dust particles or foreign materials within a cleaning region; and

a suction motor to rotate the suction fan.

12. The robot cleaner of claim 11, wherein the one or more sensing unit include a current sensor that senses a current applied to the suction motor, and

wherein the controller tests a state of the suction motor by comparing the sensed current with a reference current.

13. The robot cleaner of claim 11, wherein the cleaning unit further includes:

an agitator rotatably mounted to a lower part of the body;

a side brush to clean a corner or an edge of a cleaning region by rotating centered around a vertical shaft in the body; and

a brush motor to simultaneously drive the agitator and the side brush.

14. The robot cleaner of claim 13, wherein the one or more sensing unit include a speed sensor to sense a rotation speed of the brush motor, and

wherein the controller tests a state of the agitator by comparing the sensed rotation speed current with a reference speed.

15. The robot cleaner of claim 7, further comprising a wheel drop switch operated when the right and left main wheels are in a levitated state from a bottom surface, and

wherein the controller determines that the wheel drop switch is in an abnormal state when the wheel drop switch is turned ON.

16. The robot cleaner of claim 7, wherein the controller checks one or more preset execution conditions before executing the self test mode.

17. The robot cleaner of claim 16, wherein the one or more preset execution conditions indicate one of a mounted state of a dust box, an attached state of a dustcloth plate and a battery state, or a combination thereof.

18. The robot cleaner of claim 7, wherein the one or more sensing unit include an object sensing unit installed at the body to sense an object and to output the sensing information;

and

the controller to control the driving unit to move the robot cleaner in a predetermined pattern according to the algorithm, and to control the object sensing unit to output the sensing information,

wherein the controller determines a state of the object sensing unitbased on the sensing information of the object sensing unit.

19. The robot cleaner of claim 18, wherein the object sensing unit is at least one of an external signal sensor, a front sensor, an obstacle sensor, a cliff sensor, a lower camera sensor, and an upper camera sensor.

20. The robot cleaner of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to execute the self test mode only when a current operation mode corresponds to a charging mode.