Adjustable parameters for autonomous cleaning robots

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11547264-B2
Application number	US-201916536903-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 9, 2019
Priority date	Apr 30, 2019
Publication date	Jan 10, 2023
Grant date	Jan 10, 2023

Abstract

A method of operating an autonomous cleaning robot includes presenting, on a display of a mobile device, a representation of each of multiple cleaning levels, each cleaning level corresponding to a respective rank overlap parameter for a wet cleaning mission of the autonomous cleaning robot. The method includes receiving, at the mobile device, an input indicative of a selection of one of the cleaning levels; and controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to execute a wet cleaning mission according to the rank overlap parameter corresponding to the selected one of the cleaning levels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating an autonomous cleaning robot, the method comprising:
presenting, on a display of a mobile device, a representation of each of multiple cleaning levels, each cleaning level corresponding to a respective rank overlap parameter for a wet cleaning mission of the autonomous cleaning robot;
receiving, at the mobile device, an input indicative of a selection of one of the cleaning levels; and
controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to execute a wet cleaning mission according to the rank overlap parameter corresponding to the selected one of the cleaning levels, wherein controlling the autonomous cleaning robot comprises controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to follow a cleaning path having adjacent ranks with a degree of overlap for the selected cleaning level, wherein a spacing between centers of the adjacent ranks is based on the rank overlap parameter.

2. The method of claim 1 , in which the multiple cleaning levels comprise a first cleaning level corresponding to a first rank overlap parameter and a second cleaning level corresponding to a second rank overlap parameter greater than the first rank overlap parameter.

3. The method of claim 2 , in which the first rank overlap parameter corresponds to a rank overlap parameter in a range from 0% to 30% and the second rank overlap parameter corresponds to a rank overlap parameter in a range from 40% to 70%.

4. The method of claim 1 , in which presenting a representation of each of the multiple cleaning levels comprises presenting one or more of (i) a radio button corresponding to each cleaning level and (ii) a slider bar having multiple positions, each position corresponding to one of the cleaning levels.

5. The method of claim 1 , in which presenting a representation of each of the multiple cleaning levels comprises presenting a textual description of each of the cleaning levels.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
presenting, on the display of the mobile device, a representation of each of multiple spray levels; and
receiving, at the mobile device, an input indicative of a selection of one of the spray levels,
in which controlling the autonomous cleaning robot comprises controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to execute the cleaning mission according to the selected spray level.

7. The method of claim 6 , in which controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to execute the cleaning mission according to the selected spray level comprises controlling a volume of fluid ejected by a nozzle of the autonomous cleaning robot according to the selected spray level.

8. The method of claim 7 , in which the multiple spray levels comprise a first spray level corresponding to a first spray volume in a range from 200 μL to 500 μL and a second spray level corresponding to a second spray volume in a range from 400 μL to 1000 μL.

9. The method of claim 6 , in which controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to execute the cleaning mission according to the selected spray level comprises controlling a spray frequency for ejection of fluid from a nozzle of the autonomous cleaning robot according to the spray level.

10. The method of claim 9 , in which the multiple spray levels comprise a first spray level corresponding to a first spray frequency in a range from one spray event per 300 mm to one spray event per 1400 mm and a second spray level corresponding to a second spray frequency in a range from one spray event per 1400 mm to one spray event per 2300 mm.

11. The method of claim 6 , in which presenting a representation of each of the multiple spray levels comprises presenting a graphical representation of each of the multiple spray levels.

12. The method of claim 6 , in which presenting a representation of each of the multiple spray levels comprises presenting one or more of (i) a slider bar having multiple positions, each position corresponding to one of the spray levels and (ii) a radio button corresponding to each of the spray levels.

13. The method of claim 1 , comprising controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to execute a spot cleaning mission of an area, comprising:
controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to navigate the area in a first set of ranks according to a first rank orientation;
controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to navigate the area in a second set of ranks according to a second rank orientation different than the first rank orientation; and
controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to navigate a perimeter of the area, wherein navigation of the perimeter is distinct from the navigation in the first set of ranks and the second set of ranks.

14. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
receiving, at the mobile device, an input to initiate the wet cleaning mission; and
controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to execute the cleaning mission responsive to receiving the input.

15. The method of claim 1 , in which controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to perform the wet cleaning mission comprises initiating a transmission to the autonomous cleaning robot comprising instructions to execute the wet cleaning mission according to the rank overlap parameter.

16. The method of claim 1 , comprising presenting, on the display of the mobile device, a summary of the wet cleaning mission, the summary comprising a representation of the selected cleaning level.

17. The method of claim 1 , comprising presenting, on the display of the mobile device, a summary of the wet cleaning mission, the summary comprising a map of an area cleaned by the autonomous cleaning robot during the wet cleaning mission.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for causing one or more processors of a mobile device to:
present, on a display of the mobile device, a representation of each of multiple cleaning levels, each cleaning level corresponding to a respective rank overlap parameter for a wet cleaning mission of an autonomous cleaning robot;
receive, at the mobile device, an input indicative of a selection of one of the cleaning levels; and
control the autonomous cleaning robot to perform a wet cleaning mission according to the rank overlap parameter corresponding to the selected one of the cleaning levels,
wherein controlling the autonomous cleaning robot comprises controlling the autonomous cleaning robot to follow a cleaning path having adjacent ranks with a degree of overlap for the selected cleaning level, wherein a spacing between centers of the adjacent ranks is based on the rank overlap parameter.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , in which the multiple cleaning levels comprise a first cleaning level corresponding to a first rank overlap parameter and a second cleaning level corresponding to a second rank overlap parameter greater than the first rank overlap parameter.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , in which presenting a representation of each of the multiple cleaning levels comprises presenting one or more of (i) a radio button corresponding to each cleaning level and (ii) a slider bar having multiple positions, each position corresponding to one of the cleaning levels.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , in which the instructions are for causing the one or more processors of the mobile device to:
present, on the display of the mobile device, a representation of each of multiple spray levels; and
receive, at the mobile device, an input indicative of a selection of one of the spray levels,
in which contr

Assignees

• Irobot Corp

Inventors

• Lu Ping-Hong
• Williams Marcus
• Goss Adam
• O'Dea Melissa

Classifications

• A47L2201/04

  Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection · CPC title

• A47L2201/06

  Control of the cleaning action for autonomous devices; Automatic detection of the surface condition before, during or after cleaning · CPC title

• A47L11/4011 Primary

  Regulation of the cleaning machine by electric means; Control systems and remote control systems therefor · CPC title

• A47L11/408

  Means for supplying cleaning or surface treating agents · CPC title

• A47L11/4061

  Steering means; Means for avoiding obstacles; Details related to the place where the driver is accommodated · CPC title