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(11) | EP 3 831 264 B1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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| (54) |
CLEANING ROBOT AND DRIVING METHOD THEREOF REINIGUNGSROBOTER UND VERFAHREN ZU DESSEN ANTRIEB ROBOT DE NETTOYAGE ET SON MODE DE FONCTIONNEMENT |
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| Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). |
[0001] The invention relates to a cleaning robot, comprising:
at least a driving unit of the said robot for moving it according to a certain path within a work environment;
said driving unit comprising:
at least one position sensor of said vehicle in said environment;
at least one representation map of said environment, stored in a memory;
a processing unit which, depending on the signals of the position sensor, defines the position of said robot on said map, and which traces the path travelled by said robot and calculates the path that said robot still has to travel in said environment or at least a part of said path;
said processing unit generating steering controls of said vehicle unit corresponding to the actual position detected by the sensors and to the path or to said part of path still to be travelled, which are calculated by the processing unit;
at least one energy accumulator provided on board said robot, i.e. in particular a battery.
[0002] Current robots are designed to operate in two ways. In one case it is the operator who drives the system according to his experience and what he sees happening in the work environment. In this case it is possible that the operator travels on board the robot or alternatively maneuvers it from the ground.
[0003] An alternative operating mode is the automatic one, in which the robot moves autonomously in an environment on the basis of a map of the environment and of position and orientation data detected by on-board sensors. In this specific case, there are significant drawbacks in the presence of moving obstacles in the work environment. The major drawback consists in the fact of having frequent stops in the advancement of the robot which contribute to considerably reducing the battery life of the robot itself.
[0004] In both cases, the one of manual steering and the one of automatic steering, there is the problem of not having a planning of the work tasks to be performed. These are established thanks to real-time detections of the conditions around the robot and the robot reacts according to these conditions and to the presence or absence of obstacles.
[0005] In addition, both in manual and autonomous steering modes, the trajectories to be followed to cover the entire area to be treated of the working environment are not optimized in order to ensure that productivity is maximized. This productivity is typically measured in square meters treated per unit of time (hours).
[0006] Furthermore, in most cleaning robots, the trajectories are defined according to the cleaning technology of the robot, but not according to optimizing the treatment efficiency of the areas to be cleaned.
[0007] Another drawback of the known robots consists in the fact that the trajectories, that is the paths of the robot cannot be updated in real time, so that in the presence of unforeseen obstacles, such as for example a greater crowding of an area with moving obstacles, avoiding areas where these unexpected obstacles are present slows down operations and contribute to a reduction in the battery life of the robot.
[0008] According to yet another aspect, the robots of the known art operate on the basis of navigation systems that are imprecise and require a high computational burden both in terms of time and in terms of energy consumption. The range of the currently existing detection sensors does not allow to accurately detect the position of the robot, in particular in very large environments such as airport halls, hospitals, schools or similar environments.
[0009] This results in considerable difficulty and in some cases in an impossibility of correcting the robot's drifts with respect to pre-established trajectories or paths.
[0010] As for the creation of the maps necessary for navigation, these maps are acquired by the robot system itself and require high detection times and specialized technicians. Furthermore, even the changes to the maps require a long time and the need to work with specialized technicians. This makes the use of the robot impractical and less attractive for users.
[0011] Document US2016008982A1 describes a self-propelled robot, mobile to carry out actions autonomously which has the characteristics of the preamble of the independent claim. The robot includes a drive module to move the robot along a floor surface; a processing module for carrying out activities during a processing phase; at least one sensor module for detecting information relating to the structure of the surrounding environment; a detector module configured to detect a movement of the robot before or during the processing phase. In addition, the robot includes a navigation module configured to guide the robot over the floor area during the work phase using a map of the surroundings, to store and manage one or more maps of the surroundings and to perform a self-positioning process if the detector module has detected a movement of the robot. During the self-positioning process, the presence and position of the robot within the stored maps are detected.
[0012] Document CN110 353 573 describes a method for detecting a cleaning robot, a cleaning robot, a processing device and a storage medium. The method foresees the fact that in the absence of a trigger signal a preset period of time is started and the movement of the robot within the said preset time period is null. Furthermore, the method provides for determining the coordinates of the current position in the work environment; Using the position coordinates as the center in the presence of an obstacle in the work environment, a virtual obstacle is generated in an environmental map and a driving path is planned according to the environmental map.
[0013] With reference to the aforementioned drawbacks of the cleaning robots according to the state of the art, the purpose of the invention is to provide a robot of the type described at the beginning which allows to overcome said drawbacks ensuring greater effectiveness of the cleaning treatment in combination with a longer duration of the on-board batteries and therefore a greater operating autonomy.
[0014] The invention achieves the above mentioned aims wit a cleaning robot, comprising:
a motorised vehicle unit for moving the robot in a work environment;
at least one cleaning implement intended to operate on a surface to be treated;
at least one driving unit of said robot for moving it according to a certain path within a work environment;
said driving unit comprising:
at least one position sensor of said vehicle in said environment;
at least one representation map of said environment, stored in a memory;
a processing unit which, depending on the signals of the position sensor, defines the position of said robot on said map, and which traces the path travelled by said robot and calculates the path that said robot still has to travel in said environment or at least a part of said path;
said processing unit generating steering controls of said vehicle unit corresponding to the actual position detected by the sensors and to the path or to said part of path still to be travelled, which are calculated by the processing unit;
at least one energy accumulator provided on board said robot, i.e. in particular a battery,
while the said robot further comprises in combination
a separate acquiring unit to acquire a map of the work environment, placed in remote position or on board the robot,
said map of the work environment comprising the detection of the recording of the arrangement and/or density and/or dynamics of obstacles present in said work environment,
and, optionally, also the recording of the hourly variations of the arrangement and/or density and/or dynamics of obstacles present in said work environment,
said map of the work environment being subjected to a processing for generating a plurality of different paths of the robot for carrying out the cleaning activities, which paths are determined depending on the map of the work environment, on the arrangement and/or density and/or dynamics of the obstacles present in said work environment, optionally of the hourly variations of said obstacles and depending on the cleaning activities to be carried out, said paths that minimize the execution time of the cleaning activities in said environment and, optionally, also maximize the quality of the cleaning activities being selected for use,
said separate unit providing one or more different communication interfaces with the driving unit of the robot and said driving unit providing at least one memory for loading said maps and/or one or more of said paths, while the driving unit processor determines the steering and movement controls of the robot based on one or more of said paths and/or of one or more of said maps.
[0015] Thanks to this feature, the maps of the robot's working environments are prepared in a phase prior to the commissioning of the robot and loaded onto it. Such preventive processing operations can be performed in various ways which can be chosen in combination or alternatively with each other.
[0016] According to an embodiment, the map or maps are in the form of files stored on mobile memory media and can be loaded into the robot memory by reading said mobile memory media, such as for example USB flash drives, CD ROMs, CD RAMs, DVD ROMs. , DVD RAM or similar.
[0017] A variant embodiment alternatively provides for the possibility of uploading the files representing the map or maps from a remote server or from a cloud, the robot being provided with a wireless or wired communication unit.
[0018] A possible alternative is the generation of digital maps directly from paper supports, ie from maps drawn on paper.
[0019] A further alternative may instead provide for the acquisition of maps through the use of devices that physically detect the boundaries and delimitation elements of the work environment as well as the obstacles present in it such as walls, stairs etc. etc. and who reconstruct a map from these measurements. These devices are provided on board the robot and constitute the map acquisition unit.
[0020] A further alternative can be constituted by the combination of these two variants, in which the part of the architectural configuration of the environment being acquired from paper maps of the said environment and in which instead stationary obstacles, but not fixed, such as furniture and other removable obstacles present being detected by a measurement.
[0021] For on-site detection of the work environment it is possible to use a system separate from the robot and specially configured for the detection and measurement operation. Alternatively, the same robot can be equipped with detection and measurement units that are used in a phase prior to that of carrying out the cleaning operations.
[0022] Said preventive processing therefore produces a collection of maps of the areas to be treated which consists of different layers, each of which is dedicated to the representation of different characteristics of the work environment. A base layer, for example, contains the architectural configurations of the working environment, a further layer contains information relating to stationary but removable obstacles that are not part of the building structure. An additional layer contains, for example, information on moving obstacles, on their paths and on the density of these moving obstacles and/or their distribution over the area of the working environment.
[0023] According to an embodiment of the present invention, maps of the working environment are generated by providing for a subdivision of the work area into smaller sub-areas, the set of these sub-areas constitutes the entire area of that working environment, each sub-area being crossed by at least one preferably a plurality of different work paths of the said robot which paths come from at least one adjacent sub-area and lead to at least one additional adjacent sub-area.
[0024] Again, according to an embodiment, such a subdivision can be made in a layer to be combined with the various layers that make up the map of the working environment.
[0025] The preventive processing activity therefore also involves the definition of the trajectories or paths of the robot within the working environment and therefore of each sub-area when a division in sub-areas is planned.
[0026] According to an embodiment, the sub-areas can consist of simplified areas that do not consider details such as architectural configurations, architectural barriers or obstacles that would require onerous and very difficult operations to perform by the robot, while the remaining areas with the most complex characteristics are characterized as areas whose cleaning must be carried out manually by an operator or team.
[0027] The construction of the sub-areas can also provide for an additional subdivision into modular surface units which can then be used to construct the areas in which the working environment is divided.
[0028] In this case, each unit area can include a route segment, preferably several alternative segments of the route that cross it to each of the possible adjacent area units and thanks to which it is possible to easily reconstruct a trajectory or a robot handling path that guarantees both maximum efficiency and the certain treatment of the entire surface to be cleaned.
[0029] According to an embodiment, it is possible to provide that at least one or at least part or all of the sub-areas, or the modular surface units, are identified by at least one descriptive parameter of the condition of circulation difficulty and/or execution of the cleaning operations of said sub-area by the robot, being at least some sub-areas defined as impractical for cleaning by the said robot and designated as sub-areas intended for manual cleaning only.
[0030] An executive variant of the aforementioned embodiment may provide that the work environment and/or each sub-area thereof and/or each surface unit that makes up the said sub-areas is characterized by one or more of the parameters chosen from the following list:
the presence of mobile and/or immobile stationary obstacles, their arrangement and their extension and shape, said obstacles being represented on a specifically provided layer of the representation map of said working environment;
the presence of mobile obstacles in the work environment and/or one or more sub-areas also in relation to the temporal variation of said presence of said obstacles, of the density and of the paths along which said obstacles move with reference to time cycles recurring at regular intervals or statistically distributed over time;
[0031] The architectural conformation of the work environment and/or of one or more sub areas of the work environment such as architectural barriers or the like with reference to the robot vehicle's ability to move.
[0032] Still according to a further characteristic, the work area and/or the sub-work areas and/or the surface units that compose them are associated with parameters indicating the methods or conditions of use of the same.
[0033] The subdivision into sub-areas and the determination of the trajectories or paths is performed using an algorithm that maximizes productivity or that maximizes the treated area per unit of time typically expressed in square meters/h, that is, square meters/hour.
[0034] It is possible to foresee several substantially equivalent trajectories for each sub-work area and for each surface unit there may be multiple trajectories that allow access to different adjacent surface units in an optimal way.
[0035] According to a further characteristic, the determination of the trajectories, that is of the paths takes place alternatively or in combination with the maximization of productivity in square meters per hour also according to the different types of treatment and minimizing the modification interventions of machining tools suitable for the specific treatment.
[0036] According to a still further characteristic, which can be provided in any combination with one or more of the characteristics, variants and embodiments described above, the trajectories and paths as well as the associated sub-areas and/or the modular surface units, allow to be further characterized by one or more specific work tasks that must be performed on said sub-area and/or on said surface unit.
[0037] It should be noted that in this case the variant that provides modular surface units can also provide for the generation of a database of paths or trajectories on each surface unit and a database of possible tasks that the cleaning robot is able to perform, whereby the modular surface units can be pre-built according to the different possible combinations of paths or trajectories and of one or more tasks to be performed on them and can simply be recalled from a collection of said pre-built modular surface units.
[0038] Said modular surface units are in the form of digital configuration data files and are therefore each stored in a memory, for example in the form of a record of a database of possible modular surface units characterized by specific paths or specific trajectories and by specific combinations of tasks to be performed on them.
[0039] The definition of cleaning tasks along the trajectories and/or paths according to one or more of the variants or executive forms described above is also carried out in the preliminary processing phase, for example on a remote server or in the cloud.
[0040] According to a further embodiment for the determination of these tasks, it is possible to acquire information relating to the use of the environment. From these it is then determined which tasks are necessary for cleaning the environment itself. This applies both to the entire environment and to any sub-areas into which it is divided, as well as to the modular surface units when required.
[0041] Also in this case it is possible to provide modular surface units already pre-configured on the basis of a list of standard uses.
[0042] According to yet another feature, the definition of the work tasks to be performed on the area of the work environment and/or on one or more of the sub-areas and/or on one or more of the modular surface units, is determined according to of one or more further parameters such as:
personal work shifts and/or opening/closing of commercial establishments that may be present in the work environment and/or usual paths of mobile obstacles, such as users and/or employees of companies that are present in the said work environment and in operation timetable.
[0043] In special cases, such as in the case of special events that cause flows of moving obstacles, such as people or vehicles, it is possible to determine the work tasks also according to the time, such as that of the lunch break, that of closing and opening of businesses or companies present in the workplace. In the case of naval or airport stations or terminals it is also possible to determine the work tasks according to the arrival and departure times of the means of transport.
[0044] The work tasks are then determined according to the data collected. This determination can take place thanks to a processing in a remote station which is followed by the transmission of the tasks to the robot for their execution. Alternatively, the said processing for the determination of the work tasks can take place on board the robot and be sent to a remote monitoring station which receives both the work task determined by the said local processing on the robot and the conditions of the reference environment on the the basis of which the work task was determined by said processing.
[0045] Thanks to the determination of the trajectories or paths of the robot in the sub-areas or in the modular surface units, the calculation burden of the robot is considerably simplified to decide which areas to clean according to the detection of obstacles.
[0046] Thanks to the dynamic determination through sensors of the presence of obstacles and position sensors suitable for large spaces, it is possible to calculate the crowding of an area also as a function of time. From these data it is possible to make decisions in relation to the succession of the work phases determined in the preliminary processing phase in the remote station or locally in the robot itself.
[0047] For example, if an area is too crowded, the robot's governance decision may include a change of direction, while if the area is not crowded, the planned processing continues. Furthermore, if, for example, the residual autonomy is reduced below a predetermined threshold, the workflow of the tasks is suspended and the robot can activate the reloading procedure, among which an embodiment may consist in the automatic return to a recharging station, such as a docking station when provided.
[0048] The docking station is not essential to the present invention and constitutes a configuration option of the cleaning system which can provide it in combination with the robot and with various functions.
[0049] As previously mentioned, the robot can perform a collection of data of the characteristics of the working environment, of one or more sub-areas of the same and/or of one or more modular surface units.
[0050] The data can be collected during the execution of one or more tasks and said data may include one or more of the following indications or measures:
moving obstacles; crowding of work areas; fixed obstacles in a position that does not correspond to the mapping; localization versus mapping; trajectories traveled; consumption of water and energy; residual autonomy of water and energy.
[0051] With reference to the communications between the remote unit for preventive processing and monitoring and the robot, according to an embodiment of the invention, the robot transmits to the remote unit information relating to the operations and/or tasks and/or surveys performed, such as for example one or more of the information in the following non-exhaustive list:
expected task; treated areas; residual untreated areas; untreated areas cause crowding; possible re-planning of areas still to be treated; areas where the difficulty of automated cleaning operations requires the direct intervention of an operator.
[0052] In addition to information relating to the workflow according to an embodiment, the robot can transmit to the remote unit the indications relating to parameters that describe the status of the robot itself, such as:
square meters treated, battery charging status, wear of components, in particular of cleaning tools or their parts, level of water and/or other fluids when provided in the corresponding tanks.
[0053] According to yet another variant embodiment, the robot or the remote pre-processing and monitoring unit can provide for the use of expert algorithms, that is capable of modifying themselves on the basis of historical data on the cleaning cycles performed.
[0054] In this case, the algorithms used to determine the paths and/or to determine the individual tasks and/or their order of execution in the workflow, can be predictive or statistical algorithms that modify the parameters of the functional on the basis of historical data each time used. Particular algorithms can be those for the non-analytical solution of the traveling salesman problem, such as for example neural networks and other predictive algorithms.
[0055] The invention also relates to a method for controlling a robot for carrying out cleaning treatments, which robot is made according to one or more of the previous embodiments and which method involves the following steps:
guiding the robot by generating command signals of the vehicle unit of the robot along at least a predetermined path which is defined in a map of the environment in which the said robot moves, being the position of the robot in relation to the said map and the said path determined thanks to the position signals of at least one position sensor,
said method being characterized in that the map is generated in a pre-processing step carried out with means for acquiring the map and defining paths other than the robot.
[0056] Further features of the robot and of the above method are the subject matter of the sub-claims.
[0057] The invention relates to further features which are the subject of the dependent claims and which will be described in the following detailed description of some non-limiting executive examples and in which:
Figure 1a shows a basic block diagram of an embodiment of a robot according to the present invention.
Figure 1b shows a basic block diagram of an embodiment of a remote station such as for example a remote control station associated with a user or a docking station.
Figure 2 shows a simplified schematic example of a work environment divided into sub-areas indicated by a rectangle extending over two modular surface units, while a modular surface unit has, by way of example, a plurality of standard alternative paths from which the definitive paths are built.
Figure 3 shows the work environment divided into units of modular surfaces similar to Figure 2 and to which a layer has been superimposed that includes stationary obstacles represented by geometric shapes and mobile obstacles represented by their paths by means of arrows.
Figure 4 shows the block diagram of the workflow of an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a block diagram of the workflow related to the construction of trajectories or preprocessing paths.
Figure 6 shows similarly to the previous figure 5 the workflow of an embodiment relating to the definition of tasks.
Figure 7 is a block diagram of an example of workflow related to the localization and dynamic re-planning of paths and tasks.
Figure 8 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a workflow example relating to the execution of a modular task.
[0058] Figure 1 shows a basic block diagram of an embodiment of a robot for cleaning according to the present invention. The person skilled in the art is able, without carrying out any inventive activity, to determine the possible executive variants which use devices, units and means currently known on the market and which therefore are to be considered obvious variants forming part of the common technical knowledge of the expert in the field.
[0059] In the block diagram of the figure 100 indicates the part of the vehicle present in any type of self-propelled robot and which generally comprises a frame to which there are rotatably fixed, according to at least one axis, preferably according to two perpendicular axes, at least three wheels, preferably more than three wheels which are placed at the vertices of at least one triangular figure being a first axis consisting of the axis of rotation of said wheels oriented in the direction of movement and of which the second further axis is perpendicular to said first axis, preferably vertical and it is the axis of oscillation of the wheels which has the purpose of allowing the movement of the frame along paths or sections of path that are arched, or curved.
[0060] At least one of the three wheels is rotationally driven by a motor which is preferably, but not limited to, an electric motor and is powered by a power supply unit 102, for example a battery or the like thanks to the control of a control unit 101. This unit furthermore controls the path along which the robot moves thanks to position and orientation sensors indicated globally with 106, in combination with a navigation software.
[0061] As will appear in greater detail in the following description, the vehicle control software is provided in combination with maps of the working environment and robot movement paths which are generated through a preventive data collection and a preventive processing and which are transmitted to the robot through the communication interface 113. The maps and paths are used in combination with the data measured by the position and orientation sensors to autonomously guide the robot along the work path and perform the required cleaning operations. The maps and routes as well as the operations to be performed in the various areas crossed by the route are stored in a memory of the robot to which they have been previously transmitted by the remote station.
[0062] With regard to the combination of position and orientation sensors and the navigation software, it is possible to provide any type of suitable sensor and it is possible to use any navigation software known at the filing date of this patent application.
[0063] In addition to the power supply unit 102 and the control unit 101, the frame of the vehicle unit 100 also carries a plurality of sensors for measuring chemical/physical quantities which can be considered the evaluation parameters thanks to which the system can provide improved functionality.
[0064] The illustrated embodiment relates to an example in which the robot has at least one or part or all the sensors selected from the following list or combinations of two or more of said sensors:
a sensor 106 for determining the position and orientation of the robot;
a position sensor in the environment 107;
a sensor 109 for measuring the quantity of dirt on the surfaces to be treated and a sensor relating to the specificity of the operating condition,
and a sensor for determining the type of surfaces to be treated indicated with 108.
[0065] The aforesaid sensors can be provided in any combination or sub-combination with each other and activated alternately or in combination with each other.
[0066] The measurement signals generated by the said one or more sensors 105 to 109 are supplied to the central control unit 101 which, by means of suitable control software 110 to 112, are processed by the said control unit 101, and information or data on the type of surfaces in the areas to be cleaned is extracted therefrom.
[0067] According to an exemplary embodiment, a vehicle control software indicated with 110 processes the signals from the navigators and determines the position on a map and the orientation of the device.
[0068] According to a further exemplary embodiment, the control unit 101 determines the type of tool and verifies that this is present in the database. In this case a first software 111 stored in a memory of the robot is executed by the control unit 101 and contains the instructions for determining the type of tool most suitable for carrying out a cleaning operation according to the measurement signals obtained from one or more of the sensors, in particular the sensors 108 and 109. These are respectively suitable for measuring the chemical/physical characteristics of the surfaces to be treated and the chemical/physical characteristics of the dirt to be removed from said surfaces, i.e. the quantity of these substances and possibly also the quality of these substances.
[0069] In relation to the chemical/physical characteristics of the surfaces to be treated, among the possible characteristics, the characteristics relating to the hardness and roughness of these surfaces resulted to be relevant.
[0070] As previously described, following the determination of whether or not the tool in use is suitable for treating a surface both in relation to its characteristics and in relation to the quantity and quality of the dirt present on said surface, it is possible to provide different reaction alternatives:
according to one embodiment, the robot is provided only with signaling means arranged on it and/or in a remote station, such as a remote control station, for example a mobile remote station associated with a user which receives the signals from the robot by means of a wireless transmission, said robot and said station being respectively provided with communication units.
[0071] In this case it is possible to foresee a replacement of the tool or of the tools which is/are active on the robot when the signaling reveals that these are not suitable for the conditions of the surface and/or the quantity and/or the quality of the substances that constitute the dirt present said surface.
[0072] Alternatively, one or more of the tools in use can have different operating configurations, so that instead of replacing it, it is only necessary to modify its operating configuration.
[0073] A variant embodiment, on the other hand, provides that the robot is provided with an automatic system for replacing or configuring the tools according to the measurement signals of the sensors 108 and 109.
[0074] In this embodiment variant it is advantageous to provide tool support members which are of the standard type and are all identical for said tools, as well as said coupling members are of the type that can be controlled in a stable condition of coupling of the tool and in a free condition of the tool from them.
[0075] Two alternatives can be envisaged for this variant embodiment. A first alternative provides a parking station, a so-called docking station for example provided, among other units, with an on-board battery recharging unit 102 with the corresponding contact interfaces present on the robot. Said parking station can be provided with a magazine for a plurality of different cleaning tools which can be mounted in place of the tools in use on the robot itself thanks to manipulators which take a tool from the robot freeing it from the coupling terminal and depositing it in a magazine of the parking station and which take a tool from the parking magazine and bring it into a condition of coupling with the coupling interface of the support members present on the robot.
[0076] The specific implementation solutions may be different from each other and their architecture and configuration depends on the contingent conditions, these solutions however falling within the choices between alternatives present in the state of the art and forming part of the common technical background of the expert in the field.
[0077] In Figure 1 the different alternatives are represented globally by the block indicated with 103.
[0078] According to a still further feature, the robot is provided in combination with at least one tank for at least one cleaning liquid as indicated by block 106. Said tank is mounted on the vehicle 100 and is provided in combination with a dispensing system controlled by the control unit 101 as regards the activation of the dispensers and the variation of the dispensing parameters such as for example the quantity of fluid and/or the pressure and/or the temperature.
[0079] When the cleaning fluid consists of a mixture of two or more substances, then the robot can be provided with a tank for each of the different substances to be mixed together and/or for at least part of these substances, being at least two of the said substances provided already mixed with each other and with dispensers at the outlet of each tank, the outputs of the dispensers being connected to a mixer, which in turn feeds the dispensing system. In this case, a further parameter that can be set according to the parameters measured by the sensors 108 and 109 can consist of the mixing ratio of the various substances that make up the cleaning fluid as well as the quantity of this that is delivered and/or the temperature of said fluid.
[0080] When the temperature of the cleaning fluid is a setting parameter determined as a function of the parameters determined by the sensors 108 and/or 109, then the delivery system and/or the reservoirs may comprise heaters, for example electric heaters or the like.
[0082] According to yet another feature, the robot can comprise means for collecting the material removed from the surfaces by the cleaning tools and/or also the cleaning fluid dispensed and used to dissolve the substances present on the surfaces and/or sanitize them. These collection members are represented as a whole by block 104 and are configured to withdraw solid material and/or fluids, or liquids, from the treated surface and typically comprise withdrawal members and collection containers. The sizing of these containers depends on the size of the surfaces to be treated during a work cycle and on the size of the tank or tanks for the cleaning fluid.
[0083] The control of the dispensing members of the cleaning fluid(s) and/or of the collection members is performed by the control unit 101 in memories thereof a software 112 for determining the cleaning conditions is stored and which software includes instructions for configuring the control unit 101 so as to control said dispensing and collecting members 104 and 105 corresponding to the parameters detected by the sensors 108 and 109.
[0084] According to a still further feature, the robot can further comprise environmental condition sensors 107 thanks to which it is possible to determine environmental conditions that may have an influence on the robot workflow, for example the ambient temperature, to possibly provide for the heating of the cleaning fluids and/or the presence of humidity, such as rain, frost or the like, or temperatures below zero when the robot operates in uncovered spaces.
[0085] As regards the configuration of the control unit 101 and of the control signal processing software of the various on-board operating units according to one or more of the variants described above, it is possible to provide different alternative configurations.
[0086] In the configuration shown in Figure 1, the robot carries on board a control unit 101 and the peripherals configured to perform directly on board of the robot itself all the processing necessary for the operations described above and in particular to determine the operating procedures for verifying compliance and tool replacement or reconfiguration and/or to set and adjust the cleaning fluid delivery modes and/or to set the cleaning workflows of a cleaning cycle.
[0087] In an alternative configuration, a remote station is provided which can be either in the form of a fixed or portable remote control unit and associated with a user or a group of users, or a parking station equipped with a control unit and related peripherals. In this case, all or part of the proceeding of processing the measurement signals for determining the control signals of the operating members present on board the robot can take place in one or both of said remote control units, while the control unit 101 on board performs only the functions of managing the processes of collecting and transmitting on-board signals and receiving the control signals of the individual operating units present on board the robot and managing the addressing of control signals and any feedback signals on the operational status of said bodies.
[0088] According to yet another feature, a memory is associated with the on-board control unit 101 and/or one or more of the remote control units according to the aforementioned variants for saving the historical data of the robot settings for each work cycle performed and in particular for storing a database whose records uniquely associate the measurement signals, the tools used in the corresponding work cycle and other operating parameters, such as the quantity of cleaning liquid dispensed, the composition, the temperature and/or the pressure with which it was delivered, as well as the duration of the cycle, and the cleanliness of the surfaces obtained at the end of the cycle.
[0089] According to another characteristic in combination with the aforementioned database it is possible to provide a predictive algorithm as an algorithm for determining the correct working tool and/or the amount of fluid and/or other operating parameters as a function of the measurement signals of one or more sensors, in particular sensors 107, 108 and 109. In this case the information from the database is used to train the predictive algorithm, which then provides for each new cycle the configuration indications of the robot according to the signals of one or more of the sensors 107, 108, 109, the data relating to the new cycle being added to the database in the form of new records at the end of the corresponding cycle to further refine the training of the algorithm.
[0090] It is possible to use different types of algorithms present in the state of the art including for example a neural network or a genetic algorithm or combinations of one or more predictive or classification algorithms.
[0091] A robot according to one or more of the previously described variant embodiments or partial combinations of the characteristics of said variants can perform different types of cleaning processes characterized by different workflows.
[0092] Figure 1b shows an executive example of a remote station such as a remote control station associated with a user or a docking station. The exemplary embodiment must be understood as not limiting and in particular refers to a possible embodiment of a docking station built according to one of the possible functional variants described above.
[0093] In particular, in this case the remote station has a control unit 126 which manages the typical functions of the station itself and in addition to these a part of the specific functions that can also be performed by the on-board units of the robot. In this alternative form, the remote station comprises an input interface 128 for the measurement data of one or more of the chemical/physical parameters that describe the surfaces to be treated, for example the hardness and roughness of said surfaces and furthermore also the data of measurement of the quantity and/or quality or composition of the dirt present on said surfaces. These measurement data can be obtained from sensors on board other operating units, for example in an initial recognition activity and the said data associated with the distribution map of the values measured along the surfaces to be treated is fed into the control unit 126 of the station. In this example the measurement data are directly processed by the control unit 126 of the docking station thanks to the processing programs indicated in blocks 121, 122, 123 which provide the instructions for controlling the vehicle part, for controlling the on-board tools and the cleaning devices and for controlling the delivery system of the cleaning fluid(s) .
[0094] In the variant shown, the data relating to the tool or tools or their operational configurations optimized for the working conditions and the types of surfaces determined by the measurements as well as for the settings of the dispensing parameters and/or the composition of the cleaning fluid(s) are provided to operating units on the docking station itself. In particular, block 127 comprises, for example, a magazine of cleaning tools and tools for replacing the tools in use on the robot with different tools corresponding to those determined according to the measurement data relating to the type of surfaces and/or the quantity and/or the quality of the substances that make up the dirt to be eliminated.
[0095] In this case, the station, thanks to the vehicle control software 121, interfaces with the robot and takes control of the same to take it for example to a docking station and replace the tool or tools.
[0096] Other possible functions are indicated with 124 and 125 and concern emptying the collection tanks and refilling the cleaning fluid(s) and/or their components.
[0097] An alternative embodiment provides that instead of being equipped with the tool magazine and the replacement members, the docking station generates only the command signals to control the functionality of the said replacement members which in this case are instead provided on board the robot.
[0098] The transmission between robot and remote station takes place thanks to the communication interface preferably of the wireless type and which is indicated by block 129.
[0099] According to a further feature of the invention, the remote station is configured to be able to perform a preventive processing of a working area which processing comprises the steps of determining the maps of the working environment and receiving or directly measuring the conditions of the work areas in relation to one or more of the parameters listed in the following non-exhaustive list:
moving obstacles
crowding of work areas
fixed obstacles in a position not corresponding to the mapping
localization versus mapping
trajectories traveled
consumption of water and energy
residual autonomy of water and energy
Component wear
expected task
treated areas
residual untreated areas
untreated areas cause crowding
possible re-planning of areas to be treated
"difficult" areas provided for the operator
[0100] Again, according to an executive form, the analysis of these data allows to generate paths that aim at maximizing the efficiency of the system as will appear from the following description.
[0101] In figure 1b, in addition to the software related to the management of cleaning operations, the remote control unit is equipped and runs various programs related to the navigation system of the robot. According to an embodiment, these softwares can be for example a software for determining the maps indicated with 130, a software for dividing the area of the working environment to be treated indicated with 131, a software for determining the paths indicated with 133 2, a software for determining the work tasks to be carried out in the various areas along the planned route.
[0102] In particular, when the working area is divided into sub-areas and preferably in modular surface units, it is possible to generate combinations of said areas or said surface units with a plurality of different standard paths that cross said area or said unit of surface and connecting the same to adjacent areas or to adjacent surface units.
[0103] Advantageously, the individual surface units and the associated paths as well as the associated map data relating to said surface units are stored in a database which is used to generate a database useful for configuring a predictive and/or approximation algorithm to obtain information predictive on the evolution of the working environment conditions. Such database is indicated with 134 in Figure 1b.
[0104] Figures 2 and 3 show in a very schematic way the subdivision of the overall area of the map that describes the work environment into sub-areas and therefore into map storage units.
[0105] In order to minimize the computational burden both for the preventive processing of the data that describe the work environment from a morphological, architectural or geographical point of view, and to allow the paths to be dynamically modified by adapting them to events that modify the basic conditions according to which said paths have been generated, the present invention provides for the generation of maps on several layers. A layer provides for a subdivision of the overall area of the work environment into a plurality of sub-areas. In figure 2, 200 indicates the overall area of the work environment and 210 indicates the sub-areas into which said overall area is divided. Each sub-area is in turn divided into modular surface units indicated with 220.
[0106] Each of these surface units 220 has a plurality of trajectories or paths which cross it from one side to the opposite side, connecting two further surface units arranged on opposite sides of said surface unit and which paths are essentially alternative to each other. An example of these trajectories or of these paths associated with each modular surface unit 220 is indicated by the arrows 230 of Figure 2. These paths are such as to cross each side of each surface unit connecting the adjacent surface units together and provided on opposite sides of the surface unit which is crossed by said paths.
[0107] Advantageously, the subdivision into sub-areas and/or further into modular surface units is carried out on a dedicated layer of the map which is made up of a plurality of superimposed layers, each of which layers contains specific information.
[0108] Thus, for example, figure 3 shows the layer containing the information relating to stationary obstacles, such as architectural and/or geographical obstacles or in any case due to the structure in which the work environment is foreseen and the information about mobile obstacles, which pass with a predetermined speed at a predetermined time and along predetermined paths in the work environment. Thus, for example, in Figure 3 the obstacles of the stationary or immobile type are represented by the geometric figures indicated with 310 while the mobile obstacles are represented by the arrows indicated with 320.
[0109] Additional layers may include the distribution on the working environment area of further parameters describing the conditions of the working environment itself.
[0110] It is clear how the optimized route processing algorithm can generate these routes extremely easily by verifying whether one of the various standard routes partially or entirely intersects an obstacle and eliminating this route, but instead maintaining even partial routes that do not overlap the obstacles. Among these alternative paths that are obtained from this processing, those paths that guarantee the greatest speed of treatment are selected.
[0111] Figures 4 to 8 illustrate various workflows that can be provided both separately and in combination with each other.
[0113] The detection can take place through dedicated systems different from the robot or through the digitization of paper maps and/or acquisition/loading of digital maps.
[0114] At steps 400, 401 and 402, the boundaries of the work area, the architectural or geographical obstacles and the mobile obstacles are detected. The verification step 403 is aimed at determining if there are additional parameters that describe the conditions of the working environment or if those already detected in the previous steps are congruous and not due to errors.
[0115] If the answer is negative, the system at step 406 continues generating the map and then at step 407 generates the paths and finally generates the specific tasks relating to the modular surface units 220 or sub-areas 210. In the affirmative condition to the question of verification of step 403, the system provides for the detection of any further conditions and the parameterization of said conditions as indicated with steps 404 and 405 and then returns to steps from 400 to 403.
[0116] The map, the paths and the generated tasks can be transmitted to the robot at step 409 and then the execution of the tasks and the movement along the path are started as indicated by the steps 410. At step 411 the system is asked if there are variations of one or more of said parameters, while during the execution of the task the data collected by the robot during the execution of the tasks are transmitted to the remote unit and here they are screened in relation to their efficiency.
[0117] Figures 6 to 9 show block diagrams of processes relating to the construction of trajectories or paths in pre-processing, the definition of work tasks, the localization and dynamic re-planning of the robot and the execution of the task.
[0118] With reference to Figure 5, the construction step of the trajectories, or rather of the paths, provides for the creation of a collection of maps which maps contain in the form of layers the information relating to the obstacles present. The next step involves the processing of the travelling and processing areas as indicated with 502 and the identification of the areas accessible and treatable by the robot and the areas to be used for manual processing. Also, in step 522 these data are divided into sub areas or surface units.
[0119] The determination of the optimal trajectories at step 503 initiates the procedures necessary to determine these trajectories as a function of maximizing productivity. In this case, this productivity is expressed in square meters per hour. At step 532 the trajectories are compared and only those that are substantially equivalent to each other are maintained. The choice is made at step 533 taking into account that for each sub-area there can be several trajectories that allow access to different adjacent sub-areas in an optimal way.
[0120] With reference to figure 6, this figure shows an example of workflow definition of the work task.
[0121] The work task is determined according to parameters that measure the way in which the work environment and/or sub-areas and/or individual modular surface units are used.
[0122] The definition of the work task performed at step 601 can be performed both in a preliminary processing step in a remote station and in a local step performed in the robot itself. At steps 610 and 611, data is collected regarding the conditions that characterize the cleaning intervention by type of intervention and intervention intensity. As shown in the diagram, steps 610, 611 list, in a non-exhaustive but only illustrative manner, various parameters which are repeated below:
personal work shifts
opening/closing shops
usual paths of employees/users as a function of the time
events that cause sustained flows of people
lunch break
year end
flight arrivals/departures
[0123] On the basis of these data in step 611 the work task is defined for each sub-area and/or for each modular surface unit. At step 621 this task is then transmitted to the robot when the processing takes place in a remote station or from the robot to the remote station when the processing step 611 is carried out by the robot itself, in order to synchronize the robot data with those of the remote station. The processing steps are explained in step 604.
[0124] In parallel, the remote station at step 602 processes the optimal trajectories or paths in a manner corresponding to the expected work tasks and in order to maximize the efficiency of the cleaning cycle. The maximization step 612 provides that the treated area per unit of time is maximized.
[0125] The processing produces several substantially equivalent paths that are stored and used as possible robot paths as indicated in step 622.
[0126] Thanks to the presence of on-board sensors of the robot and to the particular structure of the maps in the form of layers and with a subdivision of the area of the working environment into sub-areas and/or modular surface units, as well as thanks to the numerical parameterization of the conditions of use of the working environment with reference also to the sub-areas and to the surface units and to the presence of standard paths within the surface units, it is possible to foresee a dynamic adaptation both of the work tasks and of the trajectories, i.e. robot paths in real time to different variations of the initial conditions, such as for example variations in the density of moving obstacles, the hourly distribution of the presence of moving obstacles or the variation over time of said density, the presence of new unexpected fixed obstacles and to variations in the difficulty of operating the robot in a sub-area or in a modular surface unit is.
[0127] The possibilities of operating this dynamic variation of tasks and/or paths are different and in principle, processing can take place both on the robot itself and in the remote station.
[0128] Figure 7 shows an exemplary embodiment of localization and dynamic re-planning indicated with 500. At step 701 the areas to be cleaned are determined according to the detection of obstacles. At step 702 the obstacles are located in the map of the working environment using position and/or localization sensors. At step 703 the presence and position of mobile obstacles is detected by means of sensors, such as gatherings of people or animals or groups of vehicles or flows of people or animals or vehicles. The data is used to determine a parameter that describes the crowding of an area as indicated in step 704. Based on this numerical index a decision is made as indicated in step 705. The outcome of the decision is expressed in step 706 and for example, it can be a change of direction if the area to be crossed is too crowded, or if the said area is not crowded, the continuation of the processing as predetermined or if a reduced autonomy is detected, the route is modified by returning to the docking station for recharging.
[0129] The diagram of Figure 8 instead shows the workflow relating to the process of executing a modular task 800. Also in this case data that can be parameterized numerically thanks to scales are collected and which data are used to modify the existing maps and/or the existing paths. An example of this data is listed in steps 802 and 803 and the list includes:
moving obstacles
crowding of work areas
fixed obstacles in a position not corresponding to the mapping
localization versus mapping
trajectories traveled
consumption of water and energy
residual autonomy of water and energy
Component wear
expected task
treated areas
residual untreated areas
untreated areas cause crowding
possible re-planning of areas to be treated
"difficult" areas provided for the operator
the data can be processed by the robot itself as indicated in step 804 or remotely as indicated in the parallel step 805. At the end of processing, the robot and the remote station are synchronized as indicated in the data exchange step 806. The data collected and the processing then provide a modification of the maps and/or the paths and/or the modular surface units as indicated in step 807.
a motorised vehicle unit (100) for moving the robot in a work environment;
at least one cleaning implement (103) intended to operate on a surface to be treated;
at least one driving unit of said robot for moving it according to a certain path within a work environment;
said driving unit comprising:
at least one position sensor (106) of said vehicle in said environment;
at least one representation map of said environment, stored in a memory;
a processing unit (101) which, depending on the signals of the position sensor (106), defines the position of said robot on said map, and which traces the path travelled by said robot and calculates the path that said robot still has to travel in said environment or at least a part of said path;
said processing unit generating steering controls of said vehicle unit corresponding to the actual position detected by the sensors (106) and to the path or to said part of path still to be travelled, which are calculated by the processing unit (101);
at least one energy accumulator (102) provided on board said robot, ,
the said robot further comprising in combination
a separate acquiring unit (113) to acquire a map of the work environment, placed in remote position or on board the robot,
characterized in that
said map of the work environment comprising the detection of the recording of the hourly variations of the arrangement and/or density and/or dynamics of obstacles (310, 320) present in said work environment,
and, optionally, also the recording of the hourly variations of the arrangement and/or density and/or dynamics of obstacles (310, 320) present in said work environment,
said map of the work environment being subjected to a processing for generating a plurality of different paths (230) of the robot for carrying out the cleaning activities, which paths are determined depending on the map of the work environment, on the arrangement and/or density and/or dynamics of the obstacles (310, 320) present in said work environment, optionally of the hourly variations of said obstacles and depending on the cleaning activities to be carried out, said paths that minimize the execution time of the cleaning activities in said environment and, optionally, also maximize the quality of the cleaning activities being selected for use,
said separate unit providing one or more different communication interfaces with the driving unit of the robot and said driving unit providing at least one memory for loading said maps and/or one or more of said paths, while the driving unit processor (101) determines the steering and movement controls of the robot based on one or more of said paths and/or of one or more of said maps.
the presence of movable and/or immovable stationary obstacles (310), their arrangement and their extension and shape, said obstacles (310) being represented on a specifically provided layer of the representation map of said work environment (200);
the presence of movable obstacles (310) within the work environment and/or of one or more sub-areas (210) also in relation to the time variation of said presence of said obstacles, of the density and the paths along which said obstacles (310, 320) move with reference to time cycles recurring at regular intervals or statistically distributed over time;
the architectural conformation of the work environment and/or of one or more sub-areas of the work environment, such as architectural barriers or the like, with reference to the robot vehicle's ability to move.
modifications of the presence, position, shape and size of movable or immovable stationary obstacles (310) and/or architectural barriers;
modifications of the paths (320) of one or more movable obstacles present in the work environment;
variation of the density of said movable obstacles (310), of the streams in the work environment (200) and/or in at least some sub-areas (210) in which said work environment (200) is divided;
variation of the repetition intervals of the presence of said movable obstacles (320);
variation of the conditions of the work environment (200) and/or of at least some sub-areas (210) with reference to the cleaning treatments to be carried out and/or the tools to be used and/or the necessary treatment times;
variations of robot paths depending on one or more of said parameters;
said robot comprising a processing unit (101) configured for carrying out a statistical algorithm or a predictive algorithm, which modifies the map of the work environment (200) and/or the division into sub-areas (210) of said map and/or the parameters that describe the condition of difficulty in circulation and/or execution of the cleaning operations in said sub-areas by the robot and/or the parameters that describe the conditions of use of at least some of said sub-areas and/or the parameters that define the treatments provided for at least some of said sub-areas;
said processing unit (101) replacing the map and/or one or more of said parameters in use with the map and/or with one or more of said modified parameters.
driving the robot by generating control signals of the robot vehicle unit along at least one pre-set path, which is defined in a map of the environment (200) in which said robot moves, the robot position, in relation to said map and said path, being determined thanks to the position signals of at least one position sensor (106),
said method being characterized in that the map is generated in a pre-processing step carried out with means of acquiring the map and defining different paths by the robot.
the presence of movable and/or immovable stationary obstacles (310), their arrangement and their extension and shape, said obstacles (310) being represented on a specifically provided layer of the representation map of said work environment (200);
the presence of movable obstacles (320) within the work environment (200) and/or of one or more sub-areas (210) also in relation to the time variation of said presence of said obstacles (310, 320), of the density and the paths along which said obstacles move with reference to time cycles recurring at regular intervals or statistically distributed over time;
the architectural conformation of the work environment (200) and/or of one or more sub-areas (210) of the work environment, such as architectural barriers or the like, with reference to the robot vehicle's ability to move.
modifications of the presence, position, shape and size of movable or immovable stationary obstacles and/or architectural barriers;
modifications of the paths of one or more movable obstacles present in the work environment;
variation of the density of said movable obstacles, of the streams in the work environment and/or in at least some sub-areas in which said work environment is divided;
variation of the repetition intervals of the presence of said movable obstacles;
variation of the conditions of the work environment and/or of at least some sub-areas with reference to the cleaning treatments to be carried out and/or the tools to be used and/or the necessary treatment times;
variations of robot paths depending on one or more of said parameters;
carrying out a processing of the recorded data through a statistical algorithm or a predictive algorithm, which modifies the map of the work environment and/or the division into sub-areas of said map and/or the parameters that describe the condition of difficulty in circulation and/or execution of the cleaning operations in said sub-areas by the robot and/or the parameters that describe the conditions of use of at least some of said sub-areas and/or the parameters that define the treatments provided for at least some of said sub-areas;
the map modified by said processing replacing the map and/or one or more of said parameters in use with the map and/or with one or more of said modified parameters.
eine motorisierte Fahrzeugeinheit (100) zum Bewegen des Roboters in einer Arbeitsumgebung;
mindestens ein Reinigungswerkzeug (103), das dazu bestimmt ist, auf einer zu behandelnden Oberfläche zu arbeiten;
mindestens eine Antriebseinheit des Roboters, um ihn gemäß einem bestimmten Weg innerhalb einer Arbeitsumgebung zu bewegen;
wobei die Antriebseinheit umfasst:
mindestens einen Positionssensor (106) des Fahrzeugs in der besagten Umgebung;
mindestens eine Darstellungskarte der Umgebung, die in einem Speicher gespeichert ist;
eine Verarbeitungseinheit (101), die in Abhängigkeit von den Signalen des Positionssensors (106) die Position des Roboters auf der Karte definiert und die den von dem Roboter zurückgelegten Weg aufzeichnet und den von dem Roboter in der Umgebung noch zurückzulegenden Weg oder zumindest einen Teil dieses Weges berechnet;
wobei die Verarbeitungseinheit Lenksteuerungen der Fahrzeugeinheit erzeugt, die der von den Sensoren (106) erfassten IstPosition und dem von der Verarbeitungseinheit (101) berechneten Weg oder dem noch zu fahrenden Teil des Weges entsprechen;
mindestens einen an Bord des Roboters vorgesehenen Energiespeicher (102),
wobei der Roboter außerdem in Kombination eine an einem entfernt gelegenen Ort oder an Bord des Roboters angeordnete separate Erfassungseinheit (113) zur Erfassung einer Karte der Arbeitsumgebung umfasst,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass
die Karte der Arbeitsumgebung die Erfassung der Aufzeichnung der stündlichen Veränderungen der Anordnung und/oder Dichte und/oder Dynamik der in der Arbeitsumgebung vorhandenen Hindernisse (310, 320),
und, optional, auch die Aufzeichnung der stündlichen Veränderungen der Anordnung und/oder Dichte und/oder Dynamik der in der Arbeitsumgebung vorhandenen Hindernisse (310, 320) umfasst,
wobei die Karte der Arbeitsumgebung einer Verarbeitung unterzogen wird, um eine Vielzahl von verschiedenen Wegen (230) des Roboters zum Ausführen der Reinigungsaktivitäten zu erzeugen, wobei die Wege in Abhängigkeit von der Karte der Arbeitsumgebung, von der Anordnung und/oder Dichte und/oder Dynamik der in der Arbeitsumgebung vorhandenen Hindernisse (310, 320), gegebenenfalls von den stündlichen Veränderungen der Hindernisse und in Abhängigkeit von den auszuführenden Reinigungsaktivitäten bestimmt werden, wobei die Wege, die die Ausführungszeit der Reinigungsaktivitäten in der Umgebung minimieren und gegebenenfalls auch die Qualität der Reinigungsaktivitäten maximieren, zur Verwendung ausgewählt werden,
wobei die separate Einheit eine oder mehrere verschiedene Kommunikationsschnittstellen mit der Antriebseinheit des Roboters bereitstellt und die Antriebseinheit mindestens einen Speicher zum Laden der Karten und/oder eines oder mehrerer der Wege bereitstellt, während der Antriebseinheitsprozessor (101) die Lenkung und Bewegungssteuerung des Roboters auf der Grundlage eines oder mehrerer der Wege und/oder eines oder mehrerer der Karten bestimmt.
das Vorhandensein von beweglichen und/oder unbeweglichen stationären Hindernissen (310), deren Anordnung sowie deren Ausdehnung und Form, wobei die Hindernisse (310) auf einer speziell dafür vorgesehenen Ebene der Darstellungskarte der Arbeitsumgebung (200) dargestellt sind;
das Vorhandensein von beweglichen Hindernissen (310) innerhalb der Arbeitsumgebung und/oder eines oder mehrerer Unterbereiche (210) auch in Bezug auf die zeitliche Veränderung des Vorhandenseins der Hindernisse, der Dichte und der Wege, entlang derer sich die Hindernisse (310, 320) bewegen, in Bezug auf in regelmäßigen Abständen wiederkehrende oder statistisch über die Zeit verteilte Zeitzyklen;
die architektonische Beschaffenheit der Arbeitsumgebung und/oder eines oder mehrerer Unterbereiche der Arbeitsumgebung, wie z.B. architektonische Barrieren oder dergleichen, in Bezug auf die Bewegungsfähigkeit des Roboterfahrzeugs.
Änderungen des Vorhandenseins, der Position, der Form und der Größe von beweglichen oder unbeweglichen stationären Hindernissen (310) und/oder architektonischen Barrieren;
Änderungen der Wege (320) eines oder mehrerer beweglicher Hindernisse, die in der Arbeitsumgebung vorhanden sind;
Änderung der Dichte der beweglichen Hindernisse (310), der Ströme in der Arbeitsumgebung (200) und/oder in mindestens einigen Unterbereichen (210), in die die Arbeitsumgebung (200) unterteilt ist;
Änderung der Wiederholungsintervalle für das Vorhandensein der beweglichen Hindernisse (320);
Änderung der Bedingungen der Arbeitsumgebung (200) und/oder zumindest einiger Unterbereiche (210) in Bezug auf die durchzuführenden Reinigungsbehandlungen und/oder die zu verwendenden Werkzeuge und/oder die erforderlichen Behandlungszeiten;
Änderungen der Roboterwege in Abhängigkeit von einem oder mehreren der besagten Parameter;
wobei der Roboter eine Verarbeitungseinheit (101) umfasst, die zur Ausführung eines statistischen Algorithmus oder eines prädiktiven Algorithmus konfiguriert ist, der die Karte der Arbeitsumgebung (200) und/oder die Unterteilung der Karte in Unterbereiche (210) und/oder die Parameter, die den Zustand der Schwierigkeit der Zirkulation und/oder der Ausführung der Reinigungsvorgänge in den Unterbereichen durch den Roboter beschreiben, und/oder die Parameter, die die Verwendungsbedingungen von mindestens einigen der Unterbereiche beschreiben, und/oder die Parameter, die die für mindestens einige der Unterbereiche vorgesehenen Behandlungen definieren, modifiziert;
wobei die Verarbeitungseinheit (101) die Karte und/oder einen oder mehrere der Parameter im Gebrauch mit der Karte und/oder mit einem oder mehreren der modifizierten Parameter ersetzt.
Antreiben des Roboters durch Erzeugen von Steuersignalen der Roboterfahrzeugeinheit entlang mindestens eines vorgegebenen Weges, der in einer Karte der Umgebung (200), in der sich der Roboter bewegt, definiert ist, wobei die Roboterposition,
in Bezug auf die Karte und den Weg dank der Positionssignale von mindestens einem Positionssensor (106) bestimmt wird,
wobei das Verfahren dadurch gekennzeichnet ist, dass die Karte in einem Vorverarbeitungsschritt erzeugt wird, der mit Mitteln zur Erfassung der Karte und zur Definition verschiedener Wege durch den Roboter durchgeführt wird.
das Vorhandensein von beweglichen und/oder unbeweglichen stationären Hindernissen (310), deren Anordnung sowie deren Ausdehnung und Form, wobei die Hindernisse (310) auf einer speziell dafür vorgesehenen Ebene der Darstellungskarte der Arbeitsumgebung (200) dargestellt sind; das Vorhandensein von beweglichen Hindernissen (320) innerhalb der Arbeitsumgebung (200) und/oder eines oder mehrerer Unterbereiche (210) auch in Bezug auf die zeitliche Veränderung des Vorhandenseins der Hindernisse (310, 320), der Dichte und der Wege, entlang derer sich die Hindernisse bewegen, in Bezug auf in regelmäßigen Abständen wiederkehrende oder statistisch über die Zeit verteilte Zeitzyklen;
die architektonische Beschaffenheit der Arbeitsumgebung (200) und/oder eines oder mehrerer Unterbereiche (210) der Arbeitsumgebung, wie z.B. architektonische Barrieren oder dergleichen, in Bezug auf die Bewegungsfähigkeit des Roboterfahrzeugs.
Änderungen des Vorhandenseins, der Position, der Form und der Größe von beweglichen oder unbeweglichen stationären Hindernissen und/oder architektonischen Barrieren;
Änderungen der Wege eines oder mehrerer beweglicher Hindernisse, die in der Arbeitsumgebung vorhanden sind;
Änderung der Dichte der beweglichen Hindernisse, der Ströme in der Arbeitsumgebung und/oder in mindestens einigen Unterbereichen, in die die Arbeitsumgebung unterteilt ist;
Änderung der Wiederholungsintervalle für das Vorhandensein der beweglichen Hindernisse;
Änderung der Bedingungen der Arbeitsumgebung und/oder zumindest einiger Unterbereiche in Bezug auf die durchzuführenden Reinigungsbehandlungen und/oder die zu verwendenden Werkzeuge und/oder die erforderlichen Behandlungszeiten;
Änderungen der Roboterwege in Abhängigkeit von einem oder mehreren der besagten Parameter;
Ausführen eines statistischen Algorithmus oder eines prädiktiven Algorithmus, der die Karte der Arbeitsumgebung und/oder die Unterteilung der Karte in Unterbereiche und/oder die Parameter, die den Zustand der Schwierigkeit der Zirkulation und/oder der Ausführung der Reinigungsvorgänge in den Unterbereichen durch den Roboter beschreiben, und/oder die Parameter, die die Verwendungsbedingungen von mindestens einigen der Unterbereiche beschreiben, und/oder die Parameter, die die für mindestens einige der Unterbereiche vorgesehenen Behandlungen definieren, modifiziert;
die durch die Verarbeitung modifizierte Karte, wobei die Karte und/oder einer oder mehrere der mit der Karte verwendeten Parameter durch einen oder mehrere der modifizierten Parameter ersetzt werden.
une unité de véhicule motorisé (100) pour déplacer le robot dans un environnement de travail;
au moins un outil de nettoyage (103) destiné à fonctionner sur une surface à traiter;
au moins une unité d'entraînement dudit robot pour le déplacer dans un environnement de travail selon un certain parcours;
ladite unité d'entraînement comprenant:
au moins un capteur de position (106) dudit véhicule dans ledit environnement;
au moins une carte de représentation dudit environnement, stockée dans une mémoire;
une unité de traitement (101) qui, en fonction des signaux du capteur de position (106), définit la position dudit robot sur ladite carte, et qui trace le parcours parcouru par ledit robot et qui calcule le parcours que ledit robot doit encore parcourir dans ledit environnement ou au moins une partie dudit parcours;
ladite unité de traitement générant des commandes de direction de ladite unité de véhicule correspondant à la position actuelle détectée par les capteurs (106) et au parcours ou à ladite partie du parcours devant encore être parcourue, qui sont calculés par l'unité de traitement (101);
au moins un accumulateur d'énergie (102) prévu à bord dudit robot,
ledit robot comprenant en outre, en association
une unité d'acquisition (113) séparée pour acquérir une carte de l'environnement de travail placée dans une position distante ou à bord du robot,
caractérisé en ce que
ladite carte de l'environnement de travail comprend la détection de l'enregistrement des variations horaires de la disposition et/ou de la densité et/ou de la dynamique des obstacles (310, 320) présents dans ledit environnement de travail et, éventuellement, également l'enregistrement des variations horaires de la disposition et/ou de la densité et/ou de la dynamique des obstacles (310, 320) présents dans ledit environnement de travail,
ladite carte de l'environnement de travail étant soumise à un traitement pour générer une pluralité de parcours différents (230) du robot pour effectuer les activités de nettoyage, lesquels parcours sont déterminés en fonction de la carte de l'environnement de travail, de la disposition et/ou de la densité et/ou de la dynamique des obstacles (310, 320) présent dans ledit environnement de travail, éventuellement en fonction des variations horaires desdits obstacles et des activités de nettoyage à effectuer, desdits parcours qui minimisent le temps de réalisation des activités de nettoyage dans ledit environnement, et qui maximisent éventuellement la qualité des activités de nettoyage sélectionnées pour être utilisées,
ladite unité séparée fournissant une ou plusieurs interfaces de communication différentes avec l'unité d'entraînement du robot et ladite unité d'entraînement fournissant au moins une mémoire pour charger lesdites cartes et/ou un ou plusieurs desdits parcours, tandis que le processeur de l'unité d'entraînement (101) détermine les commandes de direction et de mouvement du robot en fonction d'un ou plusieurs desdits parcours et/ou d'un ou plusieurs desdites cartes.
la présence d'obstacles fixes mobiles et/ou immobiles (310), leur disposition et leur extension et forme, lesdits obstacles (310) étant représenté sur une couche spécifiquement fournie de la carte de représentation dudit environnement de travail (200);
la présence d'obstacles mobiles (310) dans l'environnement de travail et/ou dans une ou plusieurs sous-zones (210), également par rapport à la variation temporelle de ladite présence desdits obstacles, de la densité et des parcours le long desquels lesdits obstacles (310, 320) se déplacent par rapport à des cycles temporels récurrents à intervalles réguliers ou statistiquement répartis dans le temps;
la conformation architecturale de l'environnement de travail et/ou d'une ou plusieurs des sous-zones de l'environnement de travail, telles que des barrières architecturales ou similaires, par rapport à la capacité de déplacement du véhicule du robot.
modifications de la présence, position, forme et taille des obstacles fixes mobiles ou immobiles (310) et/ou des barrières architecturales;
modifications des parcours (320) d'un ou plusieurs obstacles mobiles présents dans l'environnement de travail;
variation de la densité desdits obstacles mobiles (310), des flux dans l'environnement de travail (200) et/ou dans au moins certaines sous-zones (210) en lesquelles ledit environnement de travail (200) est divisé;
variation des intervalles de répétition de la présence desdits obstacles mobiles (320);
variation des conditions de l'environnement de travail (200) et/ou d'au moins certaines sous-zones (210) par rapport au traitement de nettoyage à effectuer et/ou aux outils à utiliser et/ou au temps de traitement nécessaires;
variations des parcours du robot en fonction d'un ou plusieurs desdits paramètres;
ledit robot comprenant une unité de traitement (101) configurée pour exécuter un algorithme statistique ou un algorithme prédictif qui modifie la carte de l'environnement de travail (200) et/ou la division dudit carte en sous-zones (210) et/ou les paramètres décrivant la condition de difficulté de circulation et/ou de réalisation des opérations de nettoyage par le robot dans lesdites sous-zones et/ou les paramètres décrivant les conditions d'utilisation d'au moins certaines desdites sous-zones et/ou les paramètres définissant les traitements prévus pour au moins certaines desdites sous-zones;
ladite unité de traitement (101) remplaçant la carte et/ou un ou plusieurs desdits paramètres utilisés avec la carte et/ou un ou plusieurs desdits paramètres modifiés.
entraîner le robot en générant des signaux de commande de l'unité de véhicule du robot le long d'au moins un parcours prédéfini qui est défini dans une carte de l'environnement (200) dans lequel ledit robot se déplace, la position du robot, par rapport à ladite carte et audit parcours, étant déterminée grâce au signaux de position d'au moins un capteur de position (106),
ladite méthode étant caractérisée en ce que la carte est générée dans une étape de prétraitement effectuée avec des moyens d'acquisition de la carte et de définition de différents parcours par le robot.
la présence d'obstacles fixes mobiles et/ou immobiles (310), leur disposition et leur extension et forme, lesdits obstacles (310) étant représenté sur une couche spécifiquement fournie de la carte de représentation dudit environnement de travail (200);
la présence d'obstacles mobiles (320) dans l'environnement de travail (200) et/ou dans une ou plusieurs sous-zones (210), également par rapport à la variation temporelle de ladite présence desdits obstacles (310, 320), de la densité et des parcours le long desquels lesdits obstacles se déplacent par rapport à des cycles temporels récurrents à intervalles réguliers ou statistiquement répartis dans le temps;
la conformation architecturale de l'environnement de travail (200) et/ou d'une ou plusieurs des sous-zones (210) de l'environnement de travail, telles que des barrières architecturale ou similaires, par rapport à la capacité de déplacement du véhicule du robot.
modifications de la présence, position, forme et taille des obstacles fixes mobiles ou immobiles et/ou des barrières architecturales;
modifications des parcours d'un ou plusieurs obstacles mobiles présents dans l'environnement de travail;
variation de la densité desdits obstacles mobiles, des flux dans l'environnement de travail et/ou dans au moins certaines sous-zones en lesquelles ledit environnement de travail est divisé;
variation des intervalles de répétition de la présence desdits obstacles mobiles;
variation des conditions de l'environnement de travail et/ou d'au moins certaines sous-zones par rapport au traitement de nettoyage à effectuer et/ou aux outils à utiliser et/ou au temps de traitement nécessaires;
variations des parcours du robot en fonction d'un ou plusieurs desdits paramètres;
effectuer un traitement des données enregistrées à travers un algorithme statistique ou un algorithme prédictif qui modifie la carte de l'environnement de travail et/ou la division dudit carte en sous-zones et/ou les paramètres décrivant la condition de difficulté de circulation et/ou de réalisation des opérations de nettoyage par le robot dans lesdites sous-zones et/ou les paramètres décrivant les conditions d'utilisation d'au moins certaines desdites sous-zones et/ou les paramètres définissant les traitements prévus pour au moins certaines desdites sous-zones;
la carte modifiée par ledit traitement en remplaçant la carte et/ou un ou plusieurs desdits paramètres utilisés avec la carte et/ou un ou plusieurs desdits paramètres modifiés.
REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION
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Patent documents cited in the description