Autonomous coverage robot navigation system

A cleaning system for cleaning a room, the cleaning system comprising:

• an autonomous mobile robot comprising:
• a chassis;
• drive wheels connected to the chassis for moving the mobile robot to a docked position;
• a central receiver and two side receivers located at a front portion of the chassis;
• and
• a controller located within the chassis and configured to receive signals from at least two of the receivers and direct the mobile robot toward a docked position using the receiver signals;
• and
• a base station comprising three infrared emitters, the three infrared emitters comprising at least two side emitters spaced in opposite directions from a central location of the base station, at least two of the emitters being detectable by the mobile robot from a position proximate the base station when the mobile robot is aligning itself for docking,
• wherein the receivers of the mobile robot are configured to receive infrared directed beams from at least the two side emitters of the base station, and the controller of the mobile robot is configured to direct the mobile robot toward a docked position on the based station using the infrared directed beams received from the two side emitters when the robot is in a docking mode, the controller including a control routine for docking the mobile robot from a position within the room wherein the mobile robot has been aligned for docking but is outside of a range of an infrared directed beam that maintains contact with the mobile robot until the mobile robot is docked.