Charging method, device and storage medium for cleaning robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10696171-B2
Application number	US-201815957934-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 20, 2018
Priority date	Apr 25, 2017
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a charging method and a charging apparatus of a cleaning robot. With the method, position information of a plurality of charging ports available for the cleaning robot is obtained; when it is determined that the cleaning robot needs to be charged, current position information of the cleaning robot is obtained; a closest charging port from the plurality of charging ports which is the closest to a current position of the cleaning robot is determined according to the position information of the plurality of charging ports and the current position information of the cleaning robot; and the cleaning robot is controlled to move to the closest charging port according to the position information of the closest charging port. With the technical solution, the cleaning robot may be charged nearby, thereby reducing power consumption of the cleaning robot.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A charging method for a cleaning robot, comprising:
obtaining position information of a plurality of charging ports available for the cleaning robot;
determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged;
obtaining current position information of the cleaning robot;
determining a closest charging port from the plurality of charging ports which is the closest to a current position of the cleaning robot according to the position information of the plurality of charging ports and the current position information of the cleaning robot; and
controlling the cleaning robot to move to the closest charging port to charge according to the position information of the closest charging port;
wherein determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged comprises:
determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged when a remaining electric quantity of the cleaning robot is less than a preset value, wherein the preset value is set as an electric quantity which covers highest power consumption for the cleaning robot to move from the closest charging port to a farthest position when the cleaning robot performs a cleaning operation at the same time.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a first cleaning route starting from the closest charging port when charging the cleaning robot at the closest charging port is completed;
controlling the cleaning robot to work along the first cleaning route.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a second cleaning route starting from the closest charging port and directed to a target area which has not been cleaned by the cleaning robot, when charging the cleaning robot at the closest charging port is completed;
controlling the cleaning robot to work along the second cleaning route to clean the target area.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged comprises:
determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged when the cleaning robot finishes a cleaning task.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, determining a closest charging port from the plurality of charging ports which is the closest to the current position of the cleaning robot according to the position information of the plurality of charging ports and the current position information of the cleaning robot comprises:
calculating, on a current cleaning route, respective paths to the plurality of charging ports from a current position of the cleaning robot based on the position information of the plurality of charging ports and the current position information of the cleaning robot;
determining a closest charging port corresponding to a shortest path among the respective paths to the plurality of charging ports.

6. A charging device for a cleaning robot, comprising:
a processor;
a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor;
wherein, the processor is configured to perform the acts of:
obtaining position information of a plurality of charging ports available for the cleaning robot;
determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged;
obtaining current position information of the cleaning robot;
determining a closest charging port from the plurality of charging ports which is the closest to a current position of the cleaning robot according to the position information of the plurality of charging ports and the current position information of the cleaning robot; and
controlling the cleaning robot to move to the closest charging port to charge according to the position information of the closest charging port;
wherein determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged comprises:
determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged when a remaining electric quantity of the cleaning robot is less than a preset value, wherein the preset value is set as an electric quantity which covers highest power consumption for the cleaning robot to move from the closest charging port to a farthest position when the cleaning robot performs a cleaning operation at the same time.

7. The device according to claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to perform acts of:
determining a first cleaning route starting from the closest charging port when charging the cleaning robot at the closest charging port and is completed;
controlling the cleaning robot to work along the first cleaning route.

8. The device according to claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to perform acts of:
determining a second cleaning route starting from the closest charging port and directed to a target area which has not been cleaned by the cleaning robot, when charging the cleaning robot at the closest charging port is completed;
controlling the cleaning robot to work along the second cleaning route to clean the target area.

9. The device according to claim 6 , wherein, determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged comprises:
determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged when the cleaning robot finishes a cleaning task.

10. The device according to claim 6 , wherein, determining a closest charging port from the plurality of charging ports which is the closest to the current position of the cleaning robot according to the position information of the plurality of charging ports and the current position information of the cleaning robot comprises:
calculating, on a current cleaning route, respective paths to the plurality of charging ports from a current position of the cleaning robot based on the position information of the plurality of charging ports and the current position information of the cleaning robot;
determining a closest charging port corresponding to a shortest path among the respective paths to the plurality of charging ports.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, stored with computer programs that are applied to a cleaning robot and when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method, which includes:
obtaining position information of a plurality of charging ports available for the cleaning robot;
determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged;
obtaining current position information of the cleaning robot;
determining a closest charging port from the plurality of charging ports which is the closest to a current position of the cleaning robot according to the position information of the plurality of charging ports and the current position information of the cleaning robot; and
controlling the cleaning robot to move to the closest charging port to charge according to the position information of the closest charging port;
wherein determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged comprises:
determining that the cleaning robot needs to be charged when a remaining electric quantity of the cleaning robot is less than a preset value, wherein the preset value is set as an electric quantity which covers highest power consumption for the cleaning robot to move from the closest charging port to a farthest position when the cleaning robot performs a cleaning operation at the same time.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining a first cleaning route starting from the closest charging port when charging the cleaning robot at the closest charging port is completed;
controlling the cleaning robot to work along the first cleaning route.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining a second cleaning route starting from the closest charging port and

Assignees

• Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd

Inventors

• Xia Yongfeng
• Wu Ke

Classifications

• B60L53/30

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• Y02E60/10

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• Y02T10/92

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• Y02T10/7072

  Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors · CPC title

• Y02T90/12

  Electric charging stations · CPC title