Robot cleaner and method for controlling the same

Abstract

A robot cleaner which performs a re-cleaning to allow a mop to re-clean over a contaminated area again after performing a drying operation on the mop, based on determining dry mopping is required for the contaminated area and a humidity of the mop being greater than a reference humidity.

1 . A robot cleaner, comprising:
 a main body;   a mop configured to be coupleable to and decoupleable from a lower portion of the main body;   a front sensor configured to have a front field of view of the main body;   a rear sensor configured to have a rear field of view of the main body;   a humidity sensor configured to detect a humidity of the mop; and   a controller configured to:
 determine whether dry mopping is required, for an area to be cleaned that is detected by the front sensor, based on information about the area obtained by the rear sensor after the mop coupled to the lower portion of the main body cleans the area detected by the front sensor, and 
 based on the dry mopping being determined as being required for the area and the humidity of the mop detected by the humidity sensor being greater than a reference humidity, perform a re-cleaning to allow the mop to pass over the area again after performing a drying operation on the mop. 
   
     
     
         2 . The robot cleaner of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the re-cleaning without requiring the drying operation on the mop, based on the dry mopping being determined as being required for the area and the humidity of the mop detected by the humidity sensor being less than or equal to the reference humidity. 
     
     
         3 . The robot cleaner of  claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the re-cleaning by reversing the robot cleaner, based on the dry mopping being determined as being required for the area and the humidity of the mop detected by the humidity sensor being less than or equal to the reference humidity. 
     
     
         4 . The robot cleaner of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the drying operation on the mop by returning the robot cleaner to a docking station and transmitting a drying request signal to the docking station. 
     
     
         5 . The robot cleaner of  claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to move the robot cleaner to the area based on receiving a completion signal indicating that the drying operation on the mop is completed from the docking station. 
     
     
         6 . The robot cleaner of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an intake motor; and   an outlet configured to discharge air, drawn into the main body by an operation of the intake motor, in a direction toward the mop,   wherein the controller is configured to perform the drying operation on the mop by operating the intake motor.   
     
     
         7 . The robot cleaner of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to control the mop to prevent the mop from touching a floor while the intake motor operates, and control the mop to allow the mop to touch the floor during the re-cleaning. 
     
     
         8 . The robot cleaner of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to move the robot cleaner to clean an area other than the area while the drying operation on the mop is performed by operating the intake motor. 
     
     
         9 . The robot cleaner of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to identify a type of a foreign substance left on the area based on the information about the area obtained by the rear sensor, and determine that the dry mopping is required for the area based on identifying that the foreign substance left on the area is a liquid contaminant. 
     
     
         10 . The robot cleaner of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to identify a type of a foreign substance left on the area based on the information about the area obtained by the rear sensor, and determine that wet mopping is required for the area based on identifying that the foreign substance left on the area is a stain. 
     
     
         11 . The robot cleaner of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to perform a re-cleaning to allow the mop to pass over the area again without the drying operation, in response to a determination that wet mopping is required for the area. 
     
     
         12 . The robot cleaner of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a water tank configured to store water supplied to the mop,   wherein the controller is configured to:
 based on determining that wet mopping is required for the area and the humidity of the mop detected by the humidity sensor being less than a defined humidity, perform a re-cleaning to allow the mop to pass over the area again after performing a water filling operation to supply the water stored in the water tank to the mop. 
   
     
     
         13 . The robot cleaner of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to, based on determining that wet mopping is required for the area and the humidity of the mop detected by the humidity sensor being less than a defined humidity, return the robot cleaner to a docking station, and transmit a washing request signal or a water filling request signal to the docking station. 
     
     
         14 . The robot cleaner of  claim 1 , wherein the reference humidity is settable according to a user input. 
     
     
         15 . A method for controlling a robot cleaner, comprising:
 determining whether dry mopping by a mop coupleable to and decoupleable from a lower portion of a main body of the robot cleaner is required for an area to be cleaned that is detected by a front sensor having a front field of view of the main body based on information about the area obtained by a rear sensor having a rear field of view of the main body after the mop coupled to the lower portion of the main body cleans the area detected by the front sensor, and   based on the dry mopping being determined as being required for the area and humidity of the mop detected by a humidity sensor being greater than a reference humidity, performing a re-cleaning to allow the mop to pass over the area again after performing a drying operation on the mop.