CLEANING ROBOT HAVING A ROBOT ARM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE CLEANING ROBOT

Abstract

A cleaning robot cleans a cleaning region and has a housing, a drive unit for driving the cleaning robot in the cleaning region, a floor cleaning unit for cleaning a floor surface of the cleaning region, and a robot arm for moving objects and/or for cleaning a surface that is raised with respect to the floor surface. The robot arm is arranged on a housing front of the housing in a resting position. The clean robot further has a control unit for controlling the drive unit, the floor cleaning unit and the robot arm. The robot arm forms a bumper in the resting position.

Claims

1. A cleaning robot for cleaning a cleaning region, the cleaning robot comprising: a housing having a housing front; a drive unit for driving the cleaning robot in the cleaning region; a floor cleaning unit for cleaning a floor surface of the cleaning region; a robot arm for moving objects and/or for cleaning a surface that is raised with respect to the floor surface, wherein said robot arm is disposed in a resting position on said housing front of said housing, said robot arm forming a bumper in the resting position; and a controller for controlling said drive unit, said floor cleaning unit and said robot arm.

2. The cleaning robot according to claim 1, wherein: said housing has a receiving region for said robot arm on said housing front; and in the resting position, said robot arm is disposed within a maximum height of the cleaning robot in said receiving region and is disposed with a protrusion in said receiving region at least in relation to a housing vertical axis and/or a housing longitudinal axis.

3. The cleaning robot according to claim 2, wherein: said receiving region has a bearing section for bearing said robot arm on said housing; and said bearing section has at least one sliding surface, via which said robot arm is supported in the resting position, at least in sections, in a sliding manner on said bearing section.

4. The cleaning robot according to claim 1, wherein said robot arm has at least two segments, which are connected to one another via a joint to form a serial kinematic system, wherein, in the resting position, at least one of said segments is disposed on a first side surface of said housing front and/or on a front surface of said housing front and/or on a second side surface of said housing front.

5. The cleaning robot according to claim 4, wherein: said robot arm has a contact sensor system, which is configured so as to provide a sensor signal when said robot arm comes into contact with an obstacle in the resting position; and said controller is configured so as to influence a route plan of the cleaning robot on a basis of the sensor signal.

6. The cleaning robot according to claim 5, wherein said contact sensor system is formed by at least one surface sensor, which is disposed at least in sections on an outer side of said robot arm.

7. The cleaning robot according to claim 5, wherein said contact sensor system is formed by at least one contact sensor, which is disposed in at least one of said segments and/or in at least one said joint of said robot arm.

8. The cleaning robot according to claim 5, wherein said contact sensor system is formed by at least one articulated drive of said robot arm, wherein said controller is configured so as to monitor a motor current of said at least one articulated drive.

9. The cleaning robot according to claim 5, wherein said robot arm having joints which are all disposed in the resting position such that, when said robot arm comes into contact with the obstacle, for each direction of force an associated torque, which can be detected by said contact sensor system, results about at least one of said joints.

10. The cleaning robot according to claim 1, further comprising an environment sensor for detecting environment data in relation to the cleaning region, wherein, in an operating position, said robot arm is disposed at least in sections in a detection region of said environment sensor, wherein a part of said robot arm that is disposed in the detection region has a smaller cross section than a part of said robot arm that is disposed outside the detection region.

11. The cleaning robot according to claim 10, wherein at least said part of said robot arm which is disposed in the detection region is countersunk in the resting position in said housing, and/or at least said part of said robot arm which is disposed outside the detection region is disposed on an outside on said housing in the resting position.

12. The cleaning robot according to claim 11, wherein in the resting position, said part of said robot arm that is disposed outside the detection region largely covers said housing front.

13. The cleaning robot according to claim 1, wherein in the resting position, said robot arm is disposed close to a contour, forming an air gap on said housing front.

14. A method for controlling a cleaning robot, which comprises the steps of: transferring a robot arm into at least one operating position in order to move an object and/or to clean a surface; and transferring the robot arm to a resting position in order to stow the robot arm, wherein, in the resting position, the robot arm is disposed on a housing front and forms a bumper.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein in the resting position, contact with an obstacle is detected by the robot arm and a sensor signal is output, wherein a route plan of the cleaning robot is influenced based on the sensor signal.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0042] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective plan view of a cleaning robot having a robot arm in a resting position as an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

[0043] FIG. 2 is a perspective bottom view of the cleaning robot from FIG. 1;

[0044] FIG. 3 is a perspective illustration of the cleaning robot with the robot arm in an upper operating position;

[0045] FIG. 4 is a detailed plan view of the robot arm of the cleaning robot of FIG. 1;

[0046] FIG. 5 is a side view of the cleaning robot with the robot arm in an upper operating position;

[0047] FIG. 6 is a perspective detailed view of the robot arm of the cleaning robot from FIG. 1;

[0048] FIG. 7 is a perspective illustration of the cleaning robot with the robot arm in a lower operating position; and

[0049] FIG. 8 is a perspective illustration of the cleaning robot with the robot arm in an upper operating position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0050] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is shown a cleaning robot 1 in different perspective views. The cleaning robot 1 is configured as an autonomously moving vacuuming robot, which is configured so as to implement vacuuming and sweeping operations in a cleaning area. The cleaning robot 1 can be between approximately 7 cm and 15 cm high, for example.

[0051] The cleaning robot 1 has a housing 2, in which a drive unit 3 is received (not illustrated in more detail) for driving the cleaning robot 1 and a floor cleaning unit 4 (not illustrated in more detail) for cleaning a floor surface 5 of the cleaning region.

[0052] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the drive unit 3 has two drive means 6a, 6b that are configured as drive wheels, which can be driven via a drive motor (not illustrated). By adjusting different speeds of the drive means 6a, 6b, the cleaning robot 1 can also perform rotations and cornering.

[0053] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the floor cleaning unit 4 essentially has a brush roller 7, a side brush 8, a suction mouth 9, a collection container 10 and a suction fan (not illustrated). In this case, the brush roller 7, the side brush 8 and the suction mouth 9 are arranged on an underside 11, as illustrated in FIG. 2, of the housing 2, wherein the bristles of the brush roller 7 and of the side brush 8 act on the floor surface 5 to be cleaned in order to remove dust and dirt and transport them in the direction of the suction mouth 9. The suction mouth 9 is fluidically connected to the suction fan, which sucks in dust and dirt via the suction mouth 9 and conveys them into the collection container 10. In this case, the collection container 10 is removably arranged on an upper side 12 of the housing 2, as illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, the drive unit 3 and the floor cleaning unit 4 can be supplied with electrical energy via an energy storage unit (not illustrated), such as, for example, a rechargeable battery.

[0054] The cleaning robot 1 also has an environment sensor 13, which is configured so as to capture environmental data. The environment sensor 13 is configured so as to scan an environment of the cleaning robot 1 for detection and make it available as environment data to a schematically indicated control unit 14 that is arranged within the housing 2. For example, the environment data can be used for creating an environment map and/or for navigation. For example, the control unit 14 determines a movement path of the cleaning robot 1 over the floor surface 5 on the basis of the environmental data and navigates the cleaning robot 1 in accordance with the planned movement. In this case, the cleaning robot 1 travels over the floor surface 5 in a direction of travel 100 and cleans it. For example, the environment sensor 13 is configured as a lidar sensor.

[0055] The cleaning robot 1 also has a multi-articulated robot arm 15, which is arranged on a housing front 16 of the housing 2 in a resting position 101, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The robot arm 15 can be controlled by the control unit 14 and supplied with electrical energy by the energy store. The cleaning robot 1 can use the robot arm 15 to clean on raised surfaces, grip and insert tools, or pick up and/or move objects.

[0056] The robot arm 15 has a plurality of segments 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e, which are connected to one another in an articulated manner via a joint 18a, 18b, 18c, 19, 20 in each case to form a serial kinematic system. A first segment 17a is configured as a base segment, which can be rotated about an axis of rotation 110 relative to the housing 2 via a base joint 19. A second, third and fourth segment 17b, 17c, 17d are each configured as an intermediate segment, wherein the second segment 17b is connected to the first segment 17a in such a manner that it can be tilted about a tilting axis 111 via a tilting joint 20, the second segment 17b is connected to the third segment 17c in such a manner that it can be pivoted about a first pivoting axis 112a via a first joint 18a, and the third segment 17d is connected to the fourth segment 17d in such a manner that it can be pivoted about a second pivoting axis 112b via a second joint 18b. Conversely, a fifth segment 17e is configured as an end effector, which serves for gripping objects and/or tools. The fifth segment 17e is in turn connected to the fourth segment 17d so as to be pivotable about a third pivot axis 112c via a third joint 18c. The first, second and third joints 18a, 18b, 18c are in the form of a pivoting joint. The joints 18a, 18b, 18c, the base joint 19 and the tilting joint 20 are each equipped with an electric joint drive.

[0057] The housing 2 has a receiving region 21 on the housing front 16, in which the robot arm 15 is stowed in the resting position 101. In the resting position 101, the robot arm 15 forms a bumper in order to absorb and/or detect a collision with an obstacle. For this purpose, in the resting position 101, the robot arm 15 is arranged axially in the receiving region 21 with a slight protrusion of, for example, 1 mm to 2 mm in relation to a housing longitudinal axis 113, a housing transverse axis 114 and a housing vertical axis 115. The robot arm 15 thus protrudes slightly beyond the housing 2 forwards, to the two sides and upwards, as a result of which the robot arm 15 first comes into contact with an obstacle, even before the housing 2 itself would collide with the obstacle. The housing longitudinal axis 113 and the housing transverse axis 114 are to be understood as two axes of the housing 2 that are arranged at right angles to one another, which are oriented in the same direction and/or parallel to the floor surface 5, wherein the direction of travel 100 is oriented axially with respect to the housing longitudinal axis 113. In this case, the housing vertical axis 115 is oriented perpendicularly to the housing longitudinal axis 113 and the housing transverse axis 114 and/or to the floor surface 5.

[0058] In addition, in the resting position 101, the robot arm 15 is arranged within a maximum height 105, as can be seen in FIG. 5, of the cleaning robot 1 in relation to the housing vertical axis 115. In the resting position 101, the robot arm 15 is thus arranged without protrusion to the highest point, in this case the environment sensor 13, of the cleaning robot 1, as a result of which the robot arm 15 does not form an interference contour when driving under objects, such as, for example, furniture.

[0059] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the receiving region 21 has a bearing section 22, which is used for horizontally bearing the robot arm 15 in the resting position 101. For this purpose, the bearing section 22 extends in the axial direction with respect to the housing longitudinal axis 113 and the housing transverse axis 114, as also illustrated in FIG. 2, circumferentially on the housing front 16. In the resting position 101, the robot arm 15 thus rests on the bearing section 22, at least in sections in the axial direction with respect to the housing vertical axis 115, in order to relieve the joints 18a, 18b, 18c, 20 of the robot arm 15 and the joint drives, not illustrated, located therein.

[0060] The bearing section 22 has a sliding surface 23a, 23b, 23c for each joint 18a, 18b, 18c, via which the robot arm 15 is supported in a sliding manner in the resting position 101 with the respective joint 18a, 18b, 18c. For example, the sliding surfaces 23a, 23b, 23c are each formed by a Teflon platelet, which is arranged on the bearing section 22. Due to the sliding bearing arrangement, a relative movement in the event of a collision of the robot arm 15 with an obstacle is already ensured in the event of a small introduction of force, due to the reduced frictional force, as a result of which it is possible to particularly reliably detect a collision by the robot arm 15.

[0061] For this purpose, the robot arm 15 has a contact sensor system 24, which, as described in FIG. 4, in the resting position 101 is used so as to detect a collision of the robot arm 15 with an obstacle. In principle, the contact sensor system 24 can be formed by a surface sensor 25, which is arranged in a planar manner at least on the front outer side of the segments 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e and reacts to resistive or capacitive changes. Alternatively, or optionally in addition, however, the motor currents of the joint drives could also be monitored by the control unit 14.

[0062] Alternatively or optionally in addition, the contact sensor system 24 has a plurality of contact sensors 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d, which are configured as torque sensors and are arranged in the joints 18a, 18b, 18c and the base joint 19, in order to detect a torque M1, M2, M3, M4 about the respective pivot axis 112a, 112b, 112c or the axis of rotation 110 when a force F1, F2, F3, F4 is introduced. Alternatively, or optionally in addition, contact sensors, not illustrated, that are configured as force sensors can be used in the segments 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e in order to directly detect the introduced forces F1, F2, F3, F4.

[0063] The contact sensor system 24 is configured so as to provide a sensor signal based on the resistive or capacitive changes and/or a current change of the motor currents and/or the torques M1, M2, M3, M4 and/or the forces F1, F2, F3, F4, which is evaluated by the control unit 14 and taken into account in the route planning.

[0064] Depending on the contact point of a contact or collision, as explained in FIG. 4 by way of example with reference to the illustrated forces F1, F2, F3, F4, corresponding torques M1, M2, M3, M4 are introduced at the different joints 18a, 18b, 18c, 19, which torques indicate the size and the location of the collision. This is achieved in that, in the rest position 101, the axis of rotation 110 and the pivot axes 112a, 112b, 112c are oriented in the same direction as one another or with respect to the housing vertical axis 115. For example, force introduction at the third segment 17c by the force F1 results in a torque M1 about the first pivot axis 112a, which is detected by a first contact sensor 26a in the first joint 18a. For example, a force introduction on the fourth segment 17d by the force F2 results in a torque M2 about the second pivot axis 112b, which is detected by a second contact sensor 26b in the second joint 18b. For example, a force introduction at the fifth segment 17e by the force F3 results in a torque M3 about the third pivot axis 112c, which is detected by a third contact sensor 26c in the third joint 18c. For example, force introduction at the second segment 17b and/or at the first joint 18a and/or at the third joint 18c by one of the forces F4 results in a torque M4 about the axis of rotation 110, which is detected by a fourth contact sensor 26d in the base joint 19.

[0065] Thus, the base joint 19 and the joints 18a, 18b, 18c are arranged in such a manner that collisions from any directions with respect to the housing longitudinal axis 113 and the housing transverse axis 114 can be registered, since there is at least one corresponding joint for each direction of force to be detected. It should be noted that a force can also be distributed to a plurality of joints 18a, 18b, 18c, 19. For example, the force F2 is distributed to the base joint 19 and the first and second joints 18a, 18b.

[0066] In the plan view, the housing front 16 has a rectangular outer contour, wherein in the resting position the second segment 17b is arranged on a first side surface 27a of the housing 2. The third and fourth segments 17c, 17d are arranged on a front surface 28 of the housing 2, and the fifth segment 17e is arranged on a second side surface 27b of the housing 2 spaced from the housing 2 via an air gap 29, in order to enable a relative movement of the robot arm 15 with respect to the housing 2 both in the direction of travel 100 as well as on the sides, so that a collision of the robot arm 15 with an obstacle can be detected. In this case, the first and the second side surfaces 27a, 27b each extend in a radial plane of the housing transverse axis 114 and the front surface 28 in a radial plane of the housing longitudinal axis 113. The air gap 29 also renders it possible for only the soft robot arm 15 to be exposed to the collision, while the housing 2, in particular the housing front 16, experiences little or no vibration.

[0067] As is apparent in FIG. 4, the second segment 17b is connected to the tilting joint 20 with a lever arm 30, which deviates from the segment line at an angle of less than 90 degrees, for example about 45 degrees. Furthermore, in the resting position, the joints 18a, 18b, 18c lie in the segment line of at least one associated segment. This results in a particularly advantageous arrangement of the joints 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, 19 with respect to the segments 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e, so that the contact sensors 26a, b, c can register collisions at all points of the segments 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e.

[0068] In FIG. 5, the robot arm 15 is arranged in an operating position, hereinafter referred to as the upper operating position 103. In the upper operating position 103, the robot arm 15 protrudes beyond the upper side 12 of the housing 2 or the maximum height 105 that is defined by the environment sensor 13, in order to be able to operate any height that can be reached. In this case, a part of the robot arm 15, preferably the lever arm 30, that is arranged within a detection region 104 of the environment sensor 13 has a smaller cross section than a part of the robot arm 15 that is arranged outside the detection region. For example, the lever arm 30 of the second segment 17b has a smaller width than the remaining part of the second segment 17b. The lever arm 30 is configured as thin as possible in order to impede the detection region 104 of the environment sensor 13 as little as possible, i.e. to absorb as few of the measuring beams as possible and thus to generate a dead region for the environment sensor, for example the lidar sensor, with regard to an environment detection.

[0069] Conversely, in the resting position 101 the lever arm 30 is received in a recessed manner in the housing 2, as illustrated in FIG. 6, while the part of the robot arm 15 that can be arranged outside the detection region 104 in the resting position 101 is arranged on the housing 2 on the outside on the housing front 16. In this case, the part of the robot arm 15 that can be arranged outside the detection region 104, that is to say in particular the part of the second segment 17b that can be arranged outside the detection region 104, and the remaining segments 17c, 17d, 17e, are deliberately configured to be wide in order to largely cover the height of the housing 2 and thus form a wide contact surface for the bumper. The segments 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e can be hollow or have a support structure provided with cover surfaces in order to reduce the mass of the segments 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e or of the robot arm 15.

[0070] A method for controlling the robot arm 15 is described below with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. In order to transfer the folded robot arm 15 from the resting position 101, as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 1, to the upper operating position 103, as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 3, the robot arm 15 is first transferred to a lower operating position 102, as illustrated in FIG. 7. For this purpose, the third, fourth and fifth segments 17c, 17d, 17e are first moved away from the housing front 16 from the receiving region 21 via the joint drives of the joints 18a, 18b, 18c. For this purpose, the segments 17c, 17d, 17e are preferably oriented into an essentially rectilinear position and/or essentially in the same direction as the tilting axis 111 of the tilting joint 20. Alternatively, the segments 17c, 17d, 17e are oriented in such a manner that they do not collide with the floor surface 5 or the housing 2 during the tilting movement.

[0071] The robot arm 15 can be transferred from the lower operating position 102 to the upper operating position 103, as illustrated in FIG. 7, by means of a tilting movement without the risk of a collision of the robot arm 15 with the housing 2 or with the floor. For this purpose, the second segment 17b is first tilted from the receiving region 21 via the joint drive of the tilting joint 20 to the housing upper side 12. Once the robot arm 15 is in the upper operating position 103, all joints 18a, 18b, 18c, 19, 20 can be used without restriction. The return of the robot arm 15 from the upper operating position 103 into the resting position 101 takes place in the reverse order. Depending on the joint position, the segments 17c, 17d, 17e can be arranged at least in sections in the detection region 104 of the environment sensor 13, wherein the control unit 14 is configured so as to take this into account when processing the environment data.

[0072] Optionally, the robot arm 15, in particular the joints 18a, 18b, 18c, can also be used in the lower operating position 102. The advantage of the lower operating position 102 is that the cleaning robot 1 can use the robot arm 15 without influencing the overall robot height and thus also under furniture in order, for example, to bring objects out from under a cabinet or bed or to push objects to the side with a kind of wiping movement.

[0073] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: [0074] 1 Cleaning robot [0075] 2 Housing [0076] 3 Drive unit [0077] 4 Floor cleaning unit [0078] 5 Floor surface [0079] 6a, b Drive means [0080] 7 Brush roller [0081] 8 Side brush [0082] 9 Suction mouth [0083] 10 Collection container [0084] 11 Underside [0085] 12 Upper side [0086] 13 Environment sensor [0087] 14 Control unit [0088] 15 Robot arm [0089] 16 Housing front [0090] 17a-e Segments [0091] 18a-c Joints [0092] 19 Base joint [0093] 20 Tilting joint [0094] 21 Receiving region [0095] 22 Bearing section [0096] 23a-c Sliding surface [0097] 24 Contact sensor system [0098] 25 Surface sensor [0099] 26a-d Contact sensor [0100] 27a, b Side surface [0101] 28 Front surface [0102] 29 Air gap [0103] 30 Lever arm [0104] 100 Direction of travel [0105] 101 Resting position [0106] 102 Lower operating position [0107] 103 Upper operating position [0108] 104 Detection region [0109] 105 Maximum height [0110] 110 Rotation axis [0111] 111 Tilting axis [0112] 112a-c Pivoting axis [0113] 113 Housing longitudinal axis [0114] 114 Housing transverse axis [0115] 115 Housing vertical axis