Robotic Vacuum

Overview

The robotic vacuum is an autonomous floor cleaner that maps a home with a spinning LiDAR turret, plans efficient coverage, and combines vacuuming with mopping in a single pass. A differential drive lets it pivot in place and follow walls, while cliff sensors keep it off stairs. When the battery runs low or a job finishes it returns to a dock that both recharges it and empties its bin into a sealed bag, so the onboard container rarely needs attention.

How it works

The robot is built on the Chassis, a molded lower body with a top cover and a floating contact bumper. Two Drive Wheel Module units provide propulsion, each combining a geared brushless motor, a treaded wheel, an odometry encoder, and a wheel-down suspension spring; a single front Caster Wheel supports the nose.

Cleaning is split across three subsystems. The Suction System pairs a high-RPM fan and impeller with a removable dust bin and a HEPA exhaust filter. The Brush System adds a driven main roller brush and an edge-sweeping side brush, each with its own motor. The Mop Module carries a water tank, a microfiber pad, a diaphragm metering pump, and a pad-lift actuator that raises the mop over carpet.

Autonomy comes from the Navigation Suite suite, which combines the LiDAR turret, a forward obstacle camera, cliff and wall sensors, bump switches, and an IMU. The Main Board runs SLAM on a navigation SoC with a real-time safety MCU, the Motor Driver Board supplies the drive, fan, brush, and pump motors, and the Battery Pack is a protected 4S Li-ion array. A Wi-Fi Module handles app control, and the Charging Dock provides charging, IR homing, and automatic bin emptying.