ROBOT CLEANER AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME

• US 20140288709A1
• Filed: 08/28/2013
• Published: 09/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Jeon, Hyeongshin, Sim, Miyoung
• Granted Patent: US 9,180,596 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/259
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 11/0085 Cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 19/023 including video camera means
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0003 Home robots, i.e. small robots for domestic use
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S

Abstract

A robot cleaner includes a main body, a traveling unit, a cleaning unit, a sensor unit, and a controller. The traveling unit allows the main body to travel. The cleaning unit suctions foreign substances around the main body during the traveling. The sensor unit is rotatable and senses an obstacle using light reflected or scattered by the obstacle. The controller controls the traveling unit so as to travel along a traveling path and controls the cleaning unit so as to perform cleaning. Here, the sensor unit includes a first mode and a second mode that are set to differ from each other in sensitivity with respect to the reflected or scattered light, and the controller changes the sensitivity of the sensor unit according to a traveling mode.

Claims

1. A robot cleaner comprising:

a main body;

a traveling unit to allow the main body to travel;

a cleaning unit to suction foreign substances around the main body during the traveling;

a sensor unit that is rotatable to sense an obstacle using light reflected or scattered by the obstacle; and

a controller to control the traveling unit so as to travel along a traveling path and to control the cleaning unit so as to perform cleaning,

wherein the sensor unit comprises a first mode and a second mode that are set to differ from each other in sensitivity with respect to the reflected or scattered light, and the controller changes the sensitivity of the sensor unit according to a traveling mode.

2. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the controller sets the sensitivity of the sensor unit as the first mode during the traveling and sets the sensitivity of the sensor unit as the second mode different from the first mode during searching for a recharging base.

3. The robot cleaner of claim 2, wherein the first mode is a high sensitive mode in which an object is recognized with a small amount of light due to a high sensitivity to the reflected or scattered light, and the second mode is a low sensitive mode in which the sensitivity to the reflected or scattered light is lower than the sensitivity of the second mode.

4. The robot cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a path setting unit that sets a traveling direction and a traveling path to be applied by the controller such that the robot cleaner travels to a target point by a shortest distance according to a location of the obstacle sensed by the sensor unit,

wherein when the obstacle is sensed by the sensor unit, the path setting unit sets the traveling direction and the traveling path that includes determining whether or not there is a travelable direction.

5. The robot cleaner of claim 4, wherein the path setting unit sets the traveling direction and the traveling path such that the robot cleaner avoids the obstacle before approaching the obstacle during the traveling without a cleaning, and avoids the obstacle after approaching the obstacle by a certain distance during the cleaning.

6. The robot cleaner of claim 4, wherein the controller changes a sensing range of the sensor unit when the path setting unit determines that there is no travelable direction.

7. The robot cleaner of claim 6, wherein the controller divides the sensing range into a plurality of levels based on a maximum recognizable distance of the sensor unit, and then reduces the sensing range of the sensor unit by one level.

8. The robot cleaner of claim 6, wherein the controller reduces the sensing range of the sensor unit to allow the traveling direction to be changed after the robot cleaner approaches the obstacle by a certain distance.

9. The robot cleaner of claim 2, wherein when the sensor unit is in the second mode, the controller controls the robot cleaner to search for the recharging base according to a reflectance of light reflected by the recharging base and received by the sensor unit.

10. The robot cleaner of claim 9, wherein the recharging base is attached with a reflective sheet of high luminance.

11. The robot cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a location calculation unit that calculates a location of the obstacle and a distance from the obstacle by analyzing the reflected or scattered light sensed by the sensor unit,

wherein when a recharging base is not sensed by the sensor unit, the location calculation unit generates a map about an area to determine whether or not the area is an unsearched area, and when the area is the unsearched area, the controller controls the traveling unit such that the robot cleaner travels to the unsearched area to search for the recharging base.

12. The robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit comprises:

a light emitting unit to emit light;

a light receiving unit to receive light reflected or scattered by the light emitted from the light emitting unit;

an image sensor to sense the received light through the light receiving unit;

a base supporting the light emitting unit and the image sensor and rotatably disposed in the main body; and

a rotation drive unit to rotate the base.

13. A method of operating a robot cleaner, comprising:

setting a traveling mode by a controller;

setting one of a first mode and a second mode having different sensitivities for incident light in a rotatable sensor unit by the controller to sense an obstacle using the incident light reflected or scattered by the obstacle; and

setting by the controller, upon traveling, the sensitivity of the sensor unit to the first mode to travel to a target point to avoid the obstacle sensed by the sensor unit.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first mode is a high sensitive mode in which the obstacle is recognized with a small amount of light due to a high sensitivity to the incident light, and the second mode is a low sensitive mode in which the sensitivity to the incident light is lower than the sensitivity of the second mode.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising calculating a location of the obstacle by a location calculation unit to change a traveling path such that the robot cleaner travels to the target point avoiding the obstacle when the obstacle is sensed by the sensor unit during the traveling.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising changing a sensing range of the sensor unit by the controller when the obstacle is sensed by the sensor unit during the traveling and there is no travelable direction avoiding the obstacle.

17. The method of claim 16, comprising:

reducing the sensing range by the controller one level after dividing the sensing range into a plurality of levels based on the maximum recognizable distance of the sensor unit; and

outputting an error by the controller when there is no travelable direction avoiding the obstacle.

18. The method of claim 16, comprising allowing the robot cleaner to travel and changing the traveling direction after approaching the obstacle by a certain distance by reducing the sensing range of the sensor unit.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising searching for a recharging base by the controller after setting the sensitivity of the sensor unit to the second mode different from the first mode,

wherein the recharging base is searched by the controller according to a reflectance with respect to light reflected by a reflective sheet attached to the recharging base and received by the sensor unit.

20. The method of claim 19, comprising:

generating a map by a location calculation unit about an area when the recharging base is not sensed by the sensor unit; and

setting a traveling path by a path setting unit if the controller determines that the area mapped by the location calculation unit is an unsearched area.