In the early days, pool cleaning largely depended on manual labor, which involved using pool skimmers to remove floating debris and brushes to clean stains on the pool walls and bottom. This method was time-consuming and labor-intensive, while the meticulousness of manual operations limited the effectiveness of cleaning.

With the advancement of technology, semi-automated pool cleaning tools emerged, such as pool brushes and vacuums. These tools could partially reduce manual labor but still require human operation and supervision.

The advent of fully automated pool cleaning robots, also known as pool sweepers, marked a new phase in pool cleaning. They can independently complete cleaning tasks without human intervention. In particular, the introduction of a robot LiDAR sensor, with its high precision and real-time capabilities, has made the cleaning process more refined and efficient.

The Market Demand for Pool Cleaning Robot Industry

As a kind of intelligent cleaning equipment, the market demand for pool cleaning robots continues to grow:

In the realm of private pools, an increasing number of families opt to build pools as a standard for leisure and entertainment. However, the maintenance and management of pools have become a challenge. Pool cleaning robots, with their characteristics of high efficiency, convenience, and automation, have quickly become the preferred solution for private pool cleaning.

The commercial pool market, such as hotels, resorts, and water parks, has more stringent requirements for pool cleaning. These venues have a large area and high foot traffic, which leads to the high demands for cleaning efficiency and professionalism.

The Application of Robot LiDAR Sensor in Pool Edge Mapping

The complexity and variability of the environment have always been a major challenge for pool cleaning. Pools come in a variety of shapes, and underwater visibility is often limited by factors such as water quality and lighting conditions. However, the LiDAR of robots, with its advantages of rapid scanning and accurate distance measurement, provides a solution to this problem. By emitting and receiving reflected laser beams, a robot LiDAR sensor can quickly and accurately measure the pool boundaries and convert them into data.

Taking the TF-Luna LiDAR as an example, this advanced robot LiDAR sensor can be installed at the front and one side of the intelligent pool cleaning robot. When entering the water for the first time, the robot will automatically detect the edge of the pool. Under the guidance of the LiDAR, it will patrol along the edge at a stable distance of 5 cm and use the IMU to assist in accurate mapping.

The Application of Robot LiDAR Sensor in Pool Step Detection

Steps in swimming pools often have height differences. If the robot cannot accurately identify and avoid them, it may cause the robot to fall or be damaged, leading to a series of problems, including but not limited to:

l Robot Damage: The most direct risk is that the robot may suffer destruction due to falling. In addition, if the internal components such as the battery and motor of the robot are damaged, it may lead to leakage of electrolytes or water, polluting the pool water quality.

l User Safety Hazards: If the damaged robot continues to work, it may pose safety hazards to the user, such as the danger of electric shock.

l Increased Maintenance Costs: Frequent falling accidents will increase the cost of repairing and replacing the robot, causing an economic burden on the user.

By using the robot LiDAR sensor, the robot can identify the presence of a step when a sudden increase in the distance detected ahead is observed. This detection mechanism can effectively prevent the robot from falling or colliding.

The Application of Robot LiDAR Sensor in Obstacle Avoidance

When performing cleaning tasks, various objects such as swimming rings, float boards, and toys may be present in the pool. These things can move with the water currents, disrupting the normal functioning of the cleaning robot. Additionally, while the robot is working, there may be swimmers or other activities in the pool. The robot must have the capability to intelligently recognize and avoid people to ensure their safety.

As the robot operates along the flat bottom of the pool, the robot LiDAR sensor consistently provides a stable distance reading, signifying a safe distance from the ground. If the distance reading decreases sharply, the robot can swiftly recognize the presence of a protruding obstacle ahead, such as a float or toy, and adjust its path or speed promptly to avoid collisions.

The Application of Robot LiDAR Sensor in Waterline Detection

Waterline detection plays a pivotal role in robotic pool cleaning to enhance operational efficiency and safety. Specifically, its importance is evident in the following aspects:

l Optimizing Cleaning Efficiency: Grasping the precise position of the waterline enables the robot to pinpoint the necessitated cleaning zones, steering clear of futile efforts in regions submerged or exceeding the waterline.

l Ensuring Safety: Changes in the waterline can affect the visibility and accessibility of the pool edges and steps. By detecting the waterline, the robot can determine which areas may become difficult to approach due to rising water levels, thus adjusting cleaning strategies in advance to ensure safety.

l Preventing Damage: In the vicinity of the waterline, the robot may come across floating debris or pool structures; failure to evade these in time could result in harm to the robot or the pool infrastructure. Waterline detection is instrumental in allowing the robot to preemptively recognize and sidestep such latent threats.

When the robot transitions from underwater operation to above the water surface, the reflected light intensity received by the robot LiDAR sensor will change significantly. This change is due to the significant difference in the reflection and scattering characteristics of light by water and air. By utilizing this feature, underwater LiDAR can effectively identify the waterline and output this information to the robot controller, allowing the robot to make corresponding operations or adjustments.

Benewake LiDAR

At Benewake, our TF-Luna LiDAR stands as the ideal choice for pool cleaning robots, owing to its exceptional performance characteristics:

1. Small Blind Spot

Our TF-Luna robot LiDAR sensor boasts an underwater detection blind spot of merely 5cm, significantly smaller than the several-meter blind zone range of traditional radars. This feature greatly enhances the cleaning robot's work efficiency and coverage. Particularly in the narrow corners between the pool wall and the bottom, which are often the hardest to reach and the easiest places for dirt to accumulate, the TF-Luna can ensure that the intelligent pool cleaning robot thoroughly cleans these areas without omission.

2. Narrow Field of View (FoV)

The field of view of the TF-Luna LiDAR is a mere 2°. Its high directivity significantly improves the precision of mapping. This means that this robot LiDAR sensor can accurately and delicately outline the contours at the corners of the pool, allowing the robot to more precisely judge the environment and plan cleaning paths.

3. Compact Size

The TF-Luna LiDAR is compact in size (35mm x 21.25mm x 13.5mm), making it convenient to integrate into robots of various sizes. Whether it's a large commercial pool cleaning robot or a small home device, it can be easily integrated, preserving space and the robot's streamlined visual appeal, thereby enriching the overall user experience.

4. High Precision

The TF-Luna LiDAR sensor maintains consistent, high-precision performance, delivering reliable detection within a 3cm accuracy across temperatures ranging from -10℃ to 60℃. This capability ensures the robot's accurate distance judgment across various environmental conditions, curtailing unnecessary lateral movements and propelling the robot to move in a more direct, stable, and efficient manner.

5. Wide Angle Range

Our TF-Luna LiDAR maintains stable distance measurement even when tilted at 70°. This robust feature allows the robot to easily navigate various complex turning and reversing scenarios during the cleaning process, ensuring data integrity. Such reliability is more conducive to algorithmic processing, thereby leading to the enhanced overall performance of the robot.

Wrapping-Up

As the pool cleaning industry continues to evolve, the integration of advanced detection technologies like Benewake underwater LiDAR is a necessity for efficiency and safety. Our TF-Luna LiDAR offers unparalleled precision and reliability in the complex underwater environment, setting a new standard for underwater detection.

Contact us to learn more about the TF-Luna LiDAR and how it can revolutionize your pool maintenance operations.