Lawn mower with autonomous traveling function

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12005787-B2
Application number	US-202017017951-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2020
Priority date	Sep 13, 2019
Publication date	Jun 11, 2024
Grant date	Jun 11, 2024

Abstract

A lawn mower includes a traveling driver, a mower motor, and at least one controller. At least one controller is configured to control the traveling driver in accordance with an operation of a user getting on the lawn mower, control the traveling driver to cause the lawn mower to travel autonomously, on a basis of information detected on the lawn mower, and control the mower motor. The lawn mower includes a lawn detection device configured to detect a condition of a portion of lawn on a front side in a traveling direction, and a position acquisition device configured to acquire self-position information. The at least one controller controls the traveling driver in such a manner that the lawn mower preferentially travels on a portion of lawn that needs to be mowed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An autonomously-driven lawn mower comprising:
a traveling driver including a traveling motor configured to drive at least one wheel;
a mower motor configured to drive at least one cutting blade;
at least one controller configured to:
control the traveling driver to cause the autonomously-driven lawn mower to travel autonomously, on a basis of information detected on the autonomously-driven lawn mower; and
control the mower motor;

a lawn detection device configured to detect a condition of a portion of lawn on a front side in a traveling direction; and
a position acquisition device configured to acquire self-position information,
wherein when a portion of lawn that needs to be mowed and a portion of lawn that has already been mowed are detected on the front side in the traveling direction, the at least one controller controls the traveling driver to cause the autonomously-driven lawn mower to travel on the portion of lawn that needs to be mowed while changing the traveling direction towards the portion of lawn that needs to be mowed, on the basis of detection information acquired from the lawn detection device and the self-position,
wherein the at least one controller includes a first controller, and a second controller capable of communicating with the first controller,
wherein the autonomously-driven lawn mower further comprises a traveling inverter configured to drive the traveling driver,
wherein the first controller is communicably connected to the traveling inverter, and controls the traveling driver,
wherein the second controller is communicably connected to the lawn detection device and the position acquisition device, and transmits a traveling instruction to the first controller on the basis of the detection information acquired from the lawn detection device and the self-position information, the traveling instruction including an instruction to cause the autonomously-driven lawn mower to travel on the portion of the lawn that needs to be mowed while changing the traveling direction towards the portion of lawn that needs to be mowed when the portion of lawn that needs to be mowed and the portion of lawn that has already been mowed are detected on the front side in the traveling direction, and
wherein the first controller controls the traveling driver in accordance with the traveling instruction.

2. The autonomously-driven lawn mower according to claim 1 , comprising:
a battery configured to supply electric power to the traveling driver and the mower motor;
a battery monitoring device configured to monitor a status of the battery; and
a mower inverter configured to drive the mower motor,
wherein the first controller is communicably connected to the battery monitoring device and the mower inverter.

3. The autonomously-driven lawn mower according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is connected to a map outputter including a displayer capable of displaying a self-position and a planned traveling range on a map.

4. An autonomously-driven lawn mower comprising:
a traveling driver including a traveling motor configured to drive at least one wheel;
a mower motor configured to drive at least one cutting blade;
at least one controller configured to:
control the traveling driver to cause the autonomously-driven lawn mower to travel autonomously, on a basis of information detected on the autonomously-driven lawn mower; and
control the mower motor;

a lawn detection device configured to detect a condition of a portion of lawn on a front side in a traveling direction;
a position acquisition device configured to acquire self-position information; and
an activity measuring instrument configured to measure activity of a portion of lawn from a reflectance of light in a visible red region and an infrared region,
wherein when a portion of lawn that needs to be mowed and a portion of lawn that has already been mowed are detected on the front side in the traveling direction, the at least one controller controls the traveling driver to cause the autonomously-driven lawn mower to travel on the portion of lawn that needs to be mowed while changing the traveling direction towards the portion of lawn that needs to be mowed, on the basis of detection information acquired from the lawn detection device and the self-position information, and
wherein the at least one controller associates measurement information of the activity measuring instrument with the self-position information to generate lawn condition information.

Assignees

• Kanzaki Kokyukoki Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kiyooka Koji
• Nishizawa Takashi
• Yamanami Hidetaka
• Nakagawa Shigeaki
• Sasahara Kengo
• Morita Hikari
• Ogura Kohei

Classifications

• H02J7/751

  concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries · CPC title

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• G05D1/646

  Following a predefined trajectory, e.g. a line marked on the floor or a flight path · CPC title

• G06T7/0002

  Inspection of images, e.g. flaw detection · CPC title

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title