Patent Application
20120109378
The present invention relates to a robot refrigerator capable of avoiding an obstacle according to a remote control signal of a wireless communication device and easily moving around.
In general, a refrigerator is a device for keeping storage items such as food, beverage, and the like, in storage for a long period of time, and refrigerating or freezing storage items according to their types desired to be kept in storage.
The refrigerator operates according to driving of a compressor provided therein. Cooling air provided to the interior of the refrigerator is generated according to a heat exchange operation of a refrigerant and continuously provided to the interior of the refrigerator according to a repeated cycling operation of compression-condensation-expansion-evaporation. The provided refrigerant is evenly transferred to the interior of the refrigerator according to a convection current to allow the food items within the refrigerator to be kept at a desired temperature.
Recently, consumers demand for refrigerators that may provide a great utilization efficiency of the storage space capable of storing various storage items that change according to the elevation of the standard of living, as well as the conventional cooling efficiency, is increasing. Also, demand for various additional functions improving user convenience is increasing. For example, users are becoming interested in a robot refrigerator including a robot technique. Namely, users who want to use a refrigerator show an interest in the technique of moving and using a refrigerator by using a remote controller.
The related art fixed refrigerator has a problem in that when the user wants to use the refrigerator, he must move up to the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, in the related art robot refrigerator, when the robot refrigerator is placed at area unseen or when the robot refrigerator is located at a remote area, the user cannot observe a movement path of the refrigerator, the refrigerator s movement is blocked and time for the robot refrigerator to move to the user is delayed.
Therefore, in order to address the above matters, the various features described herein have been conceived.
An aspect of the present invention provides a robot refrigerator that can be remotely controlled.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a robot refrigerator capable of generating image information from a surrounding image and transmitting the generated image information to a wireless communication device to allow the wireless communication device to remotely control the movement of the robot refrigerator, and a robot refrigerator system including the same.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a robot cleaner capable of transmitting a surrounding image in real time to a wireless communication device to allow the wireless communication device to monitor and remotely control the robot refrigerator in real time, and a robot refrigerator system including the same.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot refrigerator including: a main body having a storage space therein and wheels disposed at a lower portion thereof; a first control unit configured to transmit status information to an external device and control the operation of the main body based on a remote control signal from the external device; and a second control unit configured to generate image information from a surrounding image and transmit the generated image information to the external device. The robot refrigerator may further include: a running motor provided in the main body and rotating the wheels to move the main body; and a lifting motor provided in the main body and lifting or lowering the storage space.
The first control unit may include: a running motor driving unit configured to drive the running motor based on the remote control signal; a lifting motor driving unit configured to drive the lifting motor; a cooling unit configured to adjust the temperature in the interior of the storage space; and a first communication unit configured to transmit the status information to the external device.
The second control unit may include: an image processing unit configured to process the surrounding image to generate image information; and a second communication unit configured to transmit the image information to the external device. In this case, the remote control signal may be generated based on the image information.
The robot refrigerator may further include: an obstacle detection unit configured to detect a nearby obstacle, wherein the first control unit determines whether to move the robot refrigerator according to the presence or absence of an obstacle. The robot refrigerator may further include: a power unit connected to an external power source so as to be charged, and supplying power when the robot refrigerator is moving.
The main body may include: an output unit configured to output a current status of the robot refrigerator to the exterior; and an input unit configured to directly receive a command from the exterior.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot refrigerator system including: a robot refrigerator having a storage space therein and wheels provided at a lower portion thereof, transmitting current status information and image information according to a surrounding image, and moving based on a remote control signal; and a wireless communication device configured to generate the remote control signal based on the current status information and the image information of the robot refrigerator and transmit the remote control signal to control the robot refrigerator.
The robot refrigerator may include: a running motor rotating the wheels to move the main body; a lifting motor lifting or lowering the storage space; a running motor driving unit configured to drive the running motor based on the remote control signal; a lifting motor driving unit configured to drive the lifting motor; a cooling unit configured to adjust the temperature in the interior of the storage space; a first communication unit configured to transmit the status information to the wireless communication unit; and a second communication unit configured to transmit the image information to the wireless communication unit. The first communication unit may perform transmission and reception through Bluetooth™. The second communication unit performs transmission and reception through Wi-Fi. The robot refrigerator may further include: an obstacle detection unit configured to detect a nearby obstacle. The robot refrigerator may further include: a power unit connected to an external power source so as to be charged, and supplying power when the robot refrigerator is moving.
The robot refrigerator system may further include: a power supply unit connected with the robot refrigerator, supplying power to the robot refrigerator from an external power source, or charging the power unit. The power supply unit may include: a location signal generation unit configured to transmit an induction signal for inducing the robot refrigerator to return.
The wireless communication unit may include: a third communication unit configured to receive the status information from the robot refrigerator and transmitting the remote control signal to the robot refrigerator; and a fourth communication unit configured to receive the image information from the robot refrigerator. The third communication unit may perform transmission and reception through Bluetooth™. The fourth communication unit may perform transmission and reception through Wi-Fi. The wireless communication device may further include: a display unit configured to display the received status information and image information.
The wireless communication device may be one of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a smartphone.
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, because the robot refrigerator can be remotely controlled, users can easily use the refrigerator.
Also, because the robot refrigerator generates image information from a surrounding image and transmits the generated image information to a wireless communication device, and the wireless communication device remotely controls the robot refrigerator, so that the robot refrigerator can easily avoid an obstacle to thus minimize a movement time of the robot refrigerator. Thus, user convenience and system reliability can be improved.
In addition, because the robot refrigerator transmits the surrounding image to the wireless communication device in real time, real time monitoring and remote controlling can be performed.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A robot refrigerator according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
Here, a remote controller may be used as the external device. In particular, a wireless communication device may be used as the external device, and in this case, the wireless communication device may be one of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a smartphone.
The robot refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may further include a running motor 111 provided in the main body 110 and rotating the wheels to move the main body 110, and a lifting motor 112 provided in the main body 110 and lifting or lowering the storage space.
A direct current (DC) motor is generally used as the running motor 111. The running motor 111 moves the main body 110 of the robot refrigerator to a user desired location.
The robot refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may further include a running motor driving unit 121 configured to drive the running motor based on the remote control signal, a lifting motor driving unit 122 configured to drive the lifting motor based on the remote control signal, a cooling unit 124 configured to adjust the temperature in the interior of the storage space, and a first communication unit 125 configured to transmit the status information to the external device. In addition, the robot refrigerator may further include an overcurrent detection unit 123 configured to detect an overcurrent when the running motor 111 and the lifting motor 112 are driven, to thereby protect the unit.
The running motor driving unit 121 drives the running motor 111 according to a remote control signal from the external device to move the main body 110 of the robot refrigerator to a user desired location. The lifting motor driving unit 122 drives the lifting motor according to a remote control signal or a direct input command applied to the input unit 116 in order to allow the user to easily select a storage item or store an item within the refrigerator.
The cooling unit 124 includes a relay and a driving unit for driving the relay to refrigerate or freezing storage items within the refrigerator.
The second control unit 130 includes an image processing unit 131 configured to process the surrounding image to generate image information, and a second communication unit 132 configured to transmit the image information to the external device. In this case, the remote control signal may be generated based on the image information or based on the image information and the status information. Namely, the surrounding image acquired through an image sensor 114 provided in the main body 110 of the refrigerator is processed by the image processing unit 131 to generate the image information, and the image information is transmitted to the external device through the second communication unit 132.
The robot refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may further include an obstacle detection unit 113 configured to detect a nearby obstacle, and the first control unit 120 determines whether to move the robot refrigerator according to the presence or absence of an obstacle. Also, the robot refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may further include a power unit 115 connected to an external power source, namely, a power supply unit 300, so as to be charged, and supplying power when the robot refrigerator is moving. An infrared sensor, a radio frequency (RF) sensor, a supersonic sensor, and the like, may be used as the obstacle detection unit 113. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the robot refrigerator moves according to a remote control signal corresponding to the image information transmitted through the second control unit 130, when the robot refrigerator receives no remote control signal, or when the robot refrigerator cannot transmit image information, the robot refrigerator may directly detect an obstacle, avoiding the detected obstacle, and move along.
The main body 110 may further include an output unit 117 configured to output a current status of the robot refrigerator to the exterior, and an input unit 116 configured to directly receive a command from the exterior.
The input unit 116 may be configured as a receiving unit for receiving the remote control signal from the external device, a plurality of buttons for allowing the user to directly input an instruction therewith, or the like. The output unit 117 may include a display unit such as a light emitting diode (LED), a liquid crystal display (LCD), and the like, for displaying a current state of the refrigerator or displaying information regarding whether or not the remote control signal has been received.
The robot refrigerator system and its operation according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
First, with reference to
Here, the robot refrigerator includes a running motor 111 rotating the wheels to move the main body, a lifting motor 112 lifting or lowering the storage space, a running motor driving unit 121 configured to drive the running motor based on the remote control signal, a lifting motor driving unit 122 configured to drive the lifting motor based on the remote control signal or according to a direct input command from an input unit (to be described), a cooling unit 124 configured to adjust the temperature in the interior of the storage space, a first communication unit 125 configured to transmit the status information to the wireless communication unit, and a second communication unit 132 configured to transmit the image information to the wireless communication unit. Here, the first communication unit 125 performs transmission and reception through a small capacity radio data communication unit, e.g., Bluetooth™ and the second communication unit 132 performs transmission and reception through a large capacity radio data communication unit, e.g., Wi-Fi. The robot refrigerator further includes an obstacle detection unit configured to detect a nearby obstacle. In addition, the robot refrigerator may further include a power unit 115 connected to an external power source, namely, a power supply unit 300 (to be described), so as to be charged, and supplying power when the robot refrigerator is moving.
The robot refrigerator 100 may be operated through a single microcomputer or the like, or according to circumstances, the robot refrigerator 100 may include a first control unit configured to transmit status information to the wireless communication device 200 and control the operation of the main body based on a remote control signal from the wireless communication device 200, and a second control unit configured to generate image information from a surrounding image and transmit the generated image information to the wireless communication device 200. In the latter case, the first control unit transmits status information of the main body 110, namely, an inner temperature of the refrigerator, ambient temperature, the amount of storage items, a remaining battery capacity, and the like, to the wireless communication device 200 and receives a remote control signal from the wireless communication device 200. Also, the second control unit 130 captures an ambient image to generate image information and transmits the generated image information to the wireless communication device 200. In this case, the robot refrigerator and the wireless communication device 200 are connected in real time, so the surroundings of the robot refrigerator can be monitored and the robot refrigerator can be moved in real time according to a remote control signal from the wireless communication device 200.
A direct current (DC) motor is generally used as the running motor 111. The running motor 111 moves the main body 110 of the robot refrigerator to a user desired location.
The running motor driving unit 121 drives the running motor 111 according to a remote control signal from the wireless communication device 200 to move the main body 110 of the robot refrigerator to a user desired location. The lifting motor driving unit 122 drives the lifting motor according to a remote control signal or a direct input command in order to allow the user to easily select a storage item or store an item within the refrigerator.
The cooling unit 124 includes a relay and a driving unit for driving the relay to refrigerate or freezing storage items within the refrigerator.
Namely, the surrounding image acquired through an image sensor 114 provided in the main body 110 of the refrigerator is processed by the image processing unit 131 to generate the image information, and the image information is transmitted to the external device through the second communication unit 132.
The robot refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may further include an obstacle detection unit 113 configured to detect a nearby obstacle, and whether to move the robot refrigerator is determined according to the presence or absence of an obstacle. Also, the robot refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may further include a power unit 115 connected to an external power source, namely, a power supply unit 300, so as to be charged, and supplying power when the robot refrigerator is moving. An infrared sensor, a radio frequency (RF) sensor, a supersonic sensor, and the like, may be used as the obstacle detection unit 113. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the robot refrigerator moves according to a remote control signal corresponding to the image information transmitted through the second control unit 130, when the robot refrigerator receives no remote control signal, or when the robot refrigerator cannot transmit image information, the robot refrigerator may directly detect an obstacle, avoiding the detected obstacle, and move along.
The main body 110 may further include an output unit 117 configured to output a current status of the robot refrigerator to the exterior, and an input unit 116 configured to directly receive a command from the exterior.
The input unit 116 may be configured as a receiving unit for receiving the remote control signal from the external device, a plurality of buttons for allowing the user to directly input an instruction therewith, or the like. The output unit 117 may include a display unit such as a light emitting diode (LED), a liquid crystal display (LCD), and the like, for displaying a current state of the refrigerator or displaying information regarding whether or not the remote control signal has been received.
With reference to
The wireless communication unit 200 includes a third communication unit 210 configured to receive the status information from the robot refrigerator and transmitting the remote control signal to the robot refrigerator, and a fourth communication unit 220 configured to receive the image information from the robot refrigerator.
Here, the third communication unit 210 performs transmission and reception through a small capacity radio data communication unit, e.g., Bluetooth™, and the fourth communication unit 220 performs transmission and reception through a relatively large capacity radio data communication unit, e.g., Wi-Fi. Also, the wireless communication device 200 further includes a display unit 240 configured to display the received status information and image information. Also, the wireless communication device 200 may further include a remote control unit 230 configured to generate a remote control signal based on the image information or based on the image information and the status information and transmit the generated remote control signal.
In the robot refrigerator system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication device 200 may be one of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a smartphone.
The operation of the robot refrigerator system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
When the robot refrigerator 100 reaches a destination according to the remote controlling by the wireless communication device 200 (S170), the robot refrigerator 100 stops to supply a storage item to the user (S180).
Meanwhile, when the remote control signal is a return signal (S112), for example, when the remaining battery capacity, among the status information of the robot refrigerator 100, is smaller than a certain level, a current location of the robot refrigerator is determined (S191). When the robot refrigerator is connected with the power supply unit according to the determination result (S192), the robot refrigerator performs a charging operation (S193), and when the robot refrigerator is not connected with the power supply unit, the robot refrigerator is retuned to the power supply unit.
As so far described, the robot refrigerator and the robot refrigerator system including the same according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention have the following advantages. That is, the refrigerator can be moved to the user location through remote controlling, so the user can easily use the refrigerator. Also, when the robot refrigerator is on the move, image information is received in real time to allow the robot refrigerator to avoid an obstacle, so the robot refrigerator can quickly reach the user location.
As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2009-0072425 | Aug 2009 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR10/05181 | 8/6/2010 | WO | 00 | 1/9/2012 |
