CLEANING ROBOT AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20140336863A1
• Filed: 05/08/2014
• Published: 11/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: SO, Jea Yun, Kwon, Joon Hyung, Kim, Shin, Yoon, Sang Sik
• Granted Patent: US 9,504,369 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/28
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4061 Steering means; Means for avoiding obstacles; Details related to the place where the driver is accommodated
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/04 Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/06 Control of the cleaning action for autonomous devices; Automatic detection of the surface condition before, during or after cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2815 using optical detectors
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2852 Elements for displacement of the vacuum cleaner or the accessories therefor, e.g. wheels, casters or nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0219 ensuring the processing of the whole working surface
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0246 using a video camera in combination with image processing means

Abstract

A cleaning robot may have a body, a moving unit provided on the body to move the body in a cleaning space, a cleaning unit provided on the body to clean a floor of the cleaning space, a floor image obtaining unit configured to obtain a floor image of the cleaning space, and a control unit configured to determine if foreign substance is present on the floor of the cleaning space based on the floor image, and control the moving unit to move the body to a position of the foreign substance, in which the cleaning robot, by obtaining an image of a floor to be cleaned, detects the foreign substance that is not positioned on a moving track of the cleaning robot, and when the foreign substance is detected, moves to the position of the foreign substance to perform a cleaning.

Claims

1. A cleaning robot, comprising:

a body,

a moving unit which moves the body in a cleaning space,

a cleaning unit which cleans a floor of the cleaning space,

a floor image obtaining unit which obtains a floor image of the cleaning space, and

a control unit, which is coupled to the moving unit, the cleaning unit and the floor image obtaining unit, which detects a which detects a foreign substance on the floor of the cleaning space based on the floor image, and which controls the moving unit to move the body to a position of the foreign substance.

2. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein:

the control unit extracts an image of a floor area from the floor image, and extracts an image of the foreign substance from the extracted image of the floor area.

3. The cleaning robot of claim 2, wherein:

the control unit extracts the image of the floor area from the floor image by using a watershed algorithm that uses a marker.

4. The cleaning robot of claim 2, wherein:

the control unit extracts the image of the foreign substance by using an edge extracting algorithm.

5. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein:

during a cleaning mode, the control unit controls the floor image obtaining unit and the cleaning unit to obtain the floor image and clean the floor of the cleaning space while the body is moving.

6. The cleaning robot of claim 5, wherein:

during the cleaning mode, the control unit generates a moving track along which the body moves, based on a width of the body.

7. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein:

during a scout mode, the control unit controls the floor image obtaining unit to obtain the floor image while the body is moving.

8. The cleaning robot of claim 7, wherein:

during the scouting mode, the control unit generates a scouting track along which the body moves, based on a vision of the floor image obtaining unit.

9. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein:

the control unit controls the moving unit and the cleaning unit to perform a concentrated cleaning on the position of the foreign substance at the time of arrival of the cleaning robot at the position of the foreign substance.

10. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein:

the control unit controls the moving unit to move the body to the position of the foreign substance when a distance between the body and the foreign substance is equal to or less than a predetermined distance.

23. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein:

when dust is detected, if the dust detected is more than a certain distance from the cleaning robot, the control unit controls the moving unit to move the body along the cleaning track until the distance between the cleaning robot and the dust is less than or equal to the certain distance,

the control unit controls the moving unit to move the body to the position of the foreign substance when a distance between the body and the foreign substance is equal to or less than the certain distance, and

the control unit controls the moving unit and the cleaning unit to perform a concentrated cleaning on the position of the foreign substance at the time of arrival of the cleaning robot at the position of the foreign substance.

11. A method of controlling a cleaning robot configured to clean a cleaning space, the method comprising:

obtaining an image of a floor of the cleaning space while moving the cleaning robot in the cleaning space,

detecting a foreign substance on the floor of the cleaning space based on the image obtained,

moving the cleaning robot to a position of the foreign substance if the foreign substance is detected, and

cleaning the foreign substance when the cleaning robot arrives at the position of the foreign substance.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the moving of the cleaning robot to the position of the foreign substance comprises moving the cleaning robot to the position of the foreign substance when a distance between the cleaning robot and the foreign substance is equal to or less than a predetermined distance.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the detecting of the foreign substance on the floor of the cleaning space comprises extracting an image of a floor area from the image, and extracting an image of the foreign substance from the extracted image of the floor area.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the extracting of the image of the floor area comprises extracting the floor area from the floor image by using a watershed algorithm that uses a marker.

15. The method of t claim 13, wherein:

the extracting of the image of the foreign substance comprises extracting the image of the foreign substance by using an edge extracting algorithm.

16. A cleaning robot, comprising:

a body;

a moving unit which moves the body;

a cleaning unit which is provided on the body which cleans a floor of a cleaning space; and

an image obtaining unit which is provided on the body and which obtains a floor image of the cleaning space,

wherein when a foreign substance is detected from the obtained floor image while the body is moving in the cleaning space, the body moves toward the foreign substance.

17. The cleaning robot of claim 16, wherein:

when the body arrives at a position of the foreign substance, the cleaning unit cleans the detected foreign substance.

18. The cleaning robot of claim 16, wherein:

when a distance between the body and the foreign substance is equal to or less than a predetermined distance, the body moves toward the foreign substance.

19. The cleaning robot of claim 16, wherein:

during a cleaning mode, the cleaning unit cleans the floor of the cleaning space while the body is moving.

20. The cleaning robot of claim 19, wherein:

during the cleaning mode, the body moves along a first moving track that is generated based on a width of the body.

21. The cleaning robot of claim 16, wherein:

during a scouting mode, the cleaning unit does not perform a cleaning on the floor of the cleaning space while the body is moving.

22. The cleaning robot of claim 21, wherein:

during the scouting mode, the body moves along a second moving track that is generated based on a vision of the image obtaining unit.