Snake-like flying robotic arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception

Abstract

The present invention relates to a serpentine flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception, including a drone, a head and tail double-headed serpentine mechanical arm that can be autonomously separated and connected therewith, the head and tail double-headed serpentine mechanical arm including a plurality of rotating and swinging joints that are movably connected in sequence, a plurality of cable tower grab hook assemblies with adaptive perception arranged in sequence along the length direction of the head and tail double-headed serpentine mechanical arm, and the head and tail of the head and tail double-headed serpentine mechanical arm are respectively equipped with edge intelligent visual perception systems. Compared with the prior art, the present invention can autonomously and efficiently complete the close-range 360-degree power inspection task of cables and towers, solves the problem that the deployment of traditional cable and tower robots still requires operators to climb to work, and makes up for the defects of insufficient precision of drones and inability to directly act on cables and towers when working in cable and tower scenes, and at the same time, the self-locking function protects the equipment from falling off and damage in extremely harsh conditions.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of electric power inspection robots, and in particular to an electric power inspection device with a serpentine flying mechanical arm based on edge intelligent visual perception. Background Art

[0002] The maintenance of power equipment such as high-voltage cable towers is a key task to ensure power supply. It is also a complicated, labor-intensive and dangerous job. When working manually, maintenance workers usually need to wear heavy shielding suits, carry a variety of maintenance equipment, climb high towers and work at high load for a long time. The safety risks are high and the work efficiency is low. In severe weather or geographical conditions, the work becomes more difficult. The demand for an automated power inspection equipment that can reduce risks and improve efficiency has become increasingly obvious.

[0003] Considering the special operating environment of high-voltage cable towers, there may be severe weather conditions such as strong winds and hail, as well as strong electromagnetic radiation interference, which will affect the stability of the task execution of the power inspection device, the integrity of data and signals, and the degree of task completion. Therefore, a power inspection device that can resist weather interference and electromagnetic radiation interference is particularly important.

[0004] Among the advanced power inspection equipment currently available, the LineRanger robot developed by Hydro-Québec's research institute IREQ in Varennes is a representative example. After being deployed on high-voltage lines, the video it shoots can be transmitted in real time from high-definition cameras to workers to visually inspect the lines. In addition, this robot can also be equipped with sensors to check whether the wires have abnormal conditions such as corrosion or measure the conductivity of wire joints. However, LineRanger still has some imperfections. The deployment of this robot still requires multiple power workers to climb to the deployment point to locate and deploy it. As a cutting-edge power inspection equipment, LineRanger still retains the limitations and requirements of traditional power work.

[0005] Drones are favored in various fields due to their advantages such as wide detection and cruising range, rapid deployment, lightness and flexibility, and the field of power inspection is no exception. Their high maneuverability and clear vision have brought great convenience to power inspection. However, there are still many inconveniences in power inspection tasks, such as insufficient position accuracy, interference from bad weather, etc., and the inability to perform close-range detection of the surface of cable towers, and only visual information can be provided, which limits the development of drones in the field of power inspection. Therefore, it is urgent to design a drone platform equipped with an operating terminal to cope with close-range 360-degree cable inspection tasks. Summary of the invention

[0006] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the defects of the above-mentioned prior art and to provide a serpentine flying robotic arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception, so as to realize the fixed-point deployment and recovery of the serpentine robotic arm device and perform close-range 360-degree power inspection tasks of cables and towers.

[0007] The purpose of the present invention can be achieved by the following technical solutions:

[0008] A power inspection device with a serpentine flying robotic arm based on edge intelligent visual perception, the device includes a drone and a head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm that can be autonomously separated and connected to the drone, the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm includes a plurality of rotating and swinging joints that are movably connected in sequence, and also includes a plurality of groups of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assemblies that are arranged in sequence along the length direction of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm, the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly is used to realize the clamping and self-locking of cables and towers, and the head and tail of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm are respectively equipped with visual systems.

[0009] Preferably, the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination includes three groups, which are respectively located at the head, tail and middle of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arms.

[0010] Preferably, the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination comprises two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks installed on two adjacent rotating and swinging joints, the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook comprises a grab hook quick-release structure, a hard grab hook, a pressure feedback device, an anti-slip suction cup surface and a self-locking structure, the grab hook quick-release structure is located at the bottom of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook, the grab hook quick-release structure cooperates with the claw quick-release structure on the rotating and swinging joints of the head and tail double-headed serpentine mechanical arm to make the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook and the snake body structure of the double-headed serpentine mechanical arm Rigidly connected and electrically connected, a pressure feedback device is fixedly installed in the inner groove of the hard grab hook, the hard grab hook is used to detect the grabbing force of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook and transmit it to the head and tail double-headed serpentine mechanical arm, the surface of the pressure feedback device is in the same plane as the inner surface of the hard grab hook, and this plane is covered with the anti-slip suction cup skin, the anti-slip suction cup skin provides stable friction, the self-locking structure is fixedly installed on the top of the hard grab hook and rigidly connected to the hard grab hook, and the self-locking structure realizes self-locking after the hard grab hook is clamped.

[0011] Preferably, the anti-slip suction cup surface is made of insulating material, and its surface is divided into two sections, which fits tightly to the hard hook and pressure feedback device and prevents the pressure feedback device from falling. The surface of the anti-slip suction cup surface is rich in a large number of micro-suction cup structures that imitate the limb structure of the giant tree frog.

[0012] Preferably, the self-locking structure includes a lock tongue, a self-locking servo and a self-locking cover, the self-locking servo is provided with a threaded shaft, the self-locking servo is fixedly installed inside the self-locking cover, the lock tongue is a hard bar block with a threaded hole inside, the lock tongue is inserted from the outside of the self-locking cover, the threaded shaft of the self-locking servo is inserted into the threaded hole of the lock tongue, and the extension and retraction of the lock tongue is controlled by the rotation of the threaded shaft of the self-locking servo.

[0013] Preferably, the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook includes two types, the self-locking structures in the two types of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks are mirror images of each other, and the other structures are consistent;

[0014] When forming an adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination, two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks of the same type are used to form a group of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combinations, which can then be combined into two types of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combinations;

[0015] When the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination is arranged on the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arms, two types of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combinations are arranged alternately.

[0016] Preferably, the claw quick-release structure comprises two opposite large arc hook-shaped groove structures, two opposite small arc hook-shaped groove structures and an electrical signal socket, the two opposite large arc hook-shaped groove structures and the two opposite small arc hook-shaped groove structures are arranged perpendicular to each other, and the large arc hook-shaped groove structure and the small arc hook-shaped groove structure have different radii;

[0017] The grab hook quick-release structure includes two relatively installed large arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structures at the bottom end of the hard grab hook, two relatively installed small arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structures and an electrical signal socket. The two relatively installed large arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structures and the two relatively installed small arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structures are arranged perpendicular to each other, and the large arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structure and the small arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structure have different radii.

[0018] Preferably, the specific steps of using the device to grasp a cable or a tower include:

[0019] A1. The self-locking structure on the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook is in the unlocked state;

[0020] A2. The rotation and swing joints of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook are relatively rotated to drive the two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks in the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination to form an opening angle, thereby completing initialization;

[0021] A3. Place the cable or the local structure of the tower within the opening angle formed by the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination through overall movement;

[0022] A4. The rotating and swinging joints rotate relative to each other to drive the two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks in the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to close together until the cable or the local structure of the tower is clamped;

[0023] A5. The self-locking structure on the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook is self-locking.

[0024] Preferably, the specific steps of using the device for moving on cables and towers include:

[0025] B1. Initialization: After the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assemblies on the head and tail double-headed serpentine manipulators are grasped and self-locked, the head and tail double-headed serpentine manipulators enter the cable tower operation mode, and the moving joint located behind the moving direction of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to be moved is bent away from the cable or the local structure of the tower to form a certain angle with the axis of the cable or the local structure of the tower;

[0026] B2. Reduce the gripping force: the opening angles of the two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks in the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination to be moved are slightly increased to reduce the gripping force;

[0027] B3. Mobile adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly: The mobile joint located in front of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to be moved in the moving direction is bent away from the cable or the local structure of the tower to form a certain angle with the axis of the cable or the local structure of the tower, and the mobile joint located behind the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to be moved in the moving direction is bent toward the cable or the local structure of the tower to be parallel to the axis of the cable or the local structure of the tower, thereby driving the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to be moved;

[0028] B4. Restore gripping force: The opening angles of the two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks in the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination to be moved are slightly reduced to increase the gripping force and complete the forward movement of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination.

[0029] Preferably, the device can be used for close-range 360-degree power inspection of cables and towers, and the specific steps include:

[0030] C1. Initialization of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm: connect the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm to the drone, and initialize the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm to the hovering mode;

[0031] C2. Deployment of the double-headed snake-shaped robotic arms: The drone is equipped with the double-headed snake-shaped robotic arms and moves to the sky above the target cable or partial structure of the electric tower. The double-headed snake-shaped robotic arms activate the degree of freedom from the snake head in the hovering mode, unfold the snake body structure to the bottom of the drone, and unfold it to a vertical state. The visual system of the snake head identifies and detects the position of the partial structure of the cable or electric tower, and the adaptive sensing cable tower grabbing hook combination is fully grasped and self-locked, and the snake tail is separated from the drone;

[0032] C3. Position calibration: The visual system of the snake head and the visual system of the snake tail simultaneously identify the cable or tower, and detect and calibrate the absolute position of the local structure of the cable or tower, the relative position of the local structure of the cable or tower and the axis of the snake-shaped manipulator, the position deviation of the local structure of the cable or tower in the two visual systems, and the induction pressure of the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber combination, so that the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped manipulators are in the correct posture and position;

[0033] C4. Inchworm-like crawling of the double-headed snake-shaped manipulator: The adaptive sensing cable tower grabber combination on the double-headed snake-shaped manipulator moves on the cable or tower;

[0034] C5, 360-degree cable inspection: The snake head conducts clockwise and counterclockwise visual inspection of the cable to achieve 360-degree detection without blind spots. If any abnormality is found, proceed to C6, otherwise proceed to C4;

[0035] C6, detection and maintenance: Use the snake head to visually detect abnormal points and send GPS signals to the back end to obtain the best maintenance plan. During the forward operation in the reverse direction, C4-C6 are carried out in the same way, and the snake tail replaces the function of the snake head in C4-C6;

[0036] C7. Snake-shaped robotic arm recovery: After the inspection task is completed, the control system of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm sends the GPS information of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm to the drone airborne control system. The drone airborne control system controls the drone to land near the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm and wait for docking. At the same time, the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm moves to the bottom of the drone, and then the visual system of the snake tail performs visual recognition of the drone. According to the position of the airborne claw at the bottom of the drone in the image, the tail end claw is controlled to dock accurately with the docking mechanism at the bottom of the drone.

[0037] C8. Return of the snake-like robotic arm: The adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination on the head and tail double-headed snake-like robotic arm is released, and then the head and tail double-headed snake-like robotic arm returns to the vertical mode, and then initializes to the hovering mode, and returns together with the drone.

[0038] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0039] The present invention solves the problem of insufficient positioning accuracy of drones when conducting cable and tower inspections, and at the same time solves the deployment and delivery problems of current ordinary power inspection robots. It allows operators to complete the entire power inspection process on the ground or even in the operation room. The "head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm + drone" solution realizes close-range 360-degree power inspection tasks of cables and towers in various situations, making power inspection more reliable, safer, more effective, more diverse and more convenient. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Figure 1 The overall schematic diagram of a snake-like flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception of the present invention Figure 1 ;

[0041] Figure 2 The overall schematic diagram of a snake-like flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception of the present invention Figure 2 ;

[0042] Figure 3 This is an exploded view of the type A of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 4 A isometric view of the self-adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 5 A comparison diagram of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type A and the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type B of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of different assembly combinations of adaptive sensing cable tower grabbers;

[0046] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the assembly of the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber on a double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm with different numbers of sections;

[0047] Figure 8 It is the assembly diagram of the self-locking structure;

[0048] Fig. 9 It is a schematic diagram of the working principle of the self-locking structure;

[0049] Fig.10 It is a schematic diagram of the specification adjustment of the self-locking structure;

[0050] Fig.11 It is a schematic diagram of the quick-release module structure;

[0051] Fig.12 This is a schematic diagram of the quick-release structure of the claw;

[0052] Fig.13 This is a schematic diagram of the quick-release structure of the grab hook;

[0053] Figure 14-15 A schematic diagram of the process of grabbing a cable or a local structure of a tower using a double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm and an adaptive sensing cable tower grabber;

[0054] Figure 16-18 It is an axonometric schematic diagram of the process of the device of the present invention moving forward on the local structure of the cable or tower;

[0055] Fig.19 It is a schematic diagram of the process of the device of the present invention entering the hovering mode from initialization;

[0056] Figure 20-23 A multi-view schematic diagram of the hovering mode of the device of the present invention;

[0057] Fig.24 , 25 This is a schematic diagram of 360-degree detection of the loop cable of the device of the present invention;

[0058] Fig.26 The figure is a schematic diagram of the process of the device of the present invention being dropped from a drone to a cable or a tower to be inspected.

[0059] In the figure, 1 is a drone, 2 is a double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm, 3, 4, 7, and 8 are adaptive sensing cable tower grabber type A, 5 and 6 are adaptive sensing cable tower grabber type B, 10 is a snake head, 11 is a snake tail, 2.1 is the first joint, 2.2 is the second joint, 2.3 is the third joint, 2.4 is the fourth joint, 2.5 is the fifth joint, 2.6 is the sixth joint, 2.7 is the seventh joint, 2.8 is the eighth joint, 2.9 is the ninth joint, 2.10 is the tenth joint, 2.11 is the eleventh joint, 2.12 is the twelfth joint, 2.13 is the thirteenth joint, 2.12 is the fourteenth joint, 2.1.1 and 2.2.1 are claw quick-release structures, 2.1.1.1 is a large arc hook groove structure, 2.1.1.2 is a small arc hook groove structure, 2.1.1.3 is an electrical signal socket, 3.1 and 4.1 are grab hook quick release structures, 3.2 is a hard grab hook, 3.3 is a pressure feedback device, 3.4 is an anti-slip suction cup surface, 3.5 is a self-locking structure, 3.1.1 is a large arc hook protrusion structure, 3.1.2 is a small arc hook protrusion structure, 3.1.3 is an electrical signal socket, 3.5.1 and 4.5.1 are lock tongues, 3.5.2 is a self-locking servo, 3.5.3, 3.5.4, and 4.5.3 are self-locking covers, and 9.1, 9.2, 9.7, 9.8, 9.13, and 9.14 are quick release modules. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. Note that the following embodiments are merely illustrative in nature, and the present invention is not intended to limit its applicable objects or uses, and the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0061] Example

[0062] refer to Figure 1 , Figure 2 The present embodiment provides a serpentine flying robotic arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception, the device includes a drone 1, a head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm 2 that can be autonomously separated and connected to the drone 1, the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm 2 includes a plurality of rotating and swinging joints that are movably connected in sequence, and also includes a plurality of groups of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assemblies arranged in sequence along the length direction of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arms, the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly is used to realize the clamping and self-locking of cables and towers, and the head and tail of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arms are respectively configured with visual systems.

[0063] In this embodiment, the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination includes three groups, which are respectively located at the head, tail and middle of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arms. Specifically, it includes an adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type A 3 connected to the quick-release module 9.1 at the first joint 2.1 of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm 2, an adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type A 4 connected to the quick-release module 9.2 at the second joint 2.2 of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm 2, an adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type B 5 connected to the quick-release module 9.7 at the seventh joint 2.7 of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm 2, an adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type B 6 connected to the quick-release module 9.8 at the eighth joint 2.8 of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm 2, an adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type A 7 connected to the quick-release module 9.13 at the thirteenth joint 2.13 of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm 2, and an adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type A 8 connected to the quick-release module 9.14 at the fourteenth joint 2.14 of the head and tail double-headed serpentine robotic arm 2.

[0064] refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4 Taking the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber type a 3 as an example, it includes a grabber quick-release structure 3.1, a hard grabber 3.2, a pressure feedback device 3.3, an anti-skid suction cup skin 3.4, and a self-locking structure 3.5. The grabber quick-release structure 3.1 is located at the bottom of the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber 3, and cooperates with the snake-shaped mechanical arm claw quick-release structure to make the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber 3 rigidly connected to the snake body structure of the double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm 2, and electrically connected at the same time. The pressure feedback device 3.3 is fixedly installed in the inner groove of the hard grabber 3.2 to detect the grasping force of the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber and transmit it to the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arms. The surface of the pressure feedback device 3.3 is in the same plane as the inner surface of the hard grabber 3.2, and this plane is covered with a layer of anti-skid suction cup skin 3.4 to provide stable friction. The self-locking structure 3.5 is fixedly installed on the top of the hard grabber 3.2 and rigidly connected to it, and realizes self-locking after the grabber is clamped.

[0065] refer to Figure 5 The self-locking structures of the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber type A 3, 4, 7, 8 and the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber type B 5, 6 are mirror images of each other, and the rest of the structures, including the grabber quick-release structure, hard grabber, pressure feedback device, anti-slip suction cup skin and installation method, are the same. When used, type A can only be installed in pairs with type A for gripping, and the same is true for type B. Mixing type A and type B will weaken the self-locking function or even fail to work.

[0066] refer to Figure 6 , the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type a is used for the first joint 2.1, the second joint 2.2, the thirteenth joint 2.13, and the fourteenth joint 2.14, and the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type b is used for the seventh joint 2.7 and the eighth joint 2.8. This installation method is used to adapt to the movement mode of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robot arm 2. The adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type b can also be used for the first joint 2.1, the second joint 2.2, the thirteenth joint 2.13, and the fourteenth joint 2.14, and the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type a is used for the seventh joint 2.7 and the eighth joint 2.8. Reference Figure 7 If more joints are added to the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robot arm 2, the same function can be achieved by loading the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber on the first and second joints, the penultimate and second joints, and the two middle joints.

[0067] The anti-slip suction cup surface 3.4 is made of insulating material, and its surface is divided into two sections, which fits tightly to the hard grab hook 3.2 and the pressure feedback device 3.3 and prevents the pressure feedback device 3.3 from falling off. The surface is rich in a large number of micro-suction cup structures 3.4.1 that imitate the limb structure of the giant tree frog, providing greater friction and enhancing the stability of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type a 3 in grasping cables and towers.

[0068] refer to Figure 8 The self-locking structure 3.5 includes a lock tongue 3.5.1, a self-locking servo 3.5.2 and a self-locking cover 3.5.3. The self-locking servo 3.5.2 has a threaded shaft and is fixedly installed inside the self-locking cover 3.5.3. The lock tongue 3.5.1 is a hard bar block with a threaded hole inside, which is inserted from the outside of the self-locking cover 3.5.3. The threaded shaft of the self-locking servo 3.5.2 is inserted into the threaded hole of the lock tongue 3.5.1. Fig. 9 The extension and retraction of the locking tongue 3.5.1 is controlled by the rotation of the threaded shaft of the self-locking servo 3.5.2.

[0069] If the diameter of the cable or the local structure of the tower is large, the adaptive sensing cable tower hooks 3 and 4 are not enough to complete the self-locking. The upper and lower pressure thresholds F1 and F2 of the pressure feedback devices 3.3 and 4.3 can be adjusted to increase the gripping force, or refer to Fig.10, replace the self-locking covers 3.5.3 and 4.5.3, select the larger self-locking covers 3.5.4 and 4.5.4, increase the end length of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks 3 and 4, expand the grabbing range, and complete the self-locking.

[0070] refer to Fig.11 The quick-release module 9.1 includes a snake-shaped robotic arm claw quick-release structure 2.1.1 installed on the outside of the joint of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm 2 and a grab hook quick-release structure 3.1 at the bottom of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type a 3, and the card slots of the two cooperate with each other to achieve rigid connection and electrical connection.

[0071] refer to Fig.12 The serpentine robot arm claw quick-release structure 2.1.1 includes two relatively large arc hook-shaped groove structures 2.1.1.1, two relatively small arc hook-shaped groove structures 2.1.1.2 and an electrical signal socket 2.1.1.3. The two relatively large arc hook-shaped groove structures 2.1.1.1 and the two relatively small arc hook-shaped groove structures 2.1.1.2 are arranged perpendicular to each other. The large arc hook-shaped groove structure 2.1.1.1 and the small arc hook-shaped groove structure 2.1.1.2 have different radii. The even-numbered joints 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 2.8, 2.10, 2.12 and 2.14 are provided with two relatively installed serpentine robot arm claw quick-release structures.

[0072] refer to Fig.13 The grab hook quick release structure 3.1 includes two relatively mounted large arc hook-shaped protrusion structures 3.1.1, two relatively mounted small arc hook-shaped protrusion structures 3.1.2 and an electrical signal socket 3.1.3 at the bottom of the hard grab hook 3.2. The two relatively mounted large arc hook-shaped protrusion structures 3.1.1 and the two relatively mounted small arc hook-shaped protrusion structures 3.1.2 are arranged perpendicular to each other. The large arc hook-shaped protrusion structure 3.1.1 and the small arc hook-shaped protrusion structure 3.1 .2 The radii are different, so that there are only two installation directions when the grab hook quick-release structure 3.1 is engaged with the snake-shaped robotic arm claw quick-release structure 2.2.1 on the outside of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm joint, namely, the two installation directions of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type a 3 and the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook type a 4. The electrical signal socket 3.1.3 contacts the electrical signal interface of the snake-shaped robotic arm claw quick-release structure 2.2.1 at the double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm joint to connect the electrical signal.

[0073] The device adopts an edge intelligence vision target detection method to detect power line fault points and safety hazard targets more efficiently with lower power consumption. This method extracts features based on a lightweight convolutional neural network to enable the deployment of lightweight edge devices. Aiming at the problem of target scale change during the process of the snake-shaped flying robotic arm approaching power line fault points and safety hazard targets in the power inspection task, it uses an efficient scale cross-attention network, a scale dynamic sampling feed-forward neural network, and a scale-adaptive region proposal network to efficiently estimate the target scale and alert the ground station of the fault and hidden danger targets, thereby accurately detecting obstacles and hidden dangers such as missing metal pins, damaged insulation layers, rusted grading rings, illegal buildings near electric towers, and trees and shrubs. The scale perception network forms self-attention and mutual-attention based on scale-invariant convolution and a new type of efficient scale attention mechanism to integrate and interact target scale information in the scale and channel dimensions of target features, and accurately and efficiently estimate the target scale during the power inspection process of the snake-shaped flying robotic arm.

[0074] Reference Fig.14 and Fig.15 , the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm 2 combined with the adaptive sensing cable and electric tower hooks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 can be used to grasp the cable or electric tower. The specific steps are as follows:

[0075] A1. Taking the adaptive sensing cable and electric tower hook a-type 3 connected to the quick-release module 9.1 at the first joint 2.1 of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm 2 and the adaptive sensing cable and electric tower hook a-type 4 connected to the quick-release module 9.2 at the second joint 2.2 of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm 2 as examples, the self-locking servo 3.5.2 and the self-locking servo 4.5.2 rotate the threaded shaft to retract the locking tongues 3.5.1 and 4.5.1 into the self-locking covers 3.5.3 and 4.5.3.

[0076] A2. The relative rotation of the first joint 2.1 and the second joint 2.2 drives the adaptive sensing cable and electric tower hook a-type 3 and the adaptive sensing cable and electric tower hook a-type 4 to form a larger opening angle, shown as 120° in the figure, to complete the initialization.

[0077] A3. Through the overall movement, the local structure of the cable or electric tower is placed inside the opening angle formed by the adaptive sensing cable and electric tower hook a-type 3 and the adaptive sensing cable and electric tower hook a-type 4.

[0078] A4. The relative rotation of the first joint 2.1 and the second joint 2.2 drives the adaptive sensing cable and electric tower hook a-type 3 and the adaptive sensing cable and electric tower hook a-type 4 to close. The pressure feedback sensors 3.3 and 4.3 are both provided with an upper pressure threshold F1 and a lower pressure threshold F2. If the actual upper pressure N1 < F1 or the actual lower pressure N2 > F2, the first joint 2.1 and the second joint 2.2 continue to rotate relative to each other until N1 ≥ F1 and N2 ≥ F2.

[0079] A5. The self-locking servo 3.5.2 and the self-locking servo 4.5.2 rotate the threaded shaft to make the locking tongue 3.5.1 and the locking tongue 4.5.1 extend out of the self-locking cover 3.5.3 and the self-locking cover 4.5.3, thus completing the self-locking and ensuring the safety of the equipment in unexpected situations.

[0080] The head-tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm 2 and the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 can be combined to move the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks on cables and towers. The specific steps are as follows:

[0081] B1. Initialization: Reference Fig.16 After the three pairs of adaptive sensing cable tower grabbers of the snake-shaped robot arm 2 are all grasped and self-locked, the snake-shaped robot arm 2 enters the cable tower operation mode, assuming that the direction from the snake tail 11 to the snake head 10 is the positive direction of operation, taking the adaptive sensing cable tower grabbers 5 and 6 as an example, the axes of the third to sixth joints 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, and 2.6 are parallel to the axis of the cable or tower local structure, and the ninth joint 2.9 and the tenth joint 2.10 are bent away from the cable or tower local structure until they are 45° to the axis of the cable or tower local structure until the tenth joint 2.10 is farther away from the cable or tower local structure than the ninth joint 2.9, and at the same time, the eleventh joint 2.11 and the twelfth joint 2.12 are bent away from the cable or tower local structure until they are 45° to the axis of the cable or tower local structure until the eleventh joint 2.11 is farther away from the cable or tower local structure than the twelfth joint 2.12;

[0082] B2. Reduce the gripping force: The seventh joint 2.7 and the eighth joint 2.8 rotate relatively at a small angle to slightly increase the angle of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook 5 and the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook 6, thereby reducing the gripping force;

[0083] B3. Reference Fig.17 , move the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber: the fifth joint 2.5 and the sixth joint 2.6 are bent in the direction away from the cable or the local structure of the tower until they are 45° to the axis of the cable or the local structure of the tower until the fifth joint 2.5 is farther away from the cable or the local structure of the tower than the sixth joint 2.6, and at the same time the third joint 2.3 and the fourth joint 2.4 are bent in the direction away from the local structure of the tower until they are 45° to the axis of the cable or the local structure of the tower until the fourth joint 2.4 is farther away from the cable or the local structure of the tower than the third joint 2.3, and the ninth to twelfth joints 2.9, 2.10, 2.11, 2.12 are bent until the axis is parallel to the axis of the cable or the local structure of the tower, driving the seventh joint 2.7, the eighth joint 2.8 and the adaptive sensing cable tower grabbers 5 and 6 to move forward;

[0084] B4. Recovering the gripping force: The seventh joint 2.7 and the eighth joint 2.8 rotate relatively at a small angle to slightly reduce the angle of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook 5 and the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook 6, thereby increasing the gripping force and completing the forward movement of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks 5 and 6.

[0085] The device can be used for close-range 360-degree power inspection of cables and towers. The specific steps are as follows:

[0086] C1. Initialization of the snake-shaped robot arm: reference Figure 1 , Figure 2 , connect the tail of the snake-shaped robotic arm 11 to the drone 1, refer to Fig.19 , Figure 20 to Figure 23 , the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robot arm 2 is initialized to the hovering mode to reduce the occupied space and flight resistance;

[0087] C2, snake-shaped robotic arm deployment: UAV 1 carrying snake-shaped robotic arm 2 moves to the target cable or tower local structure, refer to Fig.19 (Reverse process), the snake-shaped robotic arm activates the degree of freedom from the snake head structure 10 in the hovering mode, unfolds the snake body structure under the drone 1, and unfolds to a vertical state, refer to Fig.26 , the visual system of the snake head structure 10 identifies and detects the position of the local structure of the cable or tower, and then performs steps A1-A5 on the adaptive sensing cable tower grabbers 3 and 4, 5 and 6 until the adaptive sensing cable tower grabbers 3 and 4, 5 and 6 are all grasped and self-locked, the snake tail structure 11 is separated from the drone 1, and then steps A1-A5 are performed on the adaptive sensing cable tower grabbers 7 and 8 until the adaptive sensing cable tower grabbers 7 and 8 are grasped and self-locked;

[0088] C3. Position calibration: The vision system of the snake head 10 and the vision system of the snake tail 11 simultaneously identify the cable or the electric tower, and detect and calibrate the absolute position of the local structure of the cable or the electric tower, the relative position of the local structure of the cable or the electric tower and the axis of the snake-shaped robot arm, the position deviation of the local structure of the cable or the electric tower in the two vision systems, and the induction pressure of the three pairs of adaptive sensing cable tower grabbers, so that the snake-shaped robot arm is in the correct posture and position;

[0089] C4. Inchworm-like crawling of the double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm: The adaptive sensing cable tower grabber assembly on the double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm moves on the cable or tower, which specifically includes:

[0090] C41, Operation Preparation: Reference Fig.16 , perform step B1 on the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks 7 and 8 to complete the operation preparation;

[0091] C42, forward 1: reference Fig.17, perform steps B2-B4 on the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks 5 and 6 to complete the forward movement;

[0092] C43, forward 2: reference Fig.18 , perform steps B2-B4 on the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks 3 and 4, 7 and 8 to complete the forward movement;

[0093] C5, 360-degree cable inspection: The snake head conducts clockwise and counterclockwise visual inspection of the cable to achieve 360-degree detection without blind spots. If any abnormality is found, proceed to C6, otherwise proceed to C4;

[0094] C6, detection and maintenance: Use the snake head to visually detect abnormal points and send GPS signals to the back end to obtain the best maintenance plan. During the forward operation in the reverse direction, C4-C6 are carried out in the same way, and the snake tail replaces the function of the snake head in C4-C6;

[0095] C7. Snake-shaped robotic arm recovery: After the inspection task is completed, the control system of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm sends the GPS information of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm to the drone airborne control system. The drone airborne control system controls the drone to land near the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm and wait for docking. At the same time, the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm moves to the bottom of the drone, and then the visual system of the snake tail performs visual recognition of the drone. According to the position of the airborne claw at the bottom of the drone in the image, the tail end claw is controlled to dock accurately with the docking mechanism at the bottom of the drone.

[0096] C8. Return of the snake-like robotic arm: The adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination on the head and tail double-headed snake-like robotic arm is released, and then the head and tail double-headed snake-like robotic arm returns to the vertical mode, and then initializes to the hovering mode, and returns together with the drone.

[0097] The above embodiments are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the present invention. These embodiments can also be implemented in various other ways, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the technical concept of the present invention.

Claims

1. A snake-like flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception, characterized in that: The device includes a drone, a head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm that can be autonomously separated and connected to the drone, the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm includes a plurality of rotating and swinging joints that are movably connected in sequence, and also includes a plurality of groups of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assemblies that are sequentially arranged along the length direction of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm, the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly is used to achieve clamping and self-locking of cables and towers, and the head and tail of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm are respectively equipped with visual systems; The adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination comprises two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks installed on two adjacent rotating and swinging joints, the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook comprises a grab hook quick-release structure, a hard grab hook, a pressure feedback device, an anti-slip suction cup surface and a self-locking structure, the grab hook quick-release structure is located at the bottom of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook, the grab hook quick-release structure cooperates with the claw quick-release structure on the rotating and swinging joints of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm to make the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook and the snake body structure of the double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arm rigid. The hard hook is connected and electrically connected, a pressure feedback device is fixedly installed in the inner groove of the hard hook, the hard hook is used to detect the grasping force of the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber and transmit it to the head and tail double-headed serpentine mechanical arm, the surface of the pressure feedback device is in the same plane as the inner surface of the hard hook, and this plane is covered with the anti-slip suction cup skin, the anti-slip suction cup skin provides stable friction, the self-locking structure is fixedly installed on the top of the hard hook and rigidly connected to the hard hook, and the self-locking structure realizes self-locking after the hard hook is clamped.

2. According to claim 1, a snake-like flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception is characterized in that: The self-adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination includes three groups, which are respectively located at the head, tail and middle of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped mechanical arms.

3. According to claim 1, a snake-like flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception is characterized in that: The anti-skid suction cup surface is made of insulating material, and its surface is divided into two sections, which closely fits the hard hook and the pressure feedback device and prevents the pressure feedback device from falling. The surface of the anti-skid suction cup surface is rich in a large number of micro-suction cup structures that imitate the limb structure of the giant tree frog.

4. According to the serpentine flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception according to claim 1, it is characterized in that: The self-locking structure includes a lock tongue, a self-locking servo and a self-locking cover. The self-locking servo is provided with a threaded shaft. The self-locking servo is fixedly installed inside the self-locking cover. The lock tongue is a hard bar block with a threaded hole inside. The lock tongue is inserted from the outside of the self-locking cover. The threaded shaft of the self-locking servo is inserted into the threaded hole of the lock tongue. The extension and retraction of the lock tongue is controlled by the rotation of the threaded shaft of the self-locking servo.

5. According to claim 1, a snake-like flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception is characterized in that: The self-adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook includes two types, the self-locking structures in the two types of self-adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks are mirror images of each other, and the other structures are the same; When forming an adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination, two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks of the same type are used to form a group of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combinations, which can then be combined into two types of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combinations; When the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination is arranged on the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arms, two types of adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combinations are arranged alternately.

6. The serpentine flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The claw quick-release structure includes two opposite large arc hook-shaped groove structures, two opposite small arc hook-shaped groove structures and an electrical signal socket, the two opposite large arc hook-shaped groove structures and the two opposite small arc hook-shaped groove structures are arranged perpendicular to each other, and the large arc hook-shaped groove structure and the small arc hook-shaped groove structure have different radii; The grab hook quick-release structure includes two relatively installed large arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structures at the bottom end of the hard grab hook, two relatively installed small arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structures and an electrical signal socket. The two relatively installed large arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structures and the two relatively installed small arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structures are arranged perpendicular to each other, and the large arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structure and the small arc-shaped hook-shaped protrusion structure have different radii.

7. The serpentine flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The specific steps for the device to grasp cables or towers include: A1. The self-locking structure on the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook is in the unlocked state; A2. The rotation and swing joints of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook are relatively rotated to drive the two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks in the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination to form an opening angle, thereby completing initialization; A3. Place the cable or the local structure of the tower within the opening angle formed by the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination through overall movement; A4. The rotating and swinging joints rotate relative to each other to drive the two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks in the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to close together until the cable or the local structure of the tower is clamped; A5. The self-locking structure on the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook is self-locking.

8. The serpentine flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The specific steps of using the device to move on cables and towers include: B1. Initialization: After the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assemblies on the head and tail double-headed serpentine manipulators are grasped and self-locked, the head and tail double-headed serpentine manipulators enter the cable tower operation mode, and the moving joint located behind the moving direction of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to be moved is bent away from the cable or the local structure of the tower to form a certain angle with the axis of the cable or the local structure of the tower; B2. Reduce the gripping force: the opening angles of the two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks in the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination to be moved are slightly increased to reduce the gripping force; B3. Mobile adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly: The mobile joint located in front of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to be moved in the moving direction is bent away from the cable or the local structure of the tower to form a certain angle with the axis of the cable or the local structure of the tower, and the mobile joint located behind the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to be moved in the moving direction is bent toward the cable or the local structure of the tower to be parallel to the axis of the cable or the local structure of the tower, thereby driving the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook assembly to be moved; B4. Restore gripping force: The opening angles of the two adaptive sensing cable tower grab hooks in the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination to be moved are slightly reduced to increase the gripping force and complete the forward movement of the adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination.

9. The serpentine flying mechanical arm power inspection device based on edge intelligent visual perception according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The device can be used for close-range 360-degree power inspection of cables and towers. The specific steps include: C1. Initialization of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm: connect the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm to the drone, and initialize the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm to the hovering mode; C2. Deployment of the double-headed snake-shaped robotic arms: The drone is equipped with the double-headed snake-shaped robotic arms and moves to the sky above the target cable or partial structure of the electric tower. The double-headed snake-shaped robotic arms activate the degree of freedom from the snake head in the hovering mode, unfold the snake body structure to the bottom of the drone, and unfold it to a vertical state. The visual system of the snake head identifies and detects the position of the partial structure of the cable or electric tower, and the adaptive sensing cable tower grabbing hook combination is fully grasped and self-locked, and the snake tail is separated from the drone; C3. Position calibration: The visual system of the snake head and the visual system of the snake tail simultaneously identify the cable or tower, and detect and calibrate the absolute position of the local structure of the cable or tower, the relative position of the local structure of the cable or tower and the axis of the snake-shaped manipulator, the position deviation of the local structure of the cable or tower in the two visual systems, and the induction pressure of the adaptive sensing cable tower grabber combination, so that the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped manipulators are in the correct posture and position; C4. Inchworm-like crawling of the double-headed snake-shaped manipulator: The adaptive sensing cable tower grabber combination on the double-headed snake-shaped manipulator moves on the cable or tower; C5, 360-degree cable inspection: The snake head conducts clockwise and counterclockwise visual inspection of the cable to achieve 360-degree detection without blind spots. If any abnormality is found, proceed to C6, otherwise proceed to C4; C6, detection and maintenance: Use the snake head to visually detect abnormal points and send GPS signals to the back end to obtain the best maintenance plan. During the forward operation in the reverse direction, C4-C6 are carried out in the same way, and the snake tail replaces the function of the snake head in C4-C6; C7. Snake-shaped robotic arm recovery: After the inspection task is completed, the control system of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm sends the GPS information of the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm to the drone airborne control system. The drone airborne control system controls the drone to land near the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm and wait for docking. At the same time, the head and tail double-headed snake-shaped robotic arm moves to the bottom of the drone, and then the visual system of the snake tail performs visual recognition of the drone. According to the position of the airborne claw at the bottom of the drone in the image, the tail end claw is controlled to dock accurately with the docking mechanism at the bottom of the drone. C8. Return of the snake-like robotic arm: The adaptive sensing cable tower grab hook combination on the head and tail double-headed snake-like robotic arm is released, and then the head and tail double-headed snake-like robotic arm returns to the vertical mode, and then initializes to the hovering mode, and returns together with the drone.

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