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EP-4026473-B1 - CLEANING ROBOT AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR

EP4026473B1EP 4026473 B1EP4026473 B1EP 4026473B1EP-4026473-B1

Inventors

  • NIU, Yansheng
  • CONG, Yiming

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20200818

Claims (13)

  1. A cleaning robot (100), comprising: a chassis; a fluid applicator (1532), carried on the chassis and configured to distribute a cleaning fluid on at least part of a cleaning width; a fluid storage apparatus (1531), detachably connected to the chassis, wherein the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in communication with the fluid applicator (1532) and configured to apply the cleaning fluid distributed by the fluid applicator (1532) to a ground; an in-position sensor, disposed in a recess (1553) of the chassis in which the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is mounted, and configured to detect whether the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position and to report an in-position state signal of the fluid storage apparatus (1531) to a control system (130); and the control system (130), carried on the chassis and configured to plan a cleaning path according to the in-position state signal of the fluid storage apparatus (1531) and control the fluid applicator (1532) to distribute the cleaning fluid according to the cleaning path; characterized in that , the control system (130) is configured to plan a cleaning path according to the in-position state signal of the fluid storage apparatus (1531) by: when the in-position state signal indicates that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position, controlling loading data of a non-mopping region and controlling the cleaning robot to operate according to a preset non-mopping region.
  2. The cleaning robot according to claim 1, where the fluid applicator (1532) comprises a pump which is configured to distribute the cleaning fluid on the at least part of the cleaning width.
  3. The cleaning robot according to claim 1, wherein the in-position sensor detects in real time whether the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position, in a case that a detection signal indicates that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position, detecting again after a time interval, and in a case that the detection signal indicates that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is not in position, reporting an out-of-position state signal to the control system (130) and stopping detecting.
  4. The cleaning robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a navigation apparatus, receiving information about an operation region of the cleaning robot (100), the operation region comprising a mopping region and the non-mopping region, wherein the non-mopping region is activated in a case that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position and is disabled in a case that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is not in position.
  5. The cleaning robot according to claim 4, further comprising: a position alarm, wherein the navigation apparatus detects whether there is an intersection between an edge of a front half portion of the cleaning robot (100) and the non-mopping region, and if there is an intersection, the position alarm is trigged to enable the cleaning robot (100) to retreat outside of the non-mopping region.
  6. The cleaning robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a wheel type drive, supporting the chassis and being operable to operate the cleaning robot (100) on a cleaning surface of the cleaning robot (100); and one or more cleaning elements, carried on the chassis to clean an entirety of the cleaning width.
  7. A method of control a cleaning robot, comprising: detecting (S602) whether a fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position and reporting an in-position state signal of the fluid storage apparatus (1531) to a control system; planning (S604) a cleaning path according to the in-position state signal of the fluid storage apparatus (1531); and controlling a fluid applicator (1532) to distribute a cleaning fluid according to the cleaning path; characterized in that , planning (S604) a cleaning path according to the in-position state signal of the fluid storage apparatus (1531) comprises: when the in-position state signal indicates that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position, controlling loading data of a non-mopping region and controlling the cleaning robot to operate according to a preset non-mopping region.
  8. The method according to claim 7, wherein detecting whether the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position comprises: detecting whether the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position, in a case that a detection signal indicates that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position, detecting after a time interval, and in a case that the detection signal indicates that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is not in position, reporting an out-of-position state signal to the control system (130) and stopping detecting.
  9. The method according to claim 8, wherein after detecting whether the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position and reporting the in-position state signal of the fluid storage apparatus (1531) to the control system (130), the method further comprises: receiving information about an operation region of the cleaning robot (100), the operation region comprising a mopping region and the non-mopping region, wherein the non-mopping region is activated in a case that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is in position and is disabled in a case that the fluid storage apparatus (1531) is not in position.
  10. The method according to claim 9, wherein data of the non-mopping region is described by a quadrangle consisting coordinates of four vertex.
  11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: detecting whether there is an intersection between an edge of a front half portion of the cleaning robot (100) and the non-mopping region, and if there is an intersection, enabling the cleaning robot (1531) to retreat outside of the non-mopping region.
  12. The method according to claim 10, wherein in a case that the non-mopping region is activated, the quadrangle of the non-mopping region is labeled as an obstacle.
  13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the non-mopping region is planned by the navigation apparatus autonomously in a traveling process or set by a user.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the technical field of control, and in particular, to a cleaning robot and a control method thereof. BACKGROUND With the development of technologies, various autonomous cleaning devices, such as automatic sweeping robots, automatic mopping robots, and the like have appeared. An autonomous cleaning device may autonomously perform cleaning, to bring convenience to a user. Taking an autonomous sweeping robot as an example, automatic cleaning of a to-be-cleaned region is implemented through techniques such as direct sweeping and vacuum dust collecting. A sweeping operation may be implemented through a sweeping strip and a brushroll disposed at a bottom portion of the autonomous cleaning device. For an autonomous cleaning robot having a mopping function, during mopping, a water tank is typically required to be disposed on the robot, to provide a water source required for mopping. In a case of being used at home, existing autonomous cleaning robots has a poor effect in mopping some regions such as a carpet and foot pads outside a bathroom or a kitchen, and secondary pollution to a mopping cleaning portion is further caused. Therefore, the sweeping robot is required to autonomously avoid these regions. US 2019/0191952 A1 discloses an autonomous floor cleaner which can include a brush chamber, a brushroll rotatably mounted in the brush chamber, a controller for controlling the operation of the autonomous floor cleaner, and a fluid delivery system with a supply tank and at least one fluid distributor configured to deposit cleaning fluid onto a surface to be cleaned. SUMMARY The present invention comprises a cleaning robot and a control method thereof as defined in the claims. Embodiments that do not fall within the scope of the claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding the invention. In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provides a cleaning robot and a control method thereof for enabling the robot to mop while avoiding a non-mopping region. According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present invention, an embodiment of the present invention provides a cleaning robot, including: a chassis;a fluid applicator, carried on the chassis and configured to distribute a cleaning fluid on at least part of a cleaning width;a fluid storage apparatus, detachably connected to the chassis, wherein the fluid storage apparatus is in communication with the fluid applicator and configured to apply the cleaning fluid distributed by the fluid applicator to a ground;an in-position sensor, disposed in a recess of the chassis in which the fluid storage apparatus is mounted, and configured to detect whether the fluid storage apparatus is in position and to report an in-position state signal of the fluid storage apparatus to a control system; andthe control system, carried on the chassis and configured to plan a cleaning path according to the in-position state signal of the fluid storage apparatus and control the fluid applicator to distribute the cleaning fluid according to the cleaning path. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the fluid applicator includes a pump which is configured to distribute the cleaning fluid on the at least part of the cleaning width. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the in-position sensor detects in real time whether the fluid storage apparatus is in position, in a case that a detection signal indicates that the fluid storage apparatus is in position, detecting again after a time interval, and in a case that the detection signal indicates that the fluid storage apparatus is not in position, reporting an out-of-position state signal to the control system and stopping detecting. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cleaning robot further includes: a navigation apparatus, receiving information about an operation region of the cleaning robot, the operation region including a mopping region and a non-mopping region, wherein the non-mopping region is activated in a case that the fluid storage apparatus is in position and is disabled in a case that the fluid storage apparatus is not in position. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cleaning robot further includes: a position alarm, wherein the navigation apparatus detects in real time whether there is an intersection between an edge of a front half portion of the cleaning robot and the non-mopping region, and if there is an intersection, the position alarm is trigged to enable the cleaning robot to retreat outside of the non-mopping region. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cleaning robot further includes: a wheel type drive, supporting the chassis and being operable to operate the cleaning robot on an operation surface of the cleaning robot; andone or more cleaning elements, carried on the chassis to clean an entirety of the cleaning width. According to a second aspect of a specific implementation of the present disclosure,