Telescopic jumping mechanism suitable for ellipsoidal robot

Abstract

The invention provides a telescopic jumping mechanism suitable for an ellipsoidal robot, and belongs to the field of robot structure design. The telescopic jumping mechanism is installed in the center of two hemispherical shells of the ellipsoidal robot, and the wheel diameter changing function and the jumping function of the two sides of the robot can be completed at the same time. The telescopic jumping mechanism comprises a driving mechanism, a switching mechanism and a jumping energy storage mechanism, aiming at the current situation that a motor is difficult to meet the requirements of high rotating speed and large torque at the same time, a jumping execution part mechanism and the motor are decoupled when the robot jumps, and the motor cannot rotate during jumping; therefore, the function that the 5-10 kg robot uses the spring and the motor to jump is achieved, movement of the ellipsoidal robot in the unstructured terrain is facilitated, and important application value is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a telescopic jumping mechanism applicable to an ellipsoidal robot, belonging to the field of robot structure design. Specifically, the jumping mechanism is installed at the center positions of two hemispheres of the ellipsoidal robot and is connected to the outer spherical shell through telescopic connecting rods, driving the movement of the ends of the connecting rods to realize the opening and closing functions of the robot's spherical shell. The telescopic jumping mechanism is based on a trapezoidal lead screw structure and realizes the rapid release function of the spring through a switching mechanism, driving the spherical shell to impact the ground and enabling the robot to jump. Background Art

[0002] The jumping function of the ellipsoidal robot is beneficial to the movement of the robot in unstructured terrains. This function is more conducive to the robot to overcome the limitations of rolling and cross some relatively large obstacles.

[0003] Most of the structural designs of existing jumping mechanisms refer to some jumping organisms in nature, such as the leg structure of frogs, the leg and tail structures of kangaroos, etc. Experiments such as frame-by-frame photography, dissection, and measurement are carried out on their jumping processes, and many link mechanisms are designed as skeletons based on the structures obtained from the above experiments, and the energy storage mechanism is used to simulate the principle of muscles to realize the jumping function of the robot. In existing jumping mechanism robots, most of the larger robots use pneumatic and hydraulic transmissions to drive the entire jumping mechanism, and the relatively large weight of the pneumatic and hydraulic mechanisms makes it difficult to directly apply them to micro and small robots. Currently, most small jumping robots generally use motors to drive spring mechanisms. Since the energy required for the robot to jump is relatively low, it is easy to find a motor that can simultaneously meet the torque for compressing the spring and the fast rotation speed for jumping. This patent designs a jumping mechanism driven by a motor and a large spring for an ellipsoidal robot with a weight of 5 - 10 kg, and decouples the motor and the spring during jumping to prevent the motor from being damaged due to the too fast rotation speed during the rapid movement of the mechanism during jumping. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention provides a telescopic jumping mechanism applicable to an ellipsoidal robot, which is divided into a driving mechanism, a switching mechanism, and a jumping energy storage mechanism. The entire jumping process of the robot can be divided into several parts: spring energy storage, energy release for jumping, and the recovery mechanism preparing for the next jump;

[0005] The present invention provides a telescopic jumping mechanism applicable to an ellipsoidal robot. During the energy storage stage of the driving mechanism, the lead screw rotates to drive the nut downward to the required position. At this time, the spring is compressed to store energy. Due to the self-locking function of the trapezoidal lead screw, the spring can maintain this position until it is released. During jumping, the bolt is separated from the socket, and the nut and the lead screw will not move during the jumping process, thus protecting the motor that drives the movement of the lead screw. There are two optical rods on both sides of the driving mechanism, and two linear bearings are installed on the rods to play a guiding role. When the telescopic mechanism moves to the uppermost position, the spring is just in its natural state, and the end cover and rubber pad that limit the position at the end of the optical rod will stabilize the telescopic mechanism at the uppermost position;

[0006] The present invention provides a telescopic jumping mechanism applicable to an ellipsoidal robot. The switching mechanism consists of two electromagnetic bolt locks, which connect the upper half and the lower half of the driving mechanism. When the bolt locks are closed, the lead screw rotates, and the nut drives the upper half of the telescopic mechanism and the connecting rod connected thereto to complete the normal opening and closing and variable wheel diameter functions of the ellipsoidal robot. When the bolt locks are opened, the compressed spring is released, and the robot completes the jumping process. After the jumping is completed, the motor drives the nut to move upward, and the bolt and the socket are recombined to prepare for the next jump of the robot;

[0007] The present invention provides a telescopic jumping mechanism applicable to an ellipsoidal robot. The jumping energy storage mechanism can release the energy stored in the spring in a short time, so that the upper half of the telescopic mechanism drives the connecting rod to impact the ground with the hemispherical surface, causing the ellipsoidal robot to collide with the ground and jump;

[0008] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following solutions:

[0009] The telescopic jumping mechanism of the present invention is arranged between the two hemispherical shells of the ellipsoidal robot. The driving mechanism is connected to the connecting rod and the outer spherical shell, and can realize the jumping function of the robot by driving the connecting rod to move quickly.

[0010] The telescopic jumping mechanism is composed of a driving mechanism, a jumping energy storage mechanism and a switching mechanism. The driving mechanism is mainly used to drive the spherical shell to retract and expand when the robot does not jump, so as to realize the variable wheel diameter function of the robot. At the same time, the driving mechanism is also responsible for compressing the spring before the robot jumps, and fixing the spring at the compressed position through the self-locking function of the trapezoidal lead screw. Considering that the lower half of the driving mechanism will be separated from the energy storage mechanism during jumping, in order to ensure the centering of the linear motion, optical rods and linear bearings are installed on both sides of the driving mechanism to guide the linear axial motion of the driving mechanism. At the same time, in order to facilitate the recovery of the spring after the jumping process of the robot, a limiting block is added to the end of the optical rod, so that the spring is as far as possible in a completely unloaded state to facilitate recovery.

[0011] The jumping energy storage mechanism is mainly used to provide the energy required for the robot to jump. The spring in the energy storage mechanism has a relatively large elastic coefficient, and its compression amount matches the movement distance of the connecting rod to ensure that when the spherical shell extends to the outermost side, the spring is just completely released, which also ensures that the energy provided by the spring will not be additionally consumed due to the additional stretching process of the spring caused by extra movement. The selection of the motor at the end of the driving mechanism is also related to the elastic coefficient and compression amount of the spring, and a motor with a larger reduction ratio needs to be selected to meet the torque requirement for compressing the spring. Since the motor is decoupled from the actual jumping connecting rod during the jumping process, there is no need to have excessive requirements for the maximum rotational speed of the motor, which also significantly expands the range of selectable motors.

[0012] The switching mechanism consists of a bolt and a lock, and is symmetrically arranged on both sides of the entire telescopic jumping mechanism. Since the center of the mechanism is occupied by the lead screw, it is necessary to arrange the switching mechanism on both sides. The electromagnetic bolt and lock mechanism has a relatively small overall weight and volume, and can provide a large binding force, meeting the requirements of a large spring and large pressure.

[0013] The present invention provides a telescopic jumping mechanism applicable to an ellipsoidal robot. Its advantage lies in that by means of the switching mechanism, the main motor is decoupled from the structure that actually moves rapidly during jumping, thereby playing a role in protecting the motor and also expanding the selection range of high-torque motors. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall ellipsoidal robot;

[0015] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the hemispherical shell;

[0016] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the driving mechanism in the telescopic jumping mechanism;

[0017] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the jumping energy storage mechanism;

[0018] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the switching mechanism;

[0019] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the telescopic jumping mechanism when the switching mechanism is released;

[0020] In order to more clearly explain the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention, the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0021] As Figure 1As shown, the overall robot consists of two hemispherical shells and an intermediate part 3. There are six small spherical surfaces 2 that can extend on each of the two spherical shells on both sides. The small spherical surfaces are driven by internal connecting rods to open, changing the movement radius of the spherical shell. At this time, the robot can cross some obstacles and complete obstacle-crossing tasks such as climbing stairs. The two hemispherical shells of the robot are equipped with a gear and gear ring 1 structure. The gear is driven by a motor to drive the spherical shell fixedly connected to the gear ring to rotate, realizing the basic forward and backward functions of the robot. When the rotational speeds of the spherical shells on both sides of the robot are different, the robot can complete a turning motion. Inside the intermediate part 103, there is a pendulum structure that does not rotate with the rotation of the spherical shells on both sides when the robot rolls. Therefore, some electronic components can be added to the intermediate spherical shell to achieve extended functions, such as the camera 4 in the figure.

[0022] As Figure 2 shown, inside each hemispherical shell of the robot, there are six connecting rod groups 5 connecting the small spherical shells. Its design inspiration comes from the opening and closing function of a folding umbrella. The ends of the connecting rods are connected to the telescopic and jumping mechanism 6, and are driven by the motor on the telescopic and jumping mechanism 6 to extend the same distance outward together.

[0023] As Figure 3 shown, the overall telescopic mechanism is connected to the ellipsoidal robot by an end cap 601, a top plate 610, and a base 609. The center is a trapezoidal lead screw 602, on which there is a movable nut 603. The nut 603 is fixed on the lower plate 607, and the lead screw 602 is driven to rotate by a motor 604. There are multiple protruding small plates on the top plate 610 and the upper plate 605, and these small plates are connected to the connecting rods. When the robot is about to open and close normally, the motor 604 drives the lead screw to rotate, and the nut 603 moves up and down along the lead screw. Since the upper plate 605 is connected to the lower plate 607 at this time, the nut can drive the ends of the connecting rods to realize the opening and closing function of the small spherical shell. Two linear bearings 606 are respectively installed at the connections of the optical rod 608 with the base 609 and the lower plate 607, playing a guiding role during the jumping process of the robot. The end of the optical rod 608 is equipped with a rubber pad 611, which is used for buffering the collision during jumping and plays a limiting role.

[0024] As Figure 4 shown, two optical rods 614 of the jumping energy storage mechanism are fixed between the top plate 610 and the base 609. The linear bearing 613 is fixed on the upper plate 605, playing a guiding role. The spring 612 is fixed between the base 612 and the upper plate 605, and is compressed and released as the upper plate 605 moves. Two springs are used to provide sufficient energy for the jumping process, and the springs are symmetrically arranged, which also avoids generating excessive torque to affect the motion posture of the robot.

[0025] As Figure 5 、 6As shown, the jack 615 is fixed on the lower plate 607, and the bolt 616 is fixed on the upper plate 605. During normal opening and closing functions, the jack 615 is combined with the bolt 616, and the upper and lower half mechanisms move together. During jumping, the two are unfolded, and the upper plate 605 drives the connecting rod to move upward quickly. After jumping, the lower plate 607 drives the jack 615 to move upward together to a suitable position, the jack 615 is combined with the bolt 616, and then the lower plate 607 moves downward to prepare for the next jump.

Claims

1. A telescopic jumping mechanism applicable to an ellipsoidal jumping robot, characterized in that: The telescopic jumping mechanism is respectively installed at the centers of the two hemispherical shells of the ellipsoidal robot, enabling the robot to perform two functions: changing the wheel diameter of the robot and jumping. The telescopic jumping mechanism consists of a driving mechanism, a jumping energy storage mechanism, and a switching mechanism. Considering that it is difficult for a motor to meet the two requirements of high rotational speed and high torque simultaneously, during the jumping process, the mechanism that executes the rapid movement of the jumping motion is decoupled from the motor, so that the motor does not move during the jumping process, which not only protects the motor but also enables the jumping energy storage mechanism to be equipped with a spring with a larger spring constant, providing more energy to drive a 5-10 kg robot to jump. The driving mechanism mainly includes a trapezoidal lead screw mechanism and a motor, which can drive the connecting rod to move through the up and down movement of the nut to perform the opening and closing movement of the spherical shell. At the same time, the motor also provides a large torque to compress and assist in locking the spring before the robot jumps. The jumping energy storage mechanism consists of a polished rod and a spring, which is compressed before the robot jumps and releases energy during the jump. The switching mechanism consists of a plug and socket and a matching control circuit, which releases to decouple the motor from the jumping actuator at the start of the jump. After jumping, they are reconnected to prepare for the next jumping process.

2. For the telescopic jumping mechanism applicable to an ellipsoidal robot according to claim 1, when its motor is connected to the jumping execution part mechanism, the outer shell deformation mechanism drives the spherical shell to expand outwards, and the robot with the expanded radius can cross a certain obstacle; when the jumping energy storage mechanism releases energy, the outer shell deformation mechanism will move quickly to drive the spherical shell to collide with the ground to complete the jump.

3. For the telescopic jumping mechanism applicable to an ellipsoidal robot according to claim 1, its structure is basically symmetrically designed, which will not bring additional torque to the robot to affect its movement, and at the same time, it also makes full use of the space inside the hemispherical shell and will not interfere with the movement of the connecting rod.

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