Modular robotic floor-cleaning system
First Claim
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1. A modular floor-cleaning system comprising a mobile robot and a base station, the mobile robot comprising:
- a chassis;
a drive system installed in the chassis operable to enable movement of the robot, the drive system comprising a set of wheels;
a control system in communication with the drive system including a processor operable to control the drive system to provide at least one movement pattern;
a cleaning assembly;
two or more slots, each slot capable of separately holding an entire removable module, said removable module including one of the following;
a module for holding a battery;
a module for storing water;
a module for storing cleaning fluid;
a module for storing mopping fluid, and a module for storing a polishing agent;
means for loading and ejecting modules; and
means for navigating to the base station;
the base station comprising a first repository for one or more new modules corresponding to system functions and a second repository for one or more used modules,whereby the mobile robot is operable to periodically eject used modules into the second repository of the base station and load new modules from the first repository of the base station into one or more open slots of the mobile robot.
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Abstract
A floor-cleaning system comprised of a mobile robot having compartments to hold modules corresponding to various functions and a base station storing extra modules. The mobile robot runs until one or more modules is expended, at which point the robot navigates to the base station, ejects expended modules, and loads new modules. The robot continues operation with a minimum amount of downtime and a reduced need for human intervention. The base station may be supplied with numerous ready modules so that a human administrator only needs to replenish, replace or empty the modules periodically.
6 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A modular floor-cleaning system comprising a mobile robot and a base station, the mobile robot comprising:
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a chassis; a drive system installed in the chassis operable to enable movement of the robot, the drive system comprising a set of wheels; a control system in communication with the drive system including a processor operable to control the drive system to provide at least one movement pattern; a cleaning assembly; two or more slots, each slot capable of separately holding an entire removable module, said removable module including one of the following;
a module for holding a battery;
a module for storing water;
a module for storing cleaning fluid;
a module for storing mopping fluid, and a module for storing a polishing agent;means for loading and ejecting modules; and means for navigating to the base station; the base station comprising a first repository for one or more new modules corresponding to system functions and a second repository for one or more used modules, whereby the mobile robot is operable to periodically eject used modules into the second repository of the base station and load new modules from the first repository of the base station into one or more open slots of the mobile robot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification