A pole-climbing robot

By designing a multi-modular rod climbing robot, including rolling crawling module, diameter regulating module and detection module, the problems of loose structure and low detection efficiency in the prior art are solved, and stable adaptation and efficient detection of rods of different diameters are achieved, and safety is improved.

CN114655329BActive Publication Date: 2025-06-13THE CHINESE UNIV OF HONG KONG (SHENZHEN)
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202210312492.2
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2022-03-28
Publication Date
2025-06-13
Estimated Expiration
2042-03-28

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The existing pole climbing robot has a relatively loose structure, which is difficult to adapt to rods of different diameters, and has low detection efficiency and poses safety risks.

Method used

A pole climbing robot consisting of multiple rolling crawling modules, a path regulating module and a detection module are designed. The rolling crawling module adopts a circular housing and rotor assembly, and adjusts the distance through the diameter regulating module to adapt to rods of different diameters; the detection module includes a height adjustment column and a visual detection instrument, which can perform 360° annular detection.

Benefits of technology

The stable adaptation of the rod climbing robot to rods of different diameters is achieved, detection efficiency and safety is improved, manual aerial operations are replaced, and safety risks are reduced.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

An embodiment of the present application provides a pole-climbing robot, which includes: a plurality of rolling and crawling modules, a diameter-adjusting module, and a detection module; the rolling and crawling modules and the detection module are installed on the diameter-adjusting module; the diameter-adjusting module is used to adjust the distance between different rolling and crawling modules so that the pole-climbing robot can adapt to poles with different diameters; the detection module is used to detect the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on; the rolling and crawling module includes a circular housing and a rotor assembly, the rotor assembly is installed inside the circular housing, the circular housing is provided with through holes, and the airflow passes through the circular housing under the action of the rotor assembly to push the pole-climbing robot to crawl along the pole, and the circular housing rolls along the pole during the crawling process of the pole-climbing robot. In the embodiment of the present application, the circular housing is used to protect the rotor assembly to avoid the rotor assembly from colliding with the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on, etc. The circular housing rolls on the surface of the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on, reducing the friction between the circular housing and the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of robots, and more particularly to a pole-climbing robot. Background Art

[0002] Current pole-climbing robots are widely used. For example, pole-climbing robots are used to inspect and repair various tall poles, such as flagpoles, utility poles, billboard columns, high-pole lamp poles, etc.

[0003] Existing pole-climbing robots include: a surrounding frame; a plurality of walking mechanisms circumferentially and evenly arranged on the surrounding frame, each walking mechanism including a wheel frame and a walking wheel, the wheel frame extending towards the middle of the surrounding frame, and during use, the walking wheels roll along the pole; a steering mechanism arranged on the surrounding frame; a plurality of thrusters evenly distributed around the surrounding frame; the walking wheels are universal wheels whose axles can rotate around a horizontal axis, and at least some of the thrusters can be driven by the steering mechanism to rotate synchronously and in the same direction around the horizontal axis to achieve in-situ rotation of the robot or spiral movement in the up and down directions.

[0004] The structure of the existing pole-climbing robots in the prior art is relatively loose. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a pole-climbing robot for providing a pole-climbing robot with a compact structure.

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a pole-climbing robot, including: a plurality of rolling and crawling modules, a diameter adjustment module, and a detection module;

[0007] The rolling and crawling modules and the detection module are installed on the diameter adjustment module;

[0008] The diameter adjustment module is used to adjust the distance between different rolling and crawling modules so that the pole-climbing robot can adapt to poles with different diameters;

[0009] The detection module is used to detect the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on;

[0010] The rolling and crawling module includes a circular housing and a rotor assembly. The rotor assembly is installed inside the circular housing. The circular housing is provided with through holes. Under the action of the rotor assembly, air flow passes through the circular housing to push the pole-climbing robot to crawl along the pole, and during the crawling process of the pole-climbing robot, the circular housing rolls along the pole.

[0011] In embodiments of the present application, the rotor assembly is used as a power device, and the circular housing is used to protect the rotor assembly to prevent the rotor assembly from colliding with the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on. The circular housing rolls on the surface of the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on, reducing the friction between the circular housing and the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on, and being able to utilize the contact between the circular housing and the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on to keep the pole-climbing robot relatively stable with respect to the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on.

[0012] Optionally, the circular housing is spherical, ellipsoidal or cylindrical.

[0013] In the embodiment of the present application, the circular housing is spherical, ellipsoidal or cylindrical, which improves the feasibility of the solution.

[0014] Optionally, the circular housing includes a weft structure and a warp structure. The weft structure and the warp structure are intertwined so that the circular housing is a cage body. The plane where the weft structure is located is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the circular housing, and the warp structure and the axis of rotation of the circular housing belong to the same plane.

[0015] In the embodiment of the present application, the circular housing is a cage body intertwined with a weft structure and a warp structure, which has good ventilation and stable structure.

[0016] Optionally, multiple rolling and crawling modules are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction.

[0017] In the embodiment of the present application, multiple rolling and crawling modules are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction, which improves the stability of the pole-climbing robot when moving along the pole.

[0018] Optionally, the rolling and crawling modules are symmetrically installed on the guide rail with the midpoint of the guide rail as the center of symmetry.

[0019] Optionally, the diameter adjustment module includes N guide rails and N diameter adjustment nodes. Adjacent guide rails are connected by 1 diameter adjustment node, and the N guide rails are connected end to end to form an N-sided ring structure, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to 3; the distance between adjacent diameter adjustment nodes along the guide rail is adjustable.

[0020] In the embodiment of the present application, by connecting the N guide rails end to end to form an N-sided ring structure, the pole is surrounded, and by adjusting the distance between adjacent diameter adjustment nodes, the inner diameter of the N-sided ring structure is adjusted so that the pole-climbing robot can adapt to poles with different diameters.

[0021] Optionally, the rolling and crawling modules are symmetrically installed on the guide rail with the midpoint of the guide rail as the center of symmetry.

[0022] In the embodiment of the present application, the rolling and crawling modules are symmetrically installed on the guide rail, which improves the stability of the rolling and crawling modules.

[0023] Optionally, each diameter adjustment node includes 2 sliders that are rotatably or fixedly connected, and each slider is slidably engaged with 1 guide rail.

[0024] In the embodiment of the present application, the guide rails are connected by sliders, which improves the flexibility of the pole-climbing robot to adjust the inner diameter.

[0025] Optionally, the diameter adjustment module further includes multiple tension elastic members;

[0026] One tension elastic member connects two guide rails or two diameter-adjusting nodes, causing two adjacent diameter-adjusting nodes to tend to approach each other.

[0027] In the embodiment of the present application, a tension elastic member is used to tighten two adjacent diameter-adjusting nodes, so that the rolling and crawling module is close to the surface of the rod, improving the stability of the rod-climbing robot moving along the rod.

[0028] Optionally, the guide rail is located on the axis of the circular housing, and the circular housing is connected to the guide rail through a bearing, so that the circular housing can rotate around the guide rail as an axis.

[0029] In the embodiment of the present application, a bearing is used to connect the circular housing and the guide rail, reducing friction.

[0030] Optionally, the rotor assembly includes a driving blade, a driving motor and a motor base; the driving motor is installed on the motor base, the driving blade rotates under the drive of the driving motor, and the motor base is arranged on the guide rail.

[0031] Optionally, the diameter-adjusting module further includes N rope winding motors, N rope winding wheels and 2N sections of ropes;

[0032] Each rope winding wheel is connected to 2 sections of ropes; one end of the rope is connected to the rope winding wheel, and the other end of the rope is connected to the guide rail; the rope winding wheel is arranged at the diameter-adjusting node, and the rope winding motor drives the rope winding wheel to rotate, so that the rope is released or retracted from the rope winding wheel to adjust the distance between adjacent diameter-adjusting nodes.

[0033] In the embodiment of the present application, a rope winding motor, a rope winding wheel and a rope are used to achieve active and precise control of the inner diameter of the rod-climbing robot.

[0034] Optionally, end protection sleeves are arranged at both ends of the guide rail, one tension elastic member connects the end protection sleeves of the two guide rails, one end of the rope is connected to the rope winding wheel, and the other end of the rope is connected to the end protection sleeve of the guide rail.

[0035] Optionally, the detection module includes a height adjustment column, one end of the height adjustment column is fixed at the diameter-adjusting node, and the other end of the height adjustment column is installed with the detection module.

[0036] In the embodiment of the present application, a height adjustment column is used to install the detection module, improving the flexibility of the detection module.

[0037] Optionally, the detection module includes a vision detection instrument, an ultrasonic detector, a laser detector or an infrared detector. Description of the Drawings

[0038] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the working state of the rod-climbing robot in the embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the diameter-adjusting module of the rod-climbing robot in the embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the roller crawling module of the pole-climbing robot according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a detection module of the pole-climbing robot according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of another detection module of the pole-climbing robot according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] 1. Rolling crawling module; 11. Circular housing; 111. Latitude structure; 112. Longitude structure; 113. Bearing; 12. Rotor assembly; 121. Driving blade; 122. Driving motor; 123. Motor seat; 2. Diameter adjustment module; 21. Guide rail; 22. Diameter adjustment node; 221. Slide block; 23. Tension elastic member; 24. Rope winding motor; 25. Rope winding wheel; 26. Rope; 3. Detection module; 31. Height adjustment column; 32. Camera; 4. Pole. Detailed implementation manners

[0044] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. in the specification, claims and above-mentioned drawings of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not have to be used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device comprising a series of steps or units does not have to be limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0045] The pole-climbing robot can be applied to the inspection and maintenance of various rod-shaped objects. Various higher poles such as flagpoles, utility poles, billboard columns, and high mast lamp poles are taken as an example to illustrate the inspection of high mast lamp poles.

[0046] High mast lights generally refer to a new type of lighting device composed of a steel conical lamp post over 15m and a high-power combined lamp holder. It consists of lighting electrical equipment, lamp posts and the foundation part. The shape of the lamp head can be determined specifically according to user requirements, the surrounding environment and lighting needs; the internal lamps are mostly composed of floodlights and spotlights, and the light source uses NG400 high-pressure sodium lamps. The lighting radius can reach 60 meters. The lamp post is generally an octagonal, dodecagonal or octadecagonal conical single-body structure. As the height increases, the pole diameter becomes thinner. It is made of rolled steel plates, with a height of 15 - 40 meters, mostly composed of two to three sections. With the development of urban construction, especially the completion of highway overpasses, the construction of large squares, the expansion of ports and airports, the original scattered lighting can no longer meet the lighting requirements needed for urban development. High mast light combined lighting facilities have the characteristics of high-quality lighting, beautiful and generous lamp shapes, and a single-column lamp post structure, etc. They are used to replace scattered lamp post lighting, reduce land occupation, beautify the environment, and at the same time can improve lighting quality, save energy and facilitate maintenance. Thanks to the above advantages, high mast lights are widely used in urban squares, stations, docks, airports, overpasses, roads, fire sites, stadiums and other places that require open lighting.

[0047] Taking the high mast light lamp post as an example, the diseases of the high mast light lamp post include equipment aging, faults, damage, etc. To prevent potential collapse accidents, the equipment should be regularly checked for its condition. At present, the detection of lamp posts is mostly carried out manually. Generally, a hanging basket is installed on the high mast light or a boom lift is used to carry operating personnel up and down for inspection. The high mast light is relatively high, and manual inspection is high-altitude operation, which requires trained professional maintenance personnel for detection. Manual detection can only detect the range visible to the naked eye on one side of the detector at a time, and cannot complete a 360° circular detection of the lamp post at one time. The manual detection process is cumbersome and inefficient. The use environment of high mast lights is an open environment with no obstruction around. When there is windy weather during high-altitude operation, the safety of maintenance personnel is easily threatened. At the same time, during high-altitude operation, maintenance personnel may also have safety accidents due to their own operational mistakes.

[0048] As Figures 1 to 5 shown, a pole-climbing robot includes: a plurality of rolling and crawling modules, a diameter-adjusting module and a detection module;

[0049] The rolling and crawling modules and the detection module are installed on the diameter-adjusting module;

[0050] The diameter-adjusting module is used to adjust the distance between different rolling and crawling modules so that the pole-climbing robot can adapt to poles of different diameters;

[0051] The detection module is used to detect the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on;

[0052] The rolling and crawling module includes a circular housing and a rotor assembly. The rotor assembly is installed inside the circular housing. The circular housing is provided with through holes. Under the action of the rotor assembly, air flow passes through the circular housing to push the pole-climbing robot to crawl along the pole, and the circular housing rolls along the pole during the crawling process of the pole-climbing robot.

[0053] In the embodiment of the present application, the rotor assembly is used as a power device, and the circular housing is used to protect the rotor assembly to prevent the rotor assembly from colliding with the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on. The circular housing rolls on the surface of the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on, reducing the friction between the circular housing and the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on, and being able to utilize the contact between the circular housing and the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on to keep the pole-climbing robot and the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on relatively stable.

[0054] When the pole-climbing robot is used for detecting a high pole lamp pole, it can also be called a pole detection robot. The pole detection robot adopts a "wheel-rotor" hybrid crawling mode. The robot relies on the upward thrust generated by the rapid rotation of the rotor to drive the roller to climb along the pole. When the robot climbs, it quickly detects the outer surface of the pole. At the same time, the robot has an adjustment structure to ensure that the roller of the robot always adheres tightly to the pole, so as to ensure that the camera on it can stably collect data.

[0055] The pole detection robot is mainly divided into three modules: a diameter adjustment module, a roller crawling module, and a vision detection module. The diameter adjustment module enables the pole detection robot to adapt to the change of the pole diameter of the high pole lamp pole. There is a vision camera installed on the pole detection robot. As the robot climbs on the pole, the vision camera can collect the data on the surface of the pole and identify the diseases on the surface of the pole.

[0056] As Figures 1 to 5 shown, a pole-climbing robot includes: a plurality of rolling and crawling modules, a diameter adjustment module, and a detection module. The diameter adjustment module is used to adjust the distance between different rolling and crawling modules so that the pole-climbing robot can adapt to poles with different diameters.

[0057] The diameter adjustment module includes N guide rails and N diameter adjustment nodes. Adjacent guide rails are connected by 1 diameter adjustment node. The N guide rails are connected end to end to form an N-sided ring structure, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to 3; the distance between adjacent diameter adjustment nodes along the guide rail can be adjusted. The N guide rails of the diameter adjustment module are connected end to end to form an N-sided ring structure, which can be a regular N-sided shape, such as an equilateral triangle, a square, a regular pentagon, a regular hexagon, etc., or it can not be a regular N-sided shape. Specifically, it can be determined according to the shape of the pole to be detected and the area to be detected, etc. For example, it can be an isosceles triangle, a parallelogram, a rhombus, a rectangle, and an irregular polygon, etc. When N = 3, it is a triangle; when N = 4, it is a quadrilateral; when N = 5, it is a pentagon; when N = 6, it is a hexagon.

[0058] Here, taking the case where the N guide rails of the diameter adjustment module are connected end to end to form an N-sided ring structure that is a square as an example for illustration.

[0059] Each diameter adjustment node includes 2 sliders that are rotatably connected or fixedly connected. Each slider is slidably engaged with 1 guide rail. The 2 sliders of the same diameter adjustment node are overlapped, so that the 2 guide rails can cross without interference. The 2 sliders of the same diameter adjustment node can be rotatably connected by hinging, or can be fixedly connected by welding or integral molding, etc. Both ends of each guide rail are respectively slidably engaged with 2 sliders. Each diameter adjustment node includes 1 slider, the slider is slidably engaged with the guide rail, and the slider is hinged to the guide rail.

[0060] The diameter adjustment module further includes a plurality of tension elastic members. 1 tension elastic member connects 2 guide rails or 2 diameter adjustment nodes, so that the adjacent 2 diameter adjustment nodes have a tendency to approach each other. 1 tension elastic member can connect 2 guide rails, and the 2 guide rails here both intersect with another guide rail. 1 tension elastic member can also connect 2 adjacent diameter adjustment nodes. The tension elastic member can be a spring, a rubber band, etc.

[0061] The tension elastic members can be evenly distributed in the circumferential direction, so that each guide rail and diameter adjustment node of the diameter adjustment module are evenly stressed. The number of tension elastic members used can be determined according to actual needs. When it is necessary for the rolling and crawling module to fit more closely to the rod, more tension elastic members can be used.

[0062] The diameter adjustment module further includes N rope winding motors, N rope winding wheels and 2N sections of ropes. The 2 sections of ropes connected to the same rope winding wheel can be one rope, both ends of one rope are connected to two guide rails, and the midpoint is connected to the rope winding wheel; the 2 sections of ropes connected to the same rope winding wheel can also be 2 ropes, and at this time 1 rope is 1 section of rope. Each rope winding wheel is connected to 2 sections of ropes; one end of the rope is connected to the rope winding wheel, and the other end of the rope is connected to the guide rail.

[0063] The rope winding wheels are arranged at the diameter adjustment nodes. The rope winding motors drive the rope winding wheels to rotate, so that the ropes are released or retracted from the rope winding wheels to adjust the distance between adjacent diameter adjustment nodes. When the ropes are released, the adjacent diameter adjustment nodes approach each other under the action of the tension elastic members, and the inner diameter of the pole climbing robot is reduced. When the ropes are retracted, the adjacent diameter adjustment nodes move away from each other under the pulling force of the ropes, and the inner diameter of the pole climbing robot is enlarged.

[0064] The N rope winding motors are controlled by the same controller to achieve synchronous operation.

[0065] End protection sleeves are provided at both ends of the guide rail. The functions of the end protection sleeves include preventing the slider from falling off the guide rail; providing an installation position for the tension elastic member; and providing an installation position for the winding rope. Specifically, one tension elastic member is connected to the end protection sleeves of two guide rails. One end of the winding rope is connected to the winding wheel, and the other end of the winding rope is connected to the end protection sleeve of the guide rail. The end protection sleeves are installed at both ends of the guide rail, and the end protection sleeves and the guide rail can be detachably connected by means of snap fit, interference fit, etc.

[0066] The rolling and crawling module is installed on the diameter adjustment module.

[0067] The rolling and crawling module includes a circular outer shell and a rotor assembly. The rotor assembly is installed inside the circular outer shell. The circular outer shell is provided with through holes. Under the action of the rotor assembly, air flows through the circular outer shell to push the pole climbing robot to crawl along the pole, and the circular outer shell rolls along the pole during the crawling of the pole climbing robot. At least at the air inlet and outlet positions of the rotor assembly, the circular outer shell is provided with through holes, that is, the air inlet and the air outlet. The direction from the air outlet to the air inlet is the same as the forward direction of the pole climbing robot. For example, if the pole stands vertically and the pole climbing robot moves upward, the air inlet is above the circular outer shell and the air outlet is below the circular outer shell.

[0068] The circular outer shell is spherical, ellipsoidal or cylindrical. The circular outer shell means that in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the outer shell, the cross-section of the outer shell is circular.

[0069] The circular outer shell includes a weft structure and a warp structure. The weft structure and the warp structure are intertwined so that the circular outer shell is a cage body. The plane where the weft structure is located is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the circular outer shell, and the warp structure and the axis of rotation of the circular outer shell belong to the same plane. When the circular outer shell is spherical, similar to a globe, taking the two intersection points of the circular outer shell and the guide rail as the two poles, the warp structure is distributed along the meridians, and the weft structure is distributed along the latitudes. When the circular outer shell is ellipsoidal, taking the two intersection points of the circular outer shell and the guide rail as the two poles, the distances from the points on the same weft structure to the straight line where the guide rail is located are equal, that is, the same weft structure is circular. When the circular outer shell is cylindrical, taking the centers of the two bottom surfaces of the cylinder as the two poles, the warp structure is distributed along the diameters of the bottom surfaces and the generatrices of the side surfaces, and the weft structure is distributed along the concentric circles of the outer contour of the bottom surface, and the weft structure is also distributed along the circles parallel to the bottom surface on the side surface. It should be noted that in addition to using the structure of intertwining the weft structure and the warp structure, the circular outer shell can also adopt other structures, such as a hollow structure obtained by densely punching holes in a thin-walled outer shell, a mesh structure woven according to other rules, etc. The purpose is to ensure that the circular outer shell meets the performance requirements in terms of ventilation, compressive strength, rotational motion stability, etc.

[0070] Multiple rolling and crawling modules are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction. Centered on the center of the circle where the rolling and crawling modules are located, the angular distances between the rolling and crawling modules are the same. For example, for a total of four rolling and crawling modules, the angular distance between adjacent rolling and crawling modules is 90 degrees; for a total of three rolling and crawling modules, the angular distance between adjacent rolling and crawling modules is 120 degrees.

[0071] The rolling and crawling modules are symmetrically installed on the guide rail with the midpoint of the guide rail as the center of symmetry. For one guide rail, the rolling and crawling modules installed on one guide rail are symmetrically distributed. For example, if one rolling and crawling module is installed on one guide rail, the rolling and crawling module is installed at the midpoint of the guide rail; if two rolling and crawling modules are installed on one guide rail, the two rolling and crawling modules are symmetrically installed on both sides of the midpoint of the guide rail.

[0072] The rotor assembly includes a driving blade, a driving motor, and a motor base. The driving blade rotates under the drive of the driving motor, enabling the pole-climbing robot to obtain upward power under the action of the airflow. The driving motor is installed on the motor base, and the motor base is arranged on the guide rail. The power battery of the driving motor can be arranged on the guide rail. All driving motors can be controlled by the same controller to achieve unified control of the pole-climbing robot.

[0073] The guide rail is located on the axis of the circular housing, and the circular housing is connected to the guide rail through bearings, enabling the circular housing to rotate around the guide rail as an axis. Two bearings can be arranged at the two intersection points of the circular housing and the guide rail. The bearings can be selected as rolling bearings, such as deep groove ball bearings, etc.

[0074] The detection module is installed on the diameter-adjusting module, and the detection module is used to detect the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on;

[0075] The detection module includes a height-adjusting column. One end of the height-adjusting column is fixed to the diameter-adjusting node, and the other end of the height-adjusting column is installed with the detection module. The height-adjusting column can be a multi-stage telescopic tube, such as a two-stage telescopic tube. By adjusting the length of the telescopic tube, the height of the detection module relative to the diameter-adjusting node is adjusted. The height-adjusting column can be electrically controlled and can adopt a linear actuator. Different height-adjusting columns can be controlled separately.

[0076] The detection module includes a visual detection instrument, an ultrasonic detector, a laser detector, or an infrared detector.

[0077] As Figures 1 to 5 shown, in the embodiment of the present application, the pole-climbing robot is used for detecting the surface of the high pole lamp pole, and can find damages, corrosion, etc. on the pole surface, replacing manual high-altitude operations for inspection and preventing potential safety accidents that may occur during manual operations. A pole-climbing robot includes: multiple rolling and crawling modules, a diameter-adjusting module, and a detection module.

[0078] The diameter-adjusting module consists of guide rails, sliders, tension springs, rope-rolling motors, rope-rolling wheels, ropes, etc. A square mechanism is formed by four guide rails, with two sliders arranged on each guide rail. Eventually, a variable-diameter quadrilateral mechanism that can adjust the side length of the square is composed of 4 guide rails and 8 sliders. The change in its side length will also simultaneously change the surrounding area formed by the robot's roller crawling module to adapt to the change in the diameter of the lamp post. At the four corners of the square formed by the diameter-adjusting module, there are robot active positioning mechanisms. The robot active positioning mechanism consists of a rope-rolling motor, a rope-rolling wheel, and a rope. At the starting point of each rope-rolling wheel, there are two fixed ropes. Each motor can drive these two ropes simultaneously, enabling the slider corresponding to this motor of the robot diameter-adjusting module to move relatively on the two mutually perpendicular guide rails. Under the combined action of the four rope-rolling motors at the four corners, the robot can actively adjust the side length of the robot quadrilateral mechanism to cross relatively large obstacles.

[0079] The roller crawling module consists of a roller circular housing, driving blades, rotor motors, motor mounts, etc. The rotor motor drives the driving blades to rotate at high speed to generate the lift force that drives the robot to rise. The roller circular housing clings to the surface of the lamp post and rolls as the robot rises. The circular housing can well protect the driving blades from colliding with the lamp post. The relatively large gaps in the housing allow air convection, so that the lift force generated by the airflow will not be greatly affected. One such roller crawling module is arranged in the middle of each guide rail of the whole robot, so that the rollers are evenly distributed around the lamp post. The number of roller crawling units is 4, or it can be other numbers. The roller crawling units are evenly distributed circumferentially.

[0080] Taking the detection module as an example of the visual detection module. The robot visual detection module consists of a micro high-definition camera, a height adjustment rod, etc. At each corner of the square diameter-adjusting module, the robot is equipped with a robot visual detection module to achieve 360° coverage detection of the outer surface of the lamp post by the robot. The visual detection module can be a camera, a webcam, a video recorder, etc. Here, a camera is taken as an example for illustration. There are 4 cameras, and the actual number can be determined according to the camera's field of view and the diameter of the lamp post. The number of cameras is not necessarily 4.

[0081] The lamp post detection robot adopts a wheeled crawling method. During crawling, it quickly detects the lamp post. At the same time, the robot has an adjustment structure that can ensure that the deflection angles of the circumferentially arranged crawling mechanisms are always the same, ensuring that the circular frame composed of the guide rails is parallel to the horizontal plane, so as to ensure that the camera can stably collect data. The diameter-adjusting module of the pole-climbing robot is a real-time automatic adjustment mechanism with adaptive adjustment ability.

[0082] The robot can not only be used for the detection of variable-diameter lamp posts, but also for the detection of lamp posts with a fixed pole diameter, or the detection of other rod-shaped structures with a fixed diameter and variable diameter.

[0083] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit it; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements on some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A pole-climbing robot, characterized in that, it includes: a plurality of rolling and crawling modules, a diameter-adjusting module and a detection module; the rolling and crawling modules and the detection module are installed on the diameter-adjusting module; the diameter-adjusting module is used to adjust the distance between different rolling and crawling modules so that the pole-climbing robot can adapt to poles with different diameters; the detection module is used to detect the pole that the pole-climbing robot crawls on; the rolling and crawling module includes a circular housing and a rotor assembly. The rotor assembly is installed inside the circular housing. The circular housing is provided with through holes. Under the action of the rotor assembly, air flow passes through the circular housing to push the pole-climbing robot to crawl along the pole, and during the crawling process of the pole-climbing robot, the circular housing rolls along the pole.

2. The pole-climbing robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, the circular housing is spherical, ellipsoidal or cylindrical.

3. The pole-climbing robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, the circular housing includes a latitude structure and a longitude structure. The latitude structure and the longitude structure are intertwined so that the circular housing is a cage body. The plane where the latitude structure is located is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the circular housing, and the longitude structure and the axis of rotation of the circular housing belong to the same plane.

4. The pole-climbing robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, the diameter-adjusting module includes N guide rails and N diameter-adjusting nodes. Adjacent guide rails are connected by 1 diameter-adjusting node. The N guide rails are connected end to end to form an N-sided ring structure, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to 3; the distance between adjacent diameter-adjusting nodes along the guide rail is adjustable.

5. The pole-climbing robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, the rolling and crawling modules are symmetrically installed on the guide rail with the midpoint of the guide rail as the center of symmetry.

6. The pole-climbing robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, each diameter-adjusting node includes 2 sliders that are rotatably or fixedly connected, and each slider is slidably matched with 1 guide rail.

7. The pole-climbing robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, the diameter-adjusting module further includes a plurality of tension elastic members; 1 tension elastic member connects 2 guide rails or 2 diameter-adjusting nodes, so that adjacent 2 diameter-adjusting nodes have a tendency to approach each other.

8. The pole-climbing robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, the guide rail is located on the axis of the circular housing, and the circular housing is connected to the guide rail through a bearing so that the circular housing can rotate around the guide rail as an axis.

9. The pole-climbing robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, the diameter-adjusting module further includes N rope winding motors, N rope winding wheels and 2N sections of ropes; each rope winding wheel is connected to 2 sections of ropes; one end of the rope is connected to the rope winding wheel, and the other end of the rope is connected to the guide rail; the rope winding wheel is arranged at the diameter-adjusting node, and the rope winding motor drives the rope winding wheel to rotate so that the rope is released or retracted from the rope winding wheel to adjust the distance between adjacent diameter-adjusting nodes.

10. The pole-climbing robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, 5 to 9, characterized in that, the detection module includes a height adjustment column, one end of the height adjustment column is fixed to the diameter adjustment node, and the other end of the height adjustment column is provided with the detection module.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Pole-climbing robot

    CN217320569U