Wheel-paddle-leg integrated water-land-air multi-purpose robot

Abstract

The invention relates to a wheel-paddle-leg integrated water-land-air multi-purpose robot which comprises a robot body, a foldable rotor wing device, four wheel-leg structures and a control unit, the foldable rotor wing device is installed on the robot body and can be unfolded when working and folded when not working, and the four wheel-leg structures are installed on the periphery of the robot body respectively. Each wheel-leg structure is composed of a leg structure and a wheel paddle, the upper end of the leg structure is connected with the machine body, and the lower end of the leg structure is connected with the wheel paddle; the control unit is arranged in the machine body and electrically connected with the foldable rotor devices, the leg structures and the driving units of the wheel paddles so as to switch three different working modes of air movement, ground movement and underwater movement. The robot has a water-land-air multi-habitat function and is high in maneuverability, high in environment adaptability and wide in application range.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of robots, and in particular relates to a wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot. Background Art

[0002] Robots have been widely used in many fields due to their strong environmental adaptability, high flexibility and mobility, especially in harsh environment application scenarios such as aquaculture, military reconnaissance, and mapping. However, traditional robots have simple movement forms and can often only meet relatively simple and single working environments.

[0003] Compared with traditional robots, amphibious robots have a larger range of activities. Drones in the air can only perform aerial operations, and cannot move in the water, and may even burn out the internal electronic equipment; robots that move on land can move freely on the ground, but cannot fly, let alone enter the water; underwater robots can often perform amphibious movements on land and water, but lack flying parts and cannot perform aerial operations. The environmental adaptability of existing amphibious robots has been greatly improved over robots with a single motion mode, but there are still great limitations. To this end, it is of great academic and practical engineering significance to study and design amphibious robots that can realize the amphibious switching function of land, water and air, change the single motion mode and the single operating environment, and meet people's needs for scientific research and exploration of the vast space.

[0004] The Chinese patent application number CN201911096192.X discloses an all-terrain mobile robot, including a robot frame, and one or more mechanical leg assemblies arranged on the robot frame; the mechanical leg assembly includes a hip joint assembly, a thigh assembly, a calf assembly and a mobile assembly; the thigh assembly is connected to the robot frame through a hip joint assembly; one end of the calf assembly is connected to the thigh assembly, and the other end of the calf assembly is connected to the mobile assembly. Although the robot uses a wheel-leg combination to improve its terrain adaptability, the leg drive joint is driven by a motor, which reduces the load capacity of the robot and reduces its application under high load conditions; at the same time, the leg joints of the robot do not have a shock-absorbing function. If it is driven at high speed in wheeled mode, the uneven road surface will cause a large vibration to the fuselage, which not only affects the robot's motion control accuracy, but also reduces the life of various components of the fuselage.

[0005] The Chinese patent with application number CN202310998242.3 discloses an all-round multi-robot capable of land, water and air, which relates to the field of robot technology; in order to solve the problem that the robot itself is prone to large shaking when switching between flight mode and ground walking mode; specifically includes a robot body, the outer walls on both sides of the robot body are respectively provided with connection seats, the inner wall of the connection seat is provided with a stepper motor, the output shaft of the stepper motor is connected to a connection frame through a coupling, the outer walls on both sides of the connection frame are respectively provided with a group of support blocks, the outer wall on one side of the support block is provided with a first guide block and a second guide block, and the outer walls on both sides of the robot body are respectively provided with a group of rectangular grooves, and the inner wall at the top of the rectangular groove is fixed with a connection block. Although the multi-robot can have multi-robot mobility on land, water and air, it cannot meet the working requirements in harsh environments such as gravel ground, and cannot cross small obstacles such as steps. Summary of the invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide an integrated wheel-paddle-leg amphibious amphibious robot, which has amphibious amphibious functions, high maneuverability, strong environmental adaptability and a wide range of applications.

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a wheel-propeller-leg integrated amphibious and air-water multi-functional robot, comprising a body, a foldable rotor device, four wheel-leg structures and a control unit, the foldable rotor device is installed on the body and can be unfolded when working and folded when not working, the four wheel-leg structures are respectively installed around the body, each wheel-leg structure is composed of a leg structure and a wheel-propeller, the upper end of the leg structure is connected to the body, and the lower end of the leg structure is connected to the wheel-propeller; the control unit is arranged in the body, and is electrically connected to the drive units of the foldable rotor device, the leg structure and the wheel-propeller, respectively, to switch between three different working modes: air movement, ground movement and water movement.

[0008] Furthermore, the retractable rotor device includes a gear rack mechanism and two sets of rotor assemblies, the gear rack mechanism is installed on the upper middle part of the fuselage, the gear rack mechanism includes a gear drive motor, a gear, a rack guide rail and front and rear racks, the gear drive motor is installed on the fuselage and drives the gear to rotate, the rack guide rail is installed on the fuselage, the front and rear racks are respectively meshed with the left and right sides of the gear, and under the guidance of the rack guide rail, they move forward and backward under the drive of the gear; the two sets of rotor assemblies are respectively installed on the front and rear sides of the fuselage, each set of rotor assemblies includes two rotors, two rotor drive motors, two A rotor connecting rod, two connecting rods and a rotor mounting seat, the rotor mounting seat is fixedly mounted on the fuselage, the output end of the rotor drive motor is connected to the corresponding rotor, the two rotor drive motors are respectively mounted on the left and right sides of the rotor mounting seat through the corresponding rotor connecting rods, one end of the rotor connecting rod is rotatably connected to the rotor mounting seat, and the other end is fixedly mounted on the rotor drive motor; the front end of the front rack is rotatably connected to the middle parts of the two rotor connecting rods of the rotor assembly on the front side through two connecting rods, and the rear end of the rear rack is rotatably connected to the middle parts of the two rotor connecting rods of the rotor assembly on the rear side through two connecting rods.

[0009] Furthermore, the leg structure includes a hip component, a thigh component and a calf component, the hip component is fixedly connected to the side of the body, the upper end of the thigh component is rotatably connected to the end of the hip component and is driven to rotate by a thigh drive motor, the upper end of the calf component is rotatably connected to the lower end of the thigh component and is driven to rotate by the calf drive motor, and the paddle wheel is rotatably connected to the lower end of the calf component and is driven to rotate by the paddle wheel drive motor.

[0010] Furthermore, the propeller is composed of a propeller-type wheel and a tire, the propeller-type wheel is composed of a hub, spokes and a rim, the spokes are of a propeller-type configuration, the hub is connected to the rim through the spokes, the tire is mounted on the rim, and the hub is connected to the propeller drive motor and driven to rotate by it.

[0011] Furthermore, the body includes a frame and a shell, the shell is fixedly installed on the outside of the frame, the control unit is arranged in the shell and installed on the frame, and the shell is a sealed structure to prevent water from entering the body.

[0012] Furthermore, the frame is a rectangular frame structure, the shell is composed of upper, lower, front, rear, left and right side panels, rubber waterproof pads are arranged at the joints between the side panels, and are fixed together by threaded fasteners to achieve compression sealing between the side panels; the retractable rotor device is installed on the upper side panel, and the four wheel-leg structures are installed on the left and right side panels.

[0013] Furthermore, when the robot is in the aerial motion mode, the position and posture of the robot's motion are adjusted by controlling the rotation speed of different rotors on the retractable rotor device, thereby realizing the robot's vertical motion, pitch motion, tumbling motion, and turning motion.

[0014] Furthermore, the robot's ground motion mode includes a wheeled motion mode and a footed motion mode; the wheeled motion mode is used for fast movement on paved roads. When the robot is in the wheeled motion mode, the forward and backward movement of the robot on the road is achieved by controlling the operation of the wheel propellers, and the turning movement of the robot on the road is achieved by controlling the differential operation of the four wheel propellers; the footed motion mode is used for crossing obstacles or moving on unpaved roads. When the robot is in the footed motion mode, the four wheel propellers are fixed, and the robot's obstacle-crossing movement is achieved by controlling the movement of the four leg structures.

[0015] Furthermore, when the robot is in the water motion mode, the forward and backward motion of the robot in the water is achieved by controlling the operation of the wheels and propellers, and the turning motion of the robot in the water is achieved by controlling the differential operation of the four wheels and propellers.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: the present invention provides a wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot, which integrates the motion structure of three working modes: air motion, ground motion, and water motion, and can also take into account the ability of rapid motion and obstacle crossing in the ground motion mode. It has a wide range of applicable scenarios, strong adaptability to the environment, and strong anti-interference ability. The robot can flexibly switch between multiple motion modes and is suitable as a mobile multimodal working robot to complete various working activities. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious-aerial multi-robot according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a deployed state of a foldable rotor device in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a folded state of a foldable rotor device in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the leg structure in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the propeller structure in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0019] It should be noted that the following detailed descriptions are exemplary and are intended to provide further explanation of the present application. Unless otherwise specified, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present application belongs.

[0020] It should be noted that the terms used herein are only for describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments according to the present application. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular form is also intended to include the plural form. In addition, it should be understood that when the terms "comprise" and / or "include" are used in this specification, it indicates the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0021] like Figure 1 As shown, the present embodiment provides an amphibious, air-water and wheel-propeller-leg integrated amphibious robot, comprising a body 1, a foldable rotor device 2, four wheel-leg structures and a control unit, wherein the foldable rotor device 2 is mounted on the body 1 and can be unfolded when working and folded when not working, and the four wheel-leg structures are respectively mounted around the body, and each wheel-leg structure consists of a leg structure 3 and a wheel-propeller 4, wherein the upper end of the leg structure 3 is connected to the body 1, and the lower end of the leg structure 3 is connected to the wheel-propeller 4; the control unit is arranged in the body 1, and is respectively electrically connected to the drive units of the foldable rotor device 2, the leg structure 3 and the wheel-propeller 4, so as to switch between three different working modes of air movement, ground movement and water movement.

[0022] like Figure 2-3As shown, the retractable rotor device 2 includes a gear rack mechanism and two sets of rotor assemblies. The gear rack mechanism is installed on the upper middle part of the body 1. The gear rack mechanism includes a gear drive motor, a gear 27, a rack guide 28 and front and rear racks. The gear drive motor is installed on the body 1 and drives the gear 27 to rotate. The rack guide 28 is installed on the body 1. The front and rear racks are respectively meshed with the left and right sides of the gear 27, and under the guidance of the rack guide 28, they move forward and backward under the drive of the gear 27; the two sets of rotor assemblies are respectively installed on the front and rear sides of the body 1, and each set of rotor assemblies includes two rotors 21, two rotor drive motors 22, two rotor links A connecting rod 23, two connecting rods 25 and a rotor mounting seat 24, wherein the rotor mounting seat 24 is fixedly mounted on the body 1, the output end of the rotor drive motor 22 is connected to the corresponding rotor 21, and the two rotor drive motors 22 are respectively mounted on the left and right sides of the rotor mounting seat 24 through the corresponding rotor connecting rods 23, one end of the rotor connecting rod 23 is rotatably connected to the rotor mounting seat 24, and the other end is fixedly mounted on the rotor drive motor 22; the front end of the front rack is rotatably connected to the middle parts of the two rotor connecting rods of the front rotor assembly through two connecting rods 25, and the rear end of the rear rack is rotatably connected to the middle parts of the two rotor connecting rods of the rear rotor assembly through two connecting rods 25.

[0023] like Figure 4 As shown, the leg structure 3 includes a hip component 31, a thigh component 32 and a calf component 33. The hip component 31 is fixedly connected to the side of the body 1. The upper end of the thigh component 32 is rotatably connected to the end of the hip component 31 and is driven to rotate by the thigh drive motor. The upper end of the calf component 33 is rotatably connected to the lower end of the thigh component 32 and is driven to rotate by the calf drive motor. The wheel-paddle is rotatably connected to the lower end of the calf component 33 and is driven to rotate by the wheel-paddle drive motor.

[0024] like Figure 5 As shown, the paddle 4 is composed of a propeller-type wheel 41 and a tire 42. The propeller-type wheel 41 is composed of a hub, spokes and a rim. The spokes are of a propeller-type configuration. The hub is connected to the rim through the spokes. The tire 42 is installed on the rim. The hub is connected to the paddle drive motor and is driven to rotate by it.

[0025] The body 1 includes a frame and a shell, the shell is fixedly mounted on the outside of the frame, the control unit is arranged in the shell and mounted on the frame, and the shell is a sealing structure to prevent water from entering the body. In this embodiment, the frame is a rectangular frame structure, and the shell is composed of upper, lower, front, rear, left and right side panels. Rubber waterproof pads are placed at the joints between the side panels, and they are fixed together by threaded fasteners to achieve compression and sealing between the side panels; the retractable rotor device is installed on the upper side panel, and the four wheel leg structures are installed on the left and right side panels.

[0026] In this device, dynamic sealing is performed between all relatively moving parts to prevent water from entering the moving parts and affecting the normal operation of the robot.

[0027] When the robot is in the aerial motion mode, the position and posture of the robot movement are adjusted by controlling the rotation speed of different rotors on the foldable rotor device, so as to realize the vertical motion, pitch motion, tumbling motion and turning motion of the robot. The pitch motion (forward and backward flight) of the robot can be realized by controlling the increase or decrease of the rotation speed of a pair of adjacent rotors; the tumbling motion (left and right flight) of the robot can be realized by controlling the increase or decrease of the rotation speed of the rotor on the same side; the yaw motion (left and right turning) of the robot can be realized by reducing the rotation speed of two non-adjacent spiral wings to be less than that of the other rotor. Specifically, the gear drive motor drives the gear 27 to rotate and drive the rack 26 to move along the rack guide 28, and the rack 26 drives the connecting rod 25 to drive the rotor mounting rod 23 to unfold. The rotor drive motor 22 drives the control rotor 21 to rotate with the other three identical rotors. By controlling the rotation speed of the rotor drive motor 22, the position and posture of the robot can be controlled. The vertical motion of the robot is realized by simultaneously controlling the synchronous change of the rotation speed of the four rotor drive motors 22. The pitch motion of the robot is achieved by controlling the rotation speed of a pair of adjacent rotor drive motors 22 to increase or decrease; the yaw motion of the robot is achieved by reducing or increasing the rotation speed of a pair of non-adjacent motors to make it different from the remaining motors.

[0028] The ground motion mode of the robot includes a wheeled motion mode and a footed motion mode; the wheeled motion mode is used for fast movement on paved roads. When the robot is in the wheeled motion mode, the robot moves forward and backward on the road surface by controlling the operation of the wheel propellers, and the robot turns on the road surface by controlling the differential operation of the four wheel propellers; the footed motion mode is used to cross obstacles or move on unpaved roads. When the robot is in the footed motion mode, the four wheel propellers are fixed, and the robot's obstacle-crossing motion is achieved by controlling the movement of the four leg structures. When encountering an obstacle, the wheeled motion mode is first used to move the robot to the front of the obstacle, and then the left and right leg structures are controlled to move to step over the obstacle respectively. The leg structures 3 on the same side keep the same motion state; that is, the leg structure on one side is in the state of kicking the legs, and the leg structure on the other side is in the state of stepping the legs. The motion states of the leg structures on both sides are alternately set to achieve a four-legged stepping mode, which is suitable for passing through rugged roads.

[0029] When the robot is in the water motion mode, the robot moves forward and backward in the water by controlling the operation of the propellers, and the robot turns in the water by controlling the differential operation of the four propellers. That is, when traveling on the water surface, the propellers provide thrust, and the robot moves forward along the axis of the propellers, that is, the robot moves sideways.

[0030] The wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot provided by the present invention can select different motion modes and motion postures according to different task requirements, such as posture, motion efficiency, stability, etc. When the robot is in flight mode, its balanced motion ability can enable it to move quickly while maintaining a good motion posture, and it has a stronger ability to adapt to the environment and has a strong anti-interference ability. The wheel-paddle can perform forward turning and other movements in the water, and can have good obstacle crossing capabilities on uneven land, so that the amphibious robot has the ability to efficiently pass through land, water, and water-land transition environments, and can operate in a variety of task environments.

[0031] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention in other forms. Any technician familiar with the profession may use the above disclosed technical content to change or modify it into an equivalent embodiment with equivalent changes. However, any simple modification, equivalent change and modification made to the above embodiment according to the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the technical solution of the present invention still belongs to the protection scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious robot, characterized in that: The invention comprises a fuselage, a retractable rotor device, four wheel-leg structures and a control unit. The retractable rotor device is installed on the fuselage and can be unfolded when working and folded when not working. The four wheel-leg structures are respectively installed around the fuselage. Each wheel-leg structure consists of a leg structure and a wheel-propeller. The upper end of the leg structure is connected to the fuselage, and the lower end of the leg structure is connected to the wheel-propeller. The control unit is arranged in the fuselage and is respectively electrically connected to the drive units of the retractable rotor device, the leg structure and the wheel-propeller to switch between three different working modes: air movement, ground movement and water movement.

2. The wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The retractable rotor device includes a gear rack mechanism and two sets of rotor assemblies, the gear rack mechanism is installed on the upper middle part of the fuselage, the gear rack mechanism includes a gear drive motor, a gear, a rack guide rail and front and rear racks, the gear drive motor is installed on the fuselage and drives the gear to rotate, the rack guide rail is installed on the fuselage, the front and rear racks are respectively meshed with the left and right sides of the gear, and under the guidance of the rack guide rail, they move forward and backward under the drive of the gear; the two sets of rotor assemblies are respectively installed on the front and rear sides of the fuselage, each set of rotor assemblies includes two rotors, two rotor drive motors, two rotors A wing connecting rod, two connecting rods and a rotor mounting seat, the rotor mounting seat is fixedly mounted on the fuselage, the output end of the rotor drive motor is connected to the corresponding rotor, the two rotor drive motors are respectively mounted on the left and right sides of the rotor mounting seat through the corresponding rotor connecting rods, one end of the rotor connecting rod is rotatably connected to the rotor mounting seat, and the other end is fixedly mounted on the rotor drive motor; the front end of the front rack is rotatably connected to the middle parts of the two rotor connecting rods of the rotor assembly on the front side through two connecting rods, and the rear end of the rear rack is rotatably connected to the middle parts of the two rotor connecting rods of the rotor assembly on the rear side through two connecting rods.

3. The wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The leg structure includes a hip component, a thigh component and a calf component, wherein the hip component is fixedly connected to the side of the body, the upper end of the thigh component is rotatably connected to the end of the hip component and is driven to rotate by a thigh drive motor, the upper end of the calf component is rotatably connected to the lower end of the thigh component and is driven to rotate by the calf drive motor, and the paddle wheel is rotatably connected to the lower end of the calf component and is driven to rotate by the paddle wheel drive motor.

4. The wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The paddle wheel is composed of a propeller-type wheel and a tire. The propeller-type wheel is composed of a hub, spokes and a rim. The spokes are of a propeller-type configuration. The hub is connected to the rim through the spokes. The tire is mounted on the rim. The hub is connected to a paddle drive motor and is driven to rotate by it.

5. The wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The machine body comprises a frame and a shell, wherein the shell is fixedly mounted on the outside of the frame, the control unit is arranged in the shell and mounted on the frame, and the shell is a sealing structure to prevent water from entering the machine body.

6. The wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot according to claim 5, characterized in that: The frame is a rectangular frame structure, and the shell is composed of upper, lower, front, rear, left and right side panels. Rubber waterproof pads are arranged at the joints between the side panels and are fixed together by threaded fasteners to achieve compression and sealing between the side panels; the retractable rotor device is installed on the upper side panel, and the four wheel-leg structures are installed on the left and right side panels.

7. The wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the robot is in the aerial motion mode, the position and posture of the robot's motion are adjusted by controlling the rotation speed of different rotors on the retractable rotor device, thereby realizing the robot's vertical motion, pitch motion, tumbling motion, and turning motion.

8. The wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ground motion mode of the robot includes a wheeled motion mode and a footed motion mode; the wheeled motion mode is used for fast movement on paved roads. When the robot is in the wheeled motion mode, the forward and backward movement of the robot on the road is achieved by controlling the operation of the wheel propellers, and the turning movement of the robot on the road is achieved by controlling the differential operation of the four wheel propellers; the footed motion mode is used for crossing obstacles or moving on unpaved roads. When the robot is in the footed motion mode, the four wheel propellers are fixed, and the robot's obstacle-crossing movement is achieved by controlling the movement of the four leg structures.

9. The wheel-paddle-leg integrated amphibious amphibious robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the robot is in the water motion mode, the forward and backward motion of the robot in the water is achieved by controlling the operation of the wheel propellers, and the steering motion of the robot in the water is achieved by controlling the differential operation of the four wheel propellers.

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