JP2013167484A - Positioning system of cleaning apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a positioning system of a cleaning apparatus, capable of calculating a position of a cleaning apparatus against a base station.SOLUTION: A positioning system 1 of a cleaning apparatus 10 includes: the cleaning apparatus 10 and a base station 12. The cleaning apparatus 10 includes a main body 100, a control unit 102, a cleaning module 104, a first transmission unit 106, and a second transmission unit 108. The base station 12 includes a first receiving unit 122, two second receiving units 124, 126 and an arithmetic unit 120. The arithmetic unit 120 calculates a position of the cleaning apparatus 10 on the basis of a start signal received by the first receiving unit 122 and time points of ultrasonic signals received by respective second receiving units 124, 126.

Description

  The present invention relates to an environmental cleaning device, and more particularly, to a cleaning device positioning system.

  Vacuum cleaners are already indispensable for cleaning the indoor environment. When using a conventional vacuum cleaner, it is necessary to hold the vacuum cleaner body with one hand and hold the suction port of the vacuum cleaner with the other hand. .

US Pat. No. 5,612,291 US Pat. No. 7,328,088

However, in the above-described conventional technology, the power cord is too short, and the cleaning cannot be continued unless the outlet is replaced, which is inconvenient in cleaning.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method for controlling a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner of patent document 1 has improved the fault of the conventional vacuum cleaner effectively, and achieved the objective of cleaning an environment.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a vacuum cleaner positioning method and apparatus. In the vacuum cleaner of Patent Document 2, since the transmitting device simultaneously transmits two ultrasonic signals during work and interferes with each other and affects subsequent position determination, first, an infrared signal and an ultrasonic signal are transmitted. By continuously transmitting other ultrasonic signals, two ultrasonic signals are not actually transmitted simultaneously. Also, since the two ultrasonic signals are transmitted with a certain time interval and the cleaner moves continuously, the time points of the two ultrasonic signals received by the cleaner are not the same. Made an error.

  The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems. In order to solve the above problems, the present invention actively transmits a start signal and an ultrasonic signal, and based on the reception time points of the first receiving unit and the two second receiving units of the base station, A main object of the present invention is to provide a positioning system for a cleaning device that calculates a position.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a cleaning device positioning system according to the present invention includes a cleaning device and a base station. The cleaning device has a main body, a control unit, a cleaning module, a first transmission unit, and a second transmission unit. The control unit, the cleaning module, the first transmission unit, and the second transmission unit are provided in the main body. The control unit is connected to the cleaning module, the first transmission unit, and the second transmission unit. The control unit controls the environment of the area to be cleaned by the cleaning module, the transmission of the start signal of the first transmission unit, and the transmission of an ultrasonic signal for the transmission speed of the second transmission unit. The base station has a first receiving unit, two second receiving units, and a computing device. The first receiving unit is connected to the arithmetic device and receives a start signal. The two second receiving units are respectively connected to the arithmetic device and receive an ultrasonic signal. There is a fixed distance between the two second receiving units. The computing device calculates the position of the cleaning device based on the start signal received by the first receiving unit and the time point of the ultrasonic signal received by each second receiving unit.

  According to the present invention, the positioning accuracy of the cleaning device with respect to the base station is improved.

It is a block diagram of the positioning system of the cleaning apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram of the opposing position of the cleaning apparatus of FIG. 1, and a base station. It is a time chart explaining the signal which the 1st receiving unit and two 2nd receiving unit of one Embodiment of this invention receive. It is a flowchart of the calculation of the arithmetic unit of the base station of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a time chart explaining the signal which the 1st transmission unit and the 2nd transmission unit of the cleaning device of one embodiment of the present invention transmit. It is a time chart explaining the signal of FIG. 5 which the 1st receiving unit and two 2nd receiving unit of one Embodiment of this invention receive.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.
First, an embodiment of a positioning system for a cleaning device of the present invention will be described.
(One embodiment)
The configuration of one embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are positioning systems used for detecting the position of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The positioning system 1 includes a cleaning device 10 and a base station 12. The cleaning device 10 of this embodiment is a vacuum cleaner.

  The cleaning device 10 includes a main body 100, a control unit 102, a cleaning module 104, a first transmission unit 106 and a second transmission unit 108. The main body 100 is an outer case of the cleaning device 10. The control unit 102, the cleaning module 104, the first transmission unit 106 and the second transmission unit 108 are provided in the main body 100. Here, the second transmission unit 108 is an ultrasonic signal generator and is used to generate the ultrasonic signal UWS, and the directivity of the ultrasonic signal UWS is not limited.

  The control unit 102 is used to control the environment of the area to be cleaned by the cleaning module 104. Taking a vacuum cleaner as an example, the cleaning module 104 is used for sucking up dust, gravel, hair, and the like on the floor, and collects dust, gravel, hair, and the like sucked by the suction unit. Here, the cleaning module 104 includes a moving unit 103 that moves the main body 100 within the area. The moving unit 103 is a wheel or a roller.

  The control unit 102 is further used to control the transmission of the start signal of the first transmission unit 106 and the transmission of the ultrasonic signal UWS of the second transmission unit 108. An arc-shaped broken line in FIG. 1 represents a transmission state of the ultrasonic signal UWS transmitted from the second transmission unit 108. The ultrasonic signal UWS is transmitted at a transmission rate and gradually transmitted outward.

  The base station 12 includes a first receiving unit 122, two second receiving units 124 and 126, and a computing device 120. The first receiving unit 122 is connected to the arithmetic device 120 and used for receiving a start signal. The two second receiving units 124 and 126 are respectively connected to the arithmetic unit 120 and used for receiving the ultrasonic signal UWS. There is a fixed distance D 1 between the second receiving unit 124 and the second receiving unit 126. The computing device 120 calculates the position of the cleaning device 10 based on the start signal received by the first receiving unit 122 and the time points of the ultrasonic signals received by the second receiving units 124 and 126. According to FIG. 1, first, the second receiving unit 124 receives the ultrasonic signal UWS, and then the second receiving unit 126 receives the ultrasonic signal UWS. However, actually, the second receiving unit 126 receives the ultrasonic signal UWS before the second receiving unit 124, or the second receiving unit 124 and the second receiving unit 126 receive the ultrasonic signal UWS substantially simultaneously. It is also possible.

According to FIG. 2, when the cleaning device 10 is at a different position, the control unit 102 of the cleaning device 10 controls the first transmission unit 106 and transmits a start signal. Further, the second transmission unit 108 is controlled to transmit an ultrasonic signal. After that, the arithmetic unit 120 of the base station 12 determines the base station based on the time point of the start signal received by the first receiving unit 122 and the time point of the ultrasonic signals received by the two second receiving units 124 and 126. The position of the cleaning device 10 with respect to 12 is calculated.
In the present embodiment, the first transmission unit 106 is an infrared transmitter, and the first reception unit 122 is an infrared receiver.

  When the control unit 102 controls the transmission of the start signal of the first transmission unit 106 and the transmission of the ultrasonic signal UWS of the second transmission device 108 at the same time, since the speed of light is higher than the transmission speed of the ultrasonic wave, the first reception unit 122 The signal is received before the two second receiving units 124 and 126. According to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the arithmetic device 120 is used for execution of an arithmetic process, and the arithmetic process includes the following steps.

In step S20, a reference time point t0 based on the time point of the start signal RS received by the first receiving unit is established.
In step S22, a first time point t1 and a second time point t2 are established. The first time point t1 is based on the time point of the ultrasonic signal UWS received by any one of the two second receiving units 124, 126, and the second time point t2 is the two second receiving units 124, 126. Is based on the time point of the ultrasonic signal UWS received by the other.

  In step S24, the first interval time T1 and the second interval time T2 are calculated. The first interval time T1 is a time difference between the first time point t1 and the reference time point t0, and the second interval time T2 is a time difference between the second time point t2 and the reference time point t0.

  In step S26, the first distance D2 and the second distance D3 are calculated. As shown in FIG. 1, the first distance D <b> 2 is a distance between one second receiving unit and the cleaning device 10 based on the product of the first interval time T <b> 1 and the transmission speed of the ultrasonic signal UWS. The second distance D3 is a distance between the other second receiving unit and the cleaning device 10 based on the product of the second interval time T2 and the transmission signal of the ultrasonic signal UWS.

  In step S28, the position of the cleaning device 10 with respect to the base station 12 is calculated based on the distance between the two second receiving units 124 and 126 and the relationship between the first distance D2 and the second distance D3.

  As a result, the computing device 120 is activated at the moment when the first receiving unit receives the start signal RS, and calculation of the time required for the two second receiving units 124 and 126 to receive the ultrasonic signal UWS is started. The first interval time T1, the second interval time T2, and the transmission speed of the ultrasonic signal UWS are converted to calculate the first distance D2 and the second distance D3. Finally, using the fixed distance D1 of the two second receiving units 124 and 126, the fixed distance D1, the first distance D2, and the second distance D3 of the two second receiving units 124 and 126 are set to the base station 12. Is converted into the position of the cleaning device 10 with respect to (including the distance D2, the distance D3, and the angle θ) and calculated by a trigonometric function.

  According to FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, the control unit 102 and the arithmetic unit 120 set the same delay time DT, respectively. The delay time DT is a time interval between the transmission time of the start signal RS from the first transmission unit 106 and the transmission time of the ultrasonic signal UWS from the second transmission unit 108. In the execution of step S24 in FIG. 4 in the arithmetic unit 120, the delay time DT between the first time point t1 and the reference time point t0, and the second time point t2 and the reference time point t0, respectively. Includes subtraction of delay time DT.

  According to FIG. 6, since the ultrasonic signal UWS transmitted from the second transmission unit 108 is transmitted with a delay from the first transmission unit 106, the actual ultrasonic signal is subtracted from the delay time DT during actual calculation. The time required for UWS transmission is obtained, and the processing device 120 continues to execute the process S24 of FIG. For example, when the delay time DT is set to 1 second, the ultrasonic signal UWS is transmitted 1 second later than the start signal RS, and the computing device 120 subtracts 1 second which is the delay time DT when calculating the interval time. .

  According to FIG. 1, the base station 12 further comprises a storage module 128. The storage module 128 is a hard disk or a flash memory. The storage module 128 is connected to the arithmetic device 120 and is used for storing each position where the cleaning device 10 moves to face the base station 12. Thereby, in the cleaning device 10, the position where the cleaning in the area is completed is recorded in the storage module 128.

  Moreover, you may select a high frequency transmitter for the 1st transmission unit 106 besides the above-mentioned infrared transmitter. The first receiving unit 122 is used as a high frequency receiver, and is used to receive a high frequency signal transmitted from the high frequency transmitter, that is, a start signal. The high-frequency signal transmitted by the high-frequency transmitter is omnidirectional and is not affected by the topography or an object such as furniture, so that the first receiving unit 122 can effectively receive the high-frequency signal.

  In summary, in the positioning system 1 of the cleaning device 10 of the present embodiment, the first transmission unit 106 transmits the start signal RS and the second transmission unit 108 transmits the ultrasonic signal, and the first reception unit. After 122 receives the start signal RS, the arithmetic device 120 is activated to start calculating the time. After the two second receiving units 124 and 126 both receive the same ultrasonic signal, the cleaning device 10 for the base station 12 is used. The position of is calculated. This improves the positioning accuracy.

  The above-described embodiments are merely for explaining the technical idea and features of the present invention, and are intended to allow those skilled in the art to understand and implement the contents of the present invention. It does not limit the technical scope. Therefore, improvements or modifications having various similar effects without departing from the spirit of the present invention shall be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Positioning system 10 ... Cleaning device 100 ... Main body 102 ... Control unit 104 ... Cleaning module 106 ... First transmission unit 108 ... Second transmission unit 12. ... Base station 120 ... Arithmetic unit 122 ... First receiving unit 124 ... Second receiving unit 126 ... Second receiving unit 128 ... Storage module UWS ... Ultrasonic signal RS · ... Start signal D1 ... Fixed distance D2 ... First distance D3 ... Second distance t0 ... Reference time point t1 ... First time point t2 ... Second time point T1 ... First interval time T2 ... Second interval time θ ... Angle

Claims (6)

A cleaning device having a main body, a control unit, a cleaning module, a first transmission unit and a second transmission unit;
A base station having a first receiving unit, two second receiving units and a computing device;
With
The control unit, the cleaning module, the first transmission unit and the second transmission unit are provided in the main body,
The control unit is connected to the cleaning module, the first transmission unit, and the second transmission unit, controls the environment of the area for causing the cleaning module to clean, transmission of a start signal from the first transmission unit, And control transmission of the ultrasonic signal from the second transmission unit,
The first receiving unit is connected to the arithmetic device, receives the start signal,
The two second receiving units are each connected to the arithmetic device, receive the ultrasonic signal,
A fixed distance between the two second receiving units;
The arithmetic unit calculates a position of the cleaning device based on the start signal received by the first receiving unit and the time point of the ultrasonic signal received by each second receiving unit. Equipment positioning system. The control unit simultaneously controls transmission of the start signal of the first transmission unit and transmission of the ultrasonic signal of the second transmission unit;
The arithmetic unit is:
Establishing a reference time point based on the time point of the start signal received by the first receiving unit;
The first time point based on the time point of the ultrasonic signal received by one of the second receiving units, and the second time point based on the time point of the ultrasonic signal received by the other second receiving unit. Establishing steps,
Calculating a first interval time that is a time difference between the first time point and the reference time point, and a second interval time that is a time difference between the second time point and the reference time point; ,
A first distance that is a distance between the one second receiving unit and the cleaning device based on a product of the first interval time and the transmission speed of the ultrasonic signal, and the second interval time and the ultrasonic signal. Calculating a second distance that is a distance between the other second receiving unit and the cleaning device based on the product of the transmission signals of:
Calculating the position of the cleaning device relative to the base station based on the distance between the two second receiving units, the relationship between the first distance and the second distance;
The positioning system of the cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an arithmetic process including: is executed. The control unit and the arithmetic unit are each set with the same delay time,
The delay time is a time interval between the transmission of the start signal from the first transmission unit and the transmission time of the ultrasonic signal from the second transmission unit,
The delay time exists in the first interval time and the second interval time, respectively.
The arithmetic unit is:
Subtracting the delay time between the first time point and the reference time point when performing the calculation of the first interval time during the calculation process;
The method of claim 2, further comprising subtracting the delay time between the second time point and the reference time point when performing the calculation of the second interval time in the calculation process. Cleaning device positioning system.   The cleaning system positioning system according to claim 2, wherein the base station further includes a storage module that is connected to the arithmetic device and stores each position of the cleaning device with respect to the base station. The first transmission unit is an infrared transmitter,
The positioning system for a cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first receiving unit is an infrared receiver. The first transmission unit is a high frequency transmitter,
The positioning system for a cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the first receiving unit is a high-frequency receiver.

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