Autonomous floor-cleaning robot
DCFirst Claim
1. A robot comprising:
- a robot housing having a forward portion;
a motor drive housed in the robot housing and configured to maneuver the robot on a floor surface;
at least two independently driven drive wheels moveably attached to the robot housing and biased toward the floor surface, each of the drive wheels being independently moveable downwardly;
a plurality of cliff sensors disposed forward of the wheels and spaced from each other, each cliff sensor comprising an emitter positioned to direct emissions toward a floor surface and a detector configured to receive emitter emissions reflected off of the floor surface, each cliff sensor responsive to a cliff in the floor surface and configured to send a signal when a cliff in the floor surface is detected;
at least one side brush driven about a nonhorizontal axis and comprising at least one brush arm having a plurality of bristles, at least a portion of the at least one side brush extending beyond a peripheral edge of the robot housing, and at least a portion of the at least one brush arm periodically intersecting a path between at least one of the plurality of cliff sensors and the floor surface; and
a controller in communication with the plurality of cliff sensors and the motor drive, configured to redirect movement of the robot when a cliff in the floor surface is detected.
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Abstract
An autonomous floor-cleaning robot comprising a housing infrastructure including a chassis, a power subsystem; for providing the energy to power the autonomous floor-cleaning robot, a motive subsystem operative to propel the autonomous floor-cleaning robot for cleaning operations, a command and control subsystem operative to control the autonomous floor-cleaning robot to effect cleaning operations, and a self-adjusting cleaning head subsystem that includes a deck mounted in pivotal combination with the chassis, a brush assembly mounted in combination with the deck and powered by the motive subsystem to sweep up particulates during cleaning operations, a vacuum assembly disposed in combination with the deck and powered by the motive subsystem to ingest particulates during cleaning operations, and a deck adjusting subassembly mounted in combination with the motive subsystem for the brush assembly, the deck, and the chassis that is automatically operative in response to an increase in brush torque in said brush assembly to pivot the deck with respect to said chassis. The autonomous floor-cleaning robot also includes a side brush assembly mounted in combination with the chassis and powered by the motive subsystem to entrain particulates outside the periphery of the housing infrastructure and to direct such particulates towards the self-adjusting cleaning head subsystem.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A robot comprising:
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a robot housing having a forward portion; a motor drive housed in the robot housing and configured to maneuver the robot on a floor surface; at least two independently driven drive wheels moveably attached to the robot housing and biased toward the floor surface, each of the drive wheels being independently moveable downwardly; a plurality of cliff sensors disposed forward of the wheels and spaced from each other, each cliff sensor comprising an emitter positioned to direct emissions toward a floor surface and a detector configured to receive emitter emissions reflected off of the floor surface, each cliff sensor responsive to a cliff in the floor surface and configured to send a signal when a cliff in the floor surface is detected; at least one side brush driven about a nonhorizontal axis and comprising at least one brush arm having a plurality of bristles, at least a portion of the at least one side brush extending beyond a peripheral edge of the robot housing, and at least a portion of the at least one brush arm periodically intersecting a path between at least one of the plurality of cliff sensors and the floor surface; and a controller in communication with the plurality of cliff sensors and the motor drive, configured to redirect movement of the robot when a cliff in the floor surface is detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A robot comprising:
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a robot housing having a forward portion; a motor drive housed in the robot housing; at least two independently driven drive wheels moveably attached to the robot housing, each of the drive wheels being moveable downwardly; a plurality of cliff sensors disposed forward of the wheels, each cliff sensor configured to send a signal when a cliff in the floor surface is detected; at least one side brush, comprising at least one brush arm that includes a plurality of bristles, and at least a portion of the at least one brush arm periodically intersecting a path between at least one of the plurality of cliff sensors and the floor surface; and a controller in communication with the plurality of cliff sensors and the motor drive, configured to redirect movement the robot when a cliff in the floor surface is detected. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification