METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING A ROBOTIC CLEANING DEVICE FOR INTENSIVE CLEANING
First Claim
1. A robotic cleaning device comprising:
- a robotic apparatus including cleaning apparatus; and
a processor executing instructions that control movement of the robotic apparatus to clean at least a portion of an environment to be cleaned by causing the robotic apparatus to do the following;
access at least a partial map of the environment to be cleaned;
identify on the partial map a first normal cleaning portion and a second, intensive cleaning portion of the environment to be cleaned, the second, intensive cleaning portion being identified for cleaning more intensively than the first portion, and thereby create a map of intensive cleaning locations;
traverse the first portion of the environment with a single pass over at least part of the first portion; and
in response to a recorded intensive cleaning location indicated on the map of intensive cleaning portions, traverse the second, intensive cleaning portion of the environment with multiple passes over at least part of the second, intensive cleaning portion, wherein the multiple passes are in different directions.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A robotic cleaning device and method of control thereof. The device and method enable multiple cleaning passes within an environment efficiently, cleaning the entire environment more than once, or cleaning the entire environment and then focusing on one or more particularly dirty areas to provide enhanced cleaning by making one or more passes over a dirty area in a dominant and a non-dominant direction. The robotic cleaning device may identify such areas in the course of its cleaning, or it may record such areas previously as being historically dirty and requiring additional attention. The device may vacuum; it may shampoo; it may polish; or it may perform other cleaning operations. Where the device is battery-powered, the device may check its state of charge before performing the enhanced cleaning, and may repeat the enhanced cleaning if the battery or batteries have sufficient charge.
9 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A robotic cleaning device comprising:
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a robotic apparatus including cleaning apparatus; and a processor executing instructions that control movement of the robotic apparatus to clean at least a portion of an environment to be cleaned by causing the robotic apparatus to do the following; access at least a partial map of the environment to be cleaned; identify on the partial map a first normal cleaning portion and a second, intensive cleaning portion of the environment to be cleaned, the second, intensive cleaning portion being identified for cleaning more intensively than the first portion, and thereby create a map of intensive cleaning locations; traverse the first portion of the environment with a single pass over at least part of the first portion; and in response to a recorded intensive cleaning location indicated on the map of intensive cleaning portions, traverse the second, intensive cleaning portion of the environment with multiple passes over at least part of the second, intensive cleaning portion, wherein the multiple passes are in different directions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9)
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7. A robotic cleaning device comprising:
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a robotic apparatus including cleaning apparatus; and a processor executing instructions that control movement of the robotic apparatus to clean at least a portion of an environment to be cleaned by causing the robotic apparatus to do the following; execute instructions to identify an intensive cleaning portion of a map of the environment to be cleaned in response to instructions from a user; access the map; traverse a first portion of the environment without cleaning the first portion, to reach the intensive cleaning portion of the map; and in response to the identified intensive cleaning portion of the map, traverse the second, intensive cleaning portion of the environment with multiple passes over at least part of the second, intensive cleaning portion, wherein the multiple passes are in different directions. - View Dependent Claims (8, 10)
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11. A method of operating a robotic cleaning device to clean at least a portion of an environment to be cleaned, the method comprising:
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vacuum cleaning a portion of the environment with a first pass; detecting an amount of dirt in areas vacuum cleaned in the environment creating a map of locations cleaned by the robotic cleaning device; indicating on the map areas where more dirt is detected, and indicating those areas where more dirt is detected as intensive cleaning locations; accessing the map of the environment to be cleaned; identifying on the map first and second portions of the environment to be vacuum cleaned, the second portion being identified for vacuum cleaning more intensively than the first portion; causing the robotic apparatus to traverse the first portion of the environment without cleaning to come back to the second portion; in response to a recorded intensive cleaning location indicated on the map of intensive cleaning portions, causing the robotic apparatus to come back to the intensive cleaning portions and traverse the second portion of the environment while vacuum cleaning on a second pass in a second direction, such that the second portion is cleaned with multiple passes over at least part of the second portion, wherein the multiple passes are in different directions; and powering the device with at least one battery, and checking the at least one battery'"'"'s state of charge prior to vacuum cleaning the intensive cleaning portion on the second pass to insure there is sufficient battery charge for cleaning the intensive cleaning portion on the second pass. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20)
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15. (canceled)
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18. (canceled)
Specification