US-12622556-B2 - Method for identifying the substrate

US12622556B2US 12622556 B2US12622556 B2US 12622556B2US-12622556-B2

Abstract

A method for identifying a substrate on which an apparatus is moveable includes: providing the apparatus, the apparatus including a main body, a drive unit, a control unit and a sensor assembly; forming a vibration system from the apparatus and the substrate, the vibration system generating vibrations, the vibrations generating a vibration pattern characteristic of a particular substrate, the vibration pattern varying as a function of a nature of the substrate; detecting the vibration pattern by the sensor assembly and forwarding the vibration pattern to the control unit; evaluating the vibration pattern in the control unit; and determining the nature of the substrate in the control unit based on the vibration pattern.

Inventors

Denys Maiier

Assignees

CARL FREUDENBERG KG

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20210318
Priority Date: 20200325

Claims (10)

1 . An assembly for identifying a substrate for an apparatus autonomously moving on the substrate, the assembly comprising: a main body; a drive unit and/or at least one electromagnetically driven unit; a sensor assembly, wherein the sensor assembly comprises acceleration sensors and rotation-rate sensors, wherein the sensor assembly is configured to detect acceleration in a plurality of axes, and wherein the sensor assembly is an integral part of a controller of the drive unit and the at least one electromagnetically driven unit; and a control unit, wherein a library of vibration patterns and associated substrates are stored in the control unit, wherein a vibration pattern generated from an interaction of the main body, the drive unit and/or the at least one electromagnetically driven unit, and the substrate is detectable by the sensor assembly, and wherein the control unit is configured to determine a nature of the substrate based on the vibration pattern detected by the sensor assembly by comparing the detected vibration pattern to the vibration patterns stored in the control unit.
2 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the drive unit comprises a signal generator.
3 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises a cleaning device.
4 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises a combination of cleaning units.
5 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to automatically carry out various cleaning operations.
6 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to adapt a cleaning operation to the substrate.
7 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus further comprises optical sensors, and wherein determining the nature of the substrate is further based on a comparison of the vibration pattern detected by the sensor assembly to optical data captured by the optical sensors.
8 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein data captured by the sensor assembly is used by the control unit to determine the nature of the substrate based on the vibration pattern detected by the sensor assembly and to autonomously move the apparatus by the controller of the drive unit and/or the at least one electromagnetically driven unit.
9 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is self-learning and is further configured to automatically store natures of substrates associated with detected vibration patterns by the sensory assembly.
10 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus further comprises optical sensors, and wherein the control unit is self-learning and automatically stores natures of the substrates with detected vibration patterns based on an interaction with the optical sensors.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS This application is a U.S. National Phase application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2021/056940, filed on Mar. 18, 2021, and claims benefit to German Patent Application No. DE 10 2020 108 252.5, filed on Mar. 25, 2020. The International Application was published in German on Sep. 30, 2021 as WO 2021/191044 under PCT Article 21(2). FIELD The invention relates to a method for identifying the substrate on which an apparatus is moveable. The invention also relates to an assembly for identifying the substrate for an apparatus autonomously moving on the substrate, comprising a main body, a drive unit and/or at least one electromagnetically driven unit, a sensor assembly and a control unit. BACKGROUND Such an assembly is known from WO 1999/09874 A1. The known assembly uses sound analysis for identifying the substrate. For this purpose, the assembly is equipped with a separate sound source and a separate sound receiver. In the context of autonomously driving cleaning devices, such as cleaning robots, in particular, it is advantageous to identify the substrate. Identifying the substrate enables the cleaning robot to adapt or modify the cleaning operation it is carrying out. Depending on the type of substrate, the cleaning operations to be carried out will vary, for example, it may be desirable to wet clean smooth floors, while wall-to-wall carpeting should be vacuum-cleaned. In the prior-art assembly it is necessary to mount a separate sensor assembly on the assembly for the exclusive purpose of identifying the substrate. SUMMARY In an embodiment, the present invention provides a method for identifying a substrate on which an apparatus is moveable, comprising: providing the apparatus, the apparatus comprising a main body, a drive unit, a control unit and a sensor assembly; forming a vibration system from the apparatus and the substrate, the vibration system generating vibrations, the vibrations generating a vibration pattern characteristic of a particular substrate, the vibration pattern varying as a function of a nature of the substrate; detecting the vibration pattern by the sensor assembly and forwarding the vibration pattern to the control unit; evaluating the vibration pattern in the control unit; and determining the nature of the substrate in the control unit based on the vibration pattern. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be described in even greater detail below based on the exemplary figures. The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments. Other features and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention will become apparent by reading the following detailed description with reference to the attached drawings which illustrate the following: FIG. 1 shows an apparatus in the form of a cleaning robot; and FIG. 2 shows vibration patterns detected by the sensor assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In an embodiment, the present invention provides a method and an assembly which allows the substrate to be identified with simple means. In the method according to the invention for identifying the substrate on which an apparatus is moveable, the apparatus comprises a main body, a drive unit, a control unit and a sensor assembly, wherein the apparatus and the substrate form a vibration system which generates vibrations, wherein the vibrations vary as a function of the nature of the substrate and generate a vibration pattern characteristic for the particular substrate, wherein the vibration pattern is detected by the sensor assembly and forwarded to the control unit, wherein the vibration pattern is evaluated in the control unit, and wherein the nature of the substrate is determined in the control unit on the basis of the vibration pattern. In the method according to the invention, the vibration pattern is thus not generated by a separately mounted unit, such as a sound source, but the vibration pattern of the entire apparatus is used for evaluation. The main body, the drive unit, the control unit and the sensor assembly remain essentially unchanged, while, depending on where the apparatus is situated, the substrate may change. For example, the apparatus may travel on wooden flooring, tiles, on a rubber flooring or across wall-to-wall carpeting. Each of these substrates interacts with the apparatus and causes a variation in the vibration pattern. The drive unit, usually an electromagnetic exciter, such as in the form of an electric motor, exhibits a vibration pattern which is essentially dependent on the frequency of the exciter. The drive unit is in the interior of the main body which comprises a number of cavities which influence and change the vibration pattern emitted by the electric motor. This vibration pattern of the apparatus is essentially uniform and is, as it were, the basic vibration pattern. Also, each electromagnetic device of a cleaning device has its own characteristic vibration pattern which