Debris monitoring

• US 9,826,872 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2015
• Issued: 11/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Original Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Inventors: Schnittman, Mark Steven, Rosenstein, Michael Todd
• Primary Examiner(s): Tweel, Jr., John A
• Application Number:
  US14/985,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20160113469A1
• Time in Patent Office: 698 Days
• Field of Search: 340540, 15319, 15339, 153401, 3185681, 700245, 700250
• 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 11/4013 Contaminants collecting devices, i.e. hoppers, tanks or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4025 Means for emptying
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4041 Roll shaped surface treating tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/00 Robotic cleaning machines, i.e. with automatic control of the travelling movement or the cleaning operation
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/02 Docking stations; Docking operations
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/024 Emptying dust or waste liquid containers
• 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 9/106 Dust removal
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/19 Means for monitoring filtering operation
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2805 Parameters or conditions being sensed
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2826 the condition of the floor
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2842 Suction motors or blowers
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2894 Details related to signal transmission in suction cleaners
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 11/0085 Cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/47 Scattering, i.e. diffuse reflection G01N21/25, G01N21/41 take precedence G01N21/55 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 8/20 using multiple transmitters or receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0217 in accordance with energy consumption, time reduction or distance reduction criteria
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0234 : using optical markers or beacons optical beacons per se G01S1/70

Abstract

A debris monitoring system includes a receptacle, a first and a second emitter, and a first receiver. The receptacle defines an opening to receive debris into the receptacle. The first and second emitter are each arranged to emit a signal across at least a portion of the opening. The first receiver is proximate to the first emitter to receive reflections of the signal emitted by the first emitter, and the first receiver is disposed toward the opening to receive an unreflected portion of the signal emitted by the second emitter across at least a portion of the opening.

Claims

1. A cleaning apparatus debris monitoring system comprising:

a cleaning bin defining an opening through which the debris is drawn by a cleaning apparatus, the opening being substantially rectangular;

a vacuum motor to draw the debris into the cleaning bin;

an emitter system arranged to transmit a signal across the opening of the cleaning bin;

a first receiver arranged to collect a first received signal indicative of a condition of an accumulation of the debris, the first received signal being provided by a first optical signal;

a second receiver separated from the first receiver across a largest dimension of the opening, the second receiver arranged to collect a second received signal indicative of the condition of the accumulation of the debris, the second received signal being provided by a second optical signal; and

a controller configured to

detect an anomalous condition of the accumulation of the debris based on the first received signal and the second received signal, the detected anomalous condition indicating an asymmetric accumulation of the debris, and

provide a control signal to the vacuum motor to control an operation of the cleaning apparatus based on the detected anomalous condition of the accumulation.

2. The cleaning apparatus debris monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the emitter system comprises first and second emitters supported on opposing sides of the cleaning bin, the first emitter transmitting a first emit signal to be collected by the first receiver, and the second emitter transmitting a second emit signal to be collected by the second receiver, the first emit signal and the second emit signal being transmitted in opposite directions.

3. The cleaning apparatus debris monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to detect the anomalous condition by determining the asymmetric accumulation of the debris is closer to the first receiver than to the second receiver based on a parameter of the first received signal being larger than a parameter of the second received signal.

4. The cleaning apparatus debris monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to

detect a bin-full condition based on the first and second received signals, and

provide a control signal to initiate a navigation routine causing the cleaning apparatus to travel to a docking station.

5. The cleaning apparatus debris monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to detect the asymmetric accumulation of the debris by

determining the first received signal is indicative of a bin-full condition, and

determining the second received signal is absent indication of the bin-full condition.

6. The cleaning apparatus debris monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the cleaning bin is movable with respect to the emitter system, the first receiver, and the second receiver.

7. The cleaning apparatus debris monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the emitter system is arranged to transmit the first and second optical signals, and the first and second receivers are arranged to detect the first and second optical signals.

8. A cleaning apparatus comprising:

a body movable about a floor surface;

a cleaning bin defining an opening through which debris is drawn by the cleaning apparatus, the cleaning bin being removably mounted to the body, the cleaning bin configured to receive the debris drawn into the cleaning apparatus;

an emitter system arranged to transmit a signal;

a first receiver arranged to collect a first received signal indicative of a condition of an accumulation of the debris;

a second receiver horizontally separated from the first receiver across a largest dimension of the opening, the second receiver arranged to collect a second received signal indicative of the condition of the accumulation of the debris; and

a controller configured to

detect an anomalous condition of the accumulation of the debris based on the first received signal and the second received signal, the detected anomalous condition indicating an asymmetric accumulation of the debris, and

provide a control signal to control an operation of the cleaning apparatus based on the detected anomalous condition of the accumulation.

9. The cleaning apparatus of claim 8, wherein the emitter system comprises first and second emitters supported on opposing sides of the cleaning bin, the first emitter transmitting a first emit signal to be collected by the first receiver, and the second emitter transmitting a second emit signal to be collected by the second receiver, the first emit signal and the second emit signal being transmitted in opposite directions.

10. The cleaning apparatus of claim 8, wherein the opening is substantially rectangular.

11. The cleaning apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to detect the anomalous condition by determining the asymmetric accumulation of the debris is closer to the first receiver than to the second receiver based on a parameter of the first received signal being larger than a parameter of the second received signal.

12. The cleaning apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to detect the anomalous condition by determining the asymmetric accumulation of the debris is closer to the first receiver than to the second receiver based on a parameter of the first received signal being larger than a parameter of the second received signal.

13. The cleaning apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to

detect a bin-full condition based on the first and second received signals, and

provide a control signal to initiate a navigation routine causing the cleaning apparatus to travel to a docking station.

14. The cleaning apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to detect the asymmetric accumulation of the debris by

determining the first received signal is indicative of a bin-full condition, and

determining the second received signal is absent indication of the bin-full condition.

15. The cleaning apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a vacuum motor to draw the debris into the cleaning bin, wherein the controller is configured to provide the control signal to the vacuum motor to control the operation of the cleaning apparatus.

16. The cleaning apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the first received signal is provided by a first optical signal,

the second received signal is provided by a second optical signal.

17. The cleaning apparatus of claim 8, wherein the emitter system, the first receiver, and the second receiver are supported on the body, and the cleaning bin is movable with respect to the emitter system, the first receiver, and the second receiver.

18. The cleaning apparatus of claim 8, wherein the emitter system is arranged to transmit optical signals, and the first and second receivers are arranged to detect the optical signals.

19. A method to control an operation of a cleaning apparatus, the method comprising:

detecting an asymmetric accumulation of debris in a cleaning bin based on detecting a difference between a first optical signal and a second optical signal, the first and second optical signals being horizontally transmitted within the cleaning bin and across a largest dimension of an opening of the cleaning bin through which the debris is drawn into the cleaning apparatus; and

providing a control signal to control one or more operations of the cleaning apparatus based on detecting the asymmetric accumulation of the debris.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

at a first optical receiver located at a first side of the cleaning bin, receiving the first optical signal; and

at a second optical receiver located at a second side of the cleaning bin, receiving the second optical signal.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein detecting the asymmetric accumulation of the debris comprises

determining the first optical signal is indicative of a bin-full condition, and

determining the second optical signal is absent indication of the bin-full condition.