MOBILE FLOOR-CLEANING ROBOT WITH FLOOR-TYPE DETECTION

• US 20180289231A1
• Filed: 06/11/2018
• Published: 10/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Original Assignee: iRobot Corporation
• Inventors: Santini, Fabrizio
• Granted Patent: US 10,813,518 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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 11/4041 Roll shaped surface treating tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4044 Vacuuming or pick-up tools; Squeegees
• 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 9/0411 driven by electric motor
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2826 the condition of the floor

Abstract

Cleaning robots may use floor-type-detection techniques as a trigger for autonomously altering various floor-cleaning characteristics. In some examples, a controller circuit of the robot is configured to determine a flooring type as a function of a signal from a motion sensor indicative of a change in pitch caused by the robot crossing a flooring discontinuity. In some examples, the controller circuit is configured to determine a flooring type based on a power draw signal corresponding to the cleaning head assembly of the robot.

Claims

1-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A cleaning robot, comprising:

a drive configured to drive the robot across a floor surface;

a cleaning head assembly positioned to engage the floor surface while the robot is maneuvered by the drive;

a sensor responsive to a transition between different flooring types; and

a controller circuit in communication with the cleaning head assembly and the sensor, the controller circuit configured to determine a flooring type associated with a cleaning characteristic of the robot and configured to alter the cleaning characteristic of the robot responsive to a signal from the sensor indicative of the robot crossing a flooring discontinuity.

22. The cleaning robot of claim 21, wherein the sensor comprises an inertial measurement unit configured to measure at least one of an angular velocity of the robot relative to a vertical axis and a linear acceleration of the cleaning robot along the vertical axis.

23. The cleaning robot of claim 22, wherein the controller circuit is configured to implement a classification routine based on the signal from the sensor to determine a probability that the cleaning robot has traversed the flooring discontinuity.

24. The cleaning robot of claim 22, further comprising another sensor comprising a tactile sensor on a bumper of the cleaning robot and in communication with the controller circuit.

25. The cleaning robot of claim 24, wherein the controller circuit is configured to determine, based on a signal from the tactile sensor and the signal from the inertial measurement unit, that the cleaning robot has traversed the flooring discontinuity.

26. The cleaning robot of claim 21, wherein the signal represents operation of the cleaning head assembly.

27. The cleaning robot of claim 26, wherein the signal represents a power drawn by the cleaning head assembly.

28. The cleaning robot of claim 27, wherein the controller circuit is configured to determine, based on the drawn power, a type of floor surface that the cleaning robot is cleaning.

29. The cleaning robot of claim 26, wherein the cleaning head assembly comprises a motorized roller rotatably mounted parallel to the floor surface and configured to contact and agitate the floor surface during use.

30. The cleaning robot of claim 21, wherein the cleaning characteristic comprises at least one of a speed of a side brush motor and a speed of a vacuum fan.

31. The cleaning robot of claim 21, wherein the controller circuit is configured to communicate with a mobile device and provide a status of the cleaning robot to the mobile device.

32. The cleaning robot of claim 31, wherein the status of the cleaning robot is provided to the mobile device at repeated time intervals.

33. The cleaning robot of claim 31, wherein the controller circuit is configured to, upon identifying entrance of the mobile device to a network, provide the status of the cleaning robot to the mobile device.

34. The cleaning robot of claim 31, wherein the status of the cleaning robot is provided to the mobile device when the cleaning robot requires maintenance.

35. The cleaning robot of claim 34, wherein the controller circuit is configured to determine that a cleaning roller in the cleaning head assembly is entangled or obstructed.

36. The cleaning robot of claim 34, wherein the controller circuit is configured to determine that a cleaning roller in the cleaning head assembly is worn or damaged.

37. The cleaning robot of claim 36, wherein the cleaning robot is configured to send an alert to the mobile device representing that the cleaning roller is worn or damaged.