Process and autonomous apparatus for the automatic cleaning of ground areas through the performance of programmed tasks

摘要

PCT No. PCT/FR90/00398 Sec. 371 Date Dec. 6, 1991 Sec. 102(e) Date Dec. 6, 1991 PCT Filed Jun. 6, 1990 PCT Pub. No. WO90/14788 PCT Pub. Date Dec. 13, 1990.An autonomous apparatus for automatically cleaning ground areas including various cleaning tools and a control mechanism for directing the apparatus along a prescribed path over a preselected area to be claimed in response to the execution of a series of instructions stored in a computer memory or the apparatus. The control mechanism includes a sensor for detecting proximity of the apparatus to a fixed reference point for initiating execution of the series of instructions, and a positioning system for determining the instantaneous position of the apparatus relative to fixed reference beacons.