Method and apparatus for generating and tracing cleaning trajectory of home cleaning robot

An apparatus that generates and traces a cleaning trajectory of a home cleaning robot, the apparatus comprising:

• a sound wave transmitter which is included in a docking station;
• a sound wave receptor which is included in a home cleaning robot;
• a distance calculator, which calculates a distance between the docking station and the home cleaning robot by using a difference between the time when the sound wave transmitter transmits a sound wave and the time when the sound wave receptor receives the sound wave transmitted from the sound wave transmitter;
• and
• a travel controller, which receives the distance between the docking station and the home cleaning robot from the distance calculator, controls the home cleaning robot so that the home cleaning robot straightly travels as much as a set distance from the docking station, rotationally travels maintaining the set distance with the docking station until reaching one of two walls, straightly travels as much as the set distance along the one of the two walls, and resumes rotational-traveling maintaining a distance between the docking station and the home cleaning robot increased by the set distance until reaching the other one of the two walls.

A computer readable medium encoded with processing instructions for performing a method of generating a cleaning trajectory of a home cleaning robot that includes a sound wave receptor by using a docking station that includes a sound wave transmitter, the method comprising:

• controlling the home cleaning robot to travel in a straight direction as much as a set distance from the docking station and then to rotationally travel, maintaining the set distance from the docking station, until the home cleaning robot reaches one of two walls;
• controlling the home cleaning robot to travel as much as the set distance along the one of the two walls if the home cleaning robot reaches the one of the two walls and resume rotational-traveling around the docking station, maintaining a distance between the docking station and the home cleaning robot increased by the set distance until the home cleaning robot reaches the other one of the two walls;
• and
• repeatedly controlling the home cleaning robot to travel as much as the set distance along the one of the two walls if the home cleaning robot reaches the one of the two walls and resume rotational-traveling around the docking station, maintaining a distance between the docking station and the home cleaning robot increased by the set distance until the home cleaning robot reaches the other one of the two walls until the home cleaning robot arrives at a point where the home cleaning robot cannot travel in a direction in which a distance between the docking station and the home cleaning robot increases.

An apparatus generating and tracing a traveling trajectory of a robot, the apparatus comprising:

• a sound wave transmitter located at a designated location;
• a sound wave receptor located on the robot;
• a distance calculator calculating a distance between the designated location and the robot by using a difference between the time when the sound wave transmitter transmits a sound wave and the time when the sound wave receptor receives the sound wave transmitted from the sound wave transmitter;
• and
• a travel controller receiving the distance between the designated location and the robot from the distance calculator, controlling the robot so that the robot straightly travels as much as a set distance from the designated location, rotationally travels maintaining the set distance with the designated location until reaching one of two walls, straightly travels as much as the set distance along the one of the two walls, and resumes rotational-traveling maintaining a distance between the designated location and the robot increased by the set distance until reaching the other one of the two walls.