A detecting device including an optical sensor includes: a cover member that is arranged at least partially around the optical sensor and is rotatable about a first rotation axis; and a rotation sensor configured to detect rotation of the cover member.

A vacuum cleaner attachment generally includes a cleaning element that floats relative to a suction conduit of the vacuum cleaner attachment. The cleaning element is supported on a support structure that is movably coupled to a housing and is biased towards a floor, for example, as a result of the weight of the cleaning element support structure. The cleaning element may be permanently attached to the support structure or may be a removable or disposable pad or sheet attached to the support structure. The floating cleaning element may be supported between the suction conduit and one or more wheels of the vacuum cleaner attachment. The vacuum cleaner attachment may be removably attached to a vacuum cleaner, for example, to be used interchangeably with other surface cleaning heads.

An autonomous cleaning robot includes a controller configured to execute instructions to perform one or more operations. The one or more operations includes operating a drive system to move the cleaning robot in a forward drive direction along a first obstacle surface with a side surface of the cleaning robot facing the first obstacle surface, then operating the drive system to turn the cleaning robot such that the side surface of the cleaning robot faces a second obstacle surface, then operating the drive system to move the cleaning robot in a rearward drive direction along the second obstacle surface, and then operating the drive system to move the cleaning robot in the forward drive direction along the second obstacle surface.

The present disclosure relates to a method for controlling a plurality of moving robots, in which by dividing an area to be cleaned into a plurality of regions, and detecting sub-regions in the respective regions, the plurality of moving robots share information on the sub-region and the respective regions, and perform cleaning alternately to reduce the waste of cleaning time.

Some embodiments include a robot, including: a plurality of sensors; at least one encoder; a processor; a tangible, non-transitory, machine readable medium storing instructions that when executed by the processor effectuates operations including: measuring, with the at least one encoder, wheel rotation of at least one wheel; capturing, with an image sensor, images of an environment as the robot moves within the environment; identifying, with the processor, at least one characteristic of at least one object captured in the images of the environment; determining, with the processor, an object type of the at least one object based on characteristics of different types of objects stored in an object database; and instructing, with the processor, the robot to execute at least one action based on at least one of: the object type of the at least one object and the measured wheel rotation of the at least one wheel.

Provided is a robot including a chassis; a set of wheels coupled to the chassis; a plurality of sensors; a processor; and a tangible, non-transitory, machine readable medium storing instructions that when executed by the processor effectuates operations. The operations include capturing, with an image sensor disposed on the robot, a plurality of images of an environment of the robot as the robot navigates within the environment; identifying, with the processor, an obstacle type of an obstacle captured in an image based on a comparison between features of the obstacle and features of obstacles with different obstacles types stored in a database; and determining, with the processor, an action of the robot based on the obstacle type of the obstacle.

A robotic device comprising: an energy storage device; and a controller configured to determine whether a quantity of energy stored in the energy storage device is below a predetermined energy level, wherein: the robotic device is configured to perform a cleaning task if the determined quantity of energy is not below the predetermined energy level; if the determined quantity of energy is below the predetermined energy level: the controller is configured to estimate a likelihood of the robotic device being capable of locating a recharging base station; and in dependence on the estimated likelihood, the robotic device is configured to seek the recharging base station or perform the cleaning task.

Disclosed is a robot cleaner including a light source for irradiating light, a sensor for sensing that the light irradiated from the light source is reflected, and a controller that processes an image using the light sensed by the sensor to calculate a distance value of an individual location of the corresponding image, wherein it is determined that there is an obstacle when there is a dead zone in the image processed by the controller.

The present disclosure relates to the field of cleaning robot technology, and in particular to a cleaning robot system. The cleaning robot system includes a base station and a cleaning robot. The base station is independent to the cleaning robot of the cleaning robot system. The base station includes a base station body and a mop member cleaning device arranged on the base station body. The mop member cleaning device is configured to clean a mop member of the cleaning robot. Based on the base station, the cleaning robot system is capable of automatically cleaning the mop member with no need for users to change or clean the mop member frequently, which is helpful to free consumers from house cleaning, thus relieving the burden on the consumers, and also helpful to clean the mop member in time so as to ensure a better effect in next cleaning.

A portable vacuum cleaner comprises a housing including a storage space and a lid coupled to the housing. The lid is moveable between an open position, in which access to the storage space is provided, and a closed position, in which access to the storage space is blocked. The vacuum cleaner further comprises a handle coupled to the housing, a suction source supported in the housing, a debris collection chamber in fluid communication with the suction source, and a first battery receptacle on the housing. The first battery receptacle is configured to selectively receive a first battery pack that is configured to provide power to the suction source. The vacuum cleaner further comprises a hose port on the housing and in fluid communication with the suction source.