CLEANER AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE CLEANER

BACKGROUND
1. Field

The disclosure relates to a cleaner and a method for operating the cleaner.

2. Description of Related Art

As the performance of cleaners (e.g., cleaning device) develops, it has become possible for cleaners to determine the floor environment (e.g., condition) and provide functions suited to the floor environment.

However, the determination of the cleaner's floor environment relies on floor data previously tested and collected at the time of manufacture. A cleaner that provides such a floor determination function does not provide a function for a user to set a floor boundary or area (e.g., user-designated floor) or a function related to collecting data on the floor area or boundary set by the user.

However, there is still a need to provide cleaning services optimized for user convenience and the user's floor condition. Accordingly, there is a need for cleaners to provide functions for meeting such need.

The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to provide a cleaner and a method for operating the cleaner.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method for operating a cleaner is provided The method includes entering a personalization mode, providing a first user interface for setting a user-designated floor, identifying a first floor corresponding to a first user input among at least one floor associated with the first user interface, collecting first floor data for the first floor, the first floor data including sensor data collected for each of a plurality of suction forces for the first floor, providing a second user interface for setting a suction force for the first floor, and setting a first suction force corresponding to a second user input among the plurality of suction forces associated with the second user interface, as the suction force for the first floor.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a cleaner is provided. The cleaner includes memory storing one or more computer programs and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the cleaner to enter a personalization mode, provide a first user interface for setting a user-designated floor, identify a first floor corresponding to a first user input among at least one floor associated with the first user interface, collect first floor data for the first floor, the first floor data including sensor data collected for each of a plurality of suction forces for the first floor, provide a second user interface for setting a suction force for the first floor, and set a first suction force corresponding to a second user input among the plurality of suction forces associated with the second user interface, as the suction force for the first floor.

According to an embodiment, wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the cleaner to store the first floor data or first representative value data including representative values representing the first floor data.

According to an embodiment, wherein the one or more computer programs further include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the cleaner to: set a first suction force which is a user designated suction force for the first floor, and obtain first state information indicating a state of the cleaner at a first time associated with collecting the first floor data, and wherein the first state information and information about the first suction force are stored together with the first floor data or the first representative value data.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a cleaner, cause the cleaner to perform operations are provided. The operations include providing a first user interface for setting a user-designated floor, identifying a first floor corresponding to a first user input among at least one floor associated with the first user interface, collecting first floor data for the first floor, the first floor data including sensor data collected for each of a plurality of suction forces for the first floor, providing a second user interface for setting a suction force for the first floor, and setting a first suction force corresponding to a second user input among the plurality of suction forces associated with the second user interface, as the suction force for the first floor.

The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 23, wherein the first user interface includes at least one selectable floor item, wherein the second user interface includes at least one selectable suction force item, and wherein the at least one selectable suction force item includes at least one of a suction force item corresponding to each of at least one preset default suction force or a suction force item corresponding to a user designated suction force.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view illustrating an example vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 1B is a function block diagram schematically illustrating an example configuration of a cleaner in terms of functions and control, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for determining an example user-designated floor according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor data collection procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D illustrate a screen provided in an example floor data collection procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example procedure for setting a suction force for a floor according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a screen provided in an example suction force setting procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor data collection procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example operation for storing data associated with a floor according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D illustrate examples of floor data overlap according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor data use procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating an example change in floor data depending on a change in a state of a cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating an example area associated with a floor set using collected data according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating an example change in floor data per load depending on a change in a state of a cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an example reference data indicating a change in floor data depending on a change in a state of a cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating an example comparison between actual floor data and predicted floor data for same floor according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 16A is a view illustrating an example area associated with a user designated floor set using floor data according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 16B is a view illustrating an example area associated with a user designated floor set using floor data according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 16C is a view illustrating an example area associated with a user designated floor set using a plurality of floor data according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor determination procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor determination procedure with a margin applied, according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 19C illustrate an example area to which a margin is applied according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 20 is a view illustrating an example data continuity determination according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for operating a cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

The same reference numerals are used to represent the same elements throughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

As used herein, each of such phrases as “A or B,” “at least one of A and B,” “at least one of A or B,” “A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” and “at least one of A, B, or C,” may include all possible combinations of the items enumerated together in a corresponding one of the phrases. As used herein, the term ‘and/or’ should be understood as encompassing any and all possible combinations by one or more of the enumerated items. As used herein, such terms as “1st” and “2nd,” or “first” and “second” may be used to simply distinguish a corresponding component from another, and does not limit the components in other aspect (e.g., importance or order).

When a (e.g., first) component is mentioned as “coupled to,” “connected to,” “supported by,” or “contacting” another (e.g., second) component with or without the terms “functionally” or “communicatively,” the component may be directly or indirectly coupled to, connected to, supported by, or contact the other component.

It will be further understood that the terms “comprise” and/or “have,” as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Throughout the specification, when one component is positioned “on” another component, the first component may be positioned directly on the second component, or other component(s) may be positioned between the first and second component.

As used herein, the terms “configured to” may be interchangeably used with the terms “suitable for,” “having the capacity to,” “designed to,” “adapted to,” “made to,” or “capable of” depending on circumstances. The term “configured to” does not essentially mean “specifically designed in hardware to.” Rather, the term “configured to” may mean that a device can perform an operation together with another device or parts. For example, a ‘device configured (or set) to perform A, B, and C’ may be a dedicated device to perform the corresponding operation or may mean a general-purpose device capable of various operations including the corresponding operation.

As used herein, the term “module” may include a unit implemented in hardware, software, or firmware, and may interchangeably be used with other terms, for example, “logic,” “logic block,” “part,” or “circuitry”. A module may be a single integral component, or a minimum unit or part thereof, adapted to perform one or more functions. For example, according to an embodiment, the module may be implemented in a form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

In the disclosure, the above-described description has been made mainly of specific embodiments, but the disclosure is not limited to such specific embodiments, but should rather be appreciated as covering all various modifications, equivalents, and/or substitutes of various embodiments. With regard to the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used to refer to similar or related elements.

Although not limited thereto, various proposals of the disclosure may be applicable to various fields where wired or wireless (e.g., fifth generation (5G) or sixth generation (6G) communication) are possible between devices.

The network environment to which the disclosure applies may be implemented through various electronic devices. Electronic device may refer to various types of wired/wireless communication devices capable of communication using wired or wireless communication technology (including, e.g., 5G new radio (NR) and long term evolution (LTE)). Although not limited thereto, the electronic device may include robots, vehicles, extended reality (XR) devices, portable devices, various home appliances, other internet of things (IoT) devices, artificial intelligence (AI) devices, application processor (AP) devices, or servers. The vehicles may include, e.g., vehicles equipped with a wireless communication module, an autonomous vehicles, or connected cars. The vehicles may include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The XR devices may include, e.g., augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), or mixed reality (MR) devices. Although not limited thereto, the XR device may be implemented in the form of, e.g., a head mounted device (HMD), a head up display (HUD), a television, a smartphone, a computer, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch, a smart glass, a smart goggle, or the like), a digital signage, a vehicle, or a robot, or may be implemented as at least a part thereof. The portable device may include various types of user devices, such as a smartphone, a smart pad, a wearable device, or a computer. The home appliance may include, e.g., a television, a refrigerator, a washing machine, and the like. The IoT device may include, e.g., a smart sensor, a smart meter, or the like.

Communication between electronic devices applicable to the disclosure may be performed through various networks that may be included in the network environment. For example, the network may include, e.g., one or more of various networks, such as a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a campus area network (CAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a broadband network (BBN), and the internet. Further, communication between electronic devices applicable to the disclosure is not limited to communication through a network, and may follow a direct communication method (e.g., a sidelink communication method) between electronic devices. For example, each home appliance or IoT device (e.g., smart sensor) may directly communicate with another electronic device.

Hereinafter, the operating principles and embodiments of the disclosure are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be appreciated that the blocks in each flowchart and combinations of the flowcharts may be performed by one or more computer programs which include computer-executable instructions. The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU)), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphical processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) chip, a Bluetooth™ chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display drive integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view illustrating an example vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the vacuum cleaner 1 may be a stick type vacuum cleaner. In the disclosure, a stick type vacuum cleaner will be mainly described, but the vacuum cleaner according to embodiments of the disclosure may be various types of vacuum cleaners, such as a handy type, a stick type, a handy-stick type, a canister type, or an upright type. The extension pipe structure described herein may be applied not only to vacuum cleaners but also to various types of stick-type cleaners, such as wet mop cleaners requiring an extension pipe structure, but hereinafter, the vacuum cleaner 1 is described as an example for description.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the vacuum cleaner 1 may include a cleaner main body 10, a suction assembly 20, a dust collecting assembly 30, an extension pipe 40, or a cleaner head 50.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner main body 10 may include a battery mounting portion 11, a handle portion 12, a manipulation portion 13, a connection pipe 14, and/or a display 15. The cleaner main body 10 may also include a controller 60 or a battery 70. The battery mounting portion 11, e.g., may be provided to mount and fix the battery 70. The battery mounting portion 11 may be provided so that the battery 70 is mounted in a vertical direction, but is not limited thereto. The handle portion 12 may be provided for the user to grip the vacuum cleaner 1. The handle portion 12 may be positioned, e.g., adjacent to the battery mounting portion 11. The handle portion 12 may be positioned at, e.g., an upper portion of the vacuum cleaner 1. The battery 70 may supply, e.g., power to the suction assembly 20. The battery 70 may be implemented as, e.g., a rechargeable secondary battery. A charging terminal may be provided on one surface of the battery 70.

According to an embodiment, the manipulation portion 13 may be provided outside the cleaner main body 10. The manipulation portion 13 may form or make up, e.g., a portion of the outer appearance of the cleaner main body 10. The manipulation portion 13 may be positioned around or near, e.g., the handle portion 12. Therefore, the user may easily touch or contact (e.g., have access to) the manipulation portion 13 while gripping the handle portion 12. According to an embodiment, the manipulation portion 13 may include a power button and a pair of adjustment buttons. For example, referring to the manipulation portion 13 included in the area A and the area A′, including the enlarged view of the display 15, the manipulation portion 13 may include a power button 13-1 and a pair of adjustment buttons (13-2 and 13-3). The power button 13-1 may be, e.g., a toggle button for switching between an on state and a off state. The pair of adjustment buttons 13-2 and 13-3 may be, e.g., a set of buttons for adjusting the suction strength of the vacuum cleaner 1. The button set for adjusting the suction strength may include, e.g., a button 13-2 for increasing the suction strength of the cleaner 1 and a button 13-3 for decreasing the suction strength of the cleaner 1. According to an embodiment, the manipulation portion 13 may be provided with a separate button according to each cleaning mode. Further, buttons having various functions may be added to the manipulation portion 13.

According to an embodiment, the connection pipe 14 may be provided to be connected to the extension pipe 40. The connection pipe 14 and the extension pipe 40 may be detachably coupled. The connection pipe 14 may be provided, e.g., at a lower portion of the cleaner main body 10, but is not limited thereto. The connection pipe 14 may have a hollow through which air introduced from the cleaner head 50 may pass. The connection pipe 14 may have, e.g., one end connected to the dust collecting assembly 30 and the other end connected to the extension pipe 40. Accordingly, the connection pipe 14 may provide a flow path through which air passing through the extension pipe 40 may flow to the dust collecting assembly 30.

According to an embodiment, the display 15 may perform functions for outputting information in the form of numbers, characters, images, and/or graphics. According to an embodiment, the display 15 may include at least one hardware module for outputting information related to display. The at least one hardware module may include, e.g., at least one of a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED), a light emitting polymer display (LPD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), an active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED), or a flexible LED (FLED). According to an embodiment, the display 15 may display a screen corresponding to data received from the controller 60. For example, referring to the manipulation portion 13 included in the area A and the area A′ including the enlarged view of the display 15, the display 15 may display a user interface (e.g., a screen providing information for setting a mode (e.g., a personalization mode, a normal mode, a strong mode, or a super-strong mode) of the cleaner). According to an embodiment, the display 15 may be provided outside the cleaner main body 10. The display 15 may form, e.g., a portion of the external appearance of the cleaner main body 10. The display 15 may be positioned around or near, e.g., the manipulation portion 13. In the disclosure, the display 15 may be referred to as an ‘output unit,’ a ‘display unit,’ or by other terms having a technical meaning equivalent thereto.

According to an embodiment, the controller 60 may be accommodated in the cleaner main body 10. The controller 60 may control driving or operation of the suction assembly 20. In other words, the controller 60 may adjust the driving strength of the suction assembly 20 according to user's input to or on the manipulation portion 13.

According to an embodiment, the suction assembly 20 may be coupled to one side of the cleaner main body 10. The suction assembly 20 may have, e.g., a cylindrical appearance, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The suction assembly 20 may be disposed, e.g., so that the height direction is parallel to the extension direction of the extension pipe 40. The suction assembly 20 may generate power to generate a suction force inside the cleaner main body 10. Air including foreign substances or dust 32 may be sucked through the extension pipe 40 by the suction force of the suction assembly 20, and foreign substances or dust 32 may be collected in the dust collecting assembly 30. Herein, the term “force” as used with respect to “suction force” may be interchangeably used, referred to as, or may also mean and encompass the terms “strength,” “power,” “capability,” and the like.

According to an embodiment, the dust collecting assembly 30 may be connected to the suction assembly 20. According to an embodiment, as illustrated, the dust collecting assembly 30 may be coupled to a lower end of the suction assembly 20. In other words, the suction assembly 20 may be disposed between the cleaner main body 10 and the dust collecting assembly 30. The dust collecting assembly 30 may collect dust or foreign substances 32 by filtering (e.g., adsorbing) the air sucked through the suction force generated by the suction assembly 20.

According to an embodiment, the extension pipe 40 may have a dual pipe structure in which two pipes having different diameters overlap each other. According to an embodiment, the entire length of the extension pipe 40 may be variably adjustable as one of the two pipes forming the dual pipe structure slides with respect to the other pipe. The extension pipe 40 may have, e.g., a hollow cylindrical shape, but is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner head 50 (which includes a housing 52 and a roller 53, where the housing includes a top section 521 and side section 522) may be connected to the extension pipe 40 through a coupler 51. For example, the cleaner head 50 may suck (e.g., take in) foreign substances 32 on the surface to be cleaned while one surface (e.g., side or side surface) of the cleaner head 50 moves along the surface to be cleaned. The sucked foreign substances 32 may pass through the extension pipe 40 and be accommodated in the dust collecting assembly 30.

FIG. 1B is a function block diagram schematically illustrating an example configuration of a cleaner in terms of functions and control, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1B, a cleaner 1 may include an input unit 110. The input unit 110 may be configured to obtain a user input for controlling the cleaner 1.

In an example, the input unit 110 may include, but is not limited to, e.g., the manipulation portion 13 of FIG. 1A. Configuration data (e.g., user-designated floor or suction force for user-designated floor) by the user may be inputted or entered through the input unit 110.

In an example, the input unit 110 may include a touch panel for receiving the user's touch input and generating an electrical signal corresponding to the received touch input.

In an example, the input unit 110 may include an infrared signal reception unit. The user may remotely input configuration data through a remote controller, and the input configuration data may be received by the input unit 110 as an infrared signal.

In an example, the input unit 110 may include a microphone, and configuration data by the user's voice may be obtained through the microphone.

According to an embodiment, the configuration data obtained through the input unit 110 may be transferred to the controller 60, described below. In an example, the configuration data obtained through the input unit 110 may be transmitted to the outside through the communication unit 130, described below, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

According to an example, the cleaner 1 may include an output unit 120. In an example, the output unit 120 may be provided outside the main body 10. In an example, the output unit 120 may display control information about the cleaner 1 or various configuration data from the outside or user obtained through the input unit 110 and/or the communication unit 130. In an example, the output unit 120 may display various sensing information(or, detection information) obtained from the sensor unit 140, current operation state of the cleaner 1, and/or various warning/error messages.

In an example, the output unit 120 may include, but is not limited to, e.g., the display 15 of FIG. 1A. The output unit 120 may be one of various types of visual displays capable of displaying, e.g., images, text, or numbers, including, e.g., a LCD panel, a LED panel, an OLED panel, a uLED panel, or a plasma display panel (PDP). In an example, the output unit 120 may include a speaker and provide each of the above-described pieces of information, in the form of a sound, through the speaker.

In an example, the cleaner 1 may include a communication unit 130 supporting signal transmission/reception with the outside. In an example, the communication unit 130 may receive and/or transmit a wired/wireless signal to/from an external wired/wireless communication system, an external server, and/or other devices according to a predetermined wired/wireless communication protocol. In an example, the communication unit 130 may include one or more modules to connect the cleaner 1 to one or more networks. In an example, the communication unit 130 may include at least one of a mobile communication module, a wired/wireless Internet module, a short-range communication module, and/or a location information module.

In an example, the mobile communication module may transmit/receive wireless signals with at least one of an external bracket structure, an external user equipment, and an external server through the mobile communication network according to any communication protocol among various communication protocols for mobile communication. The wireless signals may include various types of data signals. In an example, the wireless signals may include voice call signals, video call signals, and text/multimedia message signals, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

For example, the wired/wireless Internet module may support wireless LAN (WLAN), wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi direct, digital living network alliance (DLNA), wireless broadband (WiBro), world interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), high speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), long term evolution (LTE), or long term evolution-advanced (LTE-A), but is not limited thereto. In an example, the wired/wireless Internet module of the communication unit 130 may transmit/receive data according to at least one wired/wireless Internet technology among Internet technologies not listed above.

The short-range communication module may be intended for, e.g., short-range communication and may support short-range communication using at least one of Bluetooth, radio frequency identification (RFID), infrared data association (IrDA), ultra-wideband (UWB), ZigBee, near-field communication (NFC), Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, or wireless universal serial bus (USB) technology. The short-range communication module may support, e.g., wireless communication between the cleaner 1 and a wireless communication system, between the cleaner 1 and another device, or between the cleaner 1 and a network in which the other device is positioned through a short-range wireless communication network.

The location information module may be, e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) module or a Wi-Fi module as a module for obtaining the location of the cleaner 1. When the cleaner 1 utilizes the GPS module, the cleaner 1 may receive information about the location of the cleaner 300 using the signal transmitted from the GPS satellite. When the cleaner 1 utilizes the Wi-Fi module, the cleaner 1 may receive information about the location of the cleaner 300 based on information about a wireless access point (AP) that transmits and receives a wireless signal to and from the Wi-Fi module.

In an example, the communication unit 130 may receive the configuration data signal input by the user on the mobile terminal of the user in the form of a wireless signal according to a predetermined wireless communication protocol. In an example, the communication unit 130 may receive information and/or a command for controlling the operation of the cleaner 1 from an external server in the form of a signal according to a predetermined wired/wireless communication protocol. The communication unit 130 may transfer various received signals to the controller 60 to be described below. In an example, the communication unit 130 may transmit various data generated or obtained on the cleaner 1 in the form of a wired/wireless signal according to a predetermined wired/wireless communication protocol, e.g., to a mobile terminal of the user or an external server.

According to an example, the cleaner 1 may include a sensor unit 140. According to an example, the sensor unit 140 may detect an operational state (e.g., pressure, current, power, speed, slope, or temperature) of the cleaner 1 or an external environmental state (e.g., the user's state), and then generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to the detected state. According to an embodiment, the sensor unit 140 may include, e.g., a gesture sensor, a gyro sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a grip sensor, a motion sensor, a proximity sensor, a color sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, a biometric sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a current sensor, a motion sensor, a humidity sensor, or an illuminance sensor. However, the types of sensors listed here are merely illustrative, and the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In an example, the pressure sensor (or atmospheric pressure sensor) may detect or measure a difference between atmospheric pressure and pressure of the suction port of the cleaner. The pressure sensor may be provided, e.g., inside the connection pipe 14, but is not limited thereto. Pressure data corresponding to the sensed(or, detected) pressure may be transferred to the controller 60.

In an example, the current sensor may sense (or, detect) or measure the current (e.g., electrical current or flow) of the brush motor. The current sensor may be provided, e.g., inside the cleaner head 50, but is not limited thereto. Current data corresponding to the sensed (or, detected) current may be transferred to the controller 60.

In an example, the cleaner 1 may include a controller 60 for controlling the overall operation of the cleaner 1. The controller 60 may include memory 62 for storing a program and/or data for controlling each component of the cleaner 1, and a processor 61 for generating a control signal for controlling each component of the cleaner 1 according to the program and/or data stored in the memory 62 and information obtained from each of the other components.

In an example, the processor 61 of the controller 60 may receive various input/setting information from the input unit 110 and/or the communication unit 130 described above. The processor 61 may obtain sensing information (or, detection information), e.g., pressure data sensed (or, detected) by a pressure sensor, and/or current data sensed (or, detected) by a current sensor, from the sensor unit 140.

In an example, the processor 61 of the controller 60 may generate an operation control command for each component of the cleaner 1, based on various information received from the input unit 110, the communication unit 130, and/or the sensor unit 140. In an example, the processor 61 may control the brush motor to adjust the suction force of the cleaner 1. In an example, the processor 61 may generate a command for controlling whether and how information is displayed through the output unit 120.

In the disclosure, the controller 60 is disclosed as a comprehensive component for controlling all components included in the cleaner 1, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In an example, the cleaner 1 may be configured to include a plurality of controller components that individually control at least one other component of the cleaner 1. In the example, the cleaner 1 may include a separate controller including a processor and memory for controlling the operation of the user interface according to the user input. The processor 61 of the controller 60 may include a plurality of processors, and the memory 62 may include a plurality of memory devices.

The disclosure provides the cleaner capable of determining the state of the cleaner and the cleaning floor environment using sensor data (e.g., load current data of the brush motor of the cleaner, voltage data of the battery, and/or pressure data of the pressure sensor) of the cleaner.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may learn (or collect floor data for the corresponding floor environment (or condition)) the environment (or condition) of the floor area or boundary designated by the user (e.g., user-designated floor). According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine the environment of the user designated floor (or user defined floor) by reflecting the state of the cleaner, and control the cleaner with a suction force desired by the user. Hereinafter, the term “floor” as used with respect to “user-designated floor,” “first floor,” “second floor,” or just “floor” may be interchangeably used, referred to as, and may also mean and encompass the terms “floor area,” “floor boundary,” “floor region,” “floor section,” and the like.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may provide a function for determining the user-designated floor by allowing the cleaner to clean the user-designated floor with a desired suction force when using the cleaner.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may provide an algorithm for determining the floor by reflecting the state of the cleaner so that even if the state of the cleaner changes, the already learned floor (or the floor obtained by collecting the floor data) may be determined without error.

According to an embodiment, when the user designated floor is learned (or when floor data for the user-designated floor is collected), the cleaner may automatically recognize or identify the user-designated floor and change the suction power to the user-designated suction power even if there is no additional learning (or collection of floor data). Accordingly, it is possible to provide convenience while the user cleans using the cleaner.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may detect the state of the cleaner and reflect the state of the cleaner to determine the condition of the floor, thereby reducing the misanalysis or miscalculation of the floor condition. Accordingly, even if the state of the cleaner changes, it is possible to maintain high accuracy.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may provide a function of supporting the above-described functions for a plurality of floors.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for determining an example user-designated floor according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, a method for determining a user-designated floor of a cleaner (e.g., the cleaner 1 of FIG. 1A/1B) may include a floor data collection procedure in operation 2010 and/or a floor data use procedure in operation 2020.

According to an embodiment, the user-designated floor may be a floor boundary or area designated (or set) by the user (or the user input). For example, the user-designated floor may be, e.g., a floor directly designated or defined by the user, rather than a factory setting (e.g., set or configured by the manufacturer in the manufacturing, development, or update stage of the cleaner). For example, the user-designated floor may be a floor area set and/or used in a preset operation mode (e.g., a personalization mode) of the cleaner, but is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the method for determining the user-designated floor may be performed when the cleaner operates in the preset operation mode (e.g., the personalization mode).

According to an embodiment, the floor data collection procedure in operation 2010 may include an operation for setting the user-designated floor and/or an operation for collecting floor data of the user-designated floor. Various embodiments of the floor data collection procedure in operation 2010 are described below with reference to FIGS. 3, 4A to 4D, 5 to 8, and 9A to 9D.

According to an embodiment, the floor data use procedure 2020 may include an operation of identifying the user-designated floor using the collected floor data and/or an operation of operating the cleaner with a suction force associated with the identified user-designated floor. Various embodiments of the floor data use procedure 2020 are described below with reference to FIGS. 10 to 15, 16A to 16C, 17, 18, 19A to 19C, and 20.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor data collection procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, in operation 3010, a cleaner (e.g., the cleaner 1 of FIG. 1A/1B) may enter an operation mode (e.g., a personalization mode) associated with the user-designated floor. According to an embodiment, the operation mode associated with the user-designated floor may provide at least one function for setting and/or using the user-designated floor. For example, the operation mode associated with the user-designated floor may provide at least one function for setting the user-designated floor, collecting floor data for the user-designated floor, identifying the user-designated floor, and/or operating the cleaner with a suction force associated with the identified user-designated floor. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the personalization mode is described as an example of an operation mode associated with the user-designated floor. However, embodiments are not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may enter the personalization mode based on the user input received through an input unit (e.g., the manipulation portion 13 of FIG. 1A and/or the input unit 110 of FIG. 1B) of the cleaner. For example, when a user input (basic input) for pressing an input button of the cleaner (e.g., the power button 13-1 and/or the pair of adjustment buttons 13-2 and 13-3 of the manipulation portion 13 of FIG. 1A), a user input (long button input) for a long press of an input button of the cleaner, or a user input (double click input) for double-clicking an input button of the cleaner is received, the cleaner may enter the personalization mode. The input button of the cleaner may include, e.g., a power button (e.g., the power button 13-1) of an manipulation portion (e.g., the manipulation portion 13 of FIG. 1A), a pair of adjustment buttons (e.g., the suction power up button 13-2, the suction power down button 13-3) and/or a button newly added to enter the personalization mode, but is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may enter the personalization mode based on a user voice input received through the input unit (e.g., the input unit 110 of FIG. 1B). For example, the cleaner may have a voice recognition function, identify the user voice input for entering the personalization mode using the voice recognition function, and enter the personalization mode based on the identified user voice input. The user voice input for entering the personalization mode may be, e.g., a voice input such as “enter the personalization mode”, but is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may enter the personalization mode based on a request for entering the personalization mode (a request for entering the personalization mode) received from an external electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) connected to the cleaner through a communication unit (e.g., the communication unit 130 of FIG. 1B). The personalization mode entry request may be generated based on, e.g., a user input through an application associated with the cleaner and included in an external electronic device, but is not limited thereto. According to an embodiment, the external electronic device may be connected to the cleaner through, e.g., another electronic device (e.g., a server), or may be directly connected to the cleaner.

According to an embodiment, when entering the personalization mode, the cleaner may provide information indicating that the cleaner has entered the personalization mode through an output unit (e.g., the display 15 of FIG. 1A and/or the output unit 120 of FIG. 1B) of the cleaner.

According to an embodiment, when the cleaner first enters the personalization mode, or when a user input for setting the personalization mode is received after entering the personalization mode, the cleaner may provide information indicating that the personalization mode is set. For example, the information indicating that the personalization mode is set is, e.g., information (e.g., a notification, such as “Personalization mode is set”) as illustrated in a screen 410 of FIG. 4A, 4B, 4C, or 4D, but is not limited.

In operation 3020, the cleaner may provide first information (e.g., the first user interface) for setting the user-designated floor (or the floor used in the personalization mode). The first information may include, e.g., information as illustrated in a screen 440 of FIG. 4A, 4B, 4C, or 4D, but is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may provide first information for setting the user-designated floor through an output unit of the cleaner or an output unit of an external electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) connected to the cleaner.

For example, the cleaner may visually provide the first information for setting the user-designated floor through the display of the cleaner or the display of the external electronic device connected to the cleaner. For example, the cleaner may display a first user interface (e.g., a first graphic user interface) including the screen 440 of FIG. 4A, 4B, 4C, or 4D through a display (e.g., the display 15 of FIG. 1A and/or the output unit 120 of FIG. 1B) of the cleaner.

For example, the cleaner may provide the first information for setting the user-designated floor by voice or sound through the speaker of the cleaner or the speaker of the external electronic device connected to the cleaner. For example, the cleaner may provide a voice for providing at least one piece of information included in the screen 440 of FIG. 4A, 4B, 4C, or 4D as a first user interface (e.g., a first voice user interface) through the display (e.g., the display 15 of FIG. 1A and/or the output unit 120 of FIG. 1B) of the cleaner.

In operation 3030, the cleaner may identify a first floor corresponding to a first user input among at least one floor associated with the first information.

For example, when the first information includes, e.g., information as illustrated in the screen 440 of FIG. 4A, 4B, 4C, or 4D, the cleaner may identify (or set) a floor corresponding to a user input for selecting a first floor item 441 or a second floor item 442 as the user-designated floor.

In operation 3040, the cleaner may collect floor data (hereinafter, referred to as first floor data) for the first floor.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may collect floor data for each suction force for the first floor. For example, the cleaner may collect floor data for each of the plurality of suction forces for the first floor. The plurality of suction forces may include, e.g., at least one default suction force set by the manufacturer and/or at least one user-designated suction force set by the user. The default suction force may include, e.g., a normal suction force (e.g., 50 W), a strong suction force (e.g., 100 W), an ultra-strong suction force (e.g., 200 W), and/or a jet suction force (e.g., 300 W), but is not limited thereto. The user-designated suction force may be, e.g., a suction force (e.g., 150 W) different from the default suction force, but is not limited thereto. According to an embodiment, the cleaner may sequentially collect floor data for each of the plurality of suction forces for the first floor. For example, the cleaner may sequentially collect the floor data for the first floor in ascending order (e.g., in the order of 50 W, 100 W, 150 W, 200 W, and 300 W) or descending order (e.g., in the order opposite to the ascending order) of the suction force. According to an embodiment, a period for collecting floor data for each suction force may be set to a predetermined time period (e.g., three seconds), but is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the first floor data for the first floor may include floor data for each suction force collected for the first floor. The floor data for each suction power may include suction power data and sensor data (e.g., pressure data and/or current data) for the corresponding suction power. For example, the floor data for the first suction force (e.g., 50 W) may include suction force data including a value indicating the first suction force, pressure data for the first suction force, and/or current data for the first suction force.

The pressure data may include, e.g., values of relative pressures (e.g., values of pressure differences between atmospheric pressure and the suction port of the cleaner) in the flow path collected while the cleaner operates with the corresponding suction force, but is not limited thereto.

The current data may include, e.g., values of the load current of the brush motor collected while the cleaner operates with the corresponding suction force, but is not limited thereto.

In operation 3050, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in the first floor data for the first floor.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in the floor data for each suction force.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in the first floor data for the first floor, according to a preset criterion.

For example, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in the first floor data, based on sensor data (e.g., pressure data) for each suction force included in the first floor data and a first reference value for each suction force. For example, when the range of the maximum/minimum value of the pressure data for the corresponding suction force included in the first floor data is less than the first reference value for the corresponding suction force, the cleaner may determine that the floor data for the corresponding suction force has an error. This is because when the range of the maximum/minimum value of the pressure data for the corresponding suction power is less than the first reference value for the corresponding suction power, the cleaner may not be operated normally (e.g., lack ample force when pushing and pulling) when the floor data is collected.

For example, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in the first floor data, based on sensor data (e.g., pressure data) for each suction force included in the first floor data and a second reference value for each suction force. For example, when the range of the maximum/minimum value of the pressure data for the corresponding suction force included in the first floor data is larger than a second reference value for the corresponding suction force, the cleaner may determine that the floor data for the corresponding suction force has an error. This is because when the range of the maximum/minimum value of the pressure data for the corresponding suction power is larger than the second reference value for the corresponding suction power, the floor data may be collected from several floors at the same time when the floor data is collected. According to an embodiment, for the corresponding suction force, the second reference value may be set to a value larger than the first reference value.

For example, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in the first floor data, based on sensor data (e.g., pressure data) for each suction force included in the first floor data and a pressure value in an idle state for each suction force. For example, when at least a portion of the pressure data for the corresponding suction force included in the first floor data is the same as or similar to the pressure value in the idle state for the corresponding suction force, the cleaner may determine that the floor data for the corresponding suction force has an error. This is because the case where at least a portion of the pressure data for the corresponding suction power is the same as or similar to the pressure value in the idle state for the corresponding suction power, it is likely that the user fails to place the cleaner properly (or flush) on the floor by e.g., lifting or angling the cleaner when the floor data is collected.

According to an embodiment, reference values (e.g., the first reference value and/or the second reference value) for determining an error in the floor data may be preset for each default suction force.

According to an embodiment, the reference value for determining an error in the floor data for the user-designated suction force may be obtained (or estimated) through a data interpolation method based on the reference value for each preset default suction force.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in the first floor data for the first floor using motion sensor data related to the movement of the cleaner. For example, the cleaner may identify whether a normal operation (e.g., an operation in which the user pushes, pulls, and/or stops the cleaner) required to collect the first floor data is normally performed or an abnormal operation (e.g., an operation in which the user lifts and/or presses the cleaner) is performed using the motion sensor data. For example, when the abnormal operation is identified, the cleaner may identify that there is an error in the first floor data for the first floor. The motion sensor data may include, e.g., data obtained by an inertial measurement unit sensor, but is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, when there is an error in the collected first floor data, the cleaner may inform the user that it is necessary to collect the entire or part of the first floor data again.

According to an embodiment, when there is an error in the first floor data, the cleaner may perform an operation for collecting the entire or part of the floor data for the first floor again. For example, the cleaner may perform operation 3040 again.

According to an embodiment, when there is no error in the first floor data, the cleaner may perform operation 3060.

In operation 3060, the cleaner may store data associated with the first floor.

According to an embodiment, the data associated with the first floor may include first floor data for the first floor. In other words, the cleaner may store the collected floor data itself.

According to an embodiment, the data associated with the first floor may include representative value data of the first floor data. In other words, the cleaner may store value(s) representing the floor data, not the collected floor data itself. Accordingly, the memory usage of the cleaner may be reduced.

According to an embodiment, the type of representative value data may vary depending on the algorithm (or method) used to determine the floor. The representative value data may include, e.g., a maximum value and/or a minimum value of the pressure data and the current data, or may include data of a support vector.

According to an embodiment, the data associated with the first floor may include integrated data of the first floor data and previously stored floor data (hereinafter, referred to as existing floor data) or representative value data of the integrated data.

The integrated data may be, e.g., data including both existing floor data and first floor data. The type of the representative value data of the integrated data may vary depending on the algorithm (or method) used to determine the floor. The representative value data of the integrated data may include, e.g., a maximum value and/or a minimum value of pressure data of the integrated data and current data of the integrated data, or data of a support vector.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D illustrate a screen provided in an example floor data collection procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

According to an embodiment, the screens (or user interfaces) illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4D may be displayed on an output unit (e.g., the display 15 of FIG. 1A and/or the output unit 120 of FIG. 1B) of a cleaner (e.g., the cleaner 1 of FIG. 1A/1B) and/or an output unit (e.g., a display) of an electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) connected to the cleaner, e.g., in a floor data collection procedure (e.g., the floor data collection procedure of FIG. 3 or the floor data collection procedure of FIG. 7) or a suction force setting procedure (e.g., the suction force setting procedure of FIG. 5) included in the floor data collection procedure.

Referring to FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D, the screen 410 may provide information (e.g., a notification phrase, such as “Personalization mode is set”) indicating that the cleaner will set the personalization mode.

According to an embodiment, the screen 410 may be displayed when the cleaner first enters the personalization mode, or when a user input for setting the personalization mode is received after entering the personalization mode. For example, the screen 410 may be displayed on the display in response to the cleaner receiving a user input for first entering the personalization mode or in response to the cleaner receiving a user input for setting the personalization mode after entering the personalization mode.

According to an embodiment, the screen 410 may be displayed after the mode setting screen 401, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 4D. For example, the screen 410 may be displayed when the personalization mode is selected through the mode setting screen 401. According to an embodiment, the mode setting screen 401 may provide information about modes settable by the cleaner. The settable modes may include, e.g., a normal mode, an AI mode, a personalization mode, a strong mode, a super-strong mode, and/or a jet mode, but are not limited thereto. For example, the mode setting screen 401 may include a selectable item corresponding to each of the settable modes. In the disclosure, the mode setting screen 401 may be referred to as a mode setting user interface.

According to an embodiment, the screen 440 may provide information for setting the user-designated floor (hereinafter, referred to as floor setting information). In the disclosure, the screen 440 may be referred to as a floor setting screen, a first user interface, and a floor setting user interface.

According to an embodiment, the screen 440 (or floor setting information) may include, e.g., at least one selectable floor item. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, the screen 440 (or floor setting information) may include the first floor item 441 corresponding to floor 1 (or first floor) and the second floor item 442 corresponding to floor 2 (or second floor). For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 4B to 4D, the screen 440 (or floor setting information) may include the first floor item 441 corresponding to floor 1, the second floor item 442 corresponding to floor 2, and a third floor item 443 corresponding to a non-selected floor. The non-selected floor may be, e.g., a floor on which a suction force for the corresponding floor has not yet been selected.

According to an embodiment, when any one floor item in the screen 440 (or floor setting information) is selected, the floor corresponding to the selected floor item may be set as the user designated floor. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, when a user input for selecting the first floor item 441 is received, the first floor corresponding to the first floor item 441 may be set as the user-designated floor.

According to an embodiment, the screen 440 may be automatically displayed when a preset time (e.g., 5 seconds) elapses after the screen 410 is displayed. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C, even if there is no separate user input after the screen 410 is displayed, the screen 440 may be automatically displayed when a preset time elapses.

According to an embodiment, the screen 440 may be displayed after a user input for using a preset operation mode (e.g., a personalization mode) is received. For example, when a preset time (e.g., 3 seconds) elapses after the screen 410 is displayed, as illustrated in FIG. 4D, a screen 420 providing a use item 421 for selecting the use of the personalization mode and a no use item 422 for selecting the no use of the personalization mode may be displayed, and when a user input for selecting the use item 421 is received, the screen 440 may be displayed.

According to an embodiment, the screen 440 may be displayed when a user input for setting the user-designated floor is received after the screen 410 is displayed.

A screen 470 may provide information (e.g., a notification phrase, such as “Floor data is being collected . . . ”) indicating that the cleaner is collecting the floor data of the user-designated floor.

According to an embodiment, the screen 470 may be displayed when one of the floor items in the screen 440 is selected. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, when the first floor item 441 corresponding to the floor 1 is selected among the floor items in the screen 440, the screen 470 may be displayed.

According to an embodiment, the screen 470 may be displayed when a user input for collecting floor data is received.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, when the first floor item 441 corresponding to the floor 1 is selected among the floor items in the screen 440, a screen 460 may be displayed, and when the a selection item 461 corresponding to the collection of the floor data is selected among the selectable items of the screen 460 (e.g., when a user input for selecting the selection item 461 is received), the screen 470 may be displayed.

According to an embodiment, the selection item of the screen 460 may include, e.g., the selection item 461 corresponding to the floor data collection, a selection item 462 corresponding to the suction force selection, and/or a selection item 463 corresponding to use/no use. For example, when the selection item 462 is selected, a screen for selecting a suction force for the corresponding floor may be displayed. For example, when the selection item 463 is selected, a screen for selecting whether to use or not to use the floor data for the corresponding floor may be displayed. According to an embodiment, when the third floor item 443 corresponding to the non-selected floor in the screen 440 is selected, the screen 460 may display (or activate) only the selection item 462 corresponding to the selection of the suction force. According to an embodiment, when a selection item (e.g., the selection item 441 or 442) corresponding to the bottom of the screen 440 is selected, the screen 460 may display (or activate) all of the selection item 461, the selection item 462, and the selection item 463.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4C or 4D, when the first floor item 441 corresponding to the floor 1 is selected among the floor items in the screen 440, a screen 450 for designating the name of the corresponding floor may be displayed, and when the name of the corresponding floor is designated (e.g., when a user input for designating the name of the corresponding floor is received), the screen 460 may be displayed, and when the selection item 461 corresponding to the collection of floor data is selected among the selection items in the screen 460 (e.g., when a user input for selecting the selection item 461 is received), the screen 470 may be displayed.

According to an embodiment, the screen 450 may provide at least one selectable item for designating the name of the corresponding floor. For example, the screen 450 may provide an item 451 designating that the corresponding floor (e.g., floor 1) is a living room, an item 452 designating that the corresponding floor is a kitchen, and/or an item 453 designating the user-designated name of the corresponding floor. For example, when the item 453 is selected, the user-designated name for the corresponding floor may be input through the input unit of the cleaner or the input unit of the external electronic device connected to the cleaner.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example procedure for setting a suction force for a floor according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

According to an embodiment, the procedure for setting the suction force for the user-designated floor (suction force setting procedure) may be performed before collecting the floor data for the user-designated floor in the floor data collection procedure (e.g., before performing operation 3030 of FIG. 3 or before performing operation 7030 of FIG. 7) or after determining whether the collected floor data has an error (e.g., after performing operation 3050 of FIG. 3 or after determining that the corresponding to floor data has no error by performing operation 3050 of FIG. 3, or after performing operation 7050 of FIG. 7, or after determining that the corresponding to floor data by performing operation 7050 of FIG. 7).

Referring to FIG. 5, in operation 5010, a cleaner (e.g., the cleaner 1 of FIG. 1A/1B) may provide second information (e.g., a second user interface) for setting a suction force for the user-designated floor (e.g., a first floor). The second information may include, e.g., information as illustrated in a screen 620 of FIG. 6, but is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may provide the second information for setting the suction force for the user-designated floor through an output unit (e.g., the output unit 120 of FIG. 1B) of the cleaner or an output unit of an external electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) connected to the cleaner.

For example, the cleaner may visually provide the second information for setting the suction force for the user-designated floor through the display of the cleaner or the display of the external electronic device connected to the cleaner. For example, the cleaner may display a second user interface (e.g., the second graphic user interface) including the screen 620 of FIG. 6, e.g., through the display (e.g., the display 15 of FIG. 1A and/or the output unit 120 of FIG. 1B) of the cleaner.

For example, the cleaner may provide the second information for setting the suction force for the user-designated floor by voice or sound through the speaker of the cleaner or the speaker of the external electronic device connected to the cleaner. For example, the cleaner may provide a voice providing at least one piece of information included in the screen 620 of FIG. 6 as a second user interface (e.g., a second voice user interface) through the display (e.g., the display 15 of FIG. 1A and/or the output unit 120 of FIG. 1B) of the cleaner.

In operation 5020, the cleaner may set the suction force corresponding to the second user input among the plurality of suction forces associated with the second information as the suction force for the user-designated floor (e.g., the first floor). The set (e.g., configured) suction force may be used to operate the cleaner when the current floor is determined to be the corresponding user-designated floor through a floor determination procedure at a later time.

FIG. 6 illustrates a screen provided in an example suction force setting procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

According to an embodiment, the screens (or user interfaces) illustrated in FIG. 6 may be displayed on an output unit (e.g., the display 15 of FIG. 1A and/or the output unit 120 of FIG. 1B) of a cleaner (e.g., the cleaner 1 of FIG. 1A/1B) and/or an output unit (e.g., a display) of an electronic device (e.g., a smartphone) connected to the cleaner.

Referring to FIG. 6, a screen 610 may provide information for guiding to a suction force selection procedure (e.g., a notification phrase, such as “Select suction force”).

According to an embodiment, the screen 610 may be displayed before the floor data for the corresponding user-designated floor is collected (e.g., before operation 3030 of FIG. 3 is performed or before operation 7030 of FIG. 7 is performed). For example, the screen 610 may be displayed, e.g., when a suction force selection item 462 in the screen 460 of FIG. 4B, 4C, or 4C is selected. In this case, the screen 610 may be displayed, e.g., before the screen 470 of FIG. 4B, 4C, or 4C.

According to an embodiment, the screen 610 may be displayed after it is determined whether there is an error in the collected floor data (e.g., after operation 3050 of FIG. 3 is performed, after it is determined that there is no error in the corresponding floor data by performing operation 3050 of FIG. 3, after operation 7050 of FIG. 7 is performed, or after it is determined that there is no error in the corresponding floor data by performing operation 7050 of FIG. 7). For example, the screen 610 may be displayed, e.g., after the screen 470 of FIG. 4A, 4B, 4C, or 4C is displayed.

The screen 620 may provide information (hereinafter, referred to as suction force setting information) for setting a suction force for the user-designated floor. In the disclosure, the screen 620 may be referred to as a second user interface and a suction force setting user interface.

According to an embodiment, the screen 620 may provide at least one selectable item for setting the suction force for the corresponding user-designated floor (e.g., the first floor). For example, the screen 620 may include an item 621 for setting the suction force for the corresponding floor (e.g., floor 1) to a normal suction force (e.g., 50 W), an item 622 for setting the suction force for the corresponding floor to a strong suction force (e.g., 100 W), an item 623 for setting the suction force for the corresponding floor to a super-strong suction force (e.g., 200 W), an item 624 for setting the suction force for the corresponding floor to a jet suction force (e.g., 300 W), and/or an item 625 for setting the suction force for the corresponding floor to the user-designated value (e.g., 150 W). According to an embodiment, the item 625 for setting the user-designated value may be displayed (or activated) only when the screen 620 is displayed before the screen 470 of FIG. 4A, 4B, 4C, or 4C is displayed. The user-designated value may be, e.g., a value different from the default suction force.

According to an embodiment, when a user input for selecting one of selectable items in the screen 620 is received, the cleaner may set a suction force corresponding to the corresponding item to a suction force (or the user-designated suction force) for the corresponding user-designated floor. The second user input may be received through, e.g., an input unit of the cleaner or an input unit of an external electronic device connected to the cleaner.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor data collection procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

The floor data collection procedure of the embodiment of FIG. 7 may further include an operation of setting the user-designated suction force and/or an operation of obtaining state information about the cleaner, compared with the floor data collection procedure of the embodiment of FIG. 3. For a description of operations corresponding to the operations of the floor data collection procedure of the embodiment of FIG. 3 among the operations of the floor data collecting operations of the embodiment of FIG. 7, a reference may be made to FIG. 3. No repetitive description thereof is presented.

Referring to FIG. 7, in operation 7010, a cleaner (e.g., the cleaner 1 of FIG. 1A/1B) may enter a preset operation mode (e.g., a personalization mode). For the description of operation 7010, a reference may be made to the description of operation 3010 of FIG. 3.

In operation 7011, the cleaner may set the user-designated suction force.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may provide, e.g., the screen 610 and/or the screen 620 of FIG. 6 through an output unit (e.g., the display 15 of FIG. 1A and/or the output unit 120 of FIG. 1B) of the cleaner or an output unit of an external electronic device connected to the cleaner in order to set the user-designated suction force.

According to an embodiment, e.g., when a user input for selecting one of selectable items in the screen 620 of FIG. 6 is received, the cleaner may set a suction force corresponding to the corresponding item to the user designated suction force. The user designated suction force may be, e.g., one of default suction forces or a suction force set to the user-designated value. The user input may be received through, e.g., an input unit of the cleaner or an input unit of an external electronic device connected to the cleaner.

According to an embodiment, the user-designated suction force may be associated with a corresponding user-designated floor (e.g., the first floor) and may be stored in the memory in association with the corresponding user-designated floor.

In operation 7012, the cleaner may obtain state information (hereinafter, referred to as first state information) about the cleaner. The first state information may be information indicating the state of the cleaner at a first time (e.g., a setting time for the user-designated floor). For example, the first state information may be information indicating the state of the cleaner at the time of collecting the floor data.

According to an embodiment, the first state information may be associated with the user-designated floor (e.g., the first floor) or floor data for the user-designated floor (e.g., the first floor data of the first floor).

According to an embodiment, the first state information may be obtained based on pressure data (reference pressure data) and/or current data (reference current data) obtained by operating the cleaner with a reference suction force (e.g., a normal suction force (e.g., 50 W), but is not limited thereto) in an idle state. For example, the first state information may include an average value of reference pressure data and/or an average value of reference current data obtained by operating the cleaner with the reference suction force in the idle state. The idle state may be, e.g., a state in which the cleaner is mounted on the cleaner station, but is not limited thereto. The reference pressure data may include, e.g., values of relative pressures in the flow path collected while the cleaner operates with the reference suction force in the idle state, but is not limited thereto. The reference current data may include, e.g., values of load currents of the brush motor collected while the cleaner operates with the reference suction force in the idle state, but is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may provide the user with a guide for obtaining the first state information. For example, in order to obtain the first state information, the cleaner may provide a guide to operate the cleaner with the reference suction force in the idle state (e.g., a guide to operate the cleaner with the normal suction force (e.g., 50 W) in the state in which the cleaner is mounted on the cleaner station).

According to an embodiment, the first state information may be associated with a corresponding user-designated floor (e.g., the first floor) and may be stored in the memory in association with the corresponding user-designated floor.

In operation 7020, the cleaner may provide first information for setting the user-designated floor (or a floor used in a personalization mode). For the description of operation 7020, a reference may be made to the description of operation 3020 of FIG. 3.

In operation 7030, the cleaner may identify a first floor corresponding to a first user input among at least one floor associated with the first information. For the description of operation 7030, a reference may be made to the description of operation 3030 of FIG. 3.

In operation 7040, the cleaner may collect first floor data of the first floor. For the description of operation 7040, a reference may be made to the description of operation 3040 of FIG. 3.

In operation 7050, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in the first floor data for the first floor. For the description of operation 7050, a reference may be made to the description of operation 3050 of FIG. 3.

In operation 7060, the cleaner may store data associated with the first floor. For the description of operation 7050, a reference may be made to the description of operation 3050 of FIG. 3.

According to an embodiment, the data associated with the first floor may include first floor data of the first floor. In other words, the cleaner may store the collected floor data itself.

According to an embodiment, the data associated with the first floor may further include the data of the user-designated suction force set in operation 7011 and/or the data of the first state information about the cleaner obtained in operation 7012, together with the first floor data or the representative value data of the first floor data (or the integrated data or the representative value data of the integrated data).

FIG. 8 illustrates an example operation for storing data associated with a floor according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D illustrate floor data overlap according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

The operation of storing the data associated with the floor of FIG. 8 may be an example of operation 3060 of FIG. 3 or operation 7060 of FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 8, in operation 8010, a cleaner (e.g., the cleaner 1 of FIG. 1A/1B) may determine whether there is already stored floor data (hereinafter, referred to as existing floor data).

When the floor data collection is not performed for the first time, there may be existing floor data. In this case, it is necessary to compare the degree of data overlap between the existing floor data and the currently collected first floor data (e.g., the first floor data currently collected through operation 3040/3050 of FIG. 3 or operation 7040/7050 of FIG. 7). In the disclosure, the first floor data may be referred to as current floor data.

When the existing floor data is present, operation 8020 may be performed. When the existing floor data is not present, operation 8040 may be performed.

In operation 8020, the cleaner may determine whether to perform an error check on data overlap.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine whether to perform an error check on the data overlap, based on the data overlap information and/or the suction force comparison information.

According to an embodiment, the data overlap information may include, e.g., information about a degree of overlap between the existing floor data and the first floor data.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may calculate a rectangular area using a maximum/minimum value of each floor data and calculate an overlapping area of each rectangular area, thereby obtaining data overlap information.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 9A to 9D, the cleaner may calculate the first rectangular area using the maximum/minimum value of the existing floor data and the second rectangular area using the maximum/minimum value of the first floor data and calculate the overlapping area of the first rectangular area and the second rectangular area, thereby obtaining the degree of overlap of floor data.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine the degree of overlap of the floor data according to a preset criterion. For example, when the overlapping area is larger than the non-overlapping area, the cleaner may determine that the degree of overlap of the floor data is high, and when the overlapping area is less than the non-overlapping area, the cleaner may determine that the degree of overlap of the floor data is low.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, when the overlapping area of the first rectangular area 910a calculated using the maximum/minimum value of the existing floor data and a second rectangular area 920a calculated using the maximum/minimum value of the first floor data is larger than the non-overlapping area, the cleaner may determine that the degree of overlap of the floor data is high.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, when the overlapping area of a first rectangular area 910b calculated using the maximum/minimum value of the existing floor data and a second rectangular area 920b calculated using the maximum/minimum value of the first floor data are smaller than the non-overlapping area, the cleaner may determine that the degree of overlap of the floor data is low.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9C, when the overlapping area of a first rectangular area 910c calculated using the maximum/minimum value of the existing floor data and a second rectangular area 920c calculated using the maximum/minimum value of the first floor data is larger than the non-overlapping area, the cleaner may determine that the degree of overlap of the floor data is high.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9D, when the overlapping area of a first rectangular area 910d calculated using the maximum/minimum value of the existing floor data and a second rectangular area 920d calculated using the maximum/minimum value of the first floor data is smaller than the non-overlapping area, the cleaner may determine that the degree of overlap of the floor data is low.

According to an embodiment, the suction force comparison information may include, e.g., information about whether the suction force set for the existing floor data is the same as or different from the suction force set for the first floor data.

According to an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, when the degree of overlap of the floor data is high and the suction forces of the two floor data are the same (e.g., 100 W), the cleaner may not perform an error check on the data overlap.

According to an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, when the degree of overlap of the floor data is low and the suction forces of the two floor data are the same (e.g., 100 W), the cleaner may not perform an error check on the data overlap.

According to an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9C,when the degree of overlap of the floor data is high and the suction forces of the two floor data are different (e.g., the suction force of the existing floor data is 100 W and the suction force of the first floor data is 200 W), the cleaner may perform an error check on the data overlap.

According to an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9D, when the degree of overlap of the floor data is low and the suction forces are different (e.g., the suction force of the existing floor data is 100 W and the suction force of the first floor data is 200 W), the cleaner may perform an error check on the data overlap.

When it is determined to perform the error check on the data overlap, operation 8060 may be performed. When it is determined that the error check on the data overlap is not performed, operation 8030 may be performed.

In operation 8030, the cleaner may determine whether data overlap is required.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine whether data overlap is required, based on data overlap information and/or suction force comparison information.

According to an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, when the degree of overlap of the floor data is high and the suction forces are the same, the cleaner may determine that the data overlap is necessary without performing an error check on the data overlap. In this case, even if the plurality of pieces of floor data are integrated into one piece of floor data, because the area not including the associated floor data is not included by a reference area or more, substantially unnecessary areas are rarely included. The area that does not include the associated floor data may be, e.g., the area that does not belong to any of the area corresponding to the first rectangular area 910a and the area corresponding to the second rectangular area 920a among areas corresponding to a third rectangular area 930a determined by the existing floor data and the second floor data.

According to an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, when the degree of overlap of the floor data is low and the suction forces are the same, the cleaner may not perform an error check on the data overlap and may determine that the data overlap is not required. This is because, when a plurality of pieces of floor data are integrated into one piece of floor data, an unnecessary area that does not include the associated floor data is included to a large extent (e.g., by the reference area or more). The area that does not include the associated floor data may be, e.g., an area that does not belong to any of an area corresponding to the first rectangular area 910b and an area corresponding to the second rectangular area 920b among areas corresponding to a third rectangular area 930b determined by the existing floor data and the second floor data.

When data overlap is required, operation 8050 may be performed. When data overlap is not required, operation 8040 may be performed.

In operation 8040, the cleaner may store the first floor data or representative value data of the first floor data.

In operation 8050, the cleaner may store integrated data in which the first floor data and the existing floor data are integrated, or representative value data of the integrated data.

In operation 8060, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in data overlap.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine whether there is an error in data overlap, based on data overlap information and/or suction force comparison information.

According to an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9C, when the degree of overlap of the floor data is high and the suction forces are different, the cleaner may perform an error check on the data overlap and determine that there is an error for the data overlap. This is because it is impossible to determine which suction force (e.g., 100 W or 200 W) the overlapped data will operate with.

According to an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9D, when the degree of overlap of the floor data is low and the suction forces are different, the cleaner may perform an error check on the data overlap and determine that there is no error for the data overlap. This is because there is an algorithm capable of processing the overlapping area. For example, the overlapping area may be operated with a default suction force.

When there is no error in data overlap, the above-described operation 8040 may be performed. When there is an error in data overlap, operation 8070 may be performed.

In operation 8070, the cleaner may discard the first floor data.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment, the operation of storing the data associated with the floor of FIG. 8 may be performed in a different order from the above-described order, some operations may be omitted, additional operations may be further performed, and a plurality of operations among the above-described operations may be performed together. For example, operation 8020, operation 8030, and operation 8060 may be merged and performed together. In this case, the cleaner may perform an operation of determining whether to perform an error check on the data overlap, whether there is an error in the data overlap, and whether the data overlap is necessary, based on the data overlap information and/or the suction force comparison information.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of a procedure for using floor data collected through the embodiments of FIGS. 3, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D are described.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor data use procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 11 is a view illustrating an example change in floor data depending on a change in a state of a cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 12 is a view illustrating an example area associated with a floor set using collected data according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 13 is a view illustrating an example change in floor data per load depending on a change in a state of a cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an example reference data indicating a change in floor data depending on a change in a state of a cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 15 is a view illustrating an example comparison between actual floor data and predicted floor data for same floor according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

According to an embodiment, the floor data use procedure may be a procedure of using data associated with the user-designated floor (e.g., the first floor) collected through the embodiments of FIGS. 3, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D.

Referring to FIG. 10, in operation 1010, the cleaner may predict the second floor data for the first floor based on the pre-stored first floor data for the first floor.

The first floor may be, e.g., the user-designated floor identified through operations 3020 and 3030 of FIG. 3 (or operations 7020 and 7030 of FIG. 7). The first floor data may be, e.g., data associated with the first floor obtained and stored through operations 3040 to 3060 of FIG. 3 (or operations 7040 and 7060 of FIG. 7). For a description of the first floor and the data associated with the first floor, a reference may be made to the description of FIG. 3 or 7.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner (e.g., the cleaner 1 of FIG. 1A/1B) may predict the second floor data for the first floor based on the first floor data for the first floor, the first state information indicating the first state of the cleaner associated with the first floor data, and/or the second state information indicating the second state of the cleaner.

The first state information may be, e.g., state information obtained through operation 7012 of FIG. 7. As described above, the first state information may be information indicating the state of the cleaner at a first time (e.g., a time for setting the user-designated floor). For example, the first state information may be information indicating the state of the cleaner at the time of collecting the floor data.

The second state information may be information indicating the state of the cleaner at a second time after the first time (e.g., a time after the time when the first state information is obtained). For example, the second state information may be information indicating the state of the cleaner at the current time.

According to an embodiment, the second state information may be obtained using the same method, although the first state information and the acquisition times are different from each other. For example, the second state information may be obtained based on pressure data (hereinafter, referred to as reference pressure data) and/or current data (hereinafter, referred to as reference current data) obtained by operating the cleaner with the reference suction force (e.g., the normal suction force (e.g., 50 W), but is not limited thereto) in the idle state. For example, the second state information may include an average value of reference pressure data and/or an average value of reference current data obtained by operating the cleaner with the reference suction force in the idle state. The idle state may be, e.g., a state in which the cleaner is mounted on the cleaner station, but is not limited thereto. The reference pressure data may include, e.g., values of relative pressures in the flow path collected while the cleaner operates with the reference suction force in the idle state, but is not limited thereto. The reference current data may include, e.g., values of load currents of the brush motor collected while the cleaner operates with the reference suction force in the idle state, but is not limited thereto.

In operation 1020, the cleaner may obtain first area data of the first area associated with the first floor, based on the second floor data. The first area data may include data of the first area associated with the first floor or data of the area determination line indicating the first area. The area determination line indicating the first area or the first area may be, e.g., in the form of a closed loop as illustrated in FIGS. 16A, 16B, 16C, and 16C, but is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, floor data for the same floor changes according to a change in the state of the cleaner. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11, even if the cleaner is operated on the same floor with the same suction force (e.g., 50 W), the pressure of the cleaner changes according to a change in the state of the cleaner (e.g., changes from 550 Pa to 350 Pa), so the floor data also changes. The pressure change according to the state change of the cleaner may be, e.g., a pressure reduction at the same suction force due to the aging (or usage) of the cleaner, a pressure change according to the state of the dust filter of the cleaner, or the like, but is not limited thereto.

Accordingly, when the first floor data collected and stored through the floor data collection procedure is used, as is, even after time elapses, e.g., according to a change in pressure according to a change in the state of the cleaner, the floor data currently inputted to the cleaner (hereinafter, referred to as input floor data) and the previously collected first floor data may be different even though the same suction force is applied on the same floor. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12, the first floor data previously collected for the suction force of 50 W may be floor data corresponding to 550 Pa, but the currently inputted floor data for the suction force of 50 W according to the state change of the cleaner may be floor data corresponding to 400 Pa.

Accordingly, when the previously collected first floor data is used as it is, it may be difficult to accurately determine the floor at the current time. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12, when an area (e.g., the rectangular closed loop) 1210 associated with the first floor is set using previously collected first floor data as is, the current input data may not be included in the area 1210 associated with the set first floor according to the change in the state of the cleaner. Accordingly, even though the current cleaner is actually positioned on the first floor, the cleaner may determine that the current cleaner is positioned in an area other than the first floor. Due to the misjudgment of the floor, the suction force may not be appropriately changed, and the suction force may be changed to an undesired suction force, which may cause inconvenience, such as damage to the floor, deterioration of cleaning performance, and suspected break down (or functional deterioration).

Therefore, considering the change in the state of the cleaner, it is necessary to obtain the second floor data corresponding to the current state of the cleaner based on the previously collected first floor data and determine the area associated with the first floor based on the second floor data.

Meanwhile, as a method for obtaining the second floor data corresponding to the current state of the cleaner, one of the floor data already collected may be selected as the second floor data. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, in the development stage of the cleaner for each existing suction force, floor data sets based on each state of the cleaner may be obtained and stored according to each load (e.g., for each load current/pressure), and one of the stored floor data sets may be selected as the second floor data. However, when this method is used, if the cleaner uses the user-designated suction force instead of the existing suction force or if the cleaner is in a state different from the state of the cleaner corresponding to the stored floor data, the second floor data may not be selected because the corresponding stored floor data is not exist.

Accordingly, the cleaner needs to use a method for newly predicting the second floor data corresponding to the current state by using the first floor data already collected.

The cleaner according to an embodiment may predict the second floor data, based on the first floor data already collected, using the reference data as illustrated in FIG. 14.

The reference data of FIG. 14 may include, e.g., reference data for each state of the cleaner for a suction force of 100 W.

Referring to FIG. 14, as the state (e.g., the pressure state and/or the current state) of the cleaner operating with the suction force of 100 W gradually changes, the trend or direction regarding changes to the floor data may be identified.

The cleaner may predict the second floor data based on the first floor data using the reference data. To that end, the cleaner may store reference data for each of the existing suction forces (e.g., 50 W, 100 W, 200 W, and/or 300 W).

The reference data as illustrated in FIG. 14 corresponds to raw data, and storing the reference data requires large memory. Therefore, instead of storing the reference data, it may be advantageous from memory usage point of view to store only a relative value (or a representative value) required for predicting or converting the floor data. For example, the reference data may be averaged for each load (e.g., for each pressure high load/medium load/low load/idle state and/or for each current high load/medium load/low load/idle state), and the standardized value thereof may be stored as representative value data of the reference data.

The representative value data of the reference data may be stored in the memory, e.g., in the form of a table like Table 1. In the disclosure, the table like Table 1 may be referred to as a floor data change rate table.

TABLE 1

pressure
50 W
high
1

text missing or illegible when filed

medium
1

text missing or illegible when filed

low
1

text missing or illegible when filed

idle
1

text missing or illegible when filed

100 W
high
1

text missing or illegible when filed

medium
1

text missing or illegible when filed

low
1

text missing or illegible when filed

idle
1

text missing or illegible when filed

200 W
—
—

300 W
—

current
50 W
high
1

text missing or illegible when filed

medium
1

text missing or illegible when filed

low
1

text missing or illegible when filed

idle
1

text missing or illegible when filed

100 W
high
1

text missing or illegible when filed

medium
1

text missing or illegible when filed

low
1

text missing or illegible when filed

idle
1

text missing or illegible when filed

200 W
—
—

300 W
—

text missing or illegible when filed

indicates data missing or illegible when filed

According to an embodiment, the floor data change ratio table may be a table indicating a ratio at which the pressure/current changes as the reference pressure changes. For example, the floor data change ratio table may show the ratio at which the pressure/current changes by averaging the pressures/currents of reference data (e.g., the reference data of FIG. 14) and setting the 550 Pa value to 1, and according to changes in the reference pressure.

According to an embodiment, values not included in the floor data change ratio table may be predicted through a preset interpolation method based on values included in the table.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may predict the second floor data based on the first floor data using the pre-stored floor data change ratio table and/or interpolation method. The predicted second floor data may be substantially the same as or similar to the actual floor data for the corresponding state. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 15, the second floor data (350 Pa predicted) 1520 predicted based on the first floor data (550 Pa) 1510 actually obtained at 50 W/500 Pa/pressure medium load/current high load may be substantially similar to the third floor data (350 Pa actual) 1530 actually obtained at 50 W/350 P/pressure medium load/current high load. The second floor data (350 Pa predicted) 1520 may be calculated through Equation 1 below using the table like Table 1.

pressure data of second floor data (350 Pa predicted)=500 Pa pressure data*0.734707 which is 50 W/350 Pa/medium load value of pressure table of Table 1÷0.933833 which is 50 W/500 Pa/medium load value of pressure table of Table 1 current data of second floor data (350 Pa predicted)=0.864786 which is 50 W/350 Pa/high load value of current table of Table 1÷0.966060 which is 50 W/00 Pa/high load value of current table of Table 1 Equation 1

By predicting the second floor data, it is possible to accurately determine the floor at the current time even if the state of the cleaner changes using the first floor data collected once without re-collecting the floor data.

FIG. 16A is a view illustrating an example area associated with a user designated floor set using floor data according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 16A, according to an embodiment, the cleaner may set an area or an area determination line associated with the user-designated floor using the maximum value and the minimum value of the floor data. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 16A, the cleaner may obtain a maximum value and a minimum value of pressure data in the floor data and a maximum value and a minimum value of current data in the floor data and may set a rectangle 1610a having each maximum value and each minimum value as edges of the rectangle as an area associated with the user-designated floor.

According to an embodiment, the floor data for setting the area associated with the user-designated floor may be the collected first floor data or the second floor data predicted through the first floor data. The first floor data may be, e.g., data associated with the first floor obtained and stored through operations 3040 to 3060 of FIG. 3 (or operations 7040 and 7060 of FIG. 7). For a description of the data associated with the first floor, a reference may be made to the description of FIG. 3 or 7. The second floor data may be, e.g., second floor data predicted through operation 1020 of FIG. 10. For a description of the second floor data, a reference may be made to the description of FIGS. 10 to 15.

FIG. 16B is a view illustrating an example area, associated with a user designated floor set using floor data according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 16B, According to an embodiment, the cleaner may set (or determine) an area or an area determination line associated with the user-designated floor based on the floor data using a support vector machine (SVM) (e.g., one class SVM) of machine learning. The one class SVM may be a method for scattering data on an N-dimensional coordinate axis and then drawing and classifying a hyperplane with respect to the distance from the origin. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 16B, the cleaner may obtain the hyperplane based on the floor data using the one class SVM and may set (or determine) the line 1610b obtained by projecting the hyperplane to the pressure-current plane as the area determination line corresponding to the area associated with the user-designated floor.

According to an embodiment, the floor data for setting (or determining) the area associated with the user-designated floor may be the collected first floor data or the second floor data predicted through the first floor data. The first floor data may be, e.g., data associated with the first floor obtained and stored through operations 3040 to 3060 of FIG. 3 (or operations 7040 and 7060 of FIG. 7). For a description of the data associated with the first floor, a reference may be made to the description of FIG. 3 or 7. The second floor data may be, e.g., second floor data predicted through operation 1020 of FIG. 10. For a description of the second floor data, a reference may be made to the description of FIGS. 10 to 15.

The area of FIG. 16B may be more responsive (e.g., a better fit, suitable, or amenable) to the floor data compared to the area of FIG. 16A. However, compared to the method for FIG. 16A, the method for FIG. 16B requires a larger amount of computation.

FIG. 16C is a view illustrating an example area, associated with a user designated floor set using a plurality of floor data according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 16C, for convenience of description, it is exemplified that the area determination line of each floor used to determine the final area determination line is set using the maximum/minimum value as illustrated in FIG. 16A, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the area determination line of each floor used to determine the final area determination line may be set using the SVM as illustrated in FIG. 16B.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may set the first area determination line 1610c (solid line) corresponding to the first area associated with the first floor using the maximum value and the minimum value of the first floor data (e.g., the floor data of 200 W), may set the second area determination line 1620c (solid line) corresponding to the second area (e.g., a rectangle) associated with the second floor using the maximum value and the minimum value of the second floor data (e.g., the floor data of 100 W), and may obtain two intersection points P1 and P2 between the first area determination line and the second area determination line. The intersection point may be calculated using, e.g., an equation corresponding to each area determination line.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may set the final area determination line (dashed line) 1611c of the first floor and the final area determination line (dashed line) 1621c of the second floor using the first area determination line (solid line) 1610c, the second area determination line (solid line) 1620c, and the two intersection points P1 and P2 (or an equation of a straight line 1630c connecting the two intersection points). In the disclosure, the straight line connecting the two intersection points may be referred to as an area determination line of the overlapping area of the first area of the first floor and the overlapping area of the second area of the second floor.

Meanwhile, the method for setting the area or the area determination line is not limited to the method for the embodiments of FIGS. 16A to 16C. Various methods for setting an area or an area determination line may be used considering available memory, computational load performance, and the like.

According to an embodiment, the set area or area determination line may be maintained until a change in the state of the cleaner is identified. The resetting of the area or the area determination line may be performed according to a preset policy (or procedure), e.g., when there is a command (e.g., a self-diagnosis command) to update the state of the cleaner from the user, at a predetermined cycle, after completion of a predetermined number of cleaning operations, after the end of each cleaning operation, or before the start of each cleaning operation, but is not limited thereto.

If may be enough to store data of only the set area or the area determination line to determine the floor. Thus, the predicted floor data (second floor data) used to set the area or the area determination line may not separately be stored.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor determination procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 17, in operation 1710, the cleaner may determine whether the cleaner is positioned on the first floor, based on the first area data. The first area data may be obtained, e.g., by operation 1020 of FIG. 10. The first area data may include data of the first area associated with the first floor or data of the area determination line indicating the first area.

According to an embodiment, when the floor data (hereinafter, referred to as input floor data) currently (or most recently) inputted to the cleaner is included (or positioned) in the area associated with the first area data or the area determination line of the first area, the cleaner may determine that the cleaner is positioned on the first floor. The inputted floor data may include, e.g., sensor data (e.g., pressure data and/or current data) for the corresponding suction force. When the cleaner is positioned on the first floor, operation 1720 may be performed.

According to an embodiment, when the input floor data is positioned outside the first area associated with the first area data or the area determination line of the first area, the cleaner may determine that the cleaner is not positioned on the first floor (e.g., is positioned outside the first floor). When the cleaner is not positioned on the first floor, operation 1730 may be performed.

In operation 1720, the cleaner may operate the cleaner with the first suction force set for the first floor.

In operation 1730, the cleaner may operate the cleaner with a second suction force different from the first suction force. The second suction force may be, e.g., a reference suction force, but is not limited thereto.

After it is determined that the cleaner is positioned on the corresponding floor using one area or area determination line, if the cleaner moves across the boundary near the boundary of the area or area determination line, the suction force is frequently changed. This is inefficient, and the user may suspect a failure of the cleaner. Therefore, in order to reduce such an abnormal operation, it is necessary to consider a floor determination method to which a margin (e.g., hysteresis margin) is applied.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example floor determination procedure with a margin applied according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 19C illustrate an example area to which a margin is applied, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 18, in operation 1810, the cleaner may obtain second area data to which a margin (e.g., a hysteresis margin) is applied, based on the first area data.

The first area data may be obtained, e.g., by operation 1020 of FIG. 10. The first area data may include data of the first area associated with the first floor or data of the area determination line indicating the first area.

The second area data may be, e.g., area data obtained by applying a preset margin to the first area data. According to an embodiment, the second area data may include data of the second area associated with the first floor or data of the area determination line indicating the second area.

According to an embodiment, when the margin is applied to the inside, the second area to which the margin is applied may be an inner area of the first area. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 19A, a second area 1920a may be set inside a first area 1910a.

According to an embodiment, when the margin is applied outside, the second area to which the margin is applied may be an outer area of the first area. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 19B, a second area 1920b may be set outside a first area 1910b.

According to an embodiment, when a plurality of pieces of floor data exist (or applied) and a margin is applied inside, the cleaner may obtain the shortest distance to the first vertex P1 of the first area determination line (e.g., the first solid line of FIG. 19C) 1910c of the first area and the shortest distance to the second vertex P2 of the second area determination line (e.g., the second solid line of FIG. 19C) 1920c of the first area, from an area determination line 1930c of the overlapping area between the first area of the first floor and the second area of the second floor. For acquisition of the area determination line 1901c of the overlapping area, the first area determination line 1910c, and the second area determination line 1920c, a reference may be made to the description of FIG. 16C.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may set a final area determination line (e.g., the first dashed line of FIG. 19C) 1911c of the first floor positioned inside the first area determination line and a final area determination line (e.g., the second dashed line of FIG. 19C) 1921c of the second floor positioned inside the second area determination line by applying a predetermined margin to the shortest distance to each vertex.

In operation 1820, the cleaner may determine whether the cleaner is positioned on the first floor, based on the first area data and the second area data.

According to an embodiment, as in the example of FIG. 19A, when the margin is applied inside, the cleaner may determine that the cleaner has entered the first floor when the input floor data (hereinafter, input data) enters the area determination line of the second area 1920a or the second area 1920a. In this case, the cleaner may maintain it as being positioned on the first floor until the input data exits the first area 1910a or the area determination line of the first area 1910a. For example, after the input data is positioned in the second area 1920a, if the input data is positioned outside the second area 1920a but is still positioned in the first area 1910a, the cleaner may determine that the cleaner is still positioned on the first floor. Thereafter, when the input data is positioned outside the first area 1910a, the cleaner may determine that the input data is out (e.g., outside the boundary or area) of the first floor. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent an abnormal operation from occurring due to movement of the cleaner near the boundary.

According to an embodiment, as in the example of FIG. 19B, when the margin is applied outside, the cleaner may determine that the cleaner has entered the first floor when the input floor data (hereinafter, input data) enters the first area 1910b or the area determination line of the first area 1910b. In this case, the cleaner may maintain it as being positioned on the first floor until the input data exits the second area 1920b or the area determination line of the second area 1920b. For example, after the input data is positioned in the first area 1910b, if the input data is positioned outside the first area 1910b but is still positioned in the second area 1920b, the cleaner may determine that the cleaner is still positioned on the first floor. Thereafter, when the input data is positioned outside the second area 1920b, the cleaner may determine that the input data is out (e.g., outside the boundary or area) of the first floor. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent an abnormal operation from occurring due to movement of the cleaner near the boundary.

According to an embodiment, as in the example of FIG. 19C, when a plurality of pieces of floor data are present and a margin is applied to the inside, the cleaner may determine that the cleaner enters the first floor when the input floor data (hereinafter, input data) enters the final area determination line (first dashed line) 1911c of the first floor. In this case, the cleaner may maintain it as being positioned on the first floor until the input data exits the first area determination line (first solid line including the first dashed line) 1910c of the first floor. For example, after the input data is positioned in the final area determination line 1911c, if the input data is positioned outside the final area determination line but is still positioned in the first area determination line 1910c, the cleaner may determine that the cleaner is still positioned on the first floor. Thereafter, when the input data is positioned outside the first area determination line 1910c, the cleaner may determine that the input data is out (e.g., outside the boundary or area) of the first floor. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent an abnormal operation from occurring due to movement of the cleaner near the boundary.

When the cleaner is positioned on the first floor, operation 1830 may be performed. When the cleaner is not positioned on the first floor, operation 1840 may be performed.

In operation 1830, the cleaner may operate the cleaner with the first suction force set for the first floor.

In operation 1840, the cleaner may operate the cleaner with a second suction force different from the first suction force. The second suction force may be, e.g., a reference suction force, but is not limited thereto.

In order to address an error in floor determination, a determination method (data continuity determination), which takes data continuity into consideration, may be used. The data continuity determination may be, e.g., determining that when n present consecutive input values or data (e.g., 30 experimentally) are positioned inside and outside the area determination line, it is positioned inside and outside the user-designated floor, and withholding (e.g., not proceeding with) the determination when the input values or data are discontinuous.

FIG. 20 is a view illustrating an example determination data continuity according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

According to an embodiment, the data continuity determination method may be used together with, e.g., the margin-applied determination method of FIG. 18. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 20, a first area determination line 20010 of the first floor and a second area determination line 20020 of the margin-applied first floor may be set and, although part of the input data is positioned in the second area determination line 20020, the number of consecutive input values positioned in the second area determination line 2020 is a preset number or less, so that the cleaner may determine that the cleaner is not positioned on the first floor. Such data continuity determination may prevent floor misjudgment in a specific context that arises, e.g., due to noise or floor shift.

According to an embodiment, the number of data used to determine data continuity may be determined experimentally, for example.

According to an embodiment, the continuous count may be reset when discontinuity is detected.

The method for reducing the continuous count according to an embodiment may be variously applied according to the algorithm used.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for operating a cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 21, a cleaner (e.g., the cleaner 1 of FIGS. 1A/1B) may provide (e.g., display) a first user interface (or first information) for setting (or determining) a user-designated floor in operation 21010. According to an embodiment, the first user interface (e.g., the screen 440 of FIG. 4A, 4B, 4C, or 4D) may include at least one selectable floor item. According to an embodiment, the cleaner may further perform, before providing the first user interface, setting the user-designated floor and entering a personalization mode for collecting floor data for the user-designated floor.

The cleaner may identify a first floor corresponding to a first user input among at least one floor associated with the first user interface in operation 21020. According to an embodiment, the cleaner may identify the first floor in response to a user input for selecting a floor item corresponding to the first floor among at least one selectable floor item included in the first user interface.

The cleaner may collect first floor data for the first floor in operation 21030. According to an embodiment, the first floor data may include sensor data (e.g., pressure data and/or current data) collected for each of a plurality of suction forces for the first floor.

The cleaner may provide (e.g., display) a second user interface (or second information) for setting a suction force for the first floor in operation 21040. According to an embodiment, the second user interface (e.g., the screen 620 of FIG. 6) may include at least one selectable suction force item, and the at least one selectable suction force item includes at least one of a suction force item corresponding to each of at least one preset default suction force or a suction force item corresponding to a user-designated suction force.

The cleaner may set a first suction force corresponding to a second user input among the plurality of suction forces associated with the second user interface, as the suction force for the first floor in operation 21050. According to an embodiment, the cleaner may set the first suction force as the suction force for the first floor in response to a user input for selecting a suction force item corresponding to the first suction force among at least one selectable suction force item included in the second user interface.

According to an embodiment, the plurality of suction forces may include at least one of a plurality of default suction forces or a user-designated suction force. Gathering the first floor data may include sequentially obtaining sensor data (e.g., pressure data and/or current data) for each of the plurality of suction forces.

According to an embodiment, a period during which sensor data (e.g., pressure data and current data) for each suction force may be set as a preset same period.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may identify that the first floor data has no error before providing the second user interface.

According to an embodiment, identifying that the first floor data has no error may include at least one of determining whether a range of a maximum value and a minimum value of the sensor data (e.g., pressure data) is smaller than a first reference value, determining whether the range of the maximum value and the minimum value of the sensor data (e.g., pressure data) is larger than a second reference value, the second reference value being larger than the first reference value, and determining whether at least a portion of the sensor data (e.g., pressure data) is identical to a pressure value in an idle state.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may store the first floor data or first representative value data including representative values representing the first floor data.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may set a first suction force which is a user-designated suction force for the first floor and obtain first state information indicating a state of the cleaner at a first time associated with collecting the first floor data. The first state information and information about the first suction force may be stored together with the first floor data or the first representative value data.

According to an embodiment, the first state information may be obtained based on at least one of pressure data or current data obtained by operating the cleaner with a preset reference suction force in an idle state.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may predict second floor data for the first floor based on the first floor data, the first state information, and second state information indicating a state of the cleaner at a second time and obtain first area data of a first area associated with the first floor based on the second floor data, wherein the second time is a time after the second time. For example, the second time may be a time after the first time.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine whether the cleaner is positioned on the first floor based on the first area data, when the cleaner is positioned on the first floor, operate the cleaner with the first suction force, and when the cleaner is not positioned on the first floor, operate the cleaner with the second suction force.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may obtain second area data of a second area to which a preset margin is applied, based on the first area data, determine whether the cleaner is positioned on the first floor based on the first area data and the second area data, when the cleaner is positioned on the first floor, operate the cleaner with the first suction force, and when the cleaner is not positioned on the first floor, operate the cleaner with the second suction force.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may determine whether the cleaner is positioned on the first floor includes identifying whether a preset number of input data is included in the first area or the second area.

According to an embodiment, the cleaner may perform obtaining the first area data, based on a method using a maximum/minimum value or a method using a support vector machine.

In the above-described specific embodiments, the components included in the disclosure are represented in singular or plural forms depending on specific embodiments proposed. However, the singular or plural forms are selected to be adequate for contexts suggested for ease of description, and the disclosure is not limited to singular or plural components.

It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure according to the claims and description in the specification can be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

Any such software may be stored in non-transitory computer readable storage media. The non-transitory computer readable storage media store one or more computer programs (software modules), the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure.

Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various Accordingly, various embodiments provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

	Number	Date	Country
Parent	PCT/KR2024/008756	Jun 2024	WO
Child	18767268		US

CLEANER AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE CLEANER

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