A spherical metamorphic robot and an environmental information monitoring system based on the robot

Abstract

The present invention is a spherical metamorphic robot and an environmental information monitoring system based on the robot. The robot includes a control unit, a spherical shell and a plurality of telescopic feet evenly distributed on the spherical shell. The axes of all the telescopic feet intersect at the center of the spherical shell. The telescopic feet can be extended and retracted along the radial direction of the spherical shell. All the telescopic feet can be completely wrapped in the spherical shell or extend out of the spherical shell. The system includes a self-organizing network communication module, an environmental information collection component, a host computer, a positioning module and a plurality of metamorphic robots; the plurality of metamorphic robots are arranged at various positions in the area to be detected, and each metamorphic robot is equipped with a self-organizing network communication module, a positioning module and an environmental information collection component; the self-organizing network communication module communicates with the host computer, and the self-organizing network communication module on each robot can communicate bidirectionally with the self-organizing network communication modules on the other robots. The environmental information monitoring system has three modes to realize all-weather, all-round and fully autonomous intelligent dynamic monitoring.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of robots, in particular to a spherical metamorphic robot and an environmental information monitoring system based on the robot. Background Art

[0002] Environmental information collection is widely used in many fields such as industrial monitoring, energy conservation and environmental protection, agricultural production and planting. Accurately collecting environmental information and timely handling of dangerous emergencies are conducive to ensuring the safe and stable operation of various industries, and are deeply related to the stability of social and national order under the background of industrialization.

[0003] At present, the main information collection system is a combination of fixed nodes and traditional manual work. This method has some problems. First, installing detection equipment at a fixed location can form a disaster monitoring network to a certain extent, but this equipment is fixed and installed in a specific location, the wiring is complex and the construction cost is high, the configuration is inflexible, and it is inevitable to produce monitoring blind spots. Although manual detection can reduce detection blind spots to a certain extent, it consumes a lot of manpower and material resources, and there are problems such as non-real-time monitoring, limited monitoring range, low monitoring efficiency, and unavoidable human errors. With the continuous improvement of my country's science and technology and manufacturing levels, improving the intelligence level of environmental information collection and providing all-weather, all-round, and fully autonomous intelligent monitoring and data processing systems have become important tasks of my country's science and technology and manufacturing industries, and have become a necessary guarantee for the stability of social and national order under the background of industrialization.

[0004] To this end, domestic and foreign scholars have carried out a lot of in-depth research. For example, the Chinese patent "Substation Intelligent Robot Inspection System and Inspection Method (CN102280826B) provides a substation intelligent robot inspection system, which takes the intelligent inspection robot as the core, integrates the existing robot technology, non-contact monitoring technology of power equipment and Internet technology, etc., to realize the intelligent collection and processing of substation environmental information. However, the wireless communication technology algorithm used in the invention is complex and the transmission distance is small, which cannot realize the information collection of wide-area environment. In addition, the rapid development of robot technology has greatly promoted the application of robots in various fields, especially in some dangerous environments. Therefore, domestic and foreign scholars have carried out certain research on inspection robots. Research has shown that it can replace manpower in special environments to realize the intelligence of information collection technology. For example, the Chinese patent "A four-wheel intelligent inspection robot device (CN212044704U)" provides a four-wheel inspection robot device, which uses a driving wheel universal wheel mechanism to achieve omnidirectional movement of the robot, but the device has poor driving performance and cannot achieve omnidirectional movement in a wide area environment. The Chinese patent "A substation inspection robot (CN106041877B)" solves the problem of poor robot driving performance through the design of eight drive units, but the invention is large in size, complex in control, and has poor obstacle crossing ability. It cannot meet the needs of complex terrain for flexible changes in the structure of the inspection robot, which increases the blind spot of environmental information collection.

[0005] To sum up, most of the current information collection technologies have preliminarily solved the intelligent collection and processing of environmental information, but the communication technology of these methods cannot guarantee the real-time and reliability of information. When an abnormality occurs somewhere or a communication node loses its normal communication capability, it is impossible to handle the abnormality in real time and flexibly change the network wiring situation. In addition, the inspection robot technology integrated by the current information collection technology can meet the basic movement and data collection functions of the robot to a certain extent, but it is not easy to drive and has poor dynamic performance. It cannot meet the needs of information collection robot movement in wide-area complex environments such as chemical plants and substations, and cannot focus on monitoring specific areas. Summary of the invention

[0006] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a spherical metamorphic robot and an environmental information monitoring system based on the robot. The robot can move in all directions and be fixed at a specific position; the environmental information monitoring system is based on ad hoc network communication technology, has self-reconfigurable dynamic monitoring nodes, and can achieve long-distance monitoring; the environmental information monitoring system has two modes, which can accurately grasp the overall environmental conditions through a passive dynamic monitoring mode, and can complete the information collection task of a specific area through an active trend monitoring mode, realizing all-weather, all-round, and fully autonomous intelligent dynamic monitoring.

[0007] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the technical problem is:

[0008] A spherical metamorphic robot, characterized in that the robot comprises a control unit, a spherical shell and a plurality of telescopic feet evenly distributed on the spherical shell, the axes of all the telescopic feet intersect at the center of the spherical shell, the telescopic feet can be telescoped along the radial direction of the spherical shell, and all the telescopic feet can be completely wrapped in the spherical shell or extended outside the spherical shell.

[0009] The telescopic foot includes a sleeve, a motor, a slide base plate, a ball screw, a slide and a telescopic rod; the sleeve is installed on the inner wall of the spherical shell, the slide base plate is inserted in the sleeve, and the ball screw is rotatably connected to the slide base plate; support rods are symmetrically installed on both sides of the ball screw, and the slide is slidably connected to the ball screw and the support rods; the motor is installed at one end of the slide base plate adjacent to the center of the spherical shell, and the output shaft of the motor is fixedly connected to the ball screw; the telescopic rod is embedded in the sleeve, and the telescopic rod can slide back and forth relative to the sleeve.

[0010] When all telescopic legs are fully extended, the diameter of the entire robot is 32 cm, and when the telescopic legs are fully retracted, the diameter of the entire robot is 16 cm.

[0011] The control unit includes a microcontroller, a limit switch, an inertial element, a control board and a motion control module, and the motion control module includes a decoder and a motor drive module; a limit switch is installed on the slide base plate of each telescopic foot, and the limit switch and the inertial element are electrically connected to the microcontroller; the microcontroller is connected to the decoder, the decoder is connected to the motor drive module, and the motor drive module is connected to the motor.

[0012] The present invention also provides an environmental information monitoring system based on a spherical metamorphic robot, characterized in that the system includes a self-organizing network communication module, an environmental information collection component, a host computer, a positioning module and multiple metamorphic robots; the multiple metamorphic robots are arranged at various positions in the area to be detected, and each metamorphic robot is equipped with a self-organizing network communication module, a positioning module and an environmental information collection component; the self-organizing network communication module communicates with the host computer, and the self-organizing network communication module on each robot can communicate bidirectionally with the self-organizing network communication modules on the other robots.

[0013] Environmental information collection components include temperature sensors, humidity sensors and gas sensors.

[0014] The system includes three modes: active trend monitoring, passive dynamic monitoring and passive sleep-wake monitoring.

[0015] The active trend monitoring mode includes two tasks: user-specified point information monitoring and sudden environmental trend monitoring. The user-specified point information monitoring task is that the host computer controls each metamorphic robot to actively approach the specified point position to achieve all-round monitoring of the monitored area; the sudden environmental trend monitoring task is to focus on monitoring abnormal areas.

[0016] The passive dynamic monitoring mode is when the metamorphic robot rolls to a specified position under the action of external force.

[0017] The passive sleep-wake-up monitoring mode is a cluster operation of multiple metamorphic robots, and each metamorphic robot performs intermittent operations by alternating between sleep and working states.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0019] 1. The metamorphic robot of the present invention has a plurality of telescopic feet that are isotropically and evenly distributed on a spherical shell. The change of the robot envelope structure is achieved by telescoping the telescopic feet. The spherical shell of the metamorphic robot can completely envelop all the telescopic feet. The telescopic feet can be telescoped along the spherical shell, which has extremely high stability, reduces the cantilever length of the telescopic feet, and makes the robot more flexible in motion. This structure is simple and compact, reduces the probability of failure, is easy to repair and replace, and meets the needs of the robot to operate in large and harsh environments such as unmanned, dusty, humid, and corrosive in the wild. When all the telescopic feet of the metamorphic robot are fully extended, the diameter of the entire robot is 32 cm, and when the telescopic feet are fully retracted, the diameter of the entire robot is 16 cm. The volume is small and can reach a narrow space.

[0020] 2. The environmental information monitoring system of the present invention has a reconfigurable polygonal topology structure. The node robot can move to a specific position, is not easily disturbed by the external environment on the robot movement, can adapt to various complex terrains of field factories, and meet the fixed-point monitoring needs during the monitoring process. Each node robot can communicate with each other, and can realize long-distance transmission of information, which is more suitable for wide-area environments. In terms of communication technology, the self-organizing network communication technology with high reliability and low power consumption is adopted, which does not require complex preliminary layout and has strong mobility, improves the system dynamic and intelligent level, and the self-organizing network multi-hop transmission mode improves the real-time and reliability of long-distance communication in a wide-area environment. The robot realizes the self-organizing network communication mode between the equipment and the host computer by installing a self-organizing network communication module. Robots in different states work together. When a robot exceeds the transmission distance of the communication module, it will communicate with nearby robots in a network, and then this robot will communicate with nearby robots in a network, and the source address of the previous robot will be packaged and sent together, and finally sent to the host computer. The host computer searches for the corresponding robot based on the unique address of each robot. When some robots are out of range, it sends instructions to other robots to search for the out-of-range robots based on their identity numbers. The topology of the communication network nodes can change dynamically with the environment.

[0021] 3. The node robot in the environmental information monitoring system of the present invention is dynamic and moves within the area to be monitored, which can avoid monitoring blind spots and meet the requirements of stability and accuracy during the monitoring process.

[0022] 4. The environmental information monitoring mode of the present invention is divided into three modes: active tendency monitoring, passive dynamic monitoring, and passive sleep and wake-up monitoring. Active tendency monitoring is further divided into two tasks: user-specified point information monitoring and sudden environmental tendency monitoring. User-specified point information monitoring mainly makes the metamorphic robot actively approach the specified point position to achieve all-round monitoring of the monitored area. Sudden environmental tendency monitoring focuses on monitoring abnormal areas. Passive dynamic monitoring is to achieve passive driving of the robot under the action of external force to reduce the energy consumption of the robot. Passive sleep and wake-up monitoring is that the metamorphic robot takes turns in sleep and working state to perform intermittent operations. The upper computer controls the working time of different metamorphic robots in a timing manner, that is, at the same time point, a part of the metamorphic robot is working, and the other part of the metamorphic robot is in a dormant state, which reduces the energy loss of the metamorphic robot while ensuring the monitoring work. Through the above three monitoring modes, all-weather, all-round, and fully autonomous intelligent dynamic monitoring can be achieved.

[0023] 5. The environmental information monitoring system of the present invention can be equipped with a variety of sensors such as gas, temperature, humidity, etc. and combines passive awakening and active trend monitoring modes to achieve the diversification of collection functions. It can accurately grasp the overall environmental conditions through the passive dynamic monitoring mode, and complete the information collection task of a specific area through the active trend monitoring mode. The present invention has a robot cluster operation function based on a self-organizing network. When encountering an emergency situation, the host computer uses the jump transmission method of the MESH grid multi-level routing to send a data packet (including the communication address and instruction data of a robot to be operated) to each robot self-organizing network communication module. The self-organizing network communication module receives the instruction, drives the robot to move in a certain direction, and executes the host computer command to meet the various needs of users at any time. It can better handle the information collection task of sudden environmental pollution accidents at specific points and complete active trend monitoring. At the same time, the present invention also has a passive sleep-wake-up dynamic monitoring mode. When several robots are randomly placed in a wide-area environment, the robots take turns to work by alternating between sleep and wake-up. When the host computer finds that there is a problem in a certain environment, it can specify a trigger to wake up the robot at that point to perform information collection tasks. This passive sleep-wake-up combined monitoring mode reduces the power consumption in the wild environment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of the metamorphic robot of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2It is a schematic structural diagram of the telescopic foot of the metamorphic robot of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the internal structure of the metamorphic robot of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the distribution of the telescopic feet in one embodiment of the metamorphic robot of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of the environmental information monitoring system of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the self-organizing network communication technology of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 7 It is a principle diagram of the sudden environmental tendency monitoring mode of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the passive sleep-wake monitoring mode of the present invention;

[0032] In the figure: 1-spherical shell; 2-telescopic foot; 3-spherical air cushion; 4-sleeve; 5-host computer; 6-limit switch; 7-motor; 8-control board; 9-slide base plate; 10-ball screw; 11-support rod; 12-slide; 13-connecting plate; 14-telescopic rod; 15-decoder 16-fixed bracket; 17-inertial element; 18-microcontroller A; 19-motor drive module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The technical solution of the present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the embodiments and the accompanying drawings, which are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application.

[0034] The present invention is a spherical metamorphic robot (referred to as robot, see Figure 1-4 ), comprising a spherical shell 1 and a plurality of telescopic feet 2, wherein the plurality of telescopic feet 2 are evenly distributed on the spherical shell 1 according to an isotropic spatial topological structure, ensuring that the structure and performance of each telescopic foot 2 are the same, the axes of all the telescopic feet 2 intersect at the center of the spherical shell 1, the telescopic feet 2 can be extended and retracted along the radial direction of the spherical shell 1, and the omnidirectional movement of the robot is achieved through the mutual cooperation of the telescopic feet 2;

[0035] The telescopic foot 2 includes a sleeve 4, a motor 7, a slide base plate 9, a ball screw 10, a slide 12 and a telescopic rod 14; both ends of the sleeve 4 have openings, and a connecting disk 13 is provided on the circumference of the sleeve 4, the connecting disk 13 is fitted with the inner wall of the spherical shell 1, and the connecting disk 13 is fixedly connected to the spherical shell 1 by screws, and then the sleeve 4 is installed in the spherical shell 1; the slide base plate 9 is inserted into the sleeve 4, and both ends of the ball screw 10 are rotatably connected to the slide base plate 9; the slide 12 is installed on the ball screw 10, and support rods 11 parallel to the ball screw 10 are symmetrically installed on both sides of the ball screw 10, and the two support rods are used to support the slide; the motor 7 is installed at one end of the slide base plate 9 close to the center of the spherical shell 1, the output shaft of the motor 7 is fixedly connected to the ball screw 10, and the slide 12 is slidably installed on the ball screw 10 and the support rod 11;

[0036] The telescopic rod 14 is a hollow rod structure and is embedded in the sleeve 4. The end of the telescopic rod 14 close to the center of the spherical shell 1 is fixedly connected to the slide 12. The slide 12 enables the telescopic rod 14 to slide back and forth relative to the sleeve 4, so that the telescopic rod 14 can extend out of the spherical shell 1 and touch the ground. The rotation speed of the motor 7 controls the telescopic speed and length of the telescopic foot of the robot. A spherical air cushion 3 is provided at the end of the telescopic rod 14 that contacts the ground to achieve flexible contact between the robot and the ground. When the telescopic rod 14 is completely retracted into the spherical shell 1, the spherical air cushion 3 is completely embedded in the spherical shell 1, so that the entire robot has a smooth spherical structure, and the robot can rely on inertia to perform rolling motion.

[0037] The spherical shell 1 is composed of two hemispherical shells. The edge of one hemispherical shell has a flange, which covers the other hemispherical shell. The two hemispherical shells are fixedly connected by screws. A power switch is arranged on the spherical shell 1.

[0038] The control unit of the robot includes a microcontroller A18, a limit switch 6, an inertial element 17, a control board 20 and a motion control module, wherein the motion control module includes a decoder 15 and a motor drive module 19; the control board 20 is installed in the spherical shell 1 through a fixed bracket 16, and the microcontroller A18, the inertial element 17 and the motion control module are installed on the control board 20; the limit switch 6 and the inertial element 17 are electrically connected to the microcontroller A18; a limit switch 6 is installed on the slide base plate 9 of each telescopic foot 2, and the limit switch 6 is used to sense the position of the slide 12 and transmit the acquired position signal to the microcontroller A18. 18, to know whether the telescopic foot has moved to the position of the specified telescopic amount; the inertial element 17 is used to measure the acceleration and angular velocity of the robot. The microcontroller A18 can obtain the position and extension of the telescopic foot that touches the ground after analyzing and processing the acceleration and angular velocity of the robot, and sense the movement state of the robot; the microcontroller A18 is connected to the motor drive module 19 through the decoder 15, and the motor drive module 19 is electrically connected to the motor 7. The motor drive module 19 generates a drive signal to drive the corresponding telescopic foot to extend and retract, so that the telescopic foot can be placed at a certain specified telescopic amount, so that the robot can complete the corresponding movement according to the program of the corresponding action group.

[0039] The microcontroller A18 stores programs for multiple action groups, such as active movement, rolling movement, turning movement, etc., which are used to control the telescopic foot to complete the corresponding movement. When the telescopic foot needs to complete a certain action group, it only needs to call the program, and the program automatically controls the robot to complete the corresponding action group.

[0040] The working principle and working process of the spherical metamorphic robot of the present invention are:

[0041] like Figure 4 As shown, this embodiment includes a total of 14 telescopic feet, all of which can be regarded as being distributed on the same cube. The telescopic feet are numbered 2-1 to 2-14, and are respectively located at the centers of the eight vertices and six sides of the cube; telescopic feet 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, and 2-4 are located at the four vertices of the right side of the cube, telescopic feet 2-5, 2-6, 2-7, and 2-8 are located at the four vertices of the left side of the cube, telescopic foot 2-9 is located at the center of the right side of the cube, telescopic foot 2-10 is located at the center of the left side of the cube, telescopic foot 2-11 is located at the center of the rear side of the cube, telescopic foot 2-12 is located at the center of the top surface of the cube, telescopic foot 2-13 is located at the center of the front side of the cube, and telescopic foot 2-14 is located at the center of the bottom surface of the cube.

[0042] Assume that the maximum extension of the telescopic foot is L; the initial position of the robot is that the bottom of the cube is close to the ground, and the telescopic feet 2-2, 2-3, 2-7, and 2-8 are in contact with the ground. The extension of the telescopic feet 2-2 and 2-3 is 0.4L, and the extension of the telescopic feet 2-7 and 2-8 is L. Then the control unit controls the extension of the telescopic feet 2-1 and 2-4 to 0.4L, and the extension of the telescopic foot 2-14 to L. At this time, the center of gravity of the robot is located on the right side, forming a rightward tilted state. The robot performs a rolling motion with the contact point of the telescopic feet 2-2 and 2-3 with the ground as the fulcrum, so that the right side of the cube is close to the ground, the telescopic feet 2-1, 2-4, 2-2, and 2-3 touch the ground, and the telescopic feet 2-7, 2-8, and 2-14 return to the unextended state;

[0043] Keep the extension of the telescopic feet 2-1 and 2-4 at 0.4L, the control unit controls the extension of the telescopic feet 2-2 and 2-3 to L, the extension of the telescopic feet 2-5 and 2-6 to 0.4L, and then the extension of the telescopic foot 2-9 to L. At this time, the robot rolls with the contact point of the telescopic feet 2-1 and 2-4 with the ground as the fulcrum, so that the top surface of the cube is close to the ground, the telescopic feet 2-1, 2-4, 2-5, and 2-6 touch the ground, and the telescopic feet 2-2, 2-3, and 2-9 return to the unextended state;

[0044] Similarly, the robot can complete active movements with the contact points of the remaining telescopic feet and the ground as fulcrums. The robot can also complete rolling movements, turning movements, etc., to achieve omnidirectional movements of the robot.

[0045] The spherical metamorphic robot of the present application has multiple telescopic foot structures and has extremely high stability, which can ensure the stability of the robot under complex terrain conditions. The extension and retraction of the telescopic foot is achieved by converting the rotation of the motor 7 into the telescopic movement of the telescopic foot with the help of the ball screw 10. The rotation speed and number of turns of the motor output shaft control the extension and retraction speed and length of the telescopic foot. By controlling the elongation of each telescopic foot, the center of gravity torque of the robot changes, and the center of gravity torque will drive the robot to roll around its fulcrum.

[0046] The present invention also provides an environmental information monitoring system based on a spherical metamorphic robot (referred to as system, see Figure 5-8), including a self-organizing network communication module, an environmental information collection component, a host computer, a positioning module and multiple metamorphic robots; multiple metamorphic robots are arranged at various positions in the area to be detected by manual installation or drone spreading, each metamorphic robot is installed with a self-organizing network communication module, a positioning module and an environmental information collection component, the detection end of the environmental information collection component is located on the spherical shell surface of the metamorphic robot, and can detect environmental information; a microcontroller B can be installed on the robot, and the microcontroller B is mainly responsible for information collection; the environmental information collection component includes a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor and a gas sensor, etc., which can collect various environmental information in an all-round way, and with the help of the self-organizing network communication module, the collected environmental information is packaged and sent to the host computer to realize real-time communication.

[0047] The environmental information monitoring of this system is realized through ad hoc network communication technology. The network ID, channel and address of each ad hoc network communication module are changed according to actual requirements, and each ad hoc network communication module is given a specific label. No complex network protocol is required during operation. By configuring the same channel and network ID, the ad hoc network communication module can automatically network with other ad hoc network communication modules after power is turned on. The host computer only needs to send a data packet (including the communication address and instruction data of the variable cell robot to be controlled), and the algorithm in the ad hoc network communication module will allocate the jump transmission path, and the data of the host computer will be transmitted to the corresponding variable cell robot. At this time, each variable cell robot is equivalent to a node in the topological network, so it is called a node robot; due to the possible change of the topological network composed of each node robot (for example, a node fails) and the limited communication distance between nodes, such as Figure 6 As shown in the figure, when the physical distance between the communication module of the host computer and a certain ad hoc network communication module exceeds the maximum transmission distance between the ad hoc network communication module and the host computer, the entire system will use the MESH grid to implement a multi-level routing jump transmission method to complete the communication, that is, the ad hoc network communication module acts as an information source to transmit the collected information to the adjacent node robot, and the information is transmitted to the host computer through the adjacent node robot. Therefore, the use of the jump transmission method can greatly increase the transmission distance of the communication module. At the same time, the host computer can obtain an effective information transmission path from the location of the information source. Since the program is pre-burned in each ad hoc network communication module, the complex operations in the network design process are simplified and the difficulty of use is reduced.

[0048] The data processing system of the host computer is based on Labview technology. It has highly intelligent real-time monitoring and processing technology for various types of environmental information. It has multi-channel data acquisition functions and corresponding environmental information acquisition components. It can collect various environmental information such as gas, temperature and humidity, and images, generate visual waveform data, and is equipped with an emergency alarm device. Each node robot generates a topological network structure on the host computer. Based on self-organizing network communication technology, the shape of the topological structure changes in real time according to the position and distance of the node robot. After the node robot monitors the environmental data, it sends it to the host computer and the surrounding node robots. When the environmental information indicators are abnormal, the alarm device in the monitored area is activated. At the same time, the host computer retains historical collection data, time and other related indicators for easy viewing and inspection.

[0049] The environmental information monitoring system based on the spherical metamorphic robot of the present invention includes three modes: active tendency monitoring, passive dynamic monitoring and passive sleep awakening monitoring;

[0050] The active trend monitoring mode includes two tasks: user-specified point information monitoring and sudden environmental trend monitoring. When executing the user-specified point information monitoring task, the host computer issues instructions to each metamorphic robot to make it move to the specified point position. The host computer intelligently plans the movement path of the metamorphic robot according to the user instructions and the map of the monitored area to obtain a predetermined path. After the metamorphic robot is arranged in the monitored area, it is automatically positioned by the positioning module to correct the predetermined path. The metamorphic robot calls the semi-rolling motion program to make the telescopic feet of the metamorphic robot move actively and approach the specified point. After the movement speed reaches a certain value, all the telescopic feet will no longer retract, and the metamorphic robot will move in a spherical posture according to inertial rolling. When steering adjustment is required, the robot calls the steering motion program to realize the steering of the metamorphic robot. The above process is that the metamorphic robot actively approaches the specified point position. When the metamorphic robot arrives at the specified area, the environmental information monitoring component starts working and continuously collects information according to the pre-planned path and transmits the position information of the metamorphic robot and the collected environmental information back to the host computer. The host computer analyzes and processes the data and draws an environmental information map of the monitored area.

[0051] like Figure 7 As shown in the figure, the specific task of sudden environmental trend monitoring is: when the environmental information collected by metamorphic robot A is abnormal, the upper computer will send instructions to all metamorphic robots within a radius of 500m with metamorphic robot A as the center, so that other metamorphic robots will approach metamorphic robot A and gather in the sudden environmental area to conduct focused and comprehensive monitoring of the sudden environmental area.

[0052] The passive dynamic monitoring mode mainly relies on the spherical structure of the metamorphic robot to achieve omnidirectional smooth rolling motion of the metamorphic robot under the action of external force (such as wind); when driven by external force, the telescopic feet of the metamorphic robot are all retracted into the spherical shell, allowing the metamorphic robot to roll freely to the specified position, reducing the energy consumption of driving the metamorphic robot. When the actual motion path of the metamorphic robot deviates significantly from the predetermined path (such as strong surface wind, steep ground slope, abnormal stepper motor, etc.), the metamorphic robot that deviates from the path communicates with the metamorphic robots within a radius of 500m in self-organizing network, and then the metamorphic robots within this range will immediately communicate with the nearby metamorphic robots in self-organizing network, and the address of the metamorphic robot that deviates from the path will be packaged and sent to the host computer. According to the address of the self-organizing communication module in each metamorphic robot, the upper computer will send instructions to other metamorphic robots when some metamorphic robots are out of the monitoring range, so that other metamorphic robots can search for the metamorphic robots out of the range according to the labels, and transmit the instructions to the metamorphic robots out of the range, control the metamorphic robots to perform metamorphic movement, make the telescopic feet of the metamorphic robots extend to touch the ground, complete emergency braking, and wait for subsequent disposal, such as recycling or initialization.

[0053] The passive sleep-wake monitoring mode is suitable for multiple metamorphic robots operating in the same area, that is, cluster operation of metamorphic robots; Figure 8 As shown, the metamorphic robots are randomly scattered into the area to be monitored, and they perform intermittent operations by alternating between sleep and working states. The upper computer controls the working time of different metamorphic robots by timing, that is, at the same time point, some metamorphic robots are working and other metamorphic robots are in sleep state, thereby reducing the energy loss of the metamorphic robots while ensuring the monitoring work.

[0054] Microcontroller A and microcontroller B both use STM32 series single-chip microcomputers; the gas sensor uses the MQ series, the humidity sensor uses a digital humidity sensor module, and the temperature sensor uses a DS series digital temperature sensor; the ad hoc network communication module uses the DL-LN32P wireless ad hoc network communication module, with a single-hop transmission distance of 500m and a multi-hop transmission distance of 7500m.

[0055] Any matters not described in the present invention are applicable to the prior art.

Claims

1. A spherical metamorphic robot, characterized in that: The robot comprises a control unit, a spherical shell and a plurality of telescopic feet evenly distributed on the spherical shell, the axes of all the telescopic feet intersect at the center of the spherical shell, the telescopic feet can be telescoped along the radial direction of the spherical shell, and all the telescopic feet can be completely wrapped in the spherical shell or extended outside the spherical shell; The environmental information monitoring system based on the spherical metamorphic robot includes three modes: active tendency monitoring, passive dynamic monitoring, and passive sleep-wake monitoring. The active trend monitoring mode includes two tasks: user-specified point information monitoring and sudden environmental trend monitoring. The user-specified point information monitoring task is that the host computer controls each metamorphic robot to actively approach the specified point position to achieve all-round monitoring of the monitoring area. The sudden environmental trend monitoring task is that when the environmental information collected by the metamorphic robot is abnormal, the host computer sends instructions to all metamorphic robots within a radius of 500m with the metamorphic robot as the center, so that other metamorphic robots approach the metamorphic robot and gather in the sudden environmental area to conduct focused and comprehensive monitoring in the sudden environmental area. The passive dynamic monitoring mode is that the metamorphic robot rolls to the specified position under the action of external force. When the actual movement path of the metamorphic robot deviates greatly from the predetermined path, the metamorphic robot that deviates from the path conducts self-organizing network communication with the metamorphic robots within a radius of 500m, and then the metamorphic robots within this range will immediately conduct self-organizing network communication with nearby metamorphic robots, and package the addresses of the metamorphic robots that deviate from the path and send them to the host computer; the host computer sends instructions to other metamorphic robots based on the address of the self-organizing communication module in each metamorphic robot when some metamorphic robots exceed the monitoring range, so that other metamorphic robots retrieve the metamorphic robots that exceed the range according to the labels, and transmit the instructions to the metamorphic robots that exceed the range, control the metamorphic robot to perform metamorphic movement, make the telescopic feet of the metamorphic robot extend to touch the ground, and complete emergency braking; The passive sleep-wake-up monitoring mode is a cluster operation of multiple metamorphic robots, and each metamorphic robot performs intermittent operations by alternating between sleep and working states.

2. The spherical metamorphic robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The telescopic foot includes a sleeve, a motor, a slide base plate, a ball screw, a slide and a telescopic rod; the sleeve is installed on the inner wall of the spherical shell, the slide base plate is inserted in the sleeve, and the ball screw is rotatably connected to the slide base plate; support rods are symmetrically installed on both sides of the ball screw, and the slide is slidably connected to the ball screw and the support rods; the motor is installed at one end of the slide base plate adjacent to the center of the spherical shell, and the output shaft of the motor is fixedly connected to the ball screw; the telescopic rod is embedded in the sleeve, and the telescopic rod can slide back and forth relative to the sleeve.

3. The spherical metamorphic robot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: When all telescopic legs are fully extended, the diameter of the entire robot is 32 cm, and when the telescopic legs are fully retracted, the diameter of the entire robot is 16 cm.

4. The spherical metamorphic robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The control unit includes a microcontroller, a limit switch, an inertial element, a control board and a motion control module, and the motion control module includes a decoder and a motor drive module; a limit switch is installed on the slide base plate of each telescopic foot, and the limit switch and the inertial element are electrically connected to the microcontroller; the microcontroller is connected to the decoder, the decoder is connected to the motor drive module, and the motor drive module is connected to the motor.

5. The spherical metamorphic robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The environmental information monitoring system based on the spherical metamorphic robot includes a self-organizing network communication module, an environmental information collection component, a host computer, a positioning module and multiple metamorphic robots; the multiple metamorphic robots are arranged at various positions in the area to be detected, and each metamorphic robot is equipped with a self-organizing network communication module, a positioning module and an environmental information collection component; the self-organizing network communication module communicates with the host computer, and the self-organizing network communication module on each robot can communicate bidirectionally with the self-organizing network communication modules on the other robots.

6. The spherical metamorphic robot according to claim 5, characterized in that: Environmental information collection components include temperature sensors, humidity sensors and gas sensors.

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