A method of surface type detection may include traversing a cleaning area, generating a plurality of cluster points while traversing the cleaning area, each cluster point being associated with a corresponding surface type and a location, and determining at least one surface type region within the cleaning area based, at least in part, on a comparison of the plurality of cluster points.

A system for collecting waste from an area includes a robotic device including a housing, a control system within the housing, which includes a processor system and a memory system in operative connection with the processor system, a power system in operative connection with the control system, a sensor system in operative connection with the control system, one or more drive wheels (each of the drive wheels being in operative connection with a motor which is in operative connection with the power system and with the control system), a waste retrieval system in operative connection with the power system and with the control system, and a receptacle compartment within the housing. The control system includes one or more location/identification algorithms stored in the memory system and executable by the processor system to locate an object of animal waste in the area based upon data received from the sensor system. The control system further includes one or more positioning algorithms stored in memory and executable by the processor system to position the robotic device relative to the object of animal waste to enable collection of the object of animal waste via the waste retrieval system. Additionally, the control system includes one or more retrieval algorithms to actuate the waste retrieval system and control the waste retrieval system to bring the object of animal waste into the receptacle compartment.

An autonomous cleaning device is provided. The autonomous cleaning device includes: a device body; and a drive module, a cleaning module and a sensing module, wherein the drive module, the cleaning module and the sensing module are detachably assembled to the device body, respectively.

An autonomous floor cleaner can include a housing, a drive system for autonomously moving the housing over the surface to be cleaned, a controller for controlling the operation of the autonomous floor cleaner, a tank adapted to hold liquid, and a carry handle joined with the tank and/or the housing. The carry handle is movable between different positions, including a position in which the autonomous floor cleaner can be lifted via the carry handle while an inlet and/or outlet of the tank is blocked.

An autonomous cleaning robot (e.g., an autonomous vacuum) may clean an environment using a cleaning head that is self-actuated. The cleaning head includes an actuator assembly comprising an actuator configured to control rotation and vertical movement of a cleaning roller, a controller, and a cleaning roller having an elongated cylindrical length connected to the actuator assembly. The cleaning head also includes a computer processor connected to the actuator assembly and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that causes the computer processor to map the environment based on sensor data captured by the autonomous vacuum. The computer processor may determine an optimal height for the cleaning head based on the map and instruct the actuator assembly to adjust the height of the cleaning head.

The present disclosure provides a floor cleaner that includes a replaceable component, such as a brushroll or a filter. The floor cleaner has a detection mechanism comprising a magnet on the replaceable component and a Hall Effect sensor positioned to detect the permanent magnet when the replaceable component is correctly installed on the floor cleaner. Operation of one or more electrically-powered components of the floor cleaner is prevented when the permanent magnet is not detected by the Hall Effect sensor.

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a user apparatus, a cleaning robot including the same, and a method of controlling the cleaning robot, and more particularly, to a technology in which the cleaning robot learns cleaning information about a cleaning area, and adjusts a suction power of the cleaning robot and a wideness of the cleaning area based on a battery charge amount of the cleaning robot. The cleaning robot includes a dust sucking fan configured to suck dust from a cleaning area; a dust sucking motor configured to rotate the dust sucking fan; a communication interface configured to perform communication with a user apparatus; a storage configured to store a battery charge amount of the cleaning robot that is changed as the cleaning area is cleaned; and a controller configured to calculate a wideness of the cleaning area that can be cleaned with a suction power of the dust sucking fan based on the battery charge amount, and to control the cleaning robot to clean the cleaning area of the calculated wideness with the suction power of the dust sucking fan. The controller may be configured to control the communication interface so that information about the wideness of the cleaning area that can be cleaned by the suction power of the dust sucking fan is transmitted to the user apparatus.

A robotic cleaner is disclosed. The robotic cleaner comprises a memory in which is stored information about a certain period of time divided into a plurality of sections on the basis of location-related information of a user obtained during the certain period of time and a processor configured to determine, on the basis of the information stored in the memory, a section to which a time that a user departure event occurred belongs among the plurality of sections when the user departure event occurs, to control the robotic cleaner to perform cleaning in an operation mode with a preset suction intensity when the determined section is a first section among the plurality of sections, and to control, on the basis of cleaning history information, the cleaning performance of the robotic cleaner when a second section among the plurality of sections starts after a user arrival event occurs, wherein, the first section may be determined to be where a user is absent in a cleaning space in the certain period of time, and the second section may be determined to be where a user is present in the cleaning space in the certain period of time.

A task performing method for a cleaning robot, according to the disclosure, comprises the operations of: photographing an object in proximity to the cleaning robot includes obtaining recognition information of the object included in the photographed image, by applying the photographed image to a trained artificial intelligence model, obtaining, from among a plurality of sensors, additional information of the object by using a result obtained by detecting the object by at least one sensor selected, based on the recognition information of the object, and performing a task of the cleaning robot based on the additional information of the object. The trained artificial intelligence model, for example, a deep learning neural network model, in which a plurality of network nodes having weights are located in different layers so as to exchange data according to a convolution relationship, can be used, but is not limited to the aforementioned example.

A vehicle floor mat vacuum machine includes an elongate open mouth communicating with an interior chamber for passage of a floor mat therethrough and between an upper feed roller and a lower brush roller for contacting a carpet surface of the floor mat. A vacuum source connects to a vacuum manifold to create suction, as the brush roller and suction force work in conjunction to remove sand, dirt and other debris from the floor mat. An electric motor, drive belt and reduction gear assembly rotate the feed roller and brush roller in opposite directions with the brush roller rotating at a significantly higher speed. In one embodiment, the vacuum source is a central vacuum system, wherein a solenoid-controlled valve in the vacuum line extending from the feed roller is opened for a timed sequence during operation of the machine.