System and method for autonomous mopping of a floor surface

• US 9,179,813 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2014
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Original Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Inventors: Dooley, Michael, Case, James Philip, Romanov, Nikolai
• Primary Examiner(s): Jen, Ian
• Application Number:
  US14/522,445
• Publication Number:
  US 20150040332A1
• Time in Patent Office: 383 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/30 by suction
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4011 Regulation of the cleaning machine by electric means; Control systems and remote control systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4036 Parts or details of the surface treating tools
• 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 11/4066 Propulsion of the whole machine
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4088 Supply pumps; Spraying devices; Supply conduits
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/04 Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 11/0085 Cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39219 Trajectory tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/021 specially adapted to land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0212 with means for defining a desired trajectory involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0219 ensuring the processing of the whole working surface

Abstract

A mobile robot configured to travel across a residential floor or other surface while cleaning the surface with a cleaning pad and cleaning solvent is disclosed. The robot includes a controller for managing the movement of the robot as well as the treatment of the surface with a cleaning solvent. The movement of the robot can be characterized by a class of trajectories that achieve effective cleaning. The trajectories include sequences of steps that are repeated, the sequences including forward and backward motion and optional left and right motion along arcuate paths.

Claims

1. A mobile robot configured to clean a space, the robot comprising:

a cleaning assembly;

a module configured to cause, at least in part, the robot to follow a cleaning trajectory comprising a sequence of paths repeated a plurality times; and

a drive system configured to move the robot in accordance with the cleaning trajectory by;

moving the mobile robot along a first path a first distance forward, the first distance forward no more than double a width of the cleaning assembly;

subsequent to moving the mobile robot along the first path, moving the mobile robot along a second path a second distance backwards, the second distance less than the first distance.

2. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the first path is a first arcuate path, and the second path is second arcuate path.

3. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the first distance forward is double the second distance backward.

4. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein said sequence of paths comprises:

a third path, wherein the robot is moved a third distance to the right; and

a fourth path, wherein the robot is moved a fourth distance to the left, the third distance substantially equal to the fourth distance,

wherein the third distance to the right and fourth distance to the left are less than the width of the cleaning assembly.

5. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein said sequence of paths comprises:

a third path, wherein the robot is moved a third distance to the right; and

a fourth path, wherein the robot is moved a fourth distance to the left, the third distance substantially equal to the fourth distance.

6. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein an elapse time of said sequence is between 15 and 30 seconds.

7. The mobile robot of claim 1, further comprising:

a navigation module configured to determine a position and orientation of the robot;

a module configured to guide the robot over a floor of a room until each traversable section of the floor has been traversed.

8. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the cleaning assembly is configured to detachably attach a cleaning sheet to the mobile robot.

9. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the cleaning assembly is configured to detachably attach a cleaning sheet, and the cleaning sheet is a wet sheet impregnated with a cleaning solution.

10. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the sequence comprises arcuate paths, and the robot further comprises:

a detection device configured to detect rotation of the robot; and

a module for detecting slippage of drive system wheels based on the rotation detected by the detection device.

11. The mobile robot of claim 1, further comprising a cleaning solution dispenser configured to dispense cleaning solution from the robot for cleaning a floor in conjunction with a cleaning sheet attached to the robot.

12. The mobile robot of claim 1, further comprising a cleaning solution dispenser configured to dispense cleaning solution from the robot for cleaning a floor in conjunction with the cleaning sheet.

13. The mobile robot of claim 1, wherein the first path, which comprises the movement forward by the first distance, further comprises a movement to the left by a third distance, and wherein the second path, which comprises the backward movement by the third distance, further comprises a movement to the right by a fourth distance.

14. A method of cleaning a space with a mobile robot in response to instructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable memory, the method comprising:

moving, by a drive system, the mobile robot along a first path a first distance forward, the first distance forward no more than double a width of a cleaning assembly of the mobile robot;

subsequent to moving the mobile robot along the first path, moving, by the drive system, the mobile robot along a second path a second distance backwards, the second distance less than the first distance; and

repeating driving the mobile robot along the first path and the second path in sequence.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first path is a first arcuate path, and the second path is second arcuate path.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first distance forward is double the second distance backward.

17. The method of claim 14, the method further comprising:

subsequent to moving the mobile robot along the second path, moving the mobile robot along a third path a third distance to the right, the third distance less than the width of the cleaning assembly of the mobile robot; and

subsequent to moving the mobile robot along the third path, moving the mobile robot along a fourth path a fourth distance to the left, wherein the third distance substantially equals the fourth distance.

18. The method of claim 14, the method further comprising:

subsequent to moving the mobile robot along the second path, moving the mobile robot along a third path a third distance to the right; and

subsequent to moving the mobile robot along the third path, moving the mobile robot along a fourth path a fourth distance to the left, wherein the third distance substantially equals the fourth distance.

19. The method of claim 14, the method further comprising:

determining a position and orientation of the mobile robot;

guiding, by a motion controller system, the mobile robot over a floor of a room until each traversable section of the floor has been traversed.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the first path, which comprises the movement forward by the first distance, further comprises a movement to the left by a third distance, and wherein the second path, which comprises the backward movement by the third distance, further comprises a movement to the right by a fourth distance.