阅读说明：本技术 一种清洁方法、装置、设备和存储介质 (Cleaning method, device, equipment and storage medium ) 是由 沈孝通 张亦弛 秦宝星 程昊天 于 2021-07-06 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种清洁方法、装置、设备和存储介质,该方法包括：确定所述电子设备驶入待清洁区中的临时障碍区时,对所述临时障碍区进行障碍检测；控制所述电子设备执行目标运行模式,所述目标运行模式根据障碍检测结果确定。上述技术方案,在确定电子设备驶入待清洁区中的临时障碍区时,可以对临时障碍区进行障碍检测,根据障碍检测结果确定电子设备的目标运行模式,并控制电子设备执行目标运行模式,实现了根据障碍检测结果确定目标运行模式并控制电子设备执行目标运行模式,使得电子设备在有无障碍物的环境中都能高效、灵活作业,从而有利于提高电子设备的自动化能力并优化用户体验。(The invention discloses a cleaning method, a cleaning device, cleaning equipment and a storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in a to-be-cleaned area, obstacle detection is carried out on the temporary obstacle area; and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result. According to the technical scheme, when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into the temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, obstacle detection can be carried out on the temporary obstacle area, the target operation mode of the electronic equipment is determined according to the obstacle detection result, and the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, so that the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, efficient and flexible operation can be carried out in the environment with or without obstacles, and the automatic capacity of the electronic equipment is improved, and the user experience is optimized.)

1. A cleaning method, applied to an electronic device, comprising:

when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in a to-be-cleaned area, obstacle detection is carried out on the temporary obstacle area;

and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result.

2. The cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detection result includes determining that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, the target operation mode includes an obstacle cleaning mode or a drive-off mode,

correspondingly, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, and the method comprises the following steps:

if the target operation mode comprises an obstacle cleaning mode, controlling the electronic equipment to execute the obstacle cleaning mode and cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area;

and if the target operation mode comprises a driving-off mode, controlling the electronic equipment to execute the driving-off mode, and driving off the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area.

3. The cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detection result includes determining that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, the target operation mode includes an obstacle cleaning mode and a drive-off mode,

correspondingly, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, and the method comprises the following steps:

determining whether the electronic device performs the obstacle cleaning mode or the drive-off mode in the temporary obstacle area determined as an obstacle area;

controlling the electronic device to clean the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area if an obstacle cleaning mode is performed;

and if the driving-away mode is executed, controlling the electronic equipment to drive away the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area.

4. The cleaning method according to claim 1,

before determining that the electronic equipment drives into a temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, the method further comprises the following steps: determining the temporary obstacle area based on an environment map;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the obstacle detection result includes determining that the temporary obstacle area is a non-obstacle area, and the target operation mode includes a general cleaning mode, and accordingly, controlling the electronic device to execute the target operation mode includes: controlling the electronic device to execute a normal cleaning mode to clean the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle-free area;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the electronic equipment comprises a cleaning module, and correspondingly, when the electronic equipment is determined to enter a temporary obstacle area in a zone to be cleaned, the electronic equipment further comprises: and controlling to lift the cleaning module by taking the ground as a reference.

5. The cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detection of the temporary obstacle area includes:

constructing a detection path according to the driving position of the electronic equipment driving into the temporary obstacle area and a preset position in the temporary obstacle area;

sequentially acquiring detection data based on the detection path, wherein the detection data are used for determining whether the current position of the electronic equipment contains an obstacle;

the detection data is accumulated based on time information and/or distance information, and the obstacle detection result is determined based on the accumulation result.

6. The cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detection result includes determining the temporary obstacle area as a non-obstacle area or determining the temporary obstacle area as an obstacle area,

correspondingly, after the obstacle detection is performed on the temporary obstacle area, the method further comprises the following steps:

if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area, updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map to be the obstacle area;

and if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a barrier-free area, updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map to be the barrier-free area.

7. The cleaning method of claim 6, further comprising:

and resetting the temporary obstacle area updated to the obstacle area and the temporary obstacle area updated to the barrier-free area as the temporary obstacle area after the cleaning of the area to be cleaned is determined to be completed.

8. A cleaning device, comprising:

the obstacle detection module is used for detecting obstacles in a temporary obstacle area when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into the temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned;

and the execution module is used for controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, and the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result.

9. A cleaning apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus comprises:

one or more processors;

a storage device for storing one or more programs,

when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the cleaning method of any one of claims 1-7.

10. A storage medium containing computer-executable instructions for performing the cleaning method of any one of claims 1-7 when executed by a computer processor.

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of electronic equipment, in particular to a cleaning method, a cleaning device, cleaning equipment and a storage medium.

Background

With the improvement of living standard, service robots represented by cleaning robots are gradually popularized and come into the lives of people. The cleaning robot needs to adopt different cleaning strategies for different types of floors.

In the prior art, the cleaning strategy of the floor can be determined based on vision, but the cleaning strategy of the floor is determined based on vision with low efficiency and low accuracy.

In view of this, an object of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a cleaning method, apparatus, device and storage medium, which can improve the cleaning efficiency.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a cleaning method, a cleaning device, cleaning equipment and a storage medium, which can be used for carrying out obstacle detection on a temporary obstacle area, determining a target operation mode of electronic equipment according to an obstacle detection result, and controlling the electronic equipment to execute the target operation mode, so that the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, and the execution efficiency of the electronic equipment on the target operation mode is improved.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a cleaning method, including: when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in a to-be-cleaned area, obstacle detection is carried out on the temporary obstacle area; and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result.

Further, the obstacle detection result includes determining that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, and the target operation mode includes an obstacle cleaning mode or a drive-off mode, and accordingly, controlling the electronic device to execute the target operation mode includes: if the target operation mode comprises an obstacle cleaning mode, controlling the electronic equipment to execute the obstacle cleaning mode and cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area; and if the target operation mode comprises a driving-off mode, controlling the electronic equipment to execute the driving-off mode, and driving off the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area.

In this embodiment, the obstacle detection result includes determining that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, and the target operation mode includes an obstacle cleaning mode or a drive-away mode, so that the electronic device operates in the target execution mode according to the obstacle detection result.

Further, the obstacle detection result includes determining that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, and the target operation mode includes an obstacle cleaning mode and a driving-away mode, and accordingly, controlling the electronic device to execute the target operation mode includes: determining whether the electronic device performs the obstacle cleaning mode or the drive-off mode in the temporary obstacle area determined as an obstacle area; controlling the electronic device to clean the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area if an obstacle cleaning mode is performed; and if the driving-away mode is executed, controlling the electronic equipment to drive away the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area.

In this embodiment, the obstacle detection result includes determining that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, and the target operation mode includes an obstacle cleaning mode and a drive-away mode, so that the electronic device operates in the target execution mode according to the obstacle detection result.

Further, before determining that the electronic device enters a temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, the method further comprises the following steps: determining the temporary obstacle area based on an environment map; and/or the obstacle detection result comprises that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a barrier-free area, the target operation mode comprises a common cleaning mode, and correspondingly, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, which comprises the following steps: controlling the electronic device to execute a normal cleaning mode to clean the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle-free area; and/or, the electronic equipment comprises a cleaning module, and correspondingly, when the electronic equipment is determined to be driven into a temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, the electronic equipment further comprises: and controlling to lift the cleaning module by taking the ground as a reference.

In this embodiment, the temporary obstacle area may be determined before the electronic device enters the temporary obstacle area, so as to perform path planning, obstacle detection, and cleaning when the electronic device enters the temporary obstacle area; when the obstacle detection result comprises that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a barrier-free area and the target operation mode comprises a common cleaning mode, controlling the electronic equipment to execute the common cleaning mode, and cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined to be the barrier-free area, so that the cleaning of the temporary obstacle area is realized; when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, the cleaning module can be controlled to be lifted by taking the ground as a reference, and the situation that the obstacle in the temporary obstacle area and the cleaning module in the cleaning equipment are damaged when the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area is avoided.

Further, obstacle detection is performed on the temporary obstacle area, and the obstacle detection includes: constructing a detection path according to the driving position of the electronic equipment driving into the temporary obstacle area and the preset position of the temporary obstacle area; sequentially acquiring detection data based on the detection path, wherein the detection data are used for determining whether the current position of the electronic equipment contains an obstacle; the detection data is accumulated based on time information and/or distance information, and the obstacle detection result is determined based on the accumulation result.

In this embodiment, the detection data is accumulated based on the time information and/or the distance information, and the condition of the detection data within a period of time and/or a period of distance can be determined, so that the accuracy of the obstacle detection result is improved.

Further, the obstacle detection result includes determining that the temporary obstacle area is a non-obstacle area or determining that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, and accordingly, after performing obstacle detection on the temporary obstacle area, the method further includes: if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area, updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map to be the obstacle area; and if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a barrier-free area, updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map to be the barrier-free area.

In this embodiment, after determining that the temporary obstacle area is the obstacle area or the obstacle-free area, the attribute of the temporary obstacle in the environment map may be updated, so that when the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area is encountered again in the cleaning task of this time, the corresponding target operation mode may be directly executed without performing obstacle detection again on the temporary obstacle area, so as to improve the execution efficiency of the cleaning task of the electronic device.

Further, still include: and resetting the temporary obstacle area updated to the obstacle area and the temporary obstacle area updated to the barrier-free area as the temporary obstacle area after the cleaning of the area to be cleaned is determined to be completed.

In this embodiment, the obstacle area or the non-obstacle area obtained by updating the temporary obstacle area in the environment map may be reset to the temporary obstacle area, and thus, whether the reset temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area or a non-obstacle area is unknown, so that when a cleaning area including the temporary obstacle area is cleaned in the next cleaning task, it is necessary to redetermine whether the temporary obstacle area includes an obstacle, and further redetermine whether the temporary obstacle area is a non-obstacle area or an obstacle area, so as to improve the safety of the electronic device in performing the cleaning task.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a cleaning device, including: the obstacle detection module is used for detecting obstacles in a temporary obstacle area when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into the temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned; and the execution module is used for controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, and the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a cleaning apparatus, including: one or more processors; a storage device for storing one or more programs which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the cleaning method as described in any one of the first aspects.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present invention also provide a storage medium containing computer-executable instructions for performing the cleaning method according to any one of the first aspect when executed by a computer processor.

The embodiment of the invention provides a cleaning method, a cleaning device, equipment and a storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in a to-be-cleaned area, obstacle detection is carried out on the temporary obstacle area; and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result. According to the technical scheme, when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into the temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, obstacle detection can be carried out on the temporary obstacle area, the target operation mode of the electronic equipment is determined according to the obstacle detection result, and the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, so that the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, efficient and flexible operation can be carried out in the environment with or without obstacles, and the automatic capacity of the electronic equipment is improved, and the user experience is optimized.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of another cleaning method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of step 220 of a cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4a is a flowchart illustrating a cleaning implementation of a cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a special cleaning mode only includes an obstacle cleaning mode, fig. 4b is a flowchart illustrating a cleaning implementation of a cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a special cleaning mode only includes a drive-off mode, and fig. 4c is a flowchart illustrating a cleaning implementation of a cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a special cleaning mode includes an obstacle cleaning mode and a drive-off mode;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating interaction between a computer-readable storage medium and a processor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not limiting of the invention. It should be further noted that, for the convenience of description, only some of the structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings, not all of the structures.

Before discussing exemplary embodiments in more detail, it should be noted that some exemplary embodiments are described as processes or methods depicted as flowcharts. Although a flowchart may describe the operations (or steps) as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel, concurrently or simultaneously. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. The process may be terminated when its operations are completed, but may have additional steps not included in the figure. The processes may correspond to methods, functions, procedures, subroutines, and the like. In addition, the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present invention may be combined with each other without conflict.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the embodiment is applicable to a case where a temporary obstacle area that may include an obstacle needs to be cleaned, and the method may be executed by an electronic device, and specifically includes the following steps:

and 110, when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, performing obstacle detection on the temporary obstacle area.

Wherein the electronic device may comprise a cleaning device for performing a cleaning task. The area to be cleaned is an area which needs to be cleaned by the cleaning equipment to perform a cleaning task, and may include a temporary obstacle area, where obstacles may exist or no obstacle area may exist, for example, the temporary obstacle area may be a temporary carpet area, for example, a carpet is laid at a doorway of a shopping mall in a rainy day to prevent slipping, and the temporary obstacle area is removed in a sunny day; as another example, a venue may have carpeting during an exhibition and the exhibition is removed at the end. The shape of the temporary obstacle area may be a circle, a polygon, or the like, and is not particularly limited herein, and may be determined according to the shape of the actual obstacle area.

Specifically, the cleaning device may include at least one group of ultrasonic sensors, each group of ultrasonic sensors may be disposed at a bottom of the cleaning device, and when it is determined that the cleaning device enters the temporary obstacle area, the ultrasonic sensors may be controlled to be turned on to turn on obstacle detection for the temporary obstacle area.

It should be noted that, in the cleaning process of the area to be cleaned, in order to avoid damage to the cleaning module in the cleaning device caused by the obstacle that may exist in the temporary obstacle area and the obstacle that may exist in the ordinary cleaning mode, when the cleaning device enters the temporary obstacle area, the cleaning module included in the cleaning device may be controlled to be lifted, and obstacle detection is performed on the temporary obstacle area. Further carrying out obstacle detection on the temporary obstacle area to determine whether an obstacle exists in the temporary obstacle area, and if so, determining the temporary obstacle area as the obstacle area; and if no obstacle exists in the temporary obstacle area, determining the temporary obstacle area as a barrier-free area.

And step 120, controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result.

The obstacle detection result may include determining the temporary obstacle area as a non-obstacle area or determining the temporary obstacle area as an obstacle area, the target operation mode includes a general cleaning mode corresponding to the non-obstacle area and a special cleaning mode corresponding to the obstacle area, and the special cleaning mode includes at least one of an obstacle cleaning mode and a drive-away mode.

If the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area, it may be determined whether the target operation mode is the obstacle cleaning mode or the drive-off mode in the special cleaning mode according to a specific setting. In addition, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a non-obstacle area, the target execution mode is determined to be the normal cleaning mode.

The cleaning device may include a storage module, and the storage module stores specific special cleaning modes, for example, the storage module may store only the obstacle cleaning mode, only the drive-off mode, or both the obstacle cleaning mode and the drive-off mode, so as to determine whether the cleaning device supports only the obstacle cleaning mode, only the drive-off mode, or both the obstacle cleaning mode and the drive-off mode.

In one embodiment, the cleaning apparatus supports only the obstacle cleaning mode, and the obstacle detection result further includes a type of obstacle present in the obstacle area, and specifically, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the first obstacle area, the target operation mode is determined to be the first obstacle cleaning mode, and if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the second obstacle area, the target operation mode is determined to be the second obstacle cleaning mode. The cleaning device is controlled to determine a corresponding obstacle cleaning mode according to the types of obstacles existing in the obstacle area, the cleaning device can be further controlled to clean the first obstacle area based on the first obstacle cleaning mode, or the cleaning device is controlled to clean the second obstacle area based on the second obstacle cleaning mode, the cleaning device can switch the obstacle cleaning modes according to the types of obstacles existing in the obstacle area, and cleaning of the obstacle areas with multiple obstacle types is achieved.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the obstacle existing in the first obstacle area may be a short-hair carpet, and the obstacle existing in the second obstacle area may be a long-hair carpet, and accordingly, the first obstacle cleaning mode may be used to clean the short-hair carpet, and the second obstacle cleaning mode may be used to clean the long-hair carpet.

In one embodiment, the cleaning device only supports the drive-off mode, and specifically, if the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area, the cleaning device is controlled to execute the drive-off mode to drive off the temporary obstacle area determined to be the obstacle area without determining the type of the obstacle existing in the obstacle area, so that the obstacle area is bypassed, and the cleaning efficiency of other areas to be cleaned is improved.

In one embodiment, the cleaning device may support both the obstacle cleaning mode and the drive-away mode, and the obstacle detection result further includes a type of obstacle present in the obstacle area, and specifically, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the first obstacle area, the target operation mode is determined to be the first obstacle cleaning mode; if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a second obstacle area, determining that the target operation mode is a second obstacle cleaning mode; and if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the third obstacle area, determining that the target operation mode is the driving-off mode.

In the embodiment of the invention, the obstacle in the first obstacle area can be a short-hair carpet, the obstacle in the second obstacle area can be a long-hair carpet, the obstacle in the third obstacle area can be a buffer belt and other obstacles which cannot be cleaned, correspondingly, the first obstacle cleaning mode can be used for cleaning the short-hair carpet, the second obstacle cleaning mode can be used for cleaning the long-hair carpet, and the driving-away mode can be used for driving away from the obstacle area where the buffer belt and other obstacles which cannot be cleaned exist.

Specifically, if it is determined that an obstacle existing in the obstacle area is a short-hair carpet, determining the target operation mode as a first obstacle cleaning mode to achieve cleaning of the short-hair carpet; if the obstacle existing in the obstacle area is determined to be a long-hair carpet, determining the target operation mode to be a second obstacle cleaning mode so as to realize the cleaning of the long-hair carpet; and if the obstacle area is determined to have the obstacle which cannot be cleaned, such as a buffer zone, the target operation mode is determined to be the driving-away mode so as to realize the bypassing of the obstacle area which has the obstacle which cannot be cleaned, such as the buffer zone.

The cleaning method provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps: when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in a to-be-cleaned area, obstacle detection is carried out on the temporary obstacle area; and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result. According to the technical scheme, when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into the temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, obstacle detection can be carried out on the temporary obstacle area, the target operation mode of the electronic equipment is determined according to the obstacle detection result, and the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, so that the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, efficient and flexible operation can be carried out in the environment with or without obstacles, and the automatic capacity of the electronic equipment is improved, and the user experience is optimized.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of another cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is embodied on the basis of the above embodiment. In this embodiment, the method may further include:

step 210, determining the temporary obstacle area based on the environment map.

The cleaning device can store position information of an area with historical obstacles, and the position information of the area with historical obstacles can be recorded as an obstacle historical position, which indicates that the area has obstacles in the past and the area may have obstacles in the future.

Specifically, a temporary obstacle region may be determined based on an environment map and an obstacle historical position.

In the embodiment of the invention, at least one obstacle historical position in the environment map can form a temporary obstacle area.

Step 220, when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, the cleaning module is controlled to be lifted by taking the ground as a reference, and obstacle detection is carried out on the temporary obstacle area.

Wherein the cleaning device comprises a cleaning module.

Specifically, since the temporary obstacle area may be an obstacle area or a non-obstacle area, if the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, in order to reduce damage to obstacles in the obstacle area and damage to the cleaning module by obstacles in the obstacle area, the cleaning apparatus preferably lifts up the cleaning module on the basis of the floor surface before driving into the temporary obstacle area.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of step 220 in another cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 3, in one implementation, the obstacle detection on the temporary obstacle area includes:

step 2210, constructing a detection path according to the driving-in position of the electronic equipment driving into the temporary obstacle area and the preset position in the temporary obstacle area.

The preset position may be set in a user-defined manner according to actual application, and may be, for example, a central position of the temporary obstacle area.

Specifically, the cleaning apparatus may construct the detection path based on the entry position and the center position of the temporary obstacle area when entering the temporary obstacle area, that is, reaching the boundary of the temporary obstacle area.

It should be noted that, after the temporary obstacle area is determined based on the environment map and the history position of the obstacle, the center position of the temporary obstacle area may be further determined based on the shape of the temporary obstacle area.

Step 2220, sequentially acquiring detection data based on the detection path, where the detection data is used to determine whether the current position of the electronic device includes an obstacle.

Wherein, the detection data can be ultrasonic data, and an ultrasonic sensor arranged at the bottom of the cleaning device can be used for acquiring the ultrasonic data. The ultrasonic data is used for determining whether an obstacle exists at the current position, and if the obstacle exists at the current position, the corresponding ultrasonic data can be a low level and is represented by a numeral 0; if there is no obstacle in the current position, the corresponding ultrasonic data may be a high level, which is denoted by numeral 1.

Specifically, after the detection path is constructed, the cleaning device can control to turn on the ultrasonic sensor while running along the detection path so as to determine whether the current position contains the obstacle.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the ultrasonic data is obtained, the ultrasonic data can be subjected to data processing to eliminate the ultrasonic data with larger errors, so that the accuracy of the ultrasonic data is improved, and the accuracy of obstacle detection is further improved.

Step 2230, accumulating the detection data based on the time information and the distance information, and determining the obstacle detection result based on the accumulated result.

If the time information of the low-level data is detected to be larger than or equal to a preset time threshold value and the distance information of the cleaning equipment is detected to be larger than or equal to a preset distance threshold value, determining that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area; otherwise, determining the temporary obstacle area as a barrier-free area.

Specifically, the cleaning device can continuously count running time information and distance information in the running process along the detection path, and if the ultrasonic data is low-level data indicating that an obstacle exists at the current position, the running time of the cleaning device is greater than or equal to a preset time threshold value, and the running distance is greater than or equal to a preset distance threshold value, it can be determined that the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area; otherwise, the obstacle detection result may be determined to be that the temporary obstacle area is a non-obstacle area.

It should be appreciated that in other embodiments, the detection data may be accumulated based on one of the time information and the distance information, and the obstacle detection result may be determined based on the accumulation result.

And step 230, controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode.

Wherein the target operation mode is determined according to an obstacle detection result. If the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a barrier-free area, the target operation mode can be a common cleaning mode; the target operation mode may be a special cleaning mode if the obstacle detection result is to determine that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, and the special cleaning mode may include at least one of an obstacle cleaning mode and a drive-off mode.

In one embodiment, if the obstacle detection result is that it is determined that the temporary obstacle area is a non-obstacle area, the target operation mode may be a normal cleaning mode, and accordingly, step 230 may specifically include:

and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a common cleaning mode to clean the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle-free area.

Specifically, the cleaning module may include a general cleaning module, and the general cleaning module is controlled to be lowered based on the floor while the target operation mode is determined as the general cleaning mode, and the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle-free area is cleaned based on the general cleaning module.

In one embodiment, if the obstacle detection result is that it is determined that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, the target operation mode is a special cleaning mode, where the special cleaning mode includes at least one of an obstacle cleaning mode and a drive-off mode, and accordingly, step 230 may specifically include:

if the target operation mode comprises an obstacle cleaning mode, controlling the electronic equipment to execute the obstacle cleaning mode, cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area, and the cleaning module at least comprises a first obstacle cleaning module and a second obstacle cleaning module; and if the target operation mode comprises a driving-off mode, controlling the electronic equipment to execute the driving-off mode, and driving off the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area.

On one hand, the special cleaning mode only comprises an obstacle cleaning mode, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the first obstacle area, the first obstacle cleaning module is lowered under the control of taking the ground as the reference, and the temporary obstacle area determined to be the first obstacle area is cleaned based on the first obstacle cleaning module; and if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the second obstacle area, controlling to put down a second obstacle cleaning module by taking the ground as a reference, and cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined to be the second obstacle area based on the second obstacle cleaning module.

As described in the previous embodiment, the obstacle existing in the first obstacle area may be a short-hair carpet, and the obstacle existing in the second obstacle area may be a long-hair carpet, and accordingly, the first obstacle cleaning mode may be used to clean the short-hair carpet, and the second obstacle cleaning mode may be used to clean the long-hair carpet.

On the other hand, the special cleaning mode includes only a drive-off mode, and the cleaning apparatus is controlled to execute the drive-off mode to drive off a temporary obstacle area determined as an obstacle area.

In yet another aspect, the special cleaning mode may include an obstacle cleaning mode and a drive-away mode, and if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the first obstacle area, the first obstacle cleaning module is lowered while being controlled with reference to the ground, and the temporary obstacle area determined to be the first obstacle area is cleaned based on the first obstacle cleaning module; if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the second obstacle area, the second obstacle cleaning module is put down under the control of taking the ground as the reference, and the temporary obstacle area determined to be the second obstacle area is cleaned based on the second obstacle cleaning module; and if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the third obstacle area, controlling the cleaning equipment to execute a driving-off mode, and driving off the temporary obstacle area determined to be the third obstacle area.

As described in the foregoing embodiment, the obstacle existing in the first obstacle area may be a short carpet, the obstacle existing in the second obstacle area may be a long carpet, and the obstacle existing in the third obstacle area may be an obstacle incapable of being cleaned, such as a buffer belt, and accordingly, the first obstacle cleaning mode may be used to clean the short carpet, the second obstacle cleaning mode may be used to clean the long carpet, and the drive-away mode may be used to drive away from the obstacle area where the obstacle incapable of being cleaned, such as the buffer belt, exists.

Step 240, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area, updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map to be the obstacle area; and if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a barrier-free area, updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map to be the barrier-free area.

Specifically, if the temporary obstacle area is determined to be an obstacle area, the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map may be updated to be an obstacle area; if the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a non-obstacle area, the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map may be updated to the non-obstacle area.

And step 250, resetting the temporary obstacle area updated to the obstacle area and the temporary obstacle area updated to the non-obstacle area as the temporary obstacle area after the cleaning of the area to be cleaned is determined to be completed.

After the cleaning task of the area to be cleaned is finished, the temporary obstacle area updated to be the obstacle area and the temporary obstacle area updated to be the non-obstacle area in the environment map can be reset to be the temporary obstacle area, so that whether the reset temporary obstacle area is the obstacle area or the non-obstacle area is in an unknown state, when the area to be cleaned including the temporary obstacle area is cleaned in the next cleaning task, whether the temporary obstacle area includes the obstacle needs to be determined again, and the temporary obstacle area is determined again to be the non-obstacle area or the obstacle area, so that the safety of the electronic equipment in the cleaning task is improved.

The embodiment of the invention provides a cleaning method, which comprises the following steps: when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in a to-be-cleaned area, obstacle detection is carried out on the temporary obstacle area; and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result. According to the technical scheme, when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into the temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, obstacle detection can be carried out on the temporary obstacle area, the target operation mode of the electronic equipment is determined according to the obstacle detection result, and the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, so that the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, efficient and flexible operation can be carried out in the environment with or without obstacles, and the automatic capacity of the electronic equipment is improved, and the user experience is optimized.

In addition, a laser sensor of the cleaning equipment can be controlled to acquire environmental information of the current area, an environmental map is constructed based on the acquired environmental information, and the cleaning equipment can conveniently execute a target operation mode in a to-be-cleaned area corresponding to the environmental map; and when the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area or the barrier-free area, the information of the area in the environment map can be correspondingly updated to be the obstacle area or the barrier-free area, and the automation capacity of the electronic equipment is further improved.

Secondly, after it is determined that the cleaning of the area to be cleaned is completed, the temporary obstacle area updated to the obstacle area and the temporary obstacle area updated to the non-obstacle area may be reset to the temporary obstacle area. When the cleaning task is performed next time on the area to be cleaned including the temporary obstacle area, whether the temporary obstacle area includes the obstacle or not is determined again, the temporary obstacle area is determined again to be a barrier-free area or a barrier area, and safety and automation capability of the electronic equipment in the cleaning task are further improved.

Fig. 4a is a cleaning implementation flowchart of a cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a special cleaning mode only includes an obstacle cleaning mode, fig. 4b is a cleaning implementation flowchart of a cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a special cleaning mode only includes a drive-off mode, and fig. 4c is a cleaning implementation flowchart of a cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a special cleaning mode includes an obstacle cleaning mode and a drive-off mode.

And step 410, constructing an environment map based on the environment information of the current area.

Step 411, determining a temporary obstacle area based on the environment map.

Step 412, when it is determined that the electronic device enters a temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, the cleaning module is controlled to be lifted based on the ground.

And 413, constructing a detection path according to the driving position of the electronic equipment driving into the temporary obstacle area and a preset position in the temporary obstacle area.

And step 414, sequentially acquiring detection data based on the detection path, where the detection data is used to determine whether the current position of the electronic device includes an obstacle.

Step 415, accumulating the detection data based on the time information and the distance information, and determining the obstacle detection result based on the accumulation result.

And step 416, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the first obstacle area, simultaneously controlling to put down the first obstacle cleaning module by taking the ground as a reference, and cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined to be the first obstacle area based on the first obstacle cleaning module.

And 417, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the second obstacle area, simultaneously controlling to put down the second obstacle cleaning module by taking the ground as a reference, and cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined to be the second obstacle area based on the second obstacle cleaning module.

And 418, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the third obstacle area, controlling the cleaning equipment to execute a driving-off mode, and driving off the temporary obstacle area determined to be the third obstacle area.

And step 419, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area, controlling the cleaning equipment to execute a driving-off mode, and driving off the temporary obstacle area determined to be the obstacle area.

And step 420, updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map into the obstacle area.

And 421, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a non-obstacle area, controlling the electronic equipment to execute a common cleaning mode, and cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined to be the non-obstacle area.

And step 422, updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map into the barrier-free area.

Step 423, after the cleaning of the area to be cleaned is determined to be completed, resetting the temporary obstacle area updated to the obstacle area and the temporary obstacle area updated to the obstacle-free area to the temporary obstacle area.

As shown in fig. 4a-4c, if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be a non-obstacle area, the target operation mode is the normal cleaning mode, and step 421 and step 422 are executed. If the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area, the target operation mode is a special cleaning mode, the special cleaning mode includes at least one of an obstacle cleaning mode and a drive-away mode, and if the special cleaning mode only includes the obstacle cleaning mode, as shown in fig. 4a, one of steps 416-417 and step 420 are executed; if the special cleaning mode only includes the drive-away mode, as shown in FIG. 4b, step 419-420 is performed; if the special cleaning mode includes both the obstacle cleaning mode and the drive-off mode, as shown in FIG. 4c, one of the steps 416-418 and step 420 are performed.

The implementation manner of the cleaning method provided by the embodiment of the invention can firstly construct an environment map and determine a temporary obstacle area, and when it is determined that the electronic equipment drives into the temporary obstacle area, the lifting of the cleaning module is controlled by taking the ground as a reference, so that the damage to the obstacle possibly existing in the temporary obstacle area and the damage of the obstacle possibly existing to the cleaning module in the cleaning equipment are reduced. Meanwhile, a detection path is constructed according to the driving position of the electronic equipment driving into the temporary obstacle area and the preset position in the temporary obstacle area, detection data are sequentially obtained based on the detection path, and the detection data are accumulated to determine an obstacle detection result. If the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the first obstacle area, the first obstacle cleaning module is put down under the control of taking the ground as the reference, and the temporary obstacle area determined to be the first obstacle area is cleaned based on the first obstacle cleaning module; if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the second obstacle area, the second obstacle cleaning module is put down under the control of taking the ground as the reference, and the temporary obstacle area determined to be the second obstacle area is cleaned based on the second obstacle cleaning module; if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the third obstacle area, controlling the cleaning equipment to execute a driving-away mode, and driving away the temporary obstacle area determined to be the third obstacle area; and simultaneously updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map into the obstacle area. And if the obstacle detection result is that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle-free area, controlling the electronic equipment to execute a common cleaning mode, controlling to put down a common cleaning module by taking the ground as a reference, cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined to be the obstacle-free area based on the common cleaning module, and updating the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map to be the obstacle-free area. And after the cleaning of the area to be cleaned is determined to be completed, resetting the temporary obstacle area updated to the obstacle area and the temporary obstacle area updated to the barrier-free area as the temporary obstacle area. The target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, the electronic equipment can work efficiently and flexibly in the environment with or without obstacles, and therefore the automation capacity of the electronic equipment is improved, and the user experience is optimized.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention, which can be applied to a case where a temporary obstacle area that may include an obstacle needs to be cleaned, so as to improve cleaning efficiency. The apparatus may be implemented by software and/or hardware. As shown in fig. 5, the apparatus includes: the obstacle detection module 510 is configured to perform obstacle detection on a temporary obstacle area when it is determined that the electronic device enters the temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned; an executing module 520, configured to control the electronic device to execute a target operation mode, where the target operation mode is determined according to an obstacle detection result.

The embodiment of the invention provides a cleaning device, which is used for detecting obstacles in a temporary obstacle area when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into the temporary obstacle area in an area to be cleaned; and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result. According to the technical scheme, when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into the temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned, obstacle detection can be carried out on the temporary obstacle area, the target operation mode of the electronic equipment is determined according to the obstacle detection result, and the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, so that the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result, the electronic equipment is controlled to execute the target operation mode, efficient and flexible operation can be carried out in the environment with or without obstacles, and the automatic capacity of the electronic equipment is improved, and the user experience is optimized.

On the basis of the foregoing embodiment, when the obstacle detection result includes that it is determined that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, the target operation mode may only include an obstacle cleaning mode or a drive-away mode, and accordingly, the executing module 520 includes: a barrier cleaning unit 5210 for controlling the electronic device to perform a barrier cleaning mode for cleaning the temporary barrier zone determined as the barrier zone if the target operation mode includes the barrier cleaning mode; a drive-off unit 5220 configured to control the electronic device to execute a drive-off mode if the target operation mode includes the drive-off mode, drive off the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area.

On the basis of the foregoing embodiment, when the obstacle detection result includes that it is determined that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle area, the target operation mode may include an obstacle cleaning mode and a driving-away mode at the same time, and accordingly, the executing module 520 may further include: a determination unit 5230 for determining whether the electronic device performs the obstacle cleaning mode or the drive-off mode in the temporary obstacle area determined as an obstacle area; accordingly, a barrier cleaning unit 5210 for controlling the electronic device to clean the temporary barrier zone determined as the barrier zone if a barrier cleaning mode is performed; a drive-away unit 5220 configured to control the electronic apparatus to drive away from the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle area if a drive-away mode is executed.

On the basis of the above embodiment, the apparatus further includes: a determining module 530 for determining the temporary obstacle area based on the environment map.

On the basis of the foregoing embodiment, when the obstacle detection result includes that it is determined that the temporary obstacle area is an obstacle-free area, the target operation mode further includes a normal cleaning mode, and accordingly, the execution module 520 further includes: a general cleaning unit 5240 for controlling the electronic apparatus to perform a general cleaning mode for cleaning the temporary obstacle area determined as the obstacle-free area;

on the basis of the above embodiment, the electronic device includes a cleaning module, and accordingly, the apparatus further includes: and a lifting control module 540, configured to control lifting of the cleaning module based on the ground when it is determined that the electronic device enters a temporary obstacle area in the area to be cleaned.

On the basis of the above embodiment, the obstacle detection module 510 includes: a constructing unit 5110, configured to construct a detection path according to an entry position where the electronic device enters the temporary obstacle area and a preset position in the temporary obstacle area; an obtaining unit 5120, configured to sequentially obtain detection data based on the detection path, where the detection data is used to determine whether the current location of the electronic device includes an obstacle; an accumulation unit 5130, configured to accumulate the detection data based on the time information and/or the distance information, and determine the obstacle detection result based on an accumulation result.

On the basis of the above embodiment, the apparatus further includes: a first updating module 550, configured to update a current temporary obstacle area in an environment map to the obstacle area if the obstacle detection result indicates that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle area; a second updating module 560, configured to update the current temporary obstacle area in the environment map to the obstacle-free area if the obstacle detection result indicates that the temporary obstacle area is determined to be the obstacle-free area.

On the basis of the above embodiment, the apparatus further includes: a resetting module 570, configured to reset the temporary obstacle area updated to an obstacle area and the temporary obstacle area updated to a non-obstacle area to the temporary obstacle area after determining that the cleaning of the area to be cleaned is completed.

The cleaning device provided by the embodiment of the invention can execute the cleaning method provided by any embodiment of the invention, and has the corresponding functional module and beneficial effect of the execution method.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 shows a block diagram of an exemplary cleaning device 7 suitable for implementing an embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning device 7 shown in fig. 6 is only an example and should not bring any limitation to the function and the range of use of the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 6, the cleaning device 7 is in the form of a general purpose computing electronic device. The components of the cleaning device 7 may include, but are not limited to: one or more processors or processing units 16, a system memory 28, and a bus 18 that couples various system components including the system memory 28 and the processing unit 16.

Bus 18 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, such architectures include, but are not limited to, Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, micro-channel architecture (MAC) bus, enhanced ISA bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

The cleaning device 7 typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. These media may be any available media that can be accessed by cleaning device 7 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media.

The system memory 28 may include computer system readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as Random Access Memory (RAM)30 and/or cache memory 32. The cleaning device 7 may further include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer system storage media. By way of example only, storage system 34 may be used to read from and write to non-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media (not shown in FIG. 6, and commonly referred to as a "hard drive"). Although not shown in FIG. 6, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk (e.g., a "floppy disk") and an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or other optical media) may be provided. In these cases, each drive may be connected to bus 18 by one or more data media interfaces. System memory 28 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of the invention.

A program/utility 40 having a set (at least one) of program modules 42 may be stored, for example, in system memory 28, such program modules 42 including, but not limited to, an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each of which examples or some combination thereof may comprise an implementation of a network environment. Program modules 42 generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of the described embodiments of the invention.

Cleaning device 7 may also communicate with one or more external devices 14 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, display 24, etc.), with one or more devices that enable a user to interact with cleaning device 7, and/or with any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable cleaning device 7 to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication may be through an input/output (I/O) interface 22. Also, the cleaning device 7 may communicate with one or more networks (e.g., a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN) and/or a public network, such as the Internet) via the network adapter 20. As shown in FIG. 6, the network adapter 20 communicates with the other modules of the cleaning device 7 via the bus 18. It should be understood that although not shown in FIG. 6, other hardware and/or software modules may be used in conjunction with the cleaning device 7, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems, among others.

The processing unit 16 executes various functional applications and page displays by running programs stored in the system memory 28, for example, to implement the cleaning method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the method includes: when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in a to-be-cleaned area, obstacle detection is carried out on the temporary obstacle area; and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result.

Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the processor may also implement the solution of the cleaning method provided by any embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating interaction between a computer-readable storage medium and a processor according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computer-readable storage medium 81 has stored thereon a computer program 810, the computer program 810 being executable by the processor 82 for performing a cleaning method, the method comprising: when the electronic equipment is determined to drive into a temporary obstacle area in a to-be-cleaned area, obstacle detection is carried out on the temporary obstacle area; and controlling the electronic equipment to execute a target operation mode, wherein the target operation mode is determined according to the obstacle detection result.

Optionally, the computer program 810, when executed by the processor 82, may also be used to perform the cleaning method provided by any of the embodiments of the present invention.

Computer-readable storage media 81 of embodiments of the present invention may take any combination of one or more computer-readable media. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium 81 may include, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or a combination of any of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium 81 include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), a flash Memory, an optical fiber, a portable CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. The computer readable storage medium 81 may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, and the computer program 810.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated data signal may take a variety of forms, including, but not limited to: an electromagnetic signal, an optical signal, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable signal medium may also be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: wireless, wire, fiber optic cable, Radio Frequency (RF), etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C + + or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the case of a remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider).

It is to be noted that the foregoing is only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the technical principles employed. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein, but is capable of various obvious changes, rearrangements and substitutions as will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in greater detail by the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include other equivalent embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.