CLEANING ROBOT SYSTEM AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF

Abstract

A cleaning robot system includes a cleaning robot and a charging dock. The cleaning robot carries a first battery. The charging dock magnetically attracts a second battery and charges the second battery. When the cleaning robot is electrically connected to the charging dock and an electrical quantity of the first battery is lower than a default electrical quantity, the charging dock magnetically attracts the first battery and releases the second battery and the cleaning robot carries the second battery.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of China application serial no. 201810096405.8, filed on Jan. 31, 2018. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to a robot system and an operating method thereof, and particularly relates to a cleaning robot system and an operating method thereof

Description of Related Art

Presently, development of robots gradually draws attention, and the field of robots includes cleaning robots for cleaning environments. However, as functions of the cleaning robots are gradually increased and application ranges thereof are no longer limited to household use, batteries for the cleaning robots require long-term endurance. The conventional cleaning robot must return and stay at a charging station at regular intervals to wait for the battery to be charged, and is unable to continuously carry out cleaning operations. Therefore, a cleaning robot system that may quickly and automatically replace the battery without waiting for a charging time and may increase a working time is an urgent product required in the field.

SUMMARY

The disclosure is directed to a cleaning robot system, which is adapted to automatically replace a battery in rapid, and has good working performance.

The disclosure is directed to an operating method of a cleaning robot system, which provides a cleaning robot adapted to work uninterruptedly, and has good working performance.

The disclosure provides a cleaning robot system including a cleaning robot and a charging dock. The cleaning robot carries a first battery. The charging dock magnetically attracts a second battery and charges the second battery. When the cleaning robot is electrically connected to the charging dock and an electrical quantity of the first battery is lower than a default electrical quantity, the charging dock magnetically attracts the first battery and releases the second battery, and the cleaning robot carries the second battery.

The disclosure provides an operating method of a cleaning robot system including following steps: carrying a first battery by a cleaning robot; magnetically attracting a second battery by a charging dock to charge the second battery; and when the cleaning robot is electrically connected to the charging dock and an electrical quantity of the first battery is lower than a default electrical quantity, magnetically attracting the first battery and releasing the second battery by the charging dock, so that the cleaning robot carries the second battery.

According to the above description, in the design of the cleaning robot system of the disclosure, the cleaning robot system includes a plurality of batteries, and first electromagnets magnetically attract the corresponding batteries to selectively carry a part of or all of the batteries. When the cleaning robot carries all of the batteries, a high power-consuming cleaning task is adapted to be carried out or a working time is adapted to be prolonged. When the cleaning robot carries a part of the batteries, since the charging dock of the disclosure is adapted to keep the other part of the batteries that are not carried by the cleaning robot in the charging dock for charging, the cleaning robot of the disclosure may return to the charging dock to rapidly and easily replace the battery, which prolongs a time that the cleaning robot carries out the cleaning task and reduces an idle time that the cleaning robot waits for batteries to charge, so as to achieve uninterrupted working of the cleaning robot to improve working efficiency. Moreover, the cleaning robot of the disclosure may be magnetically attracted and be positioned by the charging dock when executing a return procedure, so that the cleaning robot may be stably connected to the charging dock without fixing the charging dock on a wall, so as to improve configuration selectivity of the charging dock in the environment.

To make the aforementioned more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1A is a three-dimensional view of a cleaning robot system according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 1B is a three-dimensional view of a cleaning robot of FIG. 1A located at a first position.

FIG. 1C is a three-dimensional view of the cleaning robot of FIG. 1A located at a second position.

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view of a charging dock according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged three-dimensional view of a charging dock according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4A is a three-dimensional view of a cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4B is a side view of the cleaning robot of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5A is a three-dimensional view of a front side of a battery according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5B is a three-dimensional view of a bottom side of a battery according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6A is a functional block diagram of a control circuit of a charging dock according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6B is a functional block diagram of a control circuit of a cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operating method of a cleaning robot system according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A is a three-dimensional view of a cleaning robot system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 1B is a three-dimensional view of a cleaning robot of FIG. 1A located at a first position. FIG. 1C is a three-dimensional view of the cleaning robot of FIG. 1A located at a second position. Referring to FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, and FIG. 1C, the cleaning robot system 10 includes a charging dock 100, a cleaning robot 200, and a plurality of batteries 300. In the embodiment, the cleaning robot 200 is, for example, a sweeping robot, a mopping robot, or other types of the cleaning robot. The charging dock 100 includes a fixed base 120 and a stretchable base 140. The stretchable base 140 is connected to the fixed base 120 in a stretchable manner. In the embodiment, the cleaning robot 200 is adapted to move to the charging dock 100 and to be electrically connected to the charging dock 100. When the cleaning robot 200 approaches the charging dock 100, the cleaning robot 200 may move to a first position P1 (shown in FIG. 1B). When the stretchable base 140 is retracted into the fixed base 120, the cleaning robot 200 may move to a second position P2 (shown in FIG. 1C). In the embodiment, the batteries 300 are, for example, rechargeable batteries such as lithium batteries, nickel hydrogen batteries, etc.

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view of a charging dock according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 2, in the embodiment, the fixed base 120 includes an internal space 122 and a plurality of first electromagnets 124. The stretchable base 140 may be retracted into the internal space 122. The stretchable base 140 includes a second electromagnet 144 and a plurality of first battery slots 142. Referring to FIG. 1B, FIG. 1C and FIG. 2, first, when the stretchable base 140 is stretched out of the fixed base 120 and the cleaning robot 200 is adjacent to the stretchable base 140, the cleaning robot 200 moves to the first position P1 (shown in FIG. 1B). Then, when the stretchable base 140 is retracted into the internal space 122 of the fixed base 120, the cleaning robot 200 moves to the second position P2 (shown in FIG. 1C). The charging dock 100 shown in FIG. 2 is in a situation when the stretchable base 140 is retracted into the fixed base 120, and the cleaning robot 200 moved to the second position P2 is omitted, so as to clearly show the components included in the fixed base 120 and the stretchable base 140 of the charging dock 100 and positional relationships thereof, which is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged three-dimensional view of the charging dock according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1A, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, in the embodiment, the charging dock 100 further includes a first control circuit 500. The first control circuit 500 is disposed on the fixed base 120 or the stretchable base 140. The first control circuit 500 of the charging dock 100 may control the stretchable base 140 to be retracted into the internal space 122 through a motor control circuit 550 (referring to FIG. 6A). In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the charging dock 100 further includes a motor 160, a gear 162 connected to the motor 160, and a gear rack 164 engaged to the gear 162. The motor control circuit 550 controls the motor 160 to drive the gear 162 and the corresponding gear rack 164. The gear 162 is disposed on one of the fixed base 120 and the stretchable base 140, and the gear rack 164 is disposed on the other one of the fixed base 120 and the stretchable base 140. In the embodiment, the motor 160 is selectively disposed on the fixed base 120, and the gear rack 164 is disposed on the stretchable base 140, so that when the motor 160 drives the gear 162, the gear rack 164 is moved to make the stretchable base 140 to be retracted into or stretch out of the internal space 122 of the fixed base 120, though the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the motor 160 may also be disposed on the stretchable base 140 and the gear rack 164 is disposed on the fixed base 120, so as to make the stretchable base 140 to be retracted into or stretch out of the internal space 122 of the fixed base 120.

FIG. 4A is a three-dimensional view of a cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 4B is a side view of the cleaning robot of FIG. 4A. Referring to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, in the embodiment, the cleaning robot 200 has a main body 210, a plurality of second battery slots 220, and at least one second magnetic conduction part 240. For example, the second battery slots 220 are disposed at one side (for example, a side of the cleaning robot 200 which is adjacent to the charging dock 100 when the cleaning robot 200 is moved to the first position P1) of the main body 210. The second battery slots 220 are adapted to accommodate the batteries 300. In the embodiment, the cleaning robot 200 selectively includes three second magnetic conduction parts 240 (as shown in FIG. 4A). The second magnetic conduction parts 240 are disposed on a side surface 202 of the cleaning robot 200 at a position close to the second battery slots 220. For example, the second magnetic conduction parts 240 may be located at two sides of the second battery slots 220 or located between the second battery slots 220, but the configuration positions of the second magnetic conduction parts 240 are not limited thereto.

FIG. 5A is a three-dimensional view of a front side of a battery according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 5B is a three-dimensional view of a bottom side of a battery according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1A, FIG. 5A, and FIG. 5B, in the embodiment, the batteries 300 may be selectively configured in the first battery slots 142 (shown in FIG. 1A) or the second battery slots 220 (shown in FIG. 4A), so as to be electrically connected to the charging dock 100 or the cleaning robot 200. For example, when the batteries 300 are configured in the first battery slots 142, the batteries 300 are electrically connected to the charging dock 100. When the batteries 300 are configured in the second battery slots 220, the batteries 300 are electrically connected to the cleaning robot 200. Each of the batteries 300 includes a first magnetic conduction part 340. The first magnetic conduction parts 340 are respectively disposed on surfaces of the batteries 300. Specifically, the battery 300 has an outer surface (not shown). The first magnetic conduction parts 340 are respectively disposed on the outer surfaces. When the battery 300 is located in the second battery slot 220 of the cleaning robot 200, the outer surface of the battery 300 is exposed out of the second battery slot 220. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 5A, when the battery 300 is configured in the second battery slot 220, an outer surface contour 303 of the battery 300 corresponds to a side surface contour 203 of the cleaning robot 200. In other words, the outer surface contour 303 of the battery 300 is conformal to the side surface contour 203 of the cleaning robot 200, so that the appearance of the cleaning robot 200 is consistent, but the relationship of the outer surface contour 303 of the battery 300 and the side surface contour 203 of the cleaning robot 200 is not limited thereto.

In the embodiment, the battery 300 further includes at least one wing-like portion 320 protruding out of the surface of the battery 300. The first battery slot 142 includes at least one first guide rail 146 corresponding to the wing-like portion 320. As shown in FIG. 1A, the battery 300 includes two wing-like portions 320, and the first battery slot 142 includes two first guide rails 146. When the battery 300 enters the first battery slot 142, the wing-like portions 320 respectively slide in the first guide rails 146, so that the battery 300 is configured in the first battery slot 142. Moreover, the second battery slot 220 includes at least one second guide rail 226 corresponding to the wing-like portion 320. As shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the second battery slot 220 includes two second guide rails 226. When the battery 300 enters the second battery slot 220, the wing-like portions 320 respectively slide in the second guide rails 226, so that the battery 300 is configured in the second battery slot 220.

Moreover, referring to FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 5A, in the embodiment, the cleaning robot 200 further includes a plurality of first fixing members 260, and the first fixing members 260 are respectively disposed in the second battery slots 220. The batteries 300 further include a plurality of second fixing members 360. A shape or a form of each of the first fixing members 260 corresponds to a shape or a form of each of the second fixing members 360. For example, the first fixing member 260 may be a latch, and the second fixing member 360 may be a hook. Specifically, when the batteries 300 are respectively configured in the second battery slots 220, the second fixing members 360 of the batteries 300 are respectively buckled to the first fixing members 260 of the cleaning robot 200, so as to fix the batteries 300 in the cleaning robot 200. In this way, the batteries 300 may be configured in the second battery slots 220 without loosening from the cleaning robot 200 or sliding out of the cleaning robot 200.

It should be noted that, referring to FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, FIG. 2, and FIG. 4A, in the embodiment, the charging dock 100 includes a plurality of first battery slots 142 (exposed out of the fixed base 120), and the cleaning robot 200 correspondingly includes a plurality of second battery slots 220. When the cleaning robot 200 is located at the first position P1, the first battery slots 142 correspond to the second battery slots 220 respectively, and the first electromagnets 124 disposed corresponding to the first battery slots 142 also correspond to the second battery slots 220 respectively. For example, the first battery slots 142 and the first electromagnets 124 are all aligned with the second battery slots 220. When the cleaning robot 200 is moved to the second position P2, the first control circuit 500 controls the first electromagnets 124 to magnetically attract or not attract the magnetic conduction parts 340 of the batteries 300 respectively and selectively, such that the batteries 300 are selectively configured in the first battery slots 142 or the second battery slots 220. A part of the batteries 300 magnetically attracted by the first electromagnets 124 are retained in the first battery slots 142. The cleaning robot 200 carries another part of the batteries 300 that are not magnetically attracted by the first electromagnets 124 in the second magnetic slots 220. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, in other embodiments, the cleaning robot 200 may also carry a plurality of the batteries 300 (for example, all of the batteries) without retaining any battery 300 in the charging dock 100. It should be noted that in the embodiment, the numbers of the first battery slots 142, the second battery slots 220, and the batteries 300 are, for example, respectively two (i.e. a first battery and a second battery). In other embodiments, the numbers of the corresponding battery slots and the batteries may be three or more, which is not limited by the disclosure. Based on the above configuration, the cleaning robot 200 may only carry one battery 300 (i.e. one of the first battery and the second battery) and leave the other battery 300 (i.e. the other one of the first battery and the second battery) in the charging dock 100. In this way, while the cleaning task is carried out, the battery 300 retained in the charging dock 100 is charged. The battery 300 retained in the charging dock 100 may be used for battery replacement performed when the cleaning robot 200 returns to the charging dock 100, so as to reduce an idle time waiting for charging the battery 300.

In the embodiment, referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 5B, the charging dock 100 may charge the battery 300. The fixed base 120 includes a plurality of first electrode sets 126. Specifically, the first electrode sets 126 correspond to the first electromagnets 124 and the first battery slots 142 respectively. Each of the batteries 300 includes a second electrode set 326 corresponding to the first electrode set 126. For example, when the cleaning robot 200 leaves one of the batteries 300 in one of the first battery slots 142 of the charging dock 100 for charging the battery 300, the first electromagnet 124 being on the fixed base 120 and corresponding to the battery 300 may retain the battery 300 in the first battery slot 142 through magnetic attraction. At this time, the first electromagnet 124 contacts and magnetically attracts the first magnetic conduction part 340 of the battery 300. Under the above configuration, the second electrode set 326 of the battery 300 is correspondingly connected to the first electrode set 126 corresponding to the first battery slot 142. Moreover, the cleaning robot 200 further includes a plurality of trenches 206 formed on a bottom 204 of the cleaning robot 200. The trenches 206 are respectively connected to the plurality of second battery slots 220. For example, in the embodiment, when the cleaning robot 200 is moved to the second position P2, the battery 300 carried by the cleaning robot 200 or the battery 300 retained in the charging doc 100 may all be fixed in the second battery slots 220. When the first electromagnets 124 of the fixed base 120 contact the first magnetic conduction parts 340 of the batteries 300 respectively located in the second battery slots 220, the first electrode sets 126 of the fixed base 120 respectively pass through the trenches 206 and are respectively connected to the second electrode sets 326 of the batteries 300. Through the above configuration, the second electrode sets 326 of the batteries 300 are respectively connected to the first electrode sets 126 of the fixed base 120 to complete electrical connection between the batteries 300 and the charging dock 100 so as to charge the batteries 300.

In the embodiment, referring to FIG. 5B, each of the batteries 300 may further include a third electrode set 328. When the cleaning robot 200 is moved to the second position P2, the batteries 300 are fixed in the second battery slots 220. At this time, the second electrode sets 326 of the batteries 300 are electrically connected to the charging dock 100, and the third electrode sets 328 of the batteries 300 are electrically connected to the cleaning robot 200, so that the cleaning robot 200 is electrically connected to the charging dock 100.

It should be noted that when the stretchable base 140 stretches out of the fixed base 120, the first batter slots 142 are exposed out of the fixed base 120. At this time, the first electromagnets 124 corresponding to the first battery slots 142 may magnetically attract the battery 300 that is not carried by the cleaning robot 200 and retain the battery 300 in the first battery slot 142. Therefore, the battery 300 retained in the first battery slot 142 may still be electrically connected to the first electrode set 126, such that the battery 300 retained in the first battery slots 142 is charged while the cleaning robot 200 carries out the cleaning task. In this way, the idle time that the cleaning robot 200 waits for charging the battery 300 is decreased, so as to improve working efficiency.

An operating method of the cleaning robot system is briefly described below. Referring to FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, FIG. 1C, FIG. 4A, and FIG. 5A, in the embodiment, the cleaning robot system 10 includes the charging dock 100, the cleaning robot 200, and a plurality of the batteries 300. At least one of the batteries 300 (i.e. the first battery) is carried by the cleaning robot 200. The battery 300 (i.e. the second battery) that is not carried by the cleaning robot 200 is accommodated by the charging dock 100. The charging dock 100 further includes the first control circuit 500. The first control circuit 500 is electrically connected to a plurality of the first electromagnets 124 and a plurality of the second electromagnets 144. The first control circuit 500 is adapted to individually control currents provided to the first electromagnets 124 and the second electromagnets 144 to make the first electromagnets 124 and the second electromagnets 144 to produce magnetic attraction forces.

In detail, when the cleaning robot system 10 executes a return procedure, the cleaning robot 200 first approaches the stretchable base 140 stretching out of the fixed base 120 and moves to the first position P1 (as shown in FIG. 1B). At this time, the second magnetic conduction parts 240 of the cleaning robot 200 are respectively aligned with the second electromagnets 144 of the stretchable base 140. Then, the first control circuit 500 of the charging dock 100 controls the second electromagnets 144 to magnetically attract the corresponding second magnetic conduction parts 240 to position the cleaning robot 200 with respect to the charging dock 100. At this time, the second battery slots 220 of the cleaning robot 200 are respectively aligned with the first battery slots 142 of the stretchable base 140. Then, when the stretchable base 140 is retracted into the internal space 122 of the fixed base 120, the cleaning robot 200 is returned to the second position P2 (shown in FIG. 1C) from the first position P1. When the cleaning robot 200 is returned to the second position P2, the battery 300 located and fixed in the cleaning robot 200 is electrically connected to the charging dock 100.

More specifically, in an embodiment of the disclosure, after the second electromagnets 144 magnetically attract the second magnetic conduction parts 240, the stretchable base 140 is retracted into the internal space 122, and the cleaning robot 200 is synchronously moved to the second position P2, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the second electromagnets 144 of the stretchable base 140 may fix the cleaning robot 200 to the stretchable base 140 and guide the cleaning robot 200 to the second position P2. Under the above configuration, the cleaning robot 200 may be positioned by the charging dock 100 and stably moved to the second position P2 without pushing the charging dock 100 away when the cleaning robot 200 executes the return procedure. Therefore, the charging dock 100 of the above embodiment is unnecessary to be fixed to a wall, and may be arbitrarily disposed in the environment, so as to increase configuration selectivity of the cleaning robot system 10. In yet another embodiment, after the cleaning robot 200 is fixed to the stretchable base 140, the cleaning robot 200 may push the stretchable base 140 into the internal space 122 and move to the second position P2.

At this time, the batteries 300 are fixed in the second battery slots 220. The first electrode sets 126 of the fixed base 120 penetrate through a plurality of the trenches 206 of the cleaning robot 200 and are connected to the second electrode sets 326 of the batteries 300 to charge the batteries 300.

Then, the cleaning robot system 10 executes a detaching procedure. First, the first control circuit 500 of the charging dock 100 controls the first electromagnets 124 to magnetically attract or not attract the batteries 300 respectively and selectively. The battery 300 magnetically attracted by the charging dock 100 is adapted to be released from a fixing relationship with the cleaning robot 200 to stay in the charging dock 100 during a process that the cleaning robot 200 moves away from the charging dock 100. The battery 300 that is not magnetically attracted by the charging dock 100 is adapted to stay in the cleaning robot 200, and moves away from the charging dock 100 together with the cleaning robot 200.

Specifically, when the detaching procedure is executed, the stretchable base 140 may be stretched out of the internal space 122 of the fixed base 120, and the cleaning robot 200 moves to the first position P1 from the second position P2. Now, at least one of the batteries 300 is carried by the cleaning robot 200. For example, the cleaning robot 200 may carry only one battery 300 and leave the other batteries 300 in the charging dock 100, though the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the cleaning robot 200 may also carry a plurality of (for example, two) batteries 300, and then move to the first position P1.

It should be noted that in the embodiment, the first control circuit 500 may individually control the currents provided to the first electromagnets 124 to change magnetic forces of the different first electromagnets 124. For example, the first electromagnet 124 corresponding to the battery 300 to be charged may be provided with the current to magnetically attract the first magnetic conduction part 340 corresponding to the battery 300 to be charged. Then, since the first electromagnet 124 magnetically attracts the battery 300 to be charged, when the cleaning robot system 10 executes the detaching procedure, the magnetic attraction between the first electromagnet 124 and the first magnetic conduction part 340 corresponding to the battery 300 to be charged may overcome a resistance between the second fixing member 360 of the battery 300 and the first fixing member 260 of the cleaning robot 200. The above resistance is used for fixing the battery 300 in the second battery slot 220. In other words, the battery 300 to be charged is retained in the first battery slot 142 of the charging dock 100 by the magnetic force of the first electromagnet 124.

Based on the above description, the cleaning robot system 10 of the embodiment may control the first electromagnets 124 to respectively and selectively retain the batteries 300 in the charging dock 100 or detach the batteries 300 from the charging dock 100 together with the cleaning robot 200. In the embodiment, two batteries (i.e. the first battery and the second battery) are taken as an example for description, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. When the cleaning robot 200 carries the two batteries 300, the cleaning robot 200 may carry out a cleaning task requiring a high electrical quantity or an extended working time. When the cleaning robot 200 only carries one of the batteries 300, the other battery 300 retained in the charging dock 100 may be charged. Therefore, when the battery 300 carried by the cleaning robot 200 is inadequate in electrical quantity, the cleaning robot 200 may return to the charging dock 100. The charging dock 100 retains the battery 300 with inadequate electrical quantity in the charging dock 100 through the magnetic force of the first electromagnet 124, and the cleaning robot 200 takes the battery 300 originally retained in the charging dock 100 for charging. In this way, rapid and easy replacement of the battery 300 with sufficient power is achieved, so as to prolong a time of the cleaning task performed by the cleaning robot 200. Since the charging dock 100 may simultaneously charge the battery 300 while the cleaning robot 200 carries out the cleaning task, the idle time that the cleaning robot 200 waits for battery charging after returning to the charging dock 100 is reduced, so as to achieve the expectation that the cleaning robot 200 may work without uninterruptedly, and further improve the working efficiency of the cleaning robot 200.

Control circuits of the cleaning robot system of an embodiment of the disclosure and executed functions of the control circuits in operation are briefly introduced below.

FIG. 6A is a functional block diagram of a control circuit of a charging dock according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 6B is a functional block diagram of a control circuit of a cleaning robot according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 6A, in the embodiment, the charging dock 100 may use a first control circuit 500 to determine the battery 300 to be released, detect the cleaning robot 200, and position the cleaning robot 200 to the charging dock 100. To be specific, the charging dock 100 includes a first control circuit 500. In the embodiment, the first control circuit 500 is, for example, a control chip disposed on a circuit board. In the embodiment, the first control circuit 500 may include a central control circuit 510 (for example, a central processor), a voltage detection and comparison circuit 520, a guide and detection control circuit 530, an electromagnet driving circuit 540, a motor control circuit 550, a communication unit 560 and a charge control circuit 570. The central control circuit 510 may detect electrical quantity of a plurality of the batteries 300 through the voltage detection and comparison circuit 520, so as to determine which one of the batteries 300 is adapted to be carried by the cleaning robot 200. Then, the central control circuit 510 may control a guide element (for example, an ultrasonic transmitter or an infrared transmitter) through the guide and detection control circuit 530 to make the cleaning robot 200 to approach the charging dock 100. The central control circuit 510 may also control a detection element to determine whether the cleaning robot 200 has reached the first position P1 through the guide and detection control circuit 530. Moreover, the central control circuit 510 may control the motor 160 through the motor control circuit 550 to retract/stretch the stretchable base 140 into/out of the fixed base 120. The central control circuit 510 may control the currents of the first electromagnets 124 through the electromagnet driving circuit 540, so as to make the first electromagnet 124 to magnetically attract the battery 300 to be charged when the detaching procedure is executed. Moreover, the central control circuit 510 may also control the currents of the second electromagnets 144 through the electromagnet driving circuit 540, so as to make the second electromagnet 144 to magnetically attract the second magnetic conduction part 240 of the cleaning robot 200 when the return procedure is executed. The central control circuit 510 may further charge the battery 300 electrically connected to the charging dock 100 through the charge control circuit 570.

In the embodiment, referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 6B, the cleaning robot 200 may execute the cleaning task through a second control circuit 600, and determine whether the cleaning robot 200 needs to return to the charging dock 100 to replace the battery 300. In detail, the cleaning robot 200 may include the second control circuit 600. In the embodiment, the second control circuit 600 is, for example, a control chip disposed on the circuit board. In the embodiment, the second control circuit 600 may include a central control circuit 610 (for example, a central processor), a battery voltage detection circuit 620, a communication unit 630, a path planning and calculating unit 640, a cleaning and dust collecting control circuit 650, an environment detection control circuit 660, and a power and steering control circuit 670. When the cleaning robot 200 prepares to carry out the cleaning task, the central control circuit 610 may calculate power required for cleaning a path through the path planning and calculating unit 640. In some embodiments, the path planning and calculating unit 640 may be a memory or a register. The path planning and calculating unit 640 stores path plans and calculated program codes, and the program codes are executed by the central control circuit 610 to implement a path planning and calculating function. The central control circuit 610 may provide the above calculated data to the communication unit 560 of the first control circuit 500 through the communication unit 630. In this way, the charging dock 100 may determine the number of the batteries 300 to be carried according to the calculated data. When the cleaning robot 200 performs the cleaning task, the central control circuit 610 may control an environment detection element (for example, an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver or an infrared transmitter/receiver) through the environment detection control circuit 660 to determine a path or an ambient environment to be cleaned. The central control circuit 610 may control a driving motor or a wheel of the cleaning robot 200 through the power and steering control circuit 670 to make the cleaning robot 200 to move along the path to be cleaned, avoid obstacles, or stop. The central control circuit 610 may control the cleaning robot 200 to execute cleaning and dust collecting tasks on the path to be cleaned through the cleaning and dust collecting control circuit 650. The central control circuit 610 may detect whether an electrical quantity of the battery 300 (i.e. the first battery) is lower than a default electrical quantity through the battery voltage detection circuit 620, so that the cleaning robot 200 may determine whether to return to the charging dock 100. However, the default electric quantity of the embodiment may be correspondingly designed according to different battery types, power consumption degrees of the cleaning tasks or the user's requirements. For example, in an embodiment, the default electrical quantity is, for example, 10%, 15% or 20%, etc., of a total electrical quantity of the battery 300, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. When the battery voltage detection circuit 620 determines that the electric quantity of the battery 300 in the cleaning robot 200 is inadequate, the central control circuit 610 may communicate with the communication unit 560 of the first control circuit 500 through the communication unit 630. Then, the guide and detection control circuit 530 of the first control circuit 500 may control the guide element (for example, an ultrasonic transmitter or an infrared transmitter) to send a signal to guide the cleaning robot 200 to return to the charging dock 100. In this way, the cleaning robot 200 may replace the battery 300 or the charging dock 100 may charge the battery 300 in the cleaning robot 200 through the charge control circuit 570.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operating method of a cleaning robot system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 7, in the embodiment, the operating method 400 of the cleaning robot system 10 includes following steps. In step S410, the cleaning robot 200 receives an environment cleaning demand. For example, the user may set the environment cleaning demand for the cleaning robot 200 through a portable electronic device. The portable electronic device sends the environment cleaning demand to the cleaning robot 200. As described above, the cleaning robot 200 may calculate electrical power required for cleaning the path to be cleaned through the path planning and calculating unit 640, and provide the above calculated data to the charging dock 100 through the communication unit 630. In other embodiments, the charging dock 100 receives the above environment cleaning demand. In step S412, the charging dock 100 executes a program to determine whether it is required to carry dual batteries 300. If yes, in step S413, the charging dock 100 simultaneously releases two batteries 300. If not, in step S414, the circuit of the charging dock 100 determines which battery 300 to be released or to wait for charging. In case that it is required to carry dual batteries 300 (the cleaning robot 200 has a dual battery demand), in step S420, the cleaning robot 200 carries two batteries 300 to execute the cleaning task. In step S422, the cleaning robot 200 carrying the two batteries 300 determines whether it is required to return to the charging dock 100 for charging. If yes, in step S423, the cleaning robot 200 returns to the charging dock 100 for charging. If not, in step S424, the cleaning robot 200 determines whether the cleaning task is completed. If not, the cleaning robot 200 continually executes the cleaning task. If yes, in step S440, the cleaning robot 200 returns to the charging dock for charging.

In the embodiment, a situation that the program determines it is unnecessary to carry dual batteries 300 is similar to the situation of carrying dual batteries 300, and a difference there between is that in the step S430, the cleaning robot 200 carrying the single battery 300 first executes the cleaning task. Then, in step S432, the cleaning robot 200 carrying the single battery 300 determines whether the electrical quantity is inadequate and it is required to return to the charging dock 100 for charging. For example, the cleaning robot 200 determines whether the electrical quantity of the battery 300 carried by the cleaning robot 200 is lower than the default electrical quantity. If yes, in step S433, the cleaning robot 200 returns to the charging dock 100 and is electrically connected to the charging dock 100 for battery charging. At this time, in step S414, the charging dock 100 determines which battery 300 to be released or to wait for charging, such that the cleaning robot 200 may continually execute the cleaning task. In some embodiments, “release” represents “not magnetically attract”. In other words, when the charging dock 100 determines that the cleaning robot 200 is unnecessary to carry the dual batteries 300, the cleaning robot 200 may return to the charging dock 100 to replace the battery 300 and continually execute the cleaning task, so that the idle time that the cleaning robot 200 waits for charging the battery 300 is reduced, so as to improve the working efficiency.

Moreover, in the embodiment, in step S414, when the charging dock 100 determines which battery 300 to be released, the charging dock 100 may release the battery 300 with higher electrical quantity through the voltage detection and comparison circuit 520 and the electromagnet driving circuit 540 of the first control circuit 500, for example, the battery that is originally magnetically attracted by the charging dock 100 for charging. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the first control circuit 500 may be adjusted to release a fixed one of the batteries 300 in priority according to the user's requirement. In other embodiments, the first control circuit 500 may also sequentially release different batteries 300 in turn, and the released battery 300 is moved away from the charging dock 100 along with the cleaning robot 200.

In step S432, if the cleaning robot 200 determines that it is unnecessary to return to the charging dock 100 for charging, a step S434 is executed. In the step S434, the cleaning robot 200 determines whether the cleaning task is completed. If not, in step S430, the cleaning robot 200 continually executes the cleaning task. If yes, in step S440, the cleaning robot 200 returns to the charging dock 100 for charging.

In summary, the cleaning robot system of the disclosure is designed to carry a plurality of or a part of (for example, one) batteries. As the first electromagnets of the charging dock magnetically attract the corresponding batteries, the cleaning robot may selectively retain a part of the batteries that are not carried by the cleaning robot in the charging dock for charging and carry another part of the batteries to carry out the cleaning task. Based on the above design, when the cleaning robot of the disclosure carries a plurality of batteries, a high power-consuming cleaning task is adapted to be carried out or a working time is adapted to be prolonged. When the cleaning robot carries a part of the batteries, the charging dock may replace the battery of the cleaning robot in a rapid and simple way, so as to prolong the time that the cleaning robot performs the cleaning task. Moreover, in the cleaning robot system of the disclosure, while the cleaning robot carries out the cleaning task, the charging dock may simultaneously charge the battery, so as to reduce an idle time that the cleaning robot returns to the charging dock and waits for battery charging, and achieve uninterrupted working of the cleaning robot to improve the working efficiency of the cleaning robot. Moreover, the cleaning robot of the disclosure may be magnetically attracted by the charging dock for positioning when executing a return procedure, so that the cleaning robot may be stably connected to the charging dock without fixing the charging dock, so as to improve configuration selectivity of the cleaning robot system.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure covers modifications and variations provided that they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A cleaning robot system, comprising:

a cleaning robot, carrying a first battery; and

a charging dock, magnetically attracting a second battery and charging the second battery,

wherein when the cleaning robot is electrically connected to the charging dock and an electrical quantity of the first battery is lower than a default electrical quantity, the charging dock magnetically attracts the first battery and releases the second battery, and the cleaning robot carries the second battery.

2. The cleaning robot system according to claim 1, wherein each of the first battery and the second battery has a first magnetic conduction part, the charging dock has a fixed base and a stretchable base, the stretchable base is connected to the fixed base in a stretchable manner, the fixed base has a plurality of first electromagnets, the stretchable base has a plurality of first battery slots, the cleaning robot has a main body and a plurality of second battery slots, the second battery slots are configured at one side of the main body, when the cleaning robot is electrically connected to the charging dock and the electrical quantity of the first battery is lower than the default electrical quantity, one of the first electromagnets magnetically attracts the first magnetic conduction part of the first battery and another one of the first electromagnets releases the first magnetic conduction part of the second battery, such that when the cleaning robot moves away from the charging dock, the first battery is configured in one of the first battery slots, and the second battery is configured in one of the second battery slots.

3. The cleaning robot system according to claim 2, wherein the stretchable base further comprises a second electromagnet, the cleaning robot further comprises a second magnetic conduction part, the second magnetic conduction part is disposed on a side surface of the main body, and the second electromagnet is configured to magnetically attract the second magnetic conduction part.

4. The cleaning robot system according to claim 3, wherein the charging dock has a control circuit, the control circuit is electrically connected to the first electromagnets and the second electromagnets, the control circuit is configured to respectively control currents provided to the first electromagnets and the second electromagnets.

5. The cleaning robot system according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning robot further comprises a plurality of first fixing members, the first fixing members are respectively disposed in the second battery slots, and each of the first battery and the second battery comprises a second fixing member, wherein when the first battery and the second battery are respectively configured in the second battery slots, the second fixing members are configured to respectively fix the first fixing members.

6. The cleaning robot system according to claim 2, wherein the fixed base further comprises a plurality of first electrode sets, and each of the first battery and the second battery comprises a second electrode set, and the second electrode sets are configured to respectively correspondingly connected to the first electrode sets.

7. The cleaning robot system according to claim 6, wherein the cleaning robot further comprises a plurality of trenches, the trenches are respectively connected to the second battery slots, and when the cleaning robot is electrically connected to the charging dock, the first electrode sets of the fixed base respectively penetrate through the trenches and are respectively connected to the second electrode sets.

8. The cleaning robot system according to claim 2, wherein the charging dock further comprises a motor, a gear connected to the motor and a gear rack engaged to the gear, the gear is disposed on one of the fixed base and the stretchable base, and the gear rack is disposed on another one of the fixed base and the stretchable base.

9. The cleaning robot system according to claim 2, wherein the first battery or the second battery comprises a wing-like portion, each of the first battery slots comprises a first guide rail corresponding to the wing-like portion, each of the second battery slots comprises a second guide rail corresponding to the wing-like portion, when the first battery or the second battery enters one of the first battery slots, the wing-like portion slides in the first guide rail, and when the first battery or the second battery enters one of the second battery slots, the wing-like portion slides in the second guide rail.

10. The cleaning robot system according to claim 2, wherein an outer surface contour of the first battery or the second battery exposed out of the second battery slots corresponds to a side surface contour of the cleaning robot.

11. An operating method of a cleaning robot system, comprising:

carrying a first battery by a cleaning robot;

magnetically attracting a second battery by a charging dock to charge the second battery; and

when the cleaning robot is electrically connected to the charging dock and an electrical quantity of the first battery is lower than a default electrical quantity, magnetically attracting the first battery and releasing the second battery by the charging dock, so that the cleaning robot carries the second battery.

12. The operating method of a cleaning robot system according to claim 11, further comprising:

magnetically attracting the cleaning robot by a stretchable base of the charging dock; and

stretching the stretchable base into an internal space of the charging dock, such that the cleaning robot is electrically connected to the charging dock.

13. The operating method of a cleaning robot system according to claim 11, wherein each of the first battery and the second battery has a first magnetic conduction part, the charging dock comprises a fixed base and a stretchable base, the stretchable base is connected to the fixed base in a stretchable manner, the fixed base has a plurality of first electromagnets, the stretchable base has a plurality of first battery slots, the cleaning robot has a plurality of second battery slots, when the cleaning robot is electrically connected to the charging dock and the electrical quantity of the first battery is lower than the default electrical quantity, one of the first electromagnets magnetically attracts the first magnetic conduction part of the first battery and another one of the first electromagnets releases the first magnetic conduction part of the second battery, such that when the cleaning robot moves away from the charging dock, the first battery is configured in one of the first battery slots, and the second battery is configured in one of the second battery slots.

14. The operating method of a cleaning robot system according to claim 13, further comprising:

when the cleaning robot has a dual-battery demand, releasing the first magnetic conduction parts by the first electromagnets, and carrying the first battery and the second battery by the cleaning robot.