Explosion-Proof Legged Robot Design for Hazardous Environments
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Summary
Problems
Existing legged robots designed for hazardous environments, particularly explosive gas or dust, face challenges in preventing explosions when exposed to such conditions due to the need for heavy, hermetically sealed full body shells.
Innovation solutions
A legged robot design featuring an explosion-proof torso with overpressure and explosion-proof actuators with flame-proof gaps, combined with a gas-tight cable gland to prevent environmental gas or dust from entering critical components.
TRIZ Analysis
Specific contradictions:
General conflict description:
Principle concept:
If a full body shell hermetically sealed against the ambient environment is used, then explosion protection is improved, but the robot weight increases significantly
Why choose this principle:
The robot is divided into two functional zones: an explosion-proof zone containing actuators with sealed housings, and a non-explosion-proof zone containing the torso with electronics. This segmentation allows only critical components to have heavy protective housing, reducing overall weight while maintaining explosion protection where needed.
Principle concept:
If a full body shell hermetically sealed against the ambient environment is used, then explosion protection is improved, but the robot weight increases significantly
Why choose this principle:
Instead of uniformly sealing the entire robot body, explosion-proof features are applied locally only to actuator housings that require protection from explosive atmospheres. The torso and electronics remain unprotected, eliminating unnecessary weight while maintaining safety in critical areas.
Application Domain
Data Source
AI summary:
A legged robot design featuring an explosion-proof torso with overpressure and explosion-proof actuators with flame-proof gaps, combined with a gas-tight cable gland to prevent environmental gas or dust from entering critical components.
Abstract
The invention refers to a legged robot ( 1000 ) comprising a torso ( 1 ) with a cavity ( 10 ) enclosing at least one robot component ( 11 ) and at least one leg with at least one actuator ( 100 ) that comprises an explosion proof housing. An absolute pressure (P c ) within the cavity ( 10 ) is higher than an ambient pressure (P a ), and wherein the explosion proof housing of the actuator ( 100 ) comprises at least one flame proof gap ( 105 ).