Evacuation Station with Debris Separation

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/076,718, filed Dec. 7, 2022, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Autonomous mobile robots include autonomous mobile cleaning robots that can autonomously perform cleaning tasks within an environment, such as a home. Many kinds of cleaning robots are autonomous to some degree and in different ways. Some robots can interface with a docking station automatically. The docking station can perform maintenance on the robot such as charging of batteries of the robot and evacuation of debris from a debris bin of the robot.

Mobile cleaning robots can include a variety of components that require maintenance or interaction between missions or during missions. For example, vacuuming robots that extract debris from an environment may need to empty their debris bins during missions or between missions. However, because of autonomous vacuuming, mobile cleaning robots may ingest items that are not desired to be ingested, such as children's toys, screws, office supplies, or jewelry.

This disclosure helps to support these operations by including a docking station that includes features for separation of large or heavy debris. The docking station can be configured to automatically evacuate debris from the mobile cleaning robot during (or following vacuuming operations). During evacuation, the docking station can collect relatively large or heavy items in a debris collector that can be viewed or accessed by a user, such as for removal of non-debris items that were ingested by the robot (and later evacuated). In this way, the docking station can help users avoid disposing of non-debris items that were ingested by the mobile cleaning robot.

For example, a docking station for a mobile cleaning robot can include a base configured to receive at least a portion of the mobile cleaning robot thereon, where the base can include a debris port. The docking station can include a canister connected to the base and located at least partially above the base. The canister can include a debris bin to receive debris from the mobile cleaning robot. The canister can include a debris duct connected to the debris port and to the debris bin. The canister can include a debris collector connected to the debris duct upstream of the debris bin, where the debris collector can collect debris from a debris airstream of the debris duct.

The above discussion is intended to provide an overview of subject matter of the present patent application. It is not intended to provide an exclusive or exhaustive explanation of the invention. The description below is included to provide further information about the present patent application.

illustrates a plan view of a mobile cleaning robotin an environment, in accordance with at least one example of this disclosure. The environmentcan be a dwelling, such as a home or an apartment, and can include rooms-. Obstacles, such as a bed, a table, and an islandcan be located in one or more of the roomsof the environment. Each of the rooms-can have a floor surface-, respectively. Some rooms, such as the room, can include a rug, such as a rug. The floor surfacescan be of one or more types of flooring, such as hardwood, ceramic, low-pile carpet, medium-pile carpet, long (or high)-pile carpet, stone, or the like.

The mobile cleaning robotcan be operated, such as by a user, to autonomously clean the environmentin a room-by-room fashion. In some examples, the robotcan clean the floor surfaceof one room, such as the room, before moving to the next room, such as the room, to clean the surface of the room. Different rooms can have different types of floor surfaces. For example, the room(which can be a kitchen) can have a hard floor surface, such as wood or ceramic tile, and the room(which can be a bedroom) can have a carpet surface, such as a medium pile carpet. Other rooms, such as the room(which can be a dining room) can include multiple surfaces where the rugis located within the room

During cleaning or traveling operations, the robotcan use data collected from various sensors and calculations (such as odometry and obstacle detection) to develop a map of the environment. Once the map is created, the usercan define rooms or zones (such as the rooms) within the map. The map can be presentable to the useron a user interface, such as a mobile device, where the usercan direct or change cleaning preferences.

During operation, the robotcan detect surface types within each of the rooms, which can be stored in the robot or another device. The robotcan update the map (or data related thereto) such as to include or account for surface types of the floor surfaces-of each of the respective roomsof the environment. In some examples, the map can be updated to show the different surface types such as within each of the rooms.

In some examples, the usercan define a behavior control zoneusing, for example, the methods and systems described herein. In response to the userdefining the behavior control zone, the robotcan move toward the behavior control zoneto confirm the selection. After confirmation, autonomous operation of the robotcan be initiated. In autonomous operation, the robotcan initiate a behavior in response to being in or near the behavior control zone. For example, the usercan define an area of the environmentthat is prone to becoming dirty to be the behavior control zone. In response, the robotcan initiate a focused cleaning behavior in which the robotperforms a focused cleaning of a portion of the floor surfacein the behavior control zone.

illustrates a bottom view of the mobile cleaning robot.illustrates a bottom view of the mobile cleaning robot.illustrates a cross-section view across indicators-ofof the mobile cleaning robot.also shows orientation indicators Front and Rear.are discussed together below.

The cleaning robotcan be an autonomous cleaning robot that can autonomously traverse the floor surfacewhile ingesting the debrisfrom different parts of the floor surface. As shown in, the robotcan include a bodymovable across the floor surface. The bodycan include multiple connected structures to which movable components of the cleaning robotare mounted. The connected structures can include, for example, an outer housing to cover internal components of the cleaning robot, a chassis or frame to which the drive wheelsandand the cleaning rollersand(of a cleaning assembly) are mounted, and a bumper. The bumpercan be removably secured to the bodyand can be movable relative towhile mounted thereto. In some examples, the bumperform part of the body.

As shown in, the bodyincludes a front portionthat has a substantially semicircular shape and a rear portionthat has a substantially semicircular shape. These portions can have other shapes in other examples. As shown in, the robotcan include a drive system including actuatorsand, which can be, for example, motors. The actuatorsandcan be mounted in the bodyand can be operably connected to the drive wheelsand, which can be rotatably mounted to the bodyto support the bodyabove the floor surface. The actuatorsand, when driven, can rotate the drive wheelsandto enable the robotto autonomously move across the floor surface.

The controller (or processor)can be located within the housing and can be a programable controller, such as a single or multi-board computer, a direct digital controller (DDC), a programable logic controller (PLC), or the like. In other examples the controllercan be any computing device, such as a handheld computer, for example, a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop, a desktop computer, or any other computing device including a processor, memory, and communication capabilities. The memorycan be one or more types of memory, such as volatile or non-volatile memory, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, and other storage devices and media. The memorycan be located within the body, connected to the controllerand accessible by the controller.

The controllercan operate the actuatorsandto autonomously navigate the robotabout the floor surfaceduring a cleaning operation. The actuatorsandcan be operable to drive the robotin a forward drive direction, in a backwards direction, or to turn the robot. The robotcan include a caster wheelthat can support the bodyabove the floor surface. The caster wheelcan support the front portionof the bodyabove the floor surface, and the drive wheelsandcan support the rear portionof the bodyabove the floor surface.

As shown in, a vacuum assemblycan be located at least partially within the bodyof the robot, e.g., in the rear portionof the body. The controllercan operate the vacuum assemblyto generate an airflow that flows through the air gap near the cleaning rollers, through the body, and out of the body. The vacuum assemblycan include, for example, an impeller that generates the airflow when rotated. The airflow and the cleaning rollers, when rotated, can cooperate to ingest debrisinto a suction ductof the robot. The suction ductcan extend down to or near a bottom portion of the bodyand can be at least partially defined by the cleaning assembly.

The suction ductcan be connected to the cleaning heador cleaning assembly and can be connected to a cleaning bin. The cleaning bincan be mounted in the bodyand can contain the debrisingested by the robot. A filtercan be located in the body, which can help to separate the debrisfrom the airflow before the airflowenters the vacuum assemblyand is exhausted out of the body. In this regard, the debriscan be captured in both the cleaning binand the filter before the airflowis exhausted from the body.

The cleaning rollersandcan operably connected to one or more actuatorsand, e.g., motors, respectively. The cleaning headand the cleaning rollersandcan be positioned forward of the cleaning bin. The cleaning rollersandcan be mounted to a housingof the cleaning headand mounted, e.g., indirectly or directly, to the bodyof the robot. In particular, the cleaning rollersandcan be mounted to an underside of the bodyso that the cleaning rollersandengage debrison the floor surfaceduring the cleaning operation when the underside faces the floor surface.

The housingof the cleaning headcan be mounted to the bodyof the robot. In this regard, the cleaning rollersandcan also be mounted to the bodyof the robot, such as indirectly mounted to the bodythrough the housing. Alternatively, or additionally, the cleaning headcan be a removable assembly of the robotwhere the housing(with the cleaning rollersandmounted therein) is removably mounted to the bodyof the robot.

A side brushcan be connected to an underside of the robotand can be connected to a motoroperable to rotate the side brushwith respect to the bodyof the robot. The side brushcan be configured to engage debris to move the debris toward the cleaning assemblyor away from edges of the environment. The motorconfigured to drive the side brushcan be in communication with the controller. The brushcan be a side brush laterally offset from a center of the robotsuch that the brushcan extend beyond an outer perimeter of the bodyof the robot. Similarly, the brushcan also be forwardly offset of a center of the robotsuch that the brushalso extends beyond the bumperor an outer periphery of the body.

The robotcan further include a sensor system with one or more electrical sensors. The sensor system can generate one or more signals indicative of a current location of the robot, and can generate one or more signals indicative of locations of the robotas the robottravels along the floor surface.

For example, cliff sensors(shown in) can be located along a bottom portion of the body. The cliff sensorscan include an optical sensor that can be configured to detect a presence or absence of an object below the optical sensor, such as the floor surface. The cliff sensorscan be connected to the controller.

The bump sensorsand(the bump sensors) can be connected to the bodyand can be engageable or configured to interact with the bumper. The bump sensorscan include break beam sensors, Hall Effect sensors, capacitive sensors, switches, or other sensors that can detect contact between the robot(e.g., the bumper) and objects in the environment. The bump sensorscan be in communication with the controller.

An image capture devicecan be connected to the bodyand can extend at least partially through the bumperof the robot, such as through an openingof the bumper. The image capture devicecan be a camera, such as a front-facing camera, configured to generate a signal based on imagery of the environmentof the robot. The image capture devicecan transmit the image capture signal to the controllerfor use for navigation and cleaning routines.

Obstacle following sensors(shown in) can include an optical sensor facing outward or downward from the bumperthat can be configured to detect the presence or the absence of an object adjacent to a side of the body. The obstacle following sensorcan emit an optical beam horizontally in a direction perpendicular (or nearly perpendicular) to the forward drive direction of the robot. The optical emitter can emit an optical beam outward from the robot, e.g., outward in a horizontal direction, and the optical detector detects a reflection of the optical beam that reflects off an object near the robot. The robot, e.g., using the controller, can determine a time of flight of the optical beam and thereby determine a distance between the optical detector and the object, and hence a distance between the robotand the object.

The robotcan also optionally include one or more dirt sensorsconnected to the bodyand in communication with the controller. The dirt sensorscan be a microphone, piezoelectric sensor, optical sensor, or the like, and can be located in or near a flow path of debris, such as near an opening of the cleaning rollersor in one or more ducts within the body. This can allow the dirt sensor(s)to detect how much dirt is being ingested by the vacuum assembly(e.g., via the extractor) at any time during a cleaning mission. Because the robotcan be aware of its location, the robotcan keep a log or record of which areas or rooms of the map are dirtier or where more dirt is collected. This information can be used in several ways, as discussed further below.

In operation of some examples, the robotcan be propelled in a forward drive direction or a rearward drive direction. The robotcan also be propelled such that the robotturns in place or turns while moving in the forward drive direction or the rearward drive direction.

When the controllercauses the robotto perform a mission, the controllercan operate the motorsto drive the drive wheelsand propel the robotalong the floor surface. In addition, the controllercan operate the motorsto cause the rollersandto rotate, can operate the motorto cause the brushto rotate, or can operate the motor of the vacuum systemto generate airflow. The controllercan also execute software stored on the memoryto cause the robotto perform various navigational and cleaning behaviors by operating the various motors or components of the robot.

The various sensors of the robotcan be used to help the robot navigate and clean within the environment. For example, the cliff sensorscan detect obstacles such as drop-offs and cliffs below portions of the robotwhere the cliff sensorsare disposed. The cliff sensorscan transmit signals to the controllerso that the controllercan redirect the robotbased on signals from the cliff sensors.

In some examples, a bump sensorcan be used to detect movement of the bumperin one or more directions of the robot. For example, a bump sensorcan be used to detect movement of the bumperfrom front to rear or along one or more sides of the robot. The bump sensorscan transmit signals to the controllerso that the controllercan redirect the robotbased on signals from the bump sensors.

In some examples, the obstacle following sensorscan detect detectable objects, including obstacles such as furniture, walls, persons, and other objects in the environment of the robot. In some implementations, the sensor system can include an obstacle following sensor along a side surface, and the obstacle following sensor can detect the presence or the absence an object adjacent to the side surface. The one or more obstacle following sensorscan also serve as obstacle detection sensors, similar to proximity sensors.

The robotcan also include sensors for tracking a distance travelled by the robot. For example, the sensor system can include encoders associated with the motorsfor the drive wheels, and the encoders can track a distance that the robothas travelled. In some implementations, the sensor can include an optical sensor facing downward toward a floor surface. The optical sensor can be positioned to direct light through a bottom surface of the robottoward the floor surface. The optical sensor can detect reflections of the light and can detect a distance travelled by the robotbased on changes in floor features as the robottravels along the floor surface.

The image capture devicecan be configured to generate a signal based on imagery of the environmentof the robotas the robotmoves about the floor surface. The image capture devicecan transmit such a signal to the controller. The image capture devicecan capture images of wall surfaces of the environment so that features corresponding to objects on the wall surfaces can be used for localization.

The controllercan use data collected by the sensors of the sensor system to control navigational behaviors of the robotduring the mission. For example, the controllercan use the sensor data collected by obstacle detection sensors of the robot(e.g., the cliff sensors, the bump sensors, and the image capture device) to help the robotavoid obstacles when moving within the environment of the robotduring a mission.

The sensor data can also be used by the controllerfor simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) techniques in which the controllerextracts or interprets features of the environment represented by the sensor data and constructs a map of the floor surfaceof the environment. The sensor data collected by the image capture devicecan be used for techniques such as vision-based SLAM (VSLAM) in which the controllercan extract visual features corresponding to objects in the environmentand can construct the map using these visual features. As the controllerdirects the robotabout the floor surfaceduring the mission, the controllercan use SLAM techniques to determine a location of the robotwithin the map by detecting features represented in collected sensor data and comparing the features to previously stored features. The map formed from the sensor data can indicate locations of traversable and non-traversable space within the environment. For example, locations of obstacles can be indicated on the map as non-traversable space, and locations of open floor space can be indicated on the map as traversable space.

The sensor data collected by any of the sensors can be stored in the memory. In addition, other data generated for the SLAM techniques, including mapping data forming the map, can be stored in the memory. These data produced during the mission can include persistent data that are produced during the mission and that are usable during further missions. In addition to storing the software for causing the robotto perform its behaviors, the memorycan store data resulting from processing of the sensor data for access by the controller. For example, the map can be a map that is usable and updateable by the controllerof the robotfrom one mission to another mission to navigate the robotabout the floor surface.

The persistent data, including the persistent map, helps to enable the robotto efficiently clean the floor surface. For example, the map enables the controllerto direct the robottoward open floor space and to avoid non-traversable space. In addition, for subsequent missions, the controllercan use the map to optimize paths taken during the missions to help plan navigation of the robotthrough the environment.

illustrates an isometric view of a docking stationfor a mobile cleaning robot. The mobile cleaning robot can be a vacuuming robot, a mopping robot, or a combination thereof (two-in-one) mobile cleaning robot configured to perform mopping and cleaning operations in an environment.

The docking stationcan include a canisterand a base. The canistercan include an outer walland a doorand the canistercan be connected to the base. The basecan include a platformincluding tracksandincluding respective wheel wellsand. The platformcan also include a vacuum port.

The components of the docking stationcan be rigid or semi-rigid components made of materials such as one or more of metals, plastics, foams, elastomers, ceramics, composites, combinations thereof, or the like. Materials of some components are discussed in further detail below. The mobile robotcan be a mobile cleaning robot including wheels, extractor, a debris bin, a controller, and various sensors, and can be consistent with the robotdescribed above. The robotcan be configured to perform autonomous cleaning missions or routines within an environment.

The basecan be a ramped member including the platformand the tracksand, where the basecan be configured to receive the mobile cleaning robotthereon for maintenance, such as charging and emptying debris from the mobile cleaning robot. The trackscan be configured to receive wheels of the robotto guide the robotonto the basefor charging and debris evacuation using contacts. The contactscan be (or can be part of) an electrical power interface configured to provide electrical power to the mobile cleaning robot. The platformand the trackscan be sloped toward the front portion to help allow the mobile robotto dock on the station.

The docking stationcan also include a docking portconfigured to at least partially receive the mobile cleaning robottherein. When the robotis positioned on the base, such as when wheels of the robotare in wheel wells, the vacuum portcan be aligned with a vacuum outlet of the robot. The vacuum portcan extend through the baseand can connect to the vacuum inlet of the canister. The vacuum portcan be connected to a debris ductthat can extend through the baseand into the canistersuch as to carry debris into a debris bin.

For example, the mobile cleaning robotcan move into the docking portby traversing over the tracksanduntil drive wheels of the mobile cleaning robotrest in the wheel wells, which can align the vacuum portwith a debris port of the robot and can align charging contactsof the dock with contacts of the mobile cleaning robot, along with other features of the mobile cleaning robotand the docking station.

The canistercan be an upper portion of the docking stationconnected to a rear portion of the baseand can extend upward therefrom, such that the canistercan be located at least partially above the base. The outer wallof the canistercan have a shape of a substantially rectangular hollow prism with rounded corners where the outer wallcan define a front portion of the canisterthat is open. The outer wallcan at least partially enclose the debris bin and a fan compartment.

The doorcan be connected to the outer wall(such as by hinges or other fasteners), such as at a side portion of the door. The doorcan be releasably securable to the outer wall, such as at a side portion of the doorand the outer wall(such as via a friction/interference fit, latch, or the like). Removal of the dooror opening of the door(e.g., from a front portion of the canister) can provide access to a debris bin, a debris collector, or a fan compartment.

As discussed in further detail below, the docking stationcan include the debris collectorconnected to the debris ductupstream of a debris bin, the debris collectorcan be configured to collect debris from a debris airstream of the debris duct. As shown in, the debris collectorcan be user-accessible through a side wallof the outer wallof the canister, allowing a user to retrieve items ingested by the robotand evacuated into the debris collector, helping to prevent unwanted disposal of items. Optionally, a portion of the debris collectorcan be transparent, allowing a user to view items therein from outside the docking station.

is a diagram illustrating by way of example and not limitation a communication networkthat enables networking between the mobile robotand one or more other devices, such as a mobile device, a cloud computing system, or the docking station. Using the communication network, the robot, the mobile device, the docking station, and the cloud computing systemcan communicate with one another to transmit and receive data from one another. In some examples, the robot, the docking station, or both the robotand the docking stationcommunicate with the mobile devicethrough the cloud computing system. Alternatively, or additionally, the robot, the docking station, or both the robotand the docking stationcommunicate directly with the mobile device. Various types and combinations of wireless networks (e.g., Bluetooth, radio frequency, optical based, etc.) and network architectures (e.g., mesh networks) can be employed by the communication network.

In some examples, the mobile devicecan be a remote device that can be linked to the cloud computing systemand can enable a user to provide inputs. The mobile devicecan include user input elements such as, for example, one or more of a touchscreen display, buttons, a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard, or other devices that respond to inputs provided by the user. The mobile devicecan also include immersive media (e.g., virtual reality) with which the user can interact to provide input. The mobile device, in these examples, can be a virtual reality headset or a head-mounted display.

The user can provide inputs corresponding to commands for the mobile robot. In such cases, the mobile devicecan transmit a signal to the cloud computing systemto cause the cloud computing systemto transmit a command signal to the mobile robot. In some implementations, the mobile devicecan present augmented reality images. In some implementations, the mobile devicecan be a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet computing device, or other mobile device.