UAV, method and system for cleaning a wall body

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11208209-B2
Application number	US-201916729452-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2019
Priority date	Sep 3, 2014
Publication date	Dec 28, 2021
Grant date	Dec 28, 2021

Abstract

A cleaning method includes controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to fly to a region of a wall body according to a path to be cleaned, and, in response to detecting a cleaning prohibition identifier associated with the region, recognizing the region as a cleaning prohibition region and controlling the UAV to fly over the cleaning prohibition region without cleaning the cleaning prohibition region.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cleaning method comprising:
controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to fly to a region of a wall body according to a path to be cleaned; and
in response to detecting a cleaning prohibition identifier associated with the region:
recognizing the region as a cleaning prohibition region; and
controlling the UAV to fly over the cleaning prohibition region without cleaning the cleaning prohibition region.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining a total cleaning path and a cleaned path; and
planning the path to be cleaned according to the total cleaning path and the cleaned path.

3. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the region is a first region;
the method further comprising:
controlling the UAV to fly to a second region of the wall body; and
in response to determining that no cleaning prohibition identifier is associated with the second region:
recognizing the second region as a region to be cleaned;
recognizing a wall surface of the region to be cleaned; and
controlling the UAV to clean the wall surface using a cleaning device carried by the UAV.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein controlling the UAV to clean the wall surface includes:
obtaining a type of the wall surface;
selecting a cleaning mode corresponding to the type of the wall surface;
controlling a distance between the UAV and the wall surface according to the selected cleaning mode; and
cleaning the wall surface according to the selected cleaning mode.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
stopping cleaning the wall surface and automatically returning to a landing point along a return path.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the landing point is a site pre-set by a user or a site automatically set by the UAV.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining whether an amount of remaining energy of the UAV is greater than a critical amount of energy required to return to a landing point; and
in response to the amount of remaining energy being not greater than the critical amount of energy, immediately stopping cleaning the wall surface and automatically returning to the landing point along a return path.

8. The method of claim 3 , wherein controlling the UAV to clean the wall surface includes controlling the UAV to clean the wall surface by ultrasonic vibration.

9. The method of claim 3 , wherein controlling the UAV to clean the wall surface includes controlling the UAV to clean the wall surface by detergent spraying cleaning.

10. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
recording a cleaned path while cleaning the wall surface.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cleaning prohibition identifier includes at least one of a pattern provided on a surface of the wall body or a signal generator provided on or behind the surface of the wall body.

12. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
a memory storing a path to be cleaned;
a positioning sensor configured to obtain position information of the UAV;
a wall surface recognition sensor configured to obtain information about a surface of a wall body; and
a controller communicatively connected to the memory, the positioning sensor, and the wall surface recognition sensor, and configured to:
control the UAV to fly to a region of the wall body according to the path to be cleaned obtained from the memory and the position information of the UAV; and
in response to the wall surface recognition sensor detecting a cleaning prohibition identifier associated with the region:
recognize the region as a cleaning prohibition region; and
control the UAV to fly over the cleaning prohibition region without cleaning the cleaning prohibition region.

13. The UAV of claim 12 , further comprising:
a cleaning device;
wherein:
the region is a first region;
the controller is further configured to:
control the UAV to fly to a second region of the wall body; and
in response to the wall surface recognition sensor determining that no cleaning prohibition identifier is associated with the second region:
recognize the second region as a region to be cleaned;
recognize a wall surface of the region to be cleaned; and
control the UAV to clean the wall surface using a cleaning device carried by the UAV.

14. The UAV of claim 13 , wherein the cleaning device includes at least one of a sprayer for spraying a detergent, an ultrasonic transducer for generating ultrasonic oscillation, a rotation-driving mechanism connecting a cleaning component to the UAV, a sliding-driving mechanism connecting the cleaning component to the UAV, or a dragging mechanism connecting the cleaning component to the UAV.

15. The UAV of claim 13 , further comprising:
a gimbal platform connecting the cleaning device to a body of the UAV, an attitude of the cleaning device being adjusted via the gimbal platform.

16. The UAV of claim 12 , wherein:
the positioning sensor includes at least one of a GPS, an IMU, or a height sensor; and
the height sensor includes at least one of a barometric altimeter, an infrared distance sensor, an ultrasonic distance sensor, a visual distance sensor, a laser distance sensor, or a radar distance sensor.

17. The UAV of claim 12 , wherein the wall surface recognition sensor is further configured to measure a distance between the UAV and the surface of the wall body.

18. The UAV of claim 12 , wherein the wall surface recognition sensor is further configured to recognize a type of the surface of the wall body.

19. The UAV of claim 12 , wherein:
the memory further stores a total cleaning path and a cleaned path; and
the controller is further configured to plan the path to be cleaned according to the total cleaning path and the cleaned path.

20. The UAV of claim 12 , wherein:
the memory further stores a return path; and
the controller is further configured to control the UAV to return to a landing point according to the return path.

Assignees

• Sz Dji Technology Co Ltd

Inventors

• Liu Ang
• Wu Yuwei

Classifications

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• B08B1/34

  rotating about an axis parallel to the surface · CPC title

• E04G23/002 Primary

  Arrangements for cleaning building facades · CPC title

• B64U2101/29

  for cleaning · CPC title

• B64U50/39

  Battery swapping · CPC title