SURFACE TYPE DETECTION FOR ROBOTIC CLEANING DEVICE
First Claim
1. A robotic cleaning device comprising:
- a housing;
a drive motor mounted in the housing;
a drive system, coupled to the drive motor, for moving the robotic cleaning device;
a light emitter configured to transmit a light beam at a surface;
a first polaroid filter;
at least a first light detector configured to detect an intensity of a first reflected portion of the light beam after the first reflected portion is filtered by the first polaroid filter;
a second polaroid filter;
the at least a first light detector being configured to detect an intensity of a second reflected portion of the light beam after the second reflected portion is filtered by the second polaroid filter; and
either;
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;
send the intensity of the first reflected portion of the light beam and the intensity of the second reflected portion to a device remote from the robotic cleaning device, wherein the device is configured to determine a type of the surface based on the intensity of the first reflected portion and the intensity of the second reflected portion;
ordetermine a type of the surface based on the intensity of the first reflected portion and the intensity of the second reflected portion;
orone or more arithmetic logic units to determine a type of the surface based on the intensity of the first reflected portion and the intensity of the second reflected portion.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure describes techniques for a robotic cleaning device to determine a plan to clean an environment based on types of surfaces in the environment. The plan can include a route to take in the environment and/or one or more configurations to apply to the robotic cleaning device during the route. Determining the plan can include inserting detected surface types into an environmental map of the environment. The environmental map can then be used on future routes such that the robotic cleaning device can know a surface type of a surface before the robotic cleaning device reaches the surface. In some examples, a type of a surface of the environment can be detected by the robotic cleaning device based on optical polarization of light.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A robotic cleaning device comprising:
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a housing; a drive motor mounted in the housing; a drive system, coupled to the drive motor, for moving the robotic cleaning device; a light emitter configured to transmit a light beam at a surface; a first polaroid filter; at least a first light detector configured to detect an intensity of a first reflected portion of the light beam after the first reflected portion is filtered by the first polaroid filter; a second polaroid filter; the at least a first light detector being configured to detect an intensity of a second reflected portion of the light beam after the second reflected portion is filtered by the second polaroid filter; and either; a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to; send the intensity of the first reflected portion of the light beam and the intensity of the second reflected portion to a device remote from the robotic cleaning device, wherein the device is configured to determine a type of the surface based on the intensity of the first reflected portion and the intensity of the second reflected portion;
ordetermine a type of the surface based on the intensity of the first reflected portion and the intensity of the second reflected portion;
orone or more arithmetic logic units to determine a type of the surface based on the intensity of the first reflected portion and the intensity of the second reflected portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for executing a plan for a robotic cleaning device to clean an environment, the method comprising:
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determining a type of a surface of the environment; identifying the plan for the robotic cleaning device to clean the environment, wherein the plan is determined based on the type of the surface; and executing, by the robotic cleaning device, at least a portion of the plan for a trip of the robotic cleaning device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
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detect an intensity of a first portion of a light beam after the first portion is filtered by a first polaroid filter; detect an intensity of a second portion of the light beam after the second portion is filtered by a second polaroid filter, wherein the data received from the first trip includes the intensity of the first portion and the intensity of the second portion; compute a percentage difference for the intensity of the first portion and the intensity of the second portion; compare the percentage difference to a predefined reflection polarization percentage difference of a known types of surface; determine a type of a surface of an environment based on determining that the percentage difference is within the threshold; identify a plan for a robotic cleaning device to clean the environment, wherein the plan is determined based on the type of the surface; and execute, by the robotic cleaning device, at least a portion of the plan.
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Specification