Robot cleaner and method of controlling the same

• US 10,993,598 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2017
• Issued: 05/04/2021
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Park, Jeongseop, Jang, Jaewon, Kim, Donghoon
• Primary Examiner(s): Kornakov, Mikhail
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zhang, Richard Z.
• Application Number:
  US16/333,124
• Publication Number:
  US 20190223678A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/00 Machines for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/14 with rotating tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/145 with supply of cleaning agents
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/16 the tools being disc brushes
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/161 with supply of cleaning agents
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/20 combined with vacuum cleaning devices
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/201 with supply of cleaning agents
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/24 Floor-sweeping machines, motor-driven
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/282 having rotary tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/283 the tools being disc brushes
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/292 having rotary tools A47L11/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/293 the tools being disc brushes
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/34 Machines for treating carpets in position by liquid, foam, or vapour, e.g. by steam
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/40 Parts or details of machines not provided for in groups A47L11/02 - A47L11/38, or not restricted to one of these groups, e.g. handles, arrangements of switches, skirts, buffers, levers
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4002 Installations of electric equipment
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4005 Arrangements of batteries or cells; Electric power supply arrangements
• 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 11/4038 Disk shaped surface treating tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4041 Roll shaped surface treating tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/405 : Machines using UV-lamps, IR-lamps, ultrasound or plasma cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4058 : for adjusting the height of the tool
• 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 11/4069 : Driving or transmission means for the cleaning tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4072 : Arrangement of castors or wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/408 : Means for supplying cleaning or surface treating agents
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4083 : Liquid supply reservoirs; Preparation of the agents, e.g. mixing devices
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4088 : Supply pumps; Spraying devices; Supply conduits
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 13/20 : Mops
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 13/50 : Auxiliary implements cleaning devices for brushes or the like A46B17/06
• 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 2201/04 : 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 9/009 : Carrying-vehicles; Arrangements of trollies or wheels; Means for avoiding mechanical obstacles
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0606 : rigidly anchored brushes, combs, lips or pads
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2826 : the condition of the floor
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2852 : Elements for displacement of the vacuum cleaner or the accessories therefor, e.g. wheels, casters or nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 1/32 : using rotary cleaning members
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 2203/00 : Details of cleaning machines or methods involving the use or presence of liquid or steam
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 3/041 : Cleaning travelling work
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 3/08 : the liquid having chemical or dissolving effect substances used, see the relevant classes
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 11/0085 : Cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 5/007 : mounted on wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0003 : Home robots, i.e. small robots for domestic use
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/126 : Rotary actuators
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1664 : characterised by motion, path, trajectory planning
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1666 : Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0223 : involving speed control of the vehicle vehicle fittings for automatically controlling, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator B60K31/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/648 : Performing a task within a working area or space, e.g. cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/65 : Following a desired speed profile

Abstract

A robot cleaner includes a rolling cleaning module including a rolling member configured to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise when viewed from a left side while in contact with a floor, a sensor unit, and a controller configured to detect a change in position of the robot cleaner and a change in load current of a motor connected to the rolling member based on data detected by the sensor unit. When there is a change in position and a change in load current, a specific area of a floor is determined to be a contaminated area.

Claims

1. A robot cleaner comprising:

a rolling cleaning module including a rolling member configured to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise when viewed from a left side of the robot cleaner while in contact with a floor;

a sensor unit including a plurality of sensors;

a controller configured to detect a change in position of the robot cleaner and a change in load current of a motor connected to the rolling member based on data detected by the sensor unit and to, upon detecting the change in position and the change in load current, determine a specific area of the floor to be a contaminated area; and

a spin module including left and right spin mops configured to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise when viewed from above while being in contact with the floor,

wherein the controller is configured to determine a direction of the contaminated area based on a change in load current of motors connected to the left and right spin mops.

2. The robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine that the change in position is caused by an external force when it is determined that there is the change in position without the change in load current of the motor connected to the rolling member.

3. The robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine that a kind of the floor is changed when it is determined that there is the change in load current of the motor connected to the rolling member without the change in position.

4. The robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine that there is the change in position when a value of position information detected by the sensor unit is higher than a first upper-limit reference value or lower than a first lower-limit reference value, and to determine that there is the change in load current of the motor connected to the rolling member when a value of the load current of the motor connected to the rolling member is higher than a second upper-limit reference value or lower than a second lower-limit reference value.

5. The robot cleaner according to claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to determine the contaminated area to be a sticky contaminated area when the value of the load current of the motor connected to the rolling member increases to be higher than the second upper-limit reference value, and to determine the contaminated area to be a slippery contaminated area when the value of the load current of the motor connected to the rolling member decreases to be lower than the second lower-limit reference value.

6. The robot cleaner according to claim 4, wherein the second upper-limit reference value and the second lower-limit reference value are set to be different according to a kind of the floor.

7. The robot cleaner according to claim 4, wherein the value of position information is a heading angle.

8. The robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to detect a change in speed of the robot cleaner attributable to a pollutant by comparing an actual moving distance of the robot cleaner with a moving distance estimated by an acceleration sensor.

9. The robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine a kind of a pollutant on the contaminated area based on a direction in which a value of the load current of the motor connected to the rolling member changes.

10. The robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the robot cleaner to perform a skirting traveling operation so as to skirt the contaminated area or to perform an intensive cleaning operation on the contaminated area.

11. The robot cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the sensor unit includes one or more cliff sensors each having a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element, and

wherein the controller is configured to determine a material of the floor based on an amount of light emitted from the light-emitting element, that is reflected by the floor and received into the light-receiving element.

12. The robot cleaner according to claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to determine the floor to be a hard floor when an amount of the reflected light is higher than a predetermined reference value, and to determine the floor to be a carpet when the amount of the reflected light is lower than the predetermined reference value.