Auxiliary drive device and automatic drive device

Abstract

The present invention provides an auxiliary driving device for driving a flexible driven body, comprising at least one flexible driving unit, wherein the flexible driving unit comprises a wrapping sleeve, at least one artificial muscle driver arranged in the internal structure of the wrapping sleeve, and a controller connected to the at least one artificial muscle driver for controlling the deformation of the artificial muscle driver; the wrapping sleeve is an expandable or winding structure, and when the auxiliary driving device is mounted on the flexible driven body, the controller controls the artificial muscle driver to deform to drive the flexible driven body to move. The auxiliary driving device can be installed and modified at low cost on a flexible driven body without driving capability in the original application scenario, so that the flexible driven body has additional active driving capability, so that the flexible driven body can achieve movement. The present invention also provides an automatic driving device including the auxiliary driving device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of flexible drive technology, in particular to an auxiliary drive device and an automatic drive device. Background Art

[0002] Artificial muscle is a flexible drive technology based on the organization and motion characteristics of bionic muscles. It has the advantages of flexibility, safety, low cost and strong load capacity. It is a flexible drive with broad development potential. At present, although the existing flexible body drive technology represented by artificial muscle has been applied in humanoid robots, crawling robots, power assist devices and rehabilitation equipment, it needs to be redesigned and deployed according to the application scenario, and the installation is complicated and expensive. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of this, the present invention provides an auxiliary driving device and an automatic driving device, wherein the auxiliary driving device can be installed and modified at low cost on a flexible driven body without driving capability in the original application scenario, so that the flexible driven body has additional active driving capability so that the flexible driven body can achieve movement.

[0004] In a first aspect, the present invention provides an auxiliary driving device for driving a flexible driven body, comprising at least one flexible driving unit, wherein the flexible driving unit comprises a wrapping cover, at least one artificial muscle driver arranged in the internal structure of the wrapping cover, and a controller connected to the at least one artificial muscle driver for controlling the deformation of the artificial muscle driver; the wrapping cover is an expandable or winding structure, and when the auxiliary driving device is mounted on the flexible driven body, the controller controls the artificial muscle driver to deform to drive the flexible driven body to move.

[0005] Optionally, the wrapping sleeve includes an isolation layer, a filling layer and a coating layer which are arranged in sequence, and the artificial muscle driver is arranged in the filling layer and sandwiched between the isolation layer and the coating layer; the isolation layer is used to isolate the artificial muscle driver from the flexible driven body.

[0006] In the present invention, the wrapping sleeve composed of the isolation layer, the filling layer and the coating layer is used to tightly clamp the artificial muscle driver and the flexible driven body; the driving force generated by the artificial muscle driver and the driving force transmission are used to form a driving force for the flexible driven body to control the movement of the flexible driven body.

[0007] Optionally, the two opposite ends of the wrapping sleeve respectively contain adhesive connection components, and the adhesive connection components are used to realize the unfolding or winding of the wrapping sleeve. When the wrapping sleeve is a winding type, it can be wrapped around the flexible driven body in a closed loop. By unfolding or winding the wrapping sleeve, the installation of the auxiliary drive device can be made more convenient.

[0008] Optionally, it is characterized in that the auxiliary driving device includes a plurality of artificial muscle drivers, and the plurality of artificial muscle drivers are arranged in parallel in the wrapping sleeve; the length direction of the artificial muscle driver is parallel or perpendicular to the length direction of the flexible driven body.

[0009] Optionally, the angle between the length direction of the artificial muscle actuator and the length direction of the flexible driven body is α. Further, the angle α can be 0° or 90°. When the angle α is 0°, the length direction of the artificial muscle actuator is parallel to the length direction of the flexible driven body. When the auxiliary driving device is sleeved on the flexible driven body and the artificial muscle actuator is arranged parallel to the length direction of the flexible driven body, the auxiliary driving device can make the flexible driven body bend.

[0010] Further, optionally, when the angle between the length direction of the artificial muscle actuator and the length direction of the flexible driven body is 90°, the length direction of the artificial muscle actuator is perpendicular to the length direction of the flexible driven body.

[0011] In the present invention, the artificial muscle driver is distributed in the wrapping sleeve, which can effectively prevent the artificial muscle driver from relative displacement during the driving process, and when the flexible driving unit has multiple artificial muscle drivers, it can prevent collision and wear between the multiple artificial muscle drivers.

[0012] Optionally, the artificial muscle driver includes at least one of a pneumatic artificial muscle driver, a magnetically controlled artificial muscle driver, an electrically stimulated artificial muscle driver, a temperature-controlled artificial muscle driver, and a hydraulically driven artificial muscle driver.

[0013] Optionally, when the artificial muscle driver is a pneumatic artificial muscle driver, the controller includes an air source, a pneumatic triplet, a one-way valve, an electrical proportional servo valve, an electromagnetic reversing valve and an air circuit.

[0014] In the present invention, the main structure of the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator can be, but is not limited to, composed of an outer woven mesh and an inner elastic rubber tube. The present invention does not specifically limit the specific structure of the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator. The working principle of the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator: when the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator is inflated by the outside world, the elastic rubber tube in the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator compresses the external woven mesh due to elastic deformation. Since the woven mesh has a large rigidity, it is limited to radial deformation, the diameter becomes larger, and the length shortens; when the air is deflated to the outside world, the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator elastically shrinks, the diameter becomes thinner, the length increases, and returns to the original uninflated state. The outer woven mesh can be made of fiber material.

[0015] Optionally, the auxiliary driving device includes a plurality of flexible driving units, and connecting members are provided between adjacent flexible driving units.

[0016] In a second aspect, the present invention further provides an automatic driving device, comprising the auxiliary driving device described in the first aspect of the present invention. In the present invention, the automatic driving device can actually be any driving device provided with the auxiliary driving device described in the present invention.

[0017] Optionally, the automatic driving device also includes an end position detection unit, which is used to detect position information of the end of the flexible driven body and the target object, and feed back the position information to the controller so that the controller performs feedback control to manipulate the end of the flexible driven body to match and connect with the target object.

[0018] Optionally, the controller further comprises a receiving unit, wherein the receiving unit is configured to receive the position information fed back by the end position detection unit and enable the controller to perform feedback control.

[0019] Optionally, the flexible driven body includes a charging pile gun plug cable, a refueling pipe of a refueling gun, or a material delivery pipe; the target object is an electric vehicle gun plug interface, a vehicle refueling port, or a material receiving port.

[0020] For example, in traditional charging stations, users need to select an adapter for the charging pile gun to manually connect the electric vehicle to complete charging, which is a cumbersome process. The automatic drive device described in the present invention can be used to retrofit the existing charging pile gun cable so that it can meet the needs of intelligence and automation; it can be used to automatically complete the charging of electric vehicles, saving manpower and material resources. Similarly, the automatic drive device can also realize automatic refueling for the car through intelligent control. The automatic drive device described in the present invention can be directly installed on a flexible driven body (such as a charging pile gun cable or a refueling pipe of a refueling gun), and there is no need to modify the flexible driven body separately. It can be directly installed and operated on the existing structure of the flexible driven body to realize intelligent service; it greatly saves the cost of equipment upgrades.

[0021] Optionally, the material delivery pipeline may be a pipeline for transporting wet or dry goods, having certain flexibility, such as a flexible water pipe, a flexible cement delivery pipe, etc. The material receiving port is a carrier or a destination area for receiving the material in the material delivery pipeline.

[0022] The automatic driving device of the present invention can also be applied to many other fields, and has wide application value in fields including medical equipment, emergency rescue, pipeline network detection, equipment detection, anti-terrorism reconnaissance, etc.

[0023] The beneficial effects of the present invention include:

[0024] (1) The auxiliary driving device of the present invention can drive various types of flexible driven bodies conveniently and quickly. The disassembly and assembly process is simple, and the flexible driven body can be installed and used immediately. There is no need to perform structural modification on the flexible driven body, and the structural requirements of the flexible driven body are relatively low. The device has high flexibility, saves resources, and greatly reduces the driving cost.

[0025] (2) The automatic driving device of the present invention can perform closed-loop control of the precise movement of a flexible driven body; there is no need to structurally modify the flexible driven body, and the operation is convenient, safe, reliable, and low-cost. The automatic driving device can be directly used for the automatic charging service of electric vehicle charging piles and for automatically providing refueling services for cars. The automatic driving device can also be used in fields including medical equipment, disaster relief, pipeline network detection, equipment detection, anti-terrorism reconnaissance, etc., and is of great significance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for the embodiments or the prior art description. The specific embodiments described here are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0027] Figure 1A schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of an auxiliary drive device 100 provided in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 A schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of an auxiliary driving device 100 in an unfolded state provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 A schematic cross-sectional view of another auxiliary drive device provided by one embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of an artificial muscle actuator provided for an embodiment of the automatic driving device of the invention;

[0031] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of an auxiliary drive device provided in another embodiment of the present invention, wherein Figure 5 (a) is a schematic diagram of the structure of a single flexible driving unit and a flexible driven body of an auxiliary driving device. Figure 5 (b) is a schematic diagram of the structure of a single flexible driving unit and a flexible driven body of another auxiliary driving device. Figure 5 (c) is a schematic diagram of the structure of multiple flexible driving units and a flexible driven body of the auxiliary driving device;

[0032] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a controller according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 7 A schematic structural diagram of an automatic driving device provided in one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0035] See also Figure 1 and Figure 2An embodiment of the present invention provides an auxiliary driving device 100, comprising at least one flexible driving unit, wherein the flexible driving unit comprises a wrapping sleeve 10, at least one artificial muscle driver 20 arranged in the internal structure of the wrapping sleeve 10, and a controller connected to the at least one artificial muscle driver 20 for controlling the deformation of the artificial muscle driver 20; the wrapping sleeve 10 is an expandable or winding structure, and when the auxiliary driving device 100 is sleeved on the flexible driven body 30, the controller controls the artificial muscle driver 20 to deform to drive the flexible driven body 30 to move.

[0036] In an embodiment of the present invention, the wrapping sleeve 10 includes an isolation layer 11, a filling layer 12, a coating layer 13 and an adhesive connection component 14, wherein the isolation layer 11 and the coating layer completely wrap the filling layer 12; the artificial muscle driver 20 is arranged in the filling layer 12. The filling layer 12 can be used for limiting and protecting the artificial muscle driver 20. The adhesive connection component 14 is respectively arranged at the opposite ends of the wrapping sleeve 10, and the adhesive connection component 14 is used to realize the unfolding or winding of the wrapping sleeve 10. When the adhesive connection components 14 at the opposite ends of the wrapping sleeve 10 are contacted and connected, the wrapping sleeve 10 can be wound to form a closed-loop hollow cylindrical structure. Through the adhesive connection component 14, each flexible driving unit of the auxiliary driving device 100 can be easily unfolded or wound; and can be quickly wrapped on the flexible driven body 30. The adhesive connection components 14 at the opposite ends of the wrapping sleeve 10 can be stably connected and quickly disassembled.

[0037] In an embodiment of the present invention, the wrapping sleeve 10 of the auxiliary drive device can also be unfolded or rolled up in other ways. For example, the two opposite ends of the wrapping sleeve are provided with detachable and matching buckle structures, or zipper structures, or by bundling, or other structures. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary drive device can be mounted on the flexible driven body in a simple wearing manner.

[0038] In the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of artificial muscle drivers may be provided in the internal structure of the wrapping cover 10; and the plurality of artificial muscle drivers are arranged in parallel in the wrapping cover 10; and the artificial muscle drivers are parallel or perpendicular to the length extension direction of the flexible driven body.

[0039] For example, Figure 2As shown, four artificial muscle actuators 20 are arranged in parallel in the filling layer 12 of the wrapping sleeve 10, namely artificial muscle actuator I 21, artificial muscle actuator II 22, artificial muscle actuator III 23 and artificial muscle actuator IV 24. When the wrapping sleeve 10 is unfolded, the four artificial muscle actuators 20 are arranged in parallel and laid flat in the filling layer 12 of the wrapping sleeve 10. The positions of the artificial muscle actuator I 21, artificial muscle actuator II 22, artificial muscle actuator III 23 and artificial muscle actuator IV 24 in the filling layer 12 are relatively fixed and firmly fixed in the filling layer 12.

[0040] Optionally, two adjacent artificial muscle actuators have a certain distance L. For example, when the distance L between two adjacent artificial muscle actuators is smaller, the more pneumatic artificial muscle actuators are arranged, and the greater the driving margin is obtained.

[0041] In the present invention, the distance L between two adjacent artificial muscle actuators can be adjusted according to actual needs. The distance L between two adjacent artificial muscle actuators must at least meet the requirement of not affecting the normal operation of each artificial muscle actuator.

[0042] In the present invention, the cross-sectional shape of the artificial muscle actuator may be, but is not limited to, a circle, a sector, a nearly sector or a polygon. The polygon may be a polygon including a plurality of straight lines and / or curves. For example, in a specific embodiment of the present invention, the cross-sectional shape of the artificial muscle actuator 20 is a circle. Figure 1 In another specific embodiment of the present invention, the cross-sectional shape of the artificial muscle actuator 20' is approximately a fan-shaped surface, and both ends of the fan-shaped surface are curved, see Figure 3 , the filling layer 12 is provided with a plurality of the artificial muscle actuators 20', and the side of the artificial muscle actuator 20' close to the flexible driven body 30 is a curved surface, and the artificial muscle actuator 20' can better match the surface of the flexible driven body 30 and be more closely attached. When the flexible driven body 30 is a cylinder, the plurality of the artificial muscle actuators 20' in the wrapping sleeve 10 can be enclosed to form a hollow cylinder-like structure, which can better wrap the flexible driven body 30 and make it easier to bend the flexible driven body 30 and other deformations.

[0043] Further, optionally, see Figure 4The artificial muscle actuator 20' comprises a body 21 and a plurality of protrusions 22 disposed on one side end face of the body 21, and the plurality of protrusions 22 are arranged at regular intervals on one side end face of the body 21. Optionally, the two opposite end faces of the body 21 are an inner arc end face 23 and an outer arc end face 24, respectively, and the inner arc end face 23 is smaller than the outer arc end face 24, and the remaining end faces are straight edge plane end faces and arc edge plane end faces, the protrusions 22 are arranged at regular intervals on the outer arc end face 24, and the protrusions 22 are arranged in sequence along the direction of the central axis 25 on the outer arc end face 24, and the cross-sectional shape of the protrusions 22 is also approximately fan-shaped, see Figure 4 .

[0044] Optionally, the number of the protrusions 22 of the artificial muscle actuator 20' may be, but is not limited to, more than 3, for example, the number of the protrusions 22 is 3-20. Optionally, the spacing between two adjacent protrusions 22 may be adjusted according to the size of the artificial muscle actuator 20'. The height or thickness of the protrusion 22 may also be designed and adjusted in advance. Optionally, the protrusion and the body 21 may be an integrally formed structure.

[0045] In the present invention, the Figure 4 The artificial muscle driver 20' of the shape described above, on the one hand, can help enhance the matching between the artificial muscle driver and the outer surface of the flexible driven body 30, making it easier for the controller to control the deformation of the pneumatic artificial muscle driver to move the flexible driven body 30; on the other hand, the artificial muscle driver 20' of the shape described above can also facilitate the flexible driving unit to be mounted on the flexible driven body by bundling.

[0046] Optionally, the angle α between the length direction of the artificial muscle actuator and the length direction of the flexible driven body is 0° or 90°. It can be considered that the length direction of the artificial muscle actuator is parallel or perpendicular to the length direction of the flexible driven body.

[0047] See also Figure 5 In the auxiliary driving device, the length direction of the artificial muscle driver 20 can form different angles α with the length direction of the flexible driven body 30, and provide driving forces of different forms or directions for the flexible driven body 30. Figure 5(a) shows a flexible driving unit 101 of an auxiliary driving device sleeved on a cylindrical flexible driven body 30. In the flexible driving unit 101, the artificial muscle driver 20 is parallel to the length direction (or the central axis direction) of the flexible driven body 30. Each artificial muscle driver 20 in the flexible driving unit 101 can provide a lateral driving force F for the flexible driven body 30. By adjusting the magnitude of the lateral driving force F provided by each artificial muscle driver 20, the flexible driving unit 101 can drive the flexible driven body 30 to bend.

[0048] Figure 5 (b) shows a flexible driving unit 102 of an auxiliary driving device sleeved on a cylindrical flexible driven body 30. In the flexible driving unit 102, the angle α between the artificial muscle driver 20 and the length direction (or the center axis direction) of the flexible driven body 30 is 90°; each artificial muscle driver 20 in the flexible driving unit 102 can provide a longitudinal driving force F for the flexible driven body 30. By adjusting the magnitude of the longitudinal driving force F provided by each artificial muscle driver 20, the flexible driving unit 102 can drive the flexible driven body 30 to achieve different degrees of contraction.

[0049] Figure 5 In (c), the auxiliary driving device includes three flexible driving units: flexible driving unit 101, flexible driving unit 102 and flexible driving unit 103, and the three flexible driving units are all mounted on the cylindrical flexible driven body 30, wherein each of the flexible driving units can provide forces of different degrees or directions for the flexible driven body 30. Among them, compared with the flexible driving unit 101, the flexible driving unit 103 has fewer artificial muscle drivers 20 than the flexible driving unit 101. The auxiliary driving device can drive the flexible driven body 30 to achieve more forms of movement, such as greater bending or multi-end bending, such as achieving "S"-shaped bending, through the joint action of multiple flexible driving units. Therefore, in the present invention, when the auxiliary driving device is mounted on the flexible driven body, it can provide driving force to the flexible driven body in different forms and different directions, or in multiple forms and multiple directions; so as to drive the flexible driven body to move.

[0050] In the present invention, for flexible driven bodies of different shapes or sizes, the number and size of the flexible driving units in the auxiliary driving device, and the number and size of the artificial muscle drivers in each flexible driving unit can be different, and can also be designed and adjusted in advance. In the present invention, the number and size of the flexible driving units in the auxiliary driving device can include a variety of situations, and are not specifically limited; at the same time, the number and size of the artificial muscle drivers in each flexible driving unit are also not specifically limited.

[0051] In the embodiment of the present invention, the wrapping sleeve 10 is made of a flexible material, wherein the isolation layer 11, the filling layer 12 and the covering layer 13 are also made of flexible materials. For example, the material of the wrapping sleeve 10 can be, but is not limited to, plastic, rubber or fiber.

[0052] The wrapping sleeve of the present invention is tightly combined with the artificial muscle actuator, and can realize corresponding changes based on the shape change of the artificial muscle actuator. At the same time, the wrapping sleeve can disperse the force of the artificial muscle actuator to the flexible driven body within a certain range from the artificial muscle actuator, so that the flexible driven body undergoes simple shape changes, and can even be driven to perform more complex movements.

[0053] In the embodiment of the present invention, see Figure 1 The artificial muscle driver 20 is arranged in the filling layer 12 of the wrapping sleeve 10. When the wrapping sleeve 10 is put on the flexible driven body 30, the artificial muscle driver 20 can be close to the surface of the flexible driven body 30; this is conducive to making the auxiliary driving device more sensitive to control the flexible driven body 30, and the driving force provided by each artificial muscle driver can act on the flexible driven body 30 more effectively.

[0054] In an embodiment of the present invention, when the auxiliary driving device includes a plurality of flexible driving units, a connecting piece may be provided between adjacent flexible driving units, and the plurality of flexible driving units may be sequentially connected through the connecting piece. On the one hand, the connecting piece can tightly connect the adjacent flexible driving units, and on the other hand, it can make the areas on the flexible driven body wrapped by the auxiliary driving device correlated, so as to form a multi-end more complex spatial distortion motion. Within a certain length range, the more the number of the flexible driving units in the auxiliary driving device, the higher the control accuracy and complexity, thereby driving the flexible driven body to complete more delicate and complex motions.

[0055] Optionally, the artificial muscle driver includes at least one of a pneumatic artificial muscle driver, a magnetically controlled artificial muscle driver, an electrically stimulated artificial muscle driver, a temperature-controlled artificial muscle driver, and a hydraulically driven artificial muscle driver.

[0056] Further, optionally, the artificial muscle driver comprises a pneumatic artificial muscle driver.

[0057] In the present invention, the controller is used to control the deformation of the pneumatic artificial muscle actuator. Optionally, the controller may include, but is not limited to, an air source, a pneumatic triplet, a one-way valve, an electrical proportional servo valve, an electromagnetic reversing valve, and an air circuit. Optionally, the controller may be used to control the contraction or bending of at least one artificial muscle actuator.

[0058] See also Figure 6 , the controller 40 can be used to control a pneumatic artificial muscle driver 20. The controller 40 includes an air source 41, a pneumatic triplet 42, a one-way valve 43, an electrical proportional servo valve 44, an electromagnetic reversing valve 45 and an air circuit 46. The controller 40 controls the pneumatic artificial muscle driver through a pneumatic system composed of the above components. Among them, the air source 41 provides a pneumatic source for the pneumatic artificial muscle driver 20, and the gas is filtered and decompressed by the pneumatic triplet 42, and the gas is only allowed to pass through the one-way valve 43 in one direction, the electrical proportional servo valve 44 that changes the valve port size according to the signal, and the electromagnetic reversing valve 45 that controls the valve port opening and closing according to the signal to reach the pneumatic artificial muscle driver; when the pneumatic artificial muscle driver is pressurized inside, it deforms radially, the diameter becomes larger, the length is shortened, and a contraction force is generated; when the pneumatic artificial muscle driver deflates to the outside, it elastically retracts, causing the diameter to change and returning to a static state. Through the coordinated operation of multiple pneumatic artificial muscle drivers of each flexible drive unit in the auxiliary drive device, the movement of the flexible driven body can be controlled.

[0059] In the embodiment of the present invention, the specific structures of the components such as the air source 41, the pneumatic triplet 42, the one-way valve 43, the electrical proportional servo valve 44, the electromagnetic reversing valve 45 and the air circuit 46 can be existing product structures.

[0060] In an embodiment of the present invention, the controller may include multiple sub-controllers, and the multiple sub-controllers and the multiple artificial muscle actuators may be connected one-to-one, but not limited to, to control each of the multiple artificial muscle actuators. In an embodiment of the present invention, the controller generates different control signals to the multiple sub-controllers, thereby controlling the movement direction and movement angle of the multiple flexible drive units, and the deformations of the multiple flexible drive units are superimposed to drive the target object to move.

[0061] In the implementation manner of the present invention, the flexible driven body is required to have certain flexibility and compliance. The material of the flexible driven body of the present invention can be, but is not limited to, a bendable organic polymer material, a metal material with good flexibility, or other composite materials. For example, the flexible driven body can be selected from cables, rubber pipes or other flexible bodies.

[0062] In one embodiment of the present invention, an automatic driving device 200 is also provided. Figure 7, including an auxiliary drive device 60 and an end position detection unit 70 wrapped on the charging pile gun cable 50. The end position detection unit 70 is used to monitor the position information of the charging pile gun cable end 51 and the electric vehicle gun interface 80 in real time, and can issue instructions to the controller of the auxiliary drive device 60. The controller receives the instructions and regulates the auxiliary drive device 60 to drive the charging pile gun cable 50 to move according to the instructions, so as to achieve the matching connection between the charging pile gun cable end 51 and the electric vehicle gun interface 80. The auxiliary drive device 60 may include a plurality of flexible drive units, and two adjacent flexible drive units are connected by a connector 61.

[0063] Optionally, the controller of the auxiliary drive device further comprises a receiving unit, and the receiving unit is used to receive instructions issued by the terminal position detection unit. The terminal position detection unit of the present invention can issue specific motion trajectory instructions based on the real-time monitored position information of the charging pile plug-in cable terminal and the electric vehicle plug-in interface, so as to control the auxiliary drive device to achieve matching connection between the charging pile plug-in cable terminal and the electric vehicle plug-in interface.

[0064] The specific structure of the auxiliary drive device 60 may be as shown in the auxiliary drive device 100 described above, and will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

[0065] The automatic driving device 200 provided by the present invention can be directly installed on an existing electric vehicle charging pile device without modifying the charging pile plug structure of the electric vehicle charging pile device. It can be installed and used immediately, saves resources, and is easy to operate.

[0066] In one embodiment of the present invention, an automatic driving device is also provided. Compared with the automatic driving device 200, the difference is that the charging pile gun cable is replaced by a refueling pipe of a refueling gun, and the electric vehicle gun interface is replaced by a car refueling port. The automatic driving device in the embodiment can intelligently realize the automatic refueling operation of the car, greatly reducing manpower and material resources.

[0067] The automatic driving device of the present invention can perform closed-loop control to manipulate the movement of a flexible driven body; there is no need to perform structural modification on the flexible driven body, and the operation is convenient, safe, reliable and low-cost.

[0068] The above is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but it should not be understood as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications are also considered to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An auxiliary driving device for driving a flexible driven body, characterized in that: It comprises at least one flexible driving unit, which comprises a wrapping sleeve, at least one artificial muscle driver, and a controller for controlling the deformation of the artificial muscle driver; the wrapping sleeve is an expandable or coiled structure, and the artificial muscle driver is arranged in the wrapping sleeve; when the auxiliary driving device is sleeved on the flexible driven body, the auxiliary driving device is used to realize the movement of the flexible driven body; the wrapping sleeve comprises an isolation layer, a filling layer and a coating layer which are arranged in sequence, the artificial muscle driver is arranged in the filling layer, and is sandwiched between the isolation layer and the coating layer, and the cross-sectional shape of the artificial muscle driver is circular, fan-shaped, approximately fan-shaped or polygonal; the isolation layer is used to isolate the artificial muscle driver from the flexible driven body; the wrapping sleeve is made of flexible material.

2. The auxiliary drive device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The opposite ends of the wrapping sleeve respectively contain adhesive connection components, and the adhesive connection components are used to realize the unfolding or winding of the wrapping sleeve.

3. The auxiliary drive device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The auxiliary driving device comprises a plurality of artificial muscle drivers, and the plurality of artificial muscle drivers are arranged in parallel in the wrapping sleeve; The length direction of the artificial muscle actuator is parallel or perpendicular to the length direction of the flexible driven body.

4. The auxiliary drive device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The artificial muscle driver includes at least one of a pneumatic artificial muscle driver, a magnetically controlled artificial muscle driver, an electrically stimulated artificial muscle driver, a temperature-controlled artificial muscle driver, and a hydraulically driven artificial muscle driver.

5. The auxiliary drive device according to claim 4, characterized in that: When the artificial muscle driver is a pneumatic artificial muscle driver, the controller includes an air source, a pneumatic triplet, a one-way valve, an electrical proportional servo valve, an electromagnetic reversing valve and an air circuit.

6. The auxiliary drive device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The auxiliary driving device comprises a plurality of flexible driving units, and connecting pieces are arranged between adjacent flexible driving units.

7. An automatic driving device, characterized in that: The invention comprises a flexible driven body and an auxiliary driving device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 for driving the flexible driven body.

8. The automatic driving device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The automatic driving device also includes an end position detection unit, which is used to detect position information of the end of the flexible driven body and the target object, and feed back the position information to the controller so that the controller performs feedback control to control the end of the flexible driven body to match and connect with the target object.

9. The automatic driving device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The flexible driven body includes a charging pile gun plug cable, a refueling pipe of a refueling gun, or a material delivery pipe; the target object is an electric vehicle gun plug interface, a vehicle refueling port, or a material receiving port.

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