This disclosure relates to robotic cleaning systems, and more particularly to systems, apparatus and methods for removing debris from cleaning robots.
Autonomous cleaning robots are robots which can perform desired cleaning tasks, such as vacuum cleaning, in unstructured environments without continuous human guidance. Many kinds of cleaning robots are autonomous to some degree and in different ways. For example, an autonomous cleaning robot may be designed to automatically dock with a base station for the purpose of emptying its cleaning bin of vacuumed debris.
In one aspect of the present disclosure, a robot floor cleaning system features a mobile floor cleaning robot and an evacuation station. The robot includes: a chassis with at least one drive wheel operable to propel the robot across a floor surface; a cleaning bin disposed within the robot and arranged to receive debris ingested by the robot during cleaning; and a robot vacuum including a motor and a fan connected to the motor and configured to generate a flow of air to pull debris into the cleaning bin from an opening on an underside of the robot. The evacuation station is configured to evacuate debris from the cleaning bin of the robot, and includes: a housing defining a platform arranged to receive the cleaning robot in a position in which the opening on the underside of the robot aligns with a suction opening defined in the platform; and an evacuation vacuum in fluid communication with the suction opening and operable to draw air into the evacuation station housing through the suction opening. The floor cleaning robot may further include a one-way air flow valve disposed within the robot and configured to automatically close in response to operation of the vacuum of the evacuation station. The air flow valve may be disposed in an air passage connecting the robot vacuum to the interior of the cleaning bin.
In some embodiments, the air flow valve is located within the robot such that, with the air flow valve in a closed position, the fan is substantially sealed from the interior of the cleaning bin.
In some embodiments, operation of the evacuation vacuum causes a reverse airflow to pass through the cleaning bin, carrying dirt and debris from the cleaning bin, through the suction opening, and into the housing of the evacuation station.
In some embodiments, the cleaning bin includes: at least one opening along a wall of the cleaning bin; and a sealing member mounted to the wall of the cleaning bin in alignment with the at least one opening. In some examples, the at least one opening includes one or more suction vents located along a rear wall of the cleaning bin. In some examples, the at least one opening includes an exhaust port located along a side wall of the cleaning bin proximate the robot vacuum. In some examples, the sealing member includes a flexible and resilient flap adjustable from a closed position to an open position in response to operation of the vacuum of the evacuation station. In some examples, the sealing member includes an elastomeric material.
In some embodiments, the robot further includes a cleaning head assembly disposed in the opening on the underside of the robot, the cleaning head including a pair of rollers positioned adjacent one another to form a gap therebetween. Thus, operation of the evacuation vacuum can cause a reverse airflow to pass from the cleaning bin to pass through the gap between the rollers.
In some embodiments, the evacuation station further includes a robot-compatibility sensor responsive to a metallic plate located proximate a base of the cleaning bin. In some examples, the robot-compatibility sensor includes an inductive sensing component.
In some embodiments, the evacuation station further includes: a debris canister detachably coupled to the housing for receiving debris carried by air drawn into the evacuation station housing by the evacuation vacuum through the suction opening, and a canister sensor responsive to the attachment and detachment of the debris canister to and from the housing. In some examples, the evacuation station further includes: at least one debris sensor responsive to debris entering the canister via air drawn into the evacuation station housing; and a controller coupled to the debris sensor, the controller configured to determine a fullness state of the canister based on feedback from the debris sensor. In some examples, the controller is configured to determine the fullness state as a percentage of the canister that is filled with debris.
In some embodiments, the evacuation station further includes: a motor-current sensor responsive to operation of the robot vacuum; and a controller coupled to the motor-current sensor, the controller configured to determine an operational state of a filter proximate the robot vacuum based on sensory feedback from the motor-current sensor.
In some embodiments, the evacuation station further includes a wireless communications system coupled to a controller, and configured to communicate information describing a status of the evacuation station to a mobile device.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of evacuating a cleaning bin of an autonomous floor cleaning robot includes the step of docking a mobile floor cleaning robot to a housing of an evacuation station. The mobile floor cleaning robot includes: a cleaning bin disposed within the robot and carrying debris ingested by the robot during cleaning; and a robot vacuum including a motor and a fan connected to the motor. The evacuation station includes: a housing defining a platform having a suction opening; and an evacuation vacuum in fluid communication with the suction opening and operable to draw air into the evacuation station housing through the suction opening. The method may further include the steps of: sealing the suction opening of the platform to an opening on an underside of the robot; drawing air into the evacuation station housing through the suction opening by operating the evacuation vacuum; and actuating a one-way air flow valve disposed within the robot to inhibit air from being drawn through the fan of the robot vacuum by operation of the evacuation vacuum.
In some embodiments, actuating the air flow valve includes pulling a flap of the valve in an upward pivoting motion via a suction force of the evacuation vacuum. In some examples, actuating the air flow valve further includes substantially sealing an air passage connecting the robot vacuum to the interior cleaning bin with the flap.
In some embodiments, drawing air into the evacuation station by operating the evacuation vacuum further includes drawing a reverse airflow through the robot, the reverse airflow carrying dirt and debris from the cleaning bin, through the suction opening, and into the housing of the evacuation station. In some examples, the robot further includes a cleaning head assembly disposed in the opening on the underside of the robot, the cleaning head including a pair of rollers positioned adjacent one another to form a gap therebetween. Thus, drawing a reverse airflow through the robot can include routing the reverse airflow from the cleaning bin to pass through the gap between the rollers.
In some embodiments, drawing air into the evacuation station by operating the evacuation vacuum further includes pulling a flap of a sealing member away from an opening along a wall of the cleaning bin via a suction force of the evacuation vacuum. In some examples, the opening includes one or more suction vents located along a rear wall of the cleaning bin. In some examples, the opening includes an exhaust port located along a side wall of the cleaning bin proximate the robot vacuum.
In some embodiments, the method further includes the steps of: monitoring a robot-compatibility sensor responsive to the presence of a metallic plate located proximate a base of the cleaning bin; and in response to detecting the presence of the metallic plate, initiating operation of the evacuation vacuum. In some examples, the robot-compatibility sensor includes an inductive sensing component.
In some embodiments, the method further includes the steps of: monitoring at least one debris sensor responsive to debris entering a detachable canister of the evacuation station via air drawn into the evacuation station housing to detect a fullness state of the canister; and in response to determining that the canister is substantially full based on the fullness state, inhibiting operation of the evacuation vacuum.
In some embodiments, the method further includes the steps of: monitoring a motor-current sensor responsive to operation of the robot vacuum to detect an operational state of a filter proximate the robot vacuum; and in response to determining that the filter is dirty, providing a visual indication of the operational state of the filter to a user via a communications system.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a mobile floor cleaning robot includes: a chassis with at least one drive wheel operable to propel the robot across a floor surface; a cleaning bin disposed within the robot and arranged to receive debris ingested by the robot during cleaning; a robot vacuum including a motor and a fan connected to the motor and configured to motivate air to flow along a flow path extending from an inlet on an underside of the robot, through the cleaning bin, to an outlet, thereby pulling debris through the inlet into the cleaning bin; and a one-way air flow valve disposed within the robot and configured to automatically close in response to air flow moving along the flow path from the outlet to the inlet.
In some embodiments, the air flow valve is located within the robot such that, with the air flow valve in a closed position, the fan is substantially sealed from the interior of the cleaning bin.
In some embodiments, the cleaning bin includes: at least one opening along a wall of the cleaning bin; and a sealing member mounted to the wall of the cleaning bin in alignment with the at least one opening. In some examples, the at least one opening includes one or more suction vents located along a rear wall of the cleaning bin. In some examples, the at least one opening includes an exhaust port located along a side wall of the cleaning bin proximate the robot vacuum. In some examples, the sealing member includes a flexible and resilient flap adjustable from a closed position to an open position in response to a suction force. In some examples, the sealing member includes an elastomeric material.
In some embodiments, the robot further includes a cleaning head assembly disposed in an opening on the underside of the robot, the cleaning head including a pair of rollers positioned adjacent one another to form a gap therebetween configured to receive a forward airflow carrying debris to the cleaning bin during cleaning operations of the robot and a reverse airflow carrying debris from the cleaning bin during evacuation operations of the robot.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a cleaning bin for use with a mobile robot includes: a frame attachable to a chassis of a mobile robot, the frame defining a debris collection cavity and including a vacuum housing and a rear wall having one or more suction vents; a vacuum sealing member coupled to the frame in an air passage proximate the vacuum housing, and an elongated sealing member coupled to the frame proximate the rear wall in alignment with the suction vents. The vacuum sealing member may include a flexible and resilient flap adjustable from an position to a closed position in response to a reverse suction airflow out of the cleaning bin. The elongated sealing member may include a flexible and resilient flap adjustable from a closed position to an open position in response to the reverse suction airflow.
In some embodiments, the cleaning bin further includes an auxiliary sealing member located along a side wall of the frame in alignment with an exhaust port proximate a lower portions of the vacuum housing. The auxiliary sealing member may be adjustable from a closed position to an open position in response to the reverse suction airflow.
In some embodiments, the vacuum housing is oriented at an oblique angle, such that an air intake of a robot vacuum supported within the vacuum housing is tilted relative to the air passage of the frame.
In some embodiments, the flexible and resilient flap of at least one of the vacuum sealing member and the elongated sealing member includes an elastomeric material.
In some embodiments, the flexible and resilient flap of the vacuum sealing member is located with the air passage such that, with the flap in a closed position, a fan of a robot vacuum supported within the vacuum housing is substantially sealed from the debris collection cavity.
In some embodiments, the cleaning bin further includes a passive roller mounted along a bottom surface of the frame.
In some embodiments, the cleaning bin further includes a bin detection system configured to sense an amount of debris present in the debris collection cavity, the bin detection system including at least one debris sensor coupled to a microcontroller.
Further details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
Similar reference numbers in different figures may indicate similar elements.
The evacuation station 200 includes a housing 202 and a removable debris canister 204. The housing 202 defines a platform 206 and a base 208 that supports the debris canister 204. As shown in
A cleaning head assembly 108 is located in a roller housing 109 coupled to a middle portion of the chassis 102. As shown in
Each of the front 110 and rear 112 rollers is rotatably driven by a brush motor 118 to dynamically lift (or “extract”) agitated debris from the floor surface. A robot vacuum (e.g., the robot vacuum 120 shown in see
In some embodiments, such as shown in
As described in detail below, a vacuum sealing member (e.g., the vacuum sealing member 186 shown in
Filtered air exhausted from the robot vacuum 120 is directed through an exhaust port 134 (see
Referring back to
Installed along either side of the chassis 102, bracketing a longitudinal axis of the roller housing 109, are independent drive wheels 142a, 142b that mobilize the robot 100 and provide two points of contact with the floor surface. The forward end 102a of the chassis 102 includes a non-driven, multi-directional caster wheel 144 which provides additional support for the robot 100 as a third point of contact with the floor surface.
A robot controller circuit 146 (depicted schematically) is carried by the chassis 102. The robot controller circuit 146 is configured (e.g., appropriately designed and programmed) to govern over various other components of the robot 100 (e.g., the rollers 110, 112, the side brush 140, and/or the drive wheels 142a, 142b). As one example, the robot controller circuit 146 may provide commands to operate the drive wheels 142a, 142b in unison to maneuver the robot 100 forward or backward. As another example, the robot controller circuit 146 may issue a command to operate drive wheel 142a in a forward direction and drive wheel 142b in a rearward direction to execute a clock-wise turn. Similarly, the robot controller circuit 146 may provide commands to initiate or cease operation of the rotating rollers 110, 112 or the side brush 140. For example, the robot controller circuit 146 may issue a command to deactivate or reverse bias the rollers 110, 112 if they become tangled. In some embodiments, the robot controller circuit 146 is designed to implement a suitable behavior-based-robotics scheme to issue commands that cause the robot 100 to navigate and clean a floor surface in an autonomous fashion. The robot controller circuit 146, as well as other components of the robot 100, may be powered by a battery 148 disposed on the chassis 102 forward of the cleaning head assembly 108.
The robot controller circuit 146 implements the behavior-based-robotics scheme based on feedback received from a plurality of sensors distributed about the robot 100 and communicatively coupled to the robot controller circuit 146. For instance, in this example, an array of proximity sensors 150 (depicted schematically) are installed along the periphery of the robot 110, including the front end bumper 106. The proximity sensors 150 are responsive to the presence of potential obstacles that may appear in front of or beside the robot 100 as the robot 100 moves in the forward drive direction. The robot 100 further includes an array of cliff sensors 152 installed along the forward end 102a of the chassis 102. The cliff sensors 152 are designed to detect a potential cliff, or flooring drop, forward of the robot 100 as the robot 100 moves in the forward drive direction. More specifically, the cliff sensors 152 are responsive to sudden changes in floor characteristics indicative of an edge or cliff of the floor surface (e.g., an edge of a stair). The robot 100 still further includes a bin detection system 154 (depicted schematically) for sensing an amount of debris present in the cleaning bin 122. As described in U.S. Patent Publication 2012/0291809 (the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference), the bin detection system 154 is configured to provide a bin-full signal to the robot controller circuit 146. In some embodiments, the bin detection system 154 includes a debris sensor (e.g., a debris sensor featuring at least one emitter and at least one detector) coupled to a microcontroller. The microcontroller can be configured (e.g., programmed) to determine the amount of debris in the cleaning bin 122 based on feedback from the debris sensor. In some examples, if the microcontroller determines that the cleaning bin 122 is nearly full (e.g., ninety or one-hundred percent full), the bin-full signal transmits from the microcontroller to the robot controller circuit 146. Upon receipt of the bin-full signal, the robot 100 navigates to the evacuation station 200 to empty debris from the cleaning bin 122. In some implementations, the robot 100 maps an operating environment during a cleaning run, keeping track of traversed areas and untraversed areas and stores a pose on the map at which the controller circuit 146 instructed the robot 100 to return to the evacuation station 200 for emptying. Once the cleaning bin 122 is evacuated, the robot 100 returns to the stored pose at which the cleaning routine was interrupted and resumes cleaning if the mission was not already complete prior to evacuation. In some implementations, the robot 100 includes at least on vision based sensor, such as a camera having a field of view optical axis oriented in the forward drive direction of the robot, for detecting features and landmarks in the operating environment and building a map using VSLAM technology.
Various other types of sensors, though not shown in the illustrated examples, may also be incorporated with the robot 100 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, a tactile sensor responsive to a collision of the bumper 106 and/or a brush-motor sensor responsive to motor current of the brush motor 118 may be incorporated in the robot 100.
A communications module 156 is mounted on the shell 104 of the robot 100. The communications module 156 is operable to receive signals projected from an emitter (e.g., the avoidance signal emitter 222a and/or the homing and alignment emitters 222b shown in
Turning next to
In some embodiments, an elongated sealing member 176, shown in
In some embodiments, an auxiliary sealing member 182, shown in
As noted above, a vacuum sealing member 186, can be installed in the air passage 132 leading to the intake 121 of the robot vacuum 120. (See
The spine 188 and flap 190 are coupled to one another via a flexible and resilient base 191. In the example of
Turning next to
In some implementations, such as shown in
The housing 202 of the evacuation station, including the platform 206 and the base 208, includes internal ductwork (not shown) for routing air and debris evacuated from the robot's cleaning bin 122 to the evacuation station debris canister 204. The base 208 also houses the evacuation vacuum 212 (see
Turning back to
As shown in
In some examples, the station controller circuit 230 is configured to initiate operation of the evacuation vacuum 212 in response to a signal received from the robot-compatibility sensor 218. Further, in some examples, the station controller circuit 230 is configured to cease or prevent operation of the evacuation vacuum 212 in response to a signal received from the canister detection system 228 indicating that the debris canister 204 is nearly or completely full. Further still, in some examples, the station controller circuit 230 is configured to cease or prevent operation of the evacuation vacuum 212 in response to a signal received from the motor sensor 226 indicating a motor current of the evacuation vacuum 212. The station controller circuit 230 may deduce an operational state of the vacuum filter 221 based on the motor-current signal. As noted above, if the signal indicates an abnormally high motor current, the station controller circuit 230 may determine that the vacuum filter 221 is dirty and needs to be cleaned or replaced before the evacuation vacuum 212 can be reactivated.
In some examples, the station controller circuit 230 is configured to operate the wireless communications system 227 to communicate information describing a status of the evacuation station 200 to a suitable mobile device (e.g., the mobile device 300 shown in
In the example depicted at
While a number of examples have been described for illustration purposes, the foregoing description is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. There are and will be other examples and modifications within the scope of the following claims.
Further, the use of terminology such as “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “above,” and “below” throughout the specification and claims is for describing the relative positions of various components of the disclosed system(s), apparatus and other elements described herein. Similarly, the use of any horizontal or vertical terms to describe elements is for describing relative orientations of the various components of the system and other elements described herein. Unless otherwise stated explicitly, the use of such terminology does not imply a particular position or orientation of the system or any other components relative to the direction of the Earth gravitational force, or the Earth ground surface, or other particular position or orientation that the system(s), apparatus other elements may be placed in during operation, manufacturing, and transportation.
This application is a continuation application of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 15/687,119, filed on Aug. 25, 2017, which is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 14/566,243, filed on Dec. 10, 2014, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
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Parent | 15687119 | Aug 2017 | US |
Child | 16564519 | US | |
Parent | 14566243 | Dec 2014 | US |
Child | 15687119 | US |