Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Company Limited

Masujiro Hisatani

Toru Takehara

Kounosuke Oku

Hirotaka Oohashi

Hiroshi Imajo

Jun Tsukada

Koji Oka

Provided is a cleaning robot system and a method of controlling the same for economically cleaning, with high workability, plate-shaped members, such as solar cell panels and reflecting mirrors used in photovoltaic power generation and solar thermal power generation systems. A cleaning robot system () for cleaning planar or curved plate-shaped members (), () that are panels for photovoltaic power generation or reflecting mirrors for solar thermal power generation includes: a large number of cleaning robots () each having a function to travel on each of the plate-shaped members () which are to be cleaned and a function to clean the plate-shaped members (); and an arranging robot () having a conveying function to move any of the cleaning robots () from a first one () of the plate-shaped members to a second one () of the plate-shaped members. Each of the cleaning robots () has a suction mechanism for performing cleaning while attaching onto one of the plate-shaped members (), and the large number of cleaning robots () and a smaller number of the arranging robots () than that of the cleaning robots () cooperate together to clean the plate-shaped members () placed in a photovoltaic power generation or solar thermal power generation plant.

Cleaning robot system and method of controlling same

A sensor detects the presence or the absence of an obstacle by radiating a laser beam to the outside of a casing through a light projecting mirror and by letting the reflected light from an obstacle enter a light receiving element through a light receiving mirror. A light projecting window with a light projecting mirror positioned and a light receiving window with a light receiving mirror are positioned in the casing with a space therebetween to prevent reflected light from directly entering the light projecting window. The mirrors are attached to a rotation shaft of a motor, or rotation shafts of motors, synchronously rotatable provided between both mirrors. The optical axis of light radiated to the outside of the casing is set to face in a higher direction than horizontal to radiate in a cone-shaped form. By comparing a received light signal from a light receiving circuit to an output signal from a circuit for a previously set threshold, which has a correlation between detected distance and light intensity, a light receiving trigger is output. The distance is calculated when a signal is greater than the threshold. The presence or the absence of an obstacle is determined by the detection of reflected light intensity. This laser obstacle detection method and sensor, which can be used on an automated guided vehicle (AGV), will not misdetect rainfall as an obstacle.

Laser obstacle detection method and sensor

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Chuo-ku, Japan

Masujiro Hisatani