A wireless data acquisition device suitable for train inspection robots

Abstract

The present invention discloses a wireless data acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot, comprising a battery assembly, a control panel, a camera unit and a light source, wherein the battery assembly, the control panel, the camera unit and the light source are arranged at the far end of a mechanical arm, and a power supply modulation module, a processing module and a wireless communication module are arranged in the control panel, the power supply modulation module is connected to the battery assembly and is used to supply power to other components, the processing module receives instructions through the wireless communication module and sends a trigger signal to the camera unit and the light source, and the camera unit sends the collected data to the outside through the wireless communication module. The present invention does not need to set cables along the mechanical arm, and has a simple and flexible structure, which ensures that the mechanical arm can operate flexibly and freely over a large range, avoids the situation where cables are entangled and hinder the mechanical arm, and avoids the situation where cables block the collection device and cause missed inspections, and uses wireless communication to transmit image data to ensure the reliability and stability of image acquisition.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of rail transit detection technology, and in particular to a wireless acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot. Background Art

[0002] Subway vehicles are an important part of urban rail transit, running on tracks and carrying passengers. Subway vehicles have a complex structure. To ensure the daily safe operation of subway vehicles, subway vehicles need to be returned to a dedicated maintenance depot for maintenance after completing their daily transportation tasks.

[0003] The traditional inspection method for subway vehicles uses manual visual observation. With the advancement of science and technology, the degree of intelligence of automation equipment is getting higher and higher, and more mechanical equipment is put into the maintenance process of subway vehicles. The current common method is to use intelligent train inspection robots for automatic maintenance operations. The intelligent train inspection robot generally consists of three parts: a mobile platform, a robotic arm, and an image acquisition unit. The robotic arm is connected to the mobile platform, and the image acquisition unit is connected to the robotic arm. After the mobile platform moves to a certain position along the maintenance trench, the robotic arm drives the image acquisition unit to move to a precise position to perform maintenance operations on the components of the subway vehicle.

[0004] The acquisition host used by the current intelligent train inspection robot is large in size and heavy in weight. The acquisition host is usually set on a mobile platform, and then a special cable is set to extend from the mobile platform along the robotic arm to the image acquisition unit. The cable is used to power the image acquisition unit, transmit control instructions to the image acquisition unit, and transmit image information collected by the image acquisition unit to the acquisition host on the mobile platform. The robotic arm needs to rotate at a large angle and move over a large range. It is easy for the cable to hinder the movement of the robotic arm, resulting in a smaller range of movement of the robotic arm, or the cable to block the image acquisition unit, resulting in image acquisition errors, which causes many inconveniences to maintenance operations. Summary of the invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved and the technical task proposed by the present invention are to improve the existing technology and provide a wireless acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot, so as to solve the problem that the intelligent train inspection robot in the current technology uses cables arranged along the mechanical arm to connect and communicate with the image acquisition unit on the mechanical arm, which hinders the movement of the mechanical arm and affects the reliability of image acquisition.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution of the present invention is:

[0007] A wireless acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot comprises a battery assembly, a control panel, a camera unit and a light source, wherein the battery assembly, the control panel, the camera unit and the light source are arranged at the far end of a mechanical arm, the control panel is provided with a power supply modulation module, a processing module and a wireless communication module, the power supply modulation module is connected to the battery assembly for supplying power to other components, the processing module receives instructions through the wireless communication module and sends a trigger signal to the camera unit and the light source, and the camera unit sends the collected data outward through the wireless communication module. The wireless acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot of the present invention removes the traditional cable used to connect the host and the acquisition device located on the mobile platform, effectively avoids the cable from hindering the flexible movement of the mechanical arm, and avoids the situation where the cable blocks the acquisition device and causes missed inspection, adopts the battery assembly for power supply, thereby eliminating the need for a power supply line, and transmits the work instructions and the collected image data through wireless communication, and also eliminates the need for a data transmission line, and the wireless acquisition device starts working after the mechanical arm moves into place, ensuring the accuracy of the final fault analysis result, and after the mechanical arm is reset, the battery assembly is charged by a wireless charging device, ensuring that there is sufficient power at any time to meet the maintenance operation, and avoiding the situation where the maintenance operation is interrupted.

[0008] Furthermore, the camera unit and the light source are controlled by the processing module to trigger synchronous operation, that is, the light source emits light while the camera unit takes pictures, and the light source is turned off when the camera unit does not take pictures, thereby reducing power consumption and extending the working time of the wireless acquisition device to meet the needs of long-term maintenance.

[0009] Furthermore, the light source includes a surface light source for providing illumination when the camera unit is performing image acquisition, providing good illumination to ensure the clarity of the camera unit when performing image acquisition and improve the accuracy of fault analysis.

[0010] Furthermore, the light source also includes a structured light source for three-dimensional imaging. The structured light source is irradiated on the component to be inspected, and then the structured light on the component is photographed by a camera unit. The collected image data can be used for three-dimensional reconstruction calculations to create a digital model of the actual component, ensuring that the component can be accurately inspected.

[0011] Furthermore, the processing module includes a digital round-robin drive module, a level conversion and electrical isolation module, and a status indication module. The digital round-robin drive module is connected to the surface light source and the structured light source to control the surface light source and the structured light source to work selectively. The functions of the surface light source and the structured light source are different, so as to avoid mutual interference between the two working at the same time and causing adverse effects on image quality, thereby ensuring the clarity of image acquisition. The level conversion and electrical isolation module is connected to the camera unit to power and trigger the camera unit, while maintaining electrical isolation between the camera unit and the battery assembly, thereby improving the safety and reliability of the camera unit and avoiding the impact of a battery assembly failure on the camera unit. The status indication module is used to indicate the working status of the wireless acquisition device in real time. The working status of the acquisition device includes battery power, camera trigger status, light source trigger status, etc. The working status of the wireless acquisition device can be grasped in real time and intuitively to ensure that maintenance work can be carried out in a timely manner.

[0012] Furthermore, the digital round-robin driving module is also a module that provides a constant driving current to the surface light source and the structured light source, so that the surface light source and the structured light source have a constant working state, that is, the surface light source and the structured light source emit constant and consistent illumination, thereby ensuring the consistency of image acquisition quality.

[0013] Furthermore, the camera unit includes at least two cameras for three-dimensional measurement, which can form the basis of binocular or multi-eye vision three-dimensional measurement and improve the accuracy of subway vehicle detection.

[0014] Furthermore, the processing module is constructed using a digital logic circuit, or is constructed by a CPLD programmable logic control device, or is constructed using an FPGA field programmable gate array.

[0015] Furthermore, the battery assembly includes a wireless charging assembly, a battery management system and a rechargeable battery connected in sequence, and adopts a wireless charging method, which is flexible and applicable. There is no need to set up a charging cable, and the robot arm can always move flexibly to avoid cables obstructing the robot arm.

[0016] Furthermore, the capacity of the rechargeable battery is not less than 5000mAH, which ensures that the wireless data acquisition device can have a long continuous working time to meet the maintenance needs and avoid the situation where the maintenance is interrupted due to insufficient power.

[0017] Furthermore, the battery management system is also provided with an alarm protection unit when the battery voltage is lower than a preset value, which can promptly notify the staff and effectively protect the various components of the wireless acquisition device.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the advantages of:

[0019] The wireless collection device suitable for the train inspection robot described in the present invention does not need to set cables along the mechanical arm, and has a simple and compact structure, which ensures that the mechanical arm can operate flexibly and freely over a large range, avoids the situation where cables are entangled and hinder the mechanical arm, and avoids the situation where cables block the collection device and cause missed detection. Wireless communication is used to transmit image data, with fast transmission rate and high reliability, ensuring the accuracy of the final fault analysis results. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a wireless data acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot;

[0021] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of the processing module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] A wireless acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention does not need to be set up with a cable connected to the acquisition device wrapped around a robotic arm, thereby avoiding restricted movement of the robotic arm, ensuring that the robotic arm can rotate and move flexibly and freely, improving the reliability of image acquisition, avoiding the situation where cables block the acquisition device and cause missed inspections, and ensuring high reliability of maintenance.

[0024] like Figure 1 As shown, a wireless acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot mainly includes a battery assembly, a control board, a camera unit and a light source. The battery assembly, control board, camera unit and light source are arranged at the far end of the robotic arm. The control board is provided with a power supply modulation module, a processing module and a wireless communication module. The power supply modulation module is connected to the battery assembly, and the power supply modulation module modulates the voltage to supply power to other components. The processing module receives instructions through the wireless communication module and sends a trigger signal to the camera unit and the light source. The camera unit and the light source are triggered to work synchronously, that is, the light source emits light while the camera unit takes pictures, and the light source is turned off when the camera unit does not take pictures, thereby reducing power consumption and extending the working time of the wireless acquisition device to meet the needs of long-term maintenance. The camera unit sends the collected data to the acquisition host (the acquisition host is equipped with a wireless transceiver) through the wireless communication module, and can also send setting parameters to the camera unit through the wireless communication module to adjust the parameters of the camera unit.

[0025] The control board can be composed of one or more PCBs. The typical wireless communication format of the wireless communication module adopts 5GHz frequency band WiFi, and it can automatically hop frequency transmission when encountering interference frequency band. The processing module can be built with digital logic circuits or CPLD programmable logic control devices. The CPLD uses fixed-length metal wires to interconnect the logic blocks, so the designed logic circuit has time predictability, avoiding the disadvantage of incomplete timing prediction of the segmented interconnection structure, or it can be built using FPGA field programmable gate array. FPGA has rich wiring resources, repeatable programming, high integration and low investment. In terms of programming, FPGA has greater flexibility than CPLD. CPLD is programmed by modifying the logic function with fixed internal circuits, and FPGA is mainly programmed by changing the wiring of internal connections; FPGA can be programmed under logic gates, while CPLD is programmed under logic blocks.

[0026] The camera unit includes at least two cameras for three-dimensional measurement, which constitute the basis of binocular or multi-eye vision three-dimensional measurement. Specifically, an industrial camera with a GigE interface can be used. The camera is powered by DC, has a trigger acquisition function, and has a synchronous signal output function.

[0027] The light source includes a surface light source for providing illumination for image acquisition by the camera unit and a structured light source for three-dimensional imaging. The surface light source and the structured light source are controlled by the processing module to work one by one to avoid mutual interference affecting the image acquisition quality. The surface light source can specifically adopt an LED surface light source, which has low energy consumption and a long working time using a wireless acquisition device. The LED is white and the power supply voltage is 24VDC. The structured light source includes structured light formed by a projector, diffraction structured light formed by a laser, etc. A typical structured light source is a laser diffraction grating with a wavelength of 650nm (red) and a power supply voltage of 5VDC.

[0028] like Figure 2As shown, the processing module specifically also includes a digital round-robin driving module, a level conversion and electrical isolation module, and a status indication module. The digital round-robin driving module is connected to the surface light source and the structured light source. The digital round-robin driving module controls the surface light source and the structured light source to work in turns and cycles, that is, only one of the surface light source and the structured light source is working at the same time. In the actual working process, the surface light source is triggered to work synchronously with the camera unit alone. The surface light source provides good lighting to ensure the image acquisition quality of the camera unit. Then the surface light source is turned off, and the structured light source is triggered to work synchronously with the camera unit alone. The camera unit shoots the structured light projected onto the train components. Finally, the image data is analyzed and processed to obtain the three-dimensional data of the train components, and the digital round-robin driving module is for the surface The light source and the structured light source provide a module with a constant driving current to ensure consistent lighting conditions, thereby ensuring consistent image acquisition quality; the level conversion and electrical isolation module is connected to the camera unit to power and trigger the camera unit, the level conversion and electrical isolation module converts the level to the working level required by the camera unit, and electrically isolates the camera unit from the battery assembly. The camera unit is independent of the battery assembly, so that the camera unit can work more safely; the status indication module is used to indicate the working status of the wireless acquisition device, the battery power of the wireless acquisition device, the camera trigger status, the light source trigger status, the wireless communication module status, etc. in real time. The status indication module can specifically use an indicator light to indicate the status, with a simple structure and clear and intuitive status indication.

[0029] In this embodiment, the battery assembly includes a wireless charging assembly, a battery management system and a rechargeable battery connected in sequence. The rechargeable battery can be a lithium-ion battery. The capacity of the rechargeable battery is not less than 5000mAH, or it can ensure that the wireless acquisition device can have a continuous working time of more than 2 hours. The battery management system realizes battery status monitoring, battery module balancing control, charging control, battery low voltage protection, etc. The wireless charging assembly mainly includes a charging plate (coil) and a conversion circuit; and the battery management system is provided with an alarm protection unit when the battery voltage is lower than a preset value, ensuring that the wireless acquisition device can work stably, and can promptly notify the staff and effectively protect the various components of the wireless acquisition device when the low power cannot maintain the normal operation of the wireless acquisition device.

[0030] When using the wireless acquisition device suitable for the train inspection robot described in this embodiment to acquire image data, the wireless acquisition device is first in a standby state, and the battery assembly is in a charging state at this time, so as to keep the battery assembly in a high or full power state, ensuring that the wireless acquisition device can perform acquisition operations for a long time. The acquisition host sends an image acquisition instruction and transmits it to the control board of the wireless acquisition device through the wireless communication module. The processing module of the control board processes the instruction signal and sends a synchronization trigger signal to the camera unit and the light source. The camera unit shoots the target component to acquire image information, and the image information data is then sent to the acquisition host through the wireless communication module. Finally, the image acquisition process is completed, the wireless acquisition device returns to the initial state, and the battery assembly returns to the charging state, ensuring that there is sufficient power for the next image acquisition operation.

[0031] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that the above preferred embodiments should not be regarded as limiting the present invention, and the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the scope defined by the claims. For ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wireless data acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot, characterized in that: The invention comprises a battery assembly, a control panel, a camera unit and a light source, wherein the battery assembly, the control panel, the camera unit and the light source are arranged at the far end of the mechanical arm, the control panel is provided with a power supply modulation module, a processing module and a wireless communication module, the power supply modulation module is connected to the battery assembly and is used to supply power to other components, the processing module receives instructions through the wireless communication module and sends a trigger signal to the camera unit and the light source, the camera unit sends the collected data outward through the wireless communication module, the light source comprises a surface light source for providing illumination when the camera unit performs image collection, the light source also comprises a structure light source for three-dimensional imaging, the processing module comprises a digital round-robin driving module, a level conversion and electrical isolation module, and a status indication module, the digital round-robin driving module is connected to the surface light source and the structure light source to control the surface light source and the structure light source to work selectively, the level conversion and electrical isolation module is connected to the camera unit to supply power and trigger the camera unit, and at the same time maintain electrical isolation between the camera unit and the battery assembly, the status indication module is used to indicate the working status of the wireless acquisition device in real time, including battery power, camera trigger status, and light source trigger status, and the camera unit and the light source are controlled by the processing module to trigger synchronously.

2. The wireless data acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The digital round-robin driving module is also a module that provides a constant driving current to the surface light source and the structured light source.

3. The wireless data acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The camera unit includes at least two cameras for three-dimensional measurement.

4. The wireless data acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The processing module is constructed by using a digital logic circuit, or by using a CPLD programmable logic control device, or by using an FPGA field programmable gate array.

5. The wireless data acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The battery assembly comprises a wireless charging assembly, a battery management system and a rechargeable battery which are connected in sequence.

6. The wireless data acquisition device suitable for a train inspection robot according to claim 5, characterized in that: The battery management system is also provided with an alarm protection unit when the battery voltage is lower than a preset value.

Images