Flexible parallel manipulator device suitable for robotic polishing operations

Abstract

The application discloses a flexible parallel actuator device suitable for robot polishing operation, which comprises a shell assembly, a polishing pen assembly and a flexible driving mechanism; the shell assembly comprises an upper base and a lower base, the polishing pen assembly comprises a polishing pen body and a polishing head; the flexible driving mechanism comprises a plurality of flexible connecting rods and driving motors corresponding to the flexible connecting rods, one end of the flexible connecting rod is connected with the output end of the driving motor, the polishing pen body is provided with a connecting part, and the other end of the flexible connecting rod is connected with the connecting part; wherein the plurality of flexible connecting rods are arranged at intervals around the circumference of the polishing pen body, the plurality of driving motors are controlled to rotate to respectively drive the plurality of flexible connecting rods to deform, and then the extension, retraction and autorotation of the polishing pen body are cooperatively controlled. The flexible connecting rod with continuous deformation characteristics is adopted to replace the traditional rigid branch chain, so that the parallel actuator has the advantages of strong bearing capacity, stable configuration, flexible movement and high compliance.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of polishing robot devices, in particular to a flexible parallel actuator device suitable for robot polishing operation. BACKGROUND

[0002] The end effector installed on the common serial robot polishing device can usually only provide single degree of freedom compliance, and due to the large inertia of the serial arm, the flexibility and operability are limited, and there is a contradiction between the working space and the precision, so the serial robot polishing device can generally only be used in occasions with low requirements for machining precision and surface quality, and it is difficult to adapt to complex curved surface precision machining and other fields.

[0003] The hybrid robot polishing system can provide multi-degree of freedom compliance, and the end inertia is small, but it depends on the control characteristics of the robot motor to realize compliance, and the control algorithm is closely related to the configuration of the robot and the implementation process is relatively complex.

[0004] At present, it is a common scheme to install appropriate end effector on the serial robot flange to form a robot polishing system, and due to the fact that the single degree of freedom end effector cannot adapt to the complex shape of the complex curved surface component, in recent years, multi-degree of freedom end effector based on parallel mechanism has attracted more and more attention. For example, Professor Yang Guilin and others designed a high-precision force control end effector based on 3-PPS parallel mechanism, in which the active moving pair is driven by three voice coils, and the passive moving pair is designed as a flexible hinge, which can realize one translational degree of freedom and two rotational degrees of freedom.

[0005] The active compliance technical scheme adopted in the prior art can improve the polishing precision of the robot under the premise of ensuring the movement precision, the compliance control algorithm based on the robot body is closely related to the model of the robot, although the implementation process is relatively complex, but compared with controlling the robot body, the force control of the end effector is more flexible; However, the design of the multi-degree of freedom end effector based on parallel mechanism provided by the above-mentioned prior art can be simplified as a combination of rigid links and moving pairs, lacks necessary elastic energy consuming elements, and the compliance algorithm completely depends on the sensor performance, the control bandwidth and response speed are limited, when it is used for polishing force-sensitive transparent organic material components, the delay of the system is likely to cause the control failure of the small polishing force applied. Therefore, new solutions still need to be found. SUMMARY

[0006] In order to at least partially solve the deficiencies in the prior art, the main purpose of the present application is to provide a flexible parallel actuator device suitable for robot polishing operation, which replaces the traditional rigid branch chain with a flexible link having continuous deformation characteristics, so that the parallel actuator has the advantages of movement flexibility and high compliance while maintaining strong bearing capacity and configuration stability.

[0007] To achieve the above main purpose, the present application provides a flexible parallel actuator device suitable for robot polishing operation, which is installed at the end of a robot performing polishing operation, and the flexible parallel actuator device comprises:

[0008] A housing assembly comprising an upper base, a lower base and a plurality of supports connecting the upper base and the lower base; wherein the upper base and the lower base have a gap therebetween to form a mounting space;

[0009] A polishing pen assembly comprising a polishing pen body and a polishing head; the polishing pen body has a sliding part, the upper base is provided with a mounting hole and an organ case arranged at the mounting hole, and the sliding part is embedded in the organ case so that the polishing pen body penetrates through the upper base; wherein the polishing head is arranged at the end of the polishing pen body and located at the opposite outer side of the upper base away from the lower base;

[0010] A flexible driving mechanism comprising a plurality of flexible links and a driving motor corresponding to each flexible link, one end of the flexible link being connected to the output end of the driving motor, the end of the polishing pen body away from the polishing head being provided with a connecting part, and the other end of the flexible link being connected to the connecting part;

[0011] Wherein, the plurality of flexible links are arranged at intervals around the circumference of the polishing pen body, and the plurality of flexible links are respectively driven to deform by controlling the rotation of the plurality of driving motors, thereby cooperatively controlling the extension, retraction and self-rotation of the polishing pen body.

[0012] According to a specific embodiment of the present application, the flexible link comprises a link body and first and second connecting ends arranged at opposite ends of the link body, the first connecting end being used for connecting with the connecting part, and the second connecting end being used for connecting with the output end of the driving motor.

[0013] According to a specific embodiment of the present application, the second connecting end is provided with a D-shaped hole, and the output shaft of the driving motor is insertedly matched with the D-shaped hole.

[0014] According to a specific embodiment of the present application, the connecting part is a sleeve ring assembly sleeved on the polishing pen body, the sleeve ring assembly comprises a sleeve ring body and a connecting sheet, the sleeve ring body is lockably arranged on the polishing pen body, and the first connecting end is connected together with the sleeve ring body through the connecting sheet.

[0015] According to a specific embodiment of the present application, the link body is in a spatial sheet structure; wherein, the projection of the link body on a longitudinal plane is in a smooth curve type.

[0016] According to an embodiment of the present application, the plurality of flexible connecting rods are respectively upper connecting rod groups and lower connecting rod groups; wherein the body of the polishing pen is provided with two connecting portions, the first connecting end of the flexible connecting rod in the upper connecting rod group is connected with the connecting portion below, and the second connecting end of the flexible connecting rod in the upper connecting rod group is connected with the driving end of the driving motor on the upper base; the first connecting end of the flexible connecting rod in the lower connecting rod group is connected with the connecting portion above, and the second connecting end of the flexible connecting rod in the lower connecting rod group is connected with the driving end of the driving motor on the lower base.

[0017] Further, the upper connecting rod group and the lower connecting rod group are each provided with two or more flexible connecting rods; wherein the flexible connecting rods in the upper connecting rod group and the lower connecting rod group are arranged alternately.

[0018] Further, the spacing between adjacent flexible connecting rods in the circumferential direction is the same.

[0019] According to an embodiment of the present application, the polishing pen assembly is a pneumatic polishing pen assembly or an electric polishing pen assembly.

[0020] According to an embodiment of the present application, the shell assembly further comprises an outer protective plate connected with at least one of the upper base, the lower base or the support to form protection for the installation space.

[0021] The present application has the following advantages: a flexible parallel actuator device suitable for robot polishing is provided, the flexible parallel mechanism is introduced into the polishing robot, so that the passive compliance to specific during the polishing process is achieved, and the advantages of multi-closed-loop parallel mechanism such as high speed, high precision and stable configuration are also achieved. Wherein the plurality of flexible connecting rods in the present application are arranged around the circumference of the polishing pen body, the deformation of the plurality of flexible connecting rods is driven by controlling the rotation of the plurality of driving motors, and then the extension, retraction and autorotation of the polishing pen body are cooperatively controlled, the structure can maintain strong bearing capacity and configuration stability, and also has the advantages of flexible motion and high compliance.

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 is the overall structure diagram of the polishing robot of the present application;

[0024] Figure 2 is the structure diagram of the flexible parallel end effector device of the present application;

[0025] Figure 3 is the internal diagram of the flexible parallel end effector device of the present application;

[0026] Figure 4 is Figure 3 a decomposition structure diagram of the

[0027] Figure 5 is a structure diagram of the piano case;

[0028] Figure 6 is a top view of the flexible driving mechanism;

[0029] Figure 7 is a partial structure diagram of the flexible driving mechanism;

[0030] Figure 8 is an installation schematic diagram of the flexible connecting rod;

[0031] Figure 9 is a structure diagram of the flexible connecting rod. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In the following description, a lot of specific details are set forth in order to facilitate a thorough understanding of the application, however, the application can be practiced in other ways different from those described herein, and therefore, the scope of protection of the application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0033] The embodiment of the application provides a flexible parallel actuator device 30 suitable for polishing work of a robot, which is installed at the end of a robot performing polishing work; for example, as shown in the figure, the robot performing polishing work comprises a frame seat 10 and a mechanical arm 20, the mechanical arm 20 is slidably arranged on a guide rail 11 of the frame seat 10, wherein the mechanical arm 20 preferably adopts a six-axis mechanical arm, and the flexible parallel actuator 30 is installed at the end of the mechanical arm 20. Figure 1

[0034] As shown in the figure, the flexible parallel actuator device 30 comprises a shell assembly 31, a polishing pen assembly 32 and a flexible driving mechanism 33. The shell assembly 31 comprises an upper base 311 and a lower base 312, the upper base 311 and the lower base 312 are connected together through a plurality of supports 313, for example, the supports 313 are rods, and the number of the supports 313 is three; specifically, the upper base 311 and the lower base 312 are preferably disc-shaped, and there is a gap between the upper base 311 and the lower base 312 to form an installation space. Figures 2-4 Further, the shell assembly 31 can further comprise an outer guard plate 314, the outer guard plate 314 is connected with at least one of the upper base 311, the lower base 312 or the supports 313, to form protection for the installation space. For example, the outer guard plate 314 is preferably a spliced structure, which has a plurality of arc-shaped guard plates, and the arc-shaped guard plates are preferably fixed on the upper base 311 and the lower base 312 in the form of bolts to form assembly.

[0035] Further, the shell assembly 31 can further comprise an outer guard plate 314, the outer guard plate 314 is connected with at least one of the upper base 311, the lower base 312 or the supports 313, to form protection for the installation space. For example, the outer guard plate 314 is preferably a spliced structure, which has a plurality of arc-shaped guard plates, and the arc-shaped guard plates are preferably fixed on the upper base 311 and the lower base 312 in the form of bolts to form assembly.​

[0036] The polishing pen assembly 32 in the embodiment is a pneumatic polishing pen assembly, which comprises a polishing pen body 321 and a polishing head 322; the polishing pen body 321 has a sliding part, preferably, the polishing pen body 321 is in a columnar shape as a whole to provide the sliding part; the upper base 311 is provided with a mounting hole, and a piano case 34 is arranged at the mounting hole, and the sliding part is embedded in the piano case 34 so that the polishing pen body 321 penetrates through the upper base 311; wherein the polishing head 322 is arranged at the end of the polishing pen body 321 and located at the opposite outer side of the upper base 311 away from the lower base 312. In another alternative embodiment, the polishing pen assembly 32 can also be an electric polishing pen assembly 32, which is not described here.

[0037] As shown in Figures 4-5 , the piano case 34 is in a circular structure, and the material can be rubber. It is installed at the mounting hole of the upper base 311 in the form of a bolt, for example; in the embodiment, the main purpose of arranging the piano case 34 is to separate the polishing area from the internal area of the flexible parallel actuator device 30, to prevent the dust and the like raised in the polishing process from entering the interior of the flexible parallel actuator device 30, to ensure the stable operation of the electrical elements, to increase the service life, to make it more durable, and to reduce the maintenance frequency.

[0038] Please continue to refer to Figures 3-4 and Figures 6-9 , the flexible driving mechanism 33 comprises a plurality of flexible connecting rods 331 and driving motors 332 corresponding to the flexible connecting rods 331, and in the embodiment, the number of the flexible connecting rods 331 is six, and the number of the driving motors 332 is also six, which can be arranged according to the needs in other embodiments.

[0039] Further, one end of the flexible connecting rod 331 is connected with the output end of the driving motor 332, and the end of the polishing pen body 321 away from the polishing head 322 is provided with a connecting part 35, and the other end of the flexible connecting rod 331 is connected with the connecting part 35; wherein the six flexible connecting rods 331 are arranged at intervals around the circumference of the polishing pen body 321, and the six driving motors 332 are controlled to rotate respectively to drive the six flexible connecting rods 331 to deform, and then the extension, retraction and rotation of the polishing pen body 321 are cooperatively controlled to drive the polishing head 322 to perform the polishing task in a set manner.

[0040] Please continue to refer to Figures 8-9As shown, the flexible connecting rod 331 comprises a connecting rod body 3311, and a first connecting end 3312 and a second connecting end 3313 arranged at opposite ends of the connecting rod body 3311, and the first connecting end 3312 and the second connecting end 3313 are preferably integrally formed with the connecting rod body 3311; wherein the first connecting end 3312 is used for connecting with the connecting part 35, and the second connecting end 3313 is used for connecting with the output end of the driving motor 332. As an example, the second connecting end 3313 is provided with a D-shaped hole, and the output shaft of the driving motor 332 is insertedly matched with the D-shaped hole.

[0041] Further, the connecting part 35 is a sleeve assembly sleeved on the grinding pen body 321, and the sleeve assembly comprises a sleeve body 351 and a connecting piece 352, the sleeve body 351 is lockingly arranged on the grinding pen body 321, and the first connecting end 3312 is connected together with the sleeve body 351 through the connecting piece 352; specifically, the installation position of the sleeve body 351 on the grinding pen body 321 can be adjusted as needed during installation.

[0042] The connecting rod body 3311 in the embodiment is in a spatial sheet structure, and a projection of the connecting rod body 3311 in a longitudinal plane (passing through the axis of the grinding pen body 321) is preferably in a smooth curve type. Wherein, the connecting rod body 3311 can be selected from flexible deformable materials such as TPU, spring steel, etc.; specifically, the connecting rod body 3311 is in a flat plate structure in an undeformed state, and will be bent and deformed to form a curved sheet structure as shown in the state. Figure 9

[0043] The six flexible connecting rods 331 in the embodiment are respectively an upper connecting rod group and a lower connecting rod group, and the upper connecting rod group and the lower connecting rod group each have three flexible connecting rods 331; wherein the grinding pen body 321 is provided with two upper and lower connecting parts 35, the first connecting end 3312 of the flexible connecting rod 331 in the upper connecting rod group is connected with the lower connecting part 35, and the second connecting end 3313 of the flexible connecting rod 331 in the upper connecting rod group is connected with the driving end of the driving motor 332 located on the upper base 311; the first connecting end 3312 of the flexible connecting rod 331 in the lower connecting rod group is connected with the upper connecting part 35, and the second connecting end 3313 of the flexible connecting rod 331 in the lower connecting rod group is connected with the driving end of the driving motor 332 located on the lower base 312, as shown in Figure 4 and Figure 7 As an example, the driving motor 332 is installed on the upper base 311 or the lower base 312 through a motor seat 333.

[0044] In the embodiment, the flexible connecting rods 331 in the upper connecting rod group and the lower connecting rod group are alternately arranged, as shown in Figure 6 ​The intervals between the adjacent flexible connecting rods 331 in the circumferential direction are the same, that is, six flexible connecting rods 331 form an array distribution. The six driving motors 332 are controlled to rotate to drive the six flexible connecting rods 331 to deform, and then the extension, retraction and rotation of the polishing pen body 321 are cooperatively controlled.

[0045] Specifically, the six flexible connecting rods 331 are arranged in two tripod structures (relative rotation of 60°) above and below. By introducing the flexible driving mechanism 33, and using the flexible connecting rod 331 with continuous deformation characteristics to replace the rigid branch chain in the parallel mechanism, the parallel mechanism has the characteristics of flexible connecting rod mechanism, such as flexible movement, high compliance, while maintaining strong bearing capacity and stable configuration. The structural defects of the parallel mechanism and the flexible connecting rod mechanism are improved. This structure inherits the passive adaptive characteristics of the flexible connecting rod mechanism structure, and also has the advantages of high speed, high precision and stable configuration of the parallel mechanism.

[0046] As an extension of the embodiment of the application, a redundant drive can also be designed, so that the flexible driving mechanism 33 has more driving sources, and then actively realizes the deformation of multiple flexible connecting rods 331, and finally actively changes the stiffness of the flexible driving mechanism 33.

[0047] Although the above describes the present application through embodiments, it should be understood that the above embodiments are only used to exemplarily describe the implementable solutions of the present application, and should not be interpreted as limiting the protection scope of the present application, that is, any replacement or change made by those skilled in the art according to the present application should also be covered by the protection scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A flexible parallel manipulator device suitable for robotic polishing operations, mounted at the end of a robot performing the polishing operations, characterised in that, The flexible parallel actuator device comprises: a housing assembly comprising an upper base, a lower base and a plurality of supports connecting the upper base and the lower base; wherein the upper base and the lower base have a gap therebetween to form a mounting space; a polishing pen assembly comprising a polishing pen body and a polishing head; the polishing pen body has a sliding portion, the upper base is provided with a mounting hole and an organ case arranged at the mounting hole, and the sliding portion is embedded in the organ case so that the polishing pen body penetrates through the upper base; wherein the polishing head is arranged at an end of the polishing pen body and located at an opposite outer side of the upper base away from the lower base; a flexible driving mechanism comprising a plurality of flexible links and driving motors corresponding to the flexible links, one end of the flexible link is connected with the output end of the driving motor, and the end of the polishing pen body away from the polishing head is provided with a connecting portion, and the other end of the flexible link is connected with the connecting portion; wherein the plurality of flexible links are arranged at intervals around the circumference of the polishing pen body, and the plurality of driving motors are controlled to rotate respectively to drive the plurality of flexible links to deform, thereby cooperatively controlling the extension, retraction and rotation of the polishing pen body; the flexible link comprises a link body and first and second connecting ends arranged at opposite ends of the link body, the first connecting end is used to connect with the connecting portion, and the second connecting end is used to connect with the output end of the driving motor; the link body has a spatial sheet structure; wherein the projection of the link body on a longitudinal plane is a smooth curve type; the plurality of flexible links are respectively upper and lower link groups; wherein the polishing pen body is provided with two connecting portions, the first connecting end of the flexible link in the upper link group is connected with the connecting portion below, and the second connecting end of the flexible link in the upper link group is connected with the driving end of the driving motor on the upper base; the first connecting end of the flexible link in the lower link group is connected with the connecting portion above, and the second connecting end of the flexible link in the lower link group is connected with the driving end of the driving motor on the lower base.

2. The flexible parallel manipulator apparatus suitable for robotic polishing operations of claim 1, wherein: the second connecting end is provided with a D-shaped hole, and the output shaft of the driving motor is insertedly matched with the D-shaped hole.

3. The flexible parallel manipulator apparatus suitable for robotic polishing operations of claim 1, wherein: the connecting portion is a sleeve ring assembly sleeved on the polishing pen body, the sleeve ring assembly comprises a sleeve ring body and a connecting sheet, the sleeve ring body is lockably arranged on the polishing pen body, and the first connecting end is connected together with the sleeve ring body through the connecting sheet.

4. The flexible parallel manipulator apparatus suitable for robotic polishing operations of claim 1, wherein: the upper and lower link groups are each provided with two or more flexible links; wherein the flexible links in the upper and lower link groups are arranged alternately.

5. The flexible parallel manipulator apparatus suitable for robotic polishing operations of claim 4, wherein: the spacing between adjacent flexible links in the circumferential direction is the same.

6. The flexible parallel manipulator apparatus suitable for robotic polishing operations of claim 1, wherein: the polishing pen assembly is a pneumatic polishing pen assembly or an electric polishing pen assembly.

7. The flexible parallel manipulator apparatus suitable for robotic polishing operations of claim 1, wherein: The housing assembly further comprises an outer shield connected to at least one of the upper base, the lower base or the support to shield the mounting space.

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