Patent Grant
8209053
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. ยง119 from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0053270, filed on May 31, 2007, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
Apparatus consistent with the present disclosure relate to cleaning robots.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cleaning robot automatically runs and cleans an area without user manipulation.
The cleaning robot comprises a main body, a cleaning unit which is provided in the robot main body and draws in dust, a driving unit which drives the robot main body, a bumper unit which protects the robot main body, and a control unit which controls driving of the robot main body. The cleaning unit comprises a suction brush, a dust collecting receptacle having a filter, and a suction motor as a general vacuum cleaner.
The bumper unit forms an external surface of the robot main body, and a plurality of obstacle sensors which sense collision of the bumper unit with obstacles are provided in the interior of the bumper unit. The plurality of obstacle sensors are provided as point of contact sensors, which operate individually to sense collisions with obstacles from a plurality of directions. As a result, the robot's structure becomes overly complicated and fabrication of the robot becomes more costly.
The bumper unit is mounted to protrude from the robot main body to protect the robot main body. The protrusion causes the cleaning robot to look bad, and causes the bumper unit to be damaged when the cleaning robot collides with an obstacle.
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, the present disclosure is not required to overcome the disadvantages described above, and an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may not overcome any of the problems described above.
The present disclosure provides an improved cleaning robot that uses a simple structure to sense an obstacle.
One exemplary embodiment of a cleaning robot of the present disclosure comprises a robot main body having a driving unit to drive the cleaning robot, and a cleaning unit to remove dust, a bumper unit which is movably mounted in the robot main body to protect the robot main body from collision with an obstacle, a sensor unit which supports the bumper unit movably in a plurality of directions to sense the collision of the bumper unit and the obstacle, and a control unit which controls the driving unit on the basis of a signal sensed by the sensor unit to avoid the obstacle.
The sensor unit may comprise a supporting member that supports the bumper unit movably in a plurality of directions, and a sensor that senses movement of the supporting member.
The supporting member may support approximately the central part of the bumper member movably in a plurality of directions.
The sensor unit may comprise a joystick type sensor that is operated by the bumper unit.
The bumper unit may comprise a bumper member that is mounted in the robot main body, and a protection member that is made of an elastic material surrounding an exterior of the bumper member.
The bumper unit may be mounted in the robot main body to be protruded to the exterior of the robot main body.
The bumper unit may be capable of moving between a cleaning position and a colliding position with the obstacle on the basis of the supporting member.
One end of the supporting member may support the bumper member, and another end of the supporting member may be rotatably inserted into a supporting member holder which is provided in the robot main body.
The cleaning robot may comprise a running sensor that senses running distance of the robot main body and the obstacle on a running path.
The control unit may control driving of the cleaning unit on the basis of the signal sensed by the sensor unit.
According to another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a cleaning robot comprising a robot main body having a driving unit to drive the cleaning robot, and a cleaning unit to remove dust, a bumper unit which is movably mounted in the robot main body to protect the robot main body from collision with an obstacle.
The bumper unit may comprise a bumper member that is mounted in the robot main body, and a protection member that is made of an elastic material surrounding an exterior of the bumper member.
The bumper unit may be mounted in the robot main body to be protruded to the exterior of the robot main body.
The cleaning robot may comprise the supporting member that supports approximately the central part of the bumper unit to move in a plurality of directions with respect to the robot main body.
The bumper unit may be capable of moving between a cleaning position and a colliding position with the obstacle on the basis of the supporting member.
A sensor sensing movement of the bumper unit may be mounted in the supporting member.
The above and/or other aspects of the present disclosure will be more apparent by describing certain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Certain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the following description, the same drawing reference numerals are used for the same elements even in different drawings. The matter defined in the description, such as detailed construction and elements, are provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the disclosure. Thus, it is apparent that the present disclosure can be carried out without such specifically defined matter. Also, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the disclosure with unnecessary detail.
Referring to
The robot main body 10 comprises a driving unit 11 to drive the cleaning robot, and a cleaning unit 12 to remove dust.
The driving unit 11 comprises a driving motor (not shown), and a driving wheel driven by driving force.
The cleaning unit 12 comprises a brush member (not shown) which is rotated by suction force generated from a suction motor (not shown) and which is mounted in a suction port to clean dust from a surface being cleaned. Dust drawn in through the suction port is collected by a dust collecting means (not shown) after being separated by a dust separating filter.
The above structure of the cleaning unit 12 is similar to that of a general cleaning robot, and thus detailed descriptions and drawings are omitted for the sake brevity.
A running sensor 904 is disposed around the side of the robot main body 10. Running sensor 904 is capable of emitting a signal to the exterior; capable of receiving a reflected signal; capable of detecting the running distance of cleaning robot 1; and capable of sensing an obstacle in the way of cleaning robot 1. A battery (not shown) may be mounted to run in the robot main body 10.
The bumper unit 20 is mounted in the robot main body 10 to protect the robot main body 10 from a collision with an unexpected obstacle. That is, the bumper unit 20 buffers a shock caused by the collision with an unexpected obstacle such that damage to robot main body 10 is prevented.
The bumper unit 20 is designed to cover a front surface and a partial side surface of robot main body 10, relative to a running direction of the robot main body 10. That is, if the robot main body 10 is substantially circularly plate-shaped, as shown in
The bumper unit 20 comprises a bumper member 21 which is supported by the robot main body 10, and a protection member 22 which protects the bumper member 21.
The bumper member 21 is movably supported in proper position of the robot main body 10 to be capable of moving when the bumper member 21 collides with an obstacle P as shown in
The protection member 22 is formed not to protrude from a rear surface and a rear side surface of the robot main body 10 where the bumper unit 20 is not disposed, considering an appearance of the robot main body 10. That is, the bumper unit 20 is inserted in the robot main body 10 to a predetermined depth to form a smooth exterior surface of a cleaning robot.
The bumper member 21 is made of a material which is robust to impact. One such material is a plastic robust to impact. The protection member 22 may be made of an elastic material which is capable of being transformed by external force (such as an impact), to protect the bumper member 21 disposed therein. One such elastic material is rubber. However, materials of the bumper member 21 and the protection member 22 should not be limited to the above examples.
The bumper unit 20, being constructed as above, can mitigate a shock caused by the sudden collision of cleaning robot 1 with the obstacle P. Accordingly, the robot main body 10 may be protected safely. The protection member 22 of an elastic material (e.g. rubber) is provided such that the protection member 22 prevents the bumper member 21 from being damaged by the shock.
The sensor unit 30 senses whether the bumper unit 20 collides with an obstacle by detecting movement of the bumper unit 20. The sensor unit 30 senses whether the bumper unit 20 collides with an obstacle P which is not detected by a running sensor 904 while the cleaning robot 1 runs. The sensor unit 30 comprises a supporting member 31 and a sensor 32 as shown in
The supporting member 31 supports the bumper member 21 to move in a plurality of directions. That is, the supporting member 31 movably supports an approximately central part of the bumper member 21. The bumper member 21 moves on the basis of the supporting member 31.
Referring to
The bumper member 21 is capable of moving between a cleaning position (assumed when cleaning robot 1 is cleaning a surface)and a colliding position (assumed when cleaning robot 1 has collided with an obstacle) where the bumper member 21 escapes from the cleaning position by collision with the obstacle.
The sensor 32 senses movement of the supporting member 31. The supporting member 31 and the sensor 32 are provided as a joystick type sensor which is operated by the movement of the bumper member 21.
The control unit 40 controls the driving unit 11 on the basis of the signal sensed by the sensor unit 30. That is, if the sensor unit 30 senses the bumper unit 20 at the cleaning position, the control unit 40 controls the driving unit 11 on the basis of the sensed signal such that the robot main body 10 cleans along a predetermined path of a surface being cleaned.
If the sensor unit 30 senses that the bumper member 21 moves to the colliding position by collision of the bumper member 21 and an obstacle, the control unit 40 controls the driving unit 11 on the basis of the sensed signal to cause the robot main body 10 to avoid colliding with the obstacle.
If it is determined that the robot main body 10 avoids the obstacle by the control unit 40, the robot main body 10 cleans by running along the predetermined path.
Referring to
Referring to
Specifically, if the obstacle P collides with a front surface-upper portion of the robot main body 10, the bumper member 21 moves from the cleaning position, and changes to the colliding position in direction B along the supporting member 31 as shown in
If the obstacle P collides with the robot main body 10 at a portion lower than the position where the sensor unit 30 is disposed as shown in
If the obstacle P collides with a right side of the bumper member 21 on the basis of the sensor unit 30 as shown
If the obstacle P collides with a left side of the bumper member 21 on the basis of the sensor unit 30 as shown
If the obstacle P collides with the bumper member 21 on various position as above, the bumper member 21 moves on the basis of the supporting member 31 such that the supporting member 31 moves in association with the bumper member 21. Accordingly, the sensor 32 senses the movement of the supporting member 31 such that it may be sensed whether the obstacle P collides against the bumper member 21, and where the collision occurs.
The sensing information of the sensor 32 is provided to the control unit 40, and the control unit 40 controls the driving unit 11 using the sensing information. If the collision information of the bumper member 32 and the obstacle P is transferred to the control unit 40, the control unit 40 controls a driving direction of the driving unit 11 to move robot main body 10 and its affiliated structures from the colliding position with the obstacle P.
If the collision information of the obstacle P is transferred to the control unit 40, then the control unit 40 controls not only the driving unit 11 but also the cleaning unit 12 such that the cleaning operation may be stopped until the robot main body 10 avoids the obstacle P.
If the robot main body 10 avoids the obstacle P by the control unit 40 and the bumper member 21 is at the cleaning position, the control unit 40 directs a re-performance of cleaning while the robot main body 10 runs along a predetermined path.
As described above, the sensor unit 30 of a joystick type senses movement of the bumper member 21 moving when the obstacle and the bumper unit 20 collide against each other according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the robot main body 10 having simple structure may sense and control collision against the obstacle P without the need for complex control structures. As a result, fabricating a cleaning robot 1 is less costly.
Because bumper unit 21 is constructed to have a smooth finish, the appearance of the cleaning robot 1 is improved. Additionally, a protection member of an elastic material to protect a bumper member 22 by the bumper unit 21 is provided such that damage by collision with obstacles may be prevented.
The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatus. Also, the description of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
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