The present disclosure relates to a method of identifying a functional region in a 3-dimensional space and a robot implementing the method, and the robot comprises a sensing module that senses a protrusion located outside a robot and provides height and depth information of the sensed protrusion; a functional unit that provides a predetermined function to the outside; a moving unit that moves the robot; a map storage unit that stores a map required for movement of the robot; and a control unit that controls these components.

A waste collection bag may be used by an autonomous cleaning robot (e.g., an autonomous vacuum) to store waste during a plurality of cleaning processes. The waste bag comprises a waste bag, a waste collection sachet, and an absorbent. The waste bag has a first side and a second side, where the first side has an opening for waste to enter, and is composed of filtering material. The waste collection enclosed sachet has a first side and a second side that connect to form a cavity. The waste collection enclosed sachet is tethered to the second side of the waste bag and is composed of dissolvable paper. The absorbent may absorb liquid waste and is located inside the cavity of the waste collection enclosed sachet.

A cleaner employing an agitation cartridge to clean a side surface beyond a reach of other onboard cleaning implements. The cleaner may be an autonomous floor cleaner having a body, a cleaning implement onboard the body operable for cleaning a floor surface, a motorized drive system operable for autonomously moving the body over the floor surface, and a scrubbing belt operable for cleaning the side surface.

A robot cleaner enables a wet cleaning, has a replaceable cleaning unit, and ensures a sufficient friction force for doing a wet cleaning of a floor. The robot cleaner includes a frame including a wheel for driving, a replaceable cleaning unit formed at a lower part of the frame to clean a bottom surface and disposed in front of the wheel, a tank disposed at an upper part of the wheel and configured to supply fluid to the cleaning unit, a pump configured to pump the fluid contained in the tank such that the fluid contained in the tank is supplied to the cleaning unit, a hose configured to extend to the pump and the upper part of the cleaning unit and through which the fluid pumped by the pump flows, and a bumper formed on a side of the frame.

A cleaning tool for a floor cleaning machine is proposed which includes a cleaning-action device and a supporting part on which the cleaning-action device is arranged and by means of which the cleaning tool is fixable to the floor cleaning machine, wherein the supporting part includes a seating having a wall and a seating space for a tool holding head of the floor cleaning machine which is bounded by the wall, and the wall includes a holding region for the tool holding head, wherein the wall includes an insertion region for the tool holding head to which the holding region is adjoined, wherein the seating space is widened in the insertion region in comparison with the holding region and tapers towards the holding region.

Disclosed is an image processing method of processing a plurality of images into a single image, including: obtaining at least a left image, a center image, and a right image from a plurality of cameras arranged in a row; generating a left top-view image, a center top-view image, and a right top-view image based on the left image, the center image, and the right image, respectively; generating one wide top-view image by merging the left top-view image, the center top-view image, and the right top-view image; and generating and outputting the wide top-view image as a final wide image. Thus, the images from the plurality of cameras are merged into a single image, thereby reducing fatigue of a robot operator.

A waste collection bag may be used by an autonomous cleaning robot (e.g., an autonomous vacuum) to store waste during a plurality of cleaning processes. The waste collection bag comprises a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion includes an opening for waste to enter the waste collection bag. The top portion is composed of a porous material to filter air through the porous material. The bottom portion is composed of a non-porous material configured to hold liquid waste and includes an absorbent for interacting with liquid waste to form semi-solid waste.

A self-propelled, self-steering floor cleaner is provided, including a cleaning device with at least one cleaning unit for cleaning a floor surface of a room having at least a section of an obstacle therein that is not in contact with the floor surface, a transmission unit for emitting radiation directed at the obstacle and the floor surface, a detection unit for detecting reflected radiation and providing a detection signal, a control unit coupled to the detection unit, and a chassis for movement on the floor surface including a drive unit coupled to the control unit, it being determinable from the detection signal whether a space and a cleanable floor surface section are present underneath the obstacle, the drive unit being actuatable to move the floor cleaner for cleaning the floor surface section, with at least one cleaning unit. The invention also relates to a method for cleaning a floor surface.

A cleaning device for an autonomous floor treatment appliance, the cleaning device being suitable for cleaning wall portions that are close to a floor and border a floor surface to be cleaned, includes a fixing element to connect the cleaning device to a housing portion of the autonomous floor treatment appliance and a cleaning element carrier having a cleaning element, the cleaning element carrier being connected to the fixing element.

In one embodiment, a robot is described which uses pads for both operating on a surface and movement of the robot. The pads are tilted about a single axis. In one embodiment, the pads are slightly curved. In one embodiment, three pads are used. By using an odd number of pads (e.g., 3) with one rotating in an opposite direction, translational movement can be achieved by using non-center contact points without varying the tilt angle and angular velocity of the pads to achieve a translation direction.