A launching robotic arm for in-vehicle drones

Abstract

A release robotic arm for in-vehicle drones, comprising a vehicle body and a box body. A platform is provided inside the box body. An auxiliary release device is provided on one side of the box body. The auxiliary release device includes a robotic arm component, a rotating component, a lifting component, a clamping component and a leveling component. The clamping component includes a swing arm, a clamping jaw and a first driving assembly. The first driving assembly is installed on the swing arm and can drive the two clamping jaws to move synchronously towards / away from each other along a first rotating shaft; the leveling component is used to drive the first rotating shaft to rotate so that the posture of the clamping jaw does not change with the swing of the swing arm; the rotating component drives the robotic arm assembly to rotate circumferentially along the axis of the sleeve; the lifting component drives the robotic arm assembly to reciprocate up and down in the vertical direction. The present invention can find the most suitable take-off angle for the drone in a complex environment, and at the same time can improve the coordination of multiple drones during flight and improve the use efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of vehicle-mounted drones, and in particular, it is a launching robotic arm for vehicle-mounted drones. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of society, drones are increasingly widely used in production and life. Large-scale monitoring, safety inspections, environmental detection, etc. carried out by drones are widely applied. When conducting on-site environmental surveys, in order to improve the endurance, the vehicle-mounted drone method is generally adopted.

[0003] In the specific use process, when the vehicle is parked on a slope or there are obstacles above the lifting device, it is not convenient for the vehicle-mounted drone to take off. In addition, when a drone is already parked on the platform, if another drone needs to make an emergency landing, it is impossible to coordinate due to space problems at this time. If the platform is enlarged, the overall volume will increase, which is not convenient for matching with the vehicle body. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a launching robotic arm for vehicle-mounted drones, which can find the most suitable take-off angle for the drone in a complex environment, and at the same time can improve the coordination of multiple drones during flight and improve the use efficiency.

[0005] The present invention provides a launching robotic arm for vehicle-mounted drones. The technical solution for solving its technical problems includes a vehicle body and a box installed on the vehicle body. A platform for parking or launching a drone is provided inside the box. An auxiliary launching device is provided on one side of the box. The auxiliary launching device includes a robotic arm component, a rotating component, a lifting component, a clamping component, and a leveling component. The robotic arm component includes a sleeve and a cross beam. The cross beam is installed at one end of the sleeve. The sleeve is installed on the outer side wall of the box. The clamping component is installed at the lower part of the cross beam. The clamping component includes a swing arm, clamping claws, and a first driving component. One end of the swing arm is rotatably connected to the cross beam. One end of the swing arm is provided with a first rotating shaft. The number of clamping claws is two and they are slidably installed on the first rotating shaft. The first driving component is installed on the swing arm and can drive the two clamping claws to move synchronously towards each other along the first rotating shaft for clamping the drone parked on the platform; the first driving component can drive the two clamping claws to move synchronously away from each other along the first rotating shaft for launching the clamped drone; the leveling component is used to drive the first rotating shaft to rotate so that the posture of the clamping claws does not change with the swing of the swing arm; the rotating component drives the robotic arm component to rotate circumferentially along the axis of the sleeve; the lifting component drives the robotic arm component to reciprocate vertically.

[0006] Preferably, a second driving component for driving the swing arm to rotate is installed on the cross beam. The leveling component includes an inclination sensor for detecting the swing angle of the swing arm. The inclination sensor can control the second driving component through a control system to drive the first rotating shaft to rotate in the opposite direction of the swing of the swing arm by the same angle.

[0007] Preferably, a central shaft is fixed on the cross beam. The swing arm is sleeved on the central shaft. A first gear is fixed on the central shaft. A gear shaft is installed on the swing arm. A second gear is installed on the first rotating shaft. The second gear meshes with the gear shaft. The first gear and the gear shaft are connected by a chain drive. The transmission ratio between the first gear and the second gear is 1.

[0008] Preferably, the lifting component includes a support plate, a lifting driving component, and a guide post. The guide post is fixed on the support plate. The sleeve is movably sleeved on the guide post. The lifting driving component includes a cylinder. The telescopic end of the cylinder is connected to one end of the sleeve.

[0009] Preferably, the rotating component includes a driving motor. The driving motor is installed on the outer side wall of the box body. The output end of the driving motor is fixedly connected to the support plate.

[0010] Preferably, the rotation range of the rotating component for driving the robotic arm assembly is 0 - 360°.

[0011] Preferably, the swing range of the swing arm is 0 - 90°.

[0012] Preferably, the first driving component includes a gas source, a cylinder body, and a telescopic rod. The cylinder is fixed on the first rotating shaft. Each clamping jaw corresponds to a cylinder body. Each cylinder body is provided with a telescopic rod. One end of the telescopic rod is connected to the clamping jaw. The two cylinder bodies are connected by an air pipe and connected to the same gas source.

[0013] Preferably, a counterweight is provided at one end of the cross beam. The counterweight and the swing arm are distributed on both sides of the sleeve.

[0014] In summary, by setting the rotating component, the position of the drone can be adjusted in the circumferential direction, which is convenient for the release operation. Through the lifting component, it is convenient for the clamping component to extend into the box body to clamp the drone. Through the leveling component and the swing structure of the swing arm, the position of the drone can be adjusted, avoiding the problems of inconvenient takeoff caused by the non-standard attitude of the drone during the release process and easy collision with its own structures such as the cross beam. Through the setting of the robotic arm component, the collaborative effect during the operation of multiple drones can be better achieved, improving the overall work efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0016] Figure 1 is the front view of the overall structure of the present invention (the swing arm in the vertical state);

[0017] Figure 2 is the rear sectional view of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 is the present invention Figure 1 schematic diagram of the swing arm swinging to the inclined state in the present invention;

[0019] Figure 4 is the present invention Figure 3 partial enlarged view in the present invention;

[0020] Figure 5 is the side view of the clamping component and the leveling component of the present invention.

[0021] In the figure: 1, vehicle body; 2, box body; 3, platform; 4, sleeve; 5, cross beam; 6, swing arm; 7, clamping jaw; 8, first rotating shaft; 9, central shaft; 10, first gear; 11, gear transmission group; 12, second gear; 13, support plate; 14, guiding column; 15, counterweight. Specific embodiments

[0022] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] The present invention provides a launching robotic arm for an on-vehicle unmanned aerial vehicle, as Figures 1-5As shown in the figure, it includes a vehicle body 1 and a box body 2 installed on the vehicle body 1. Inside the box body 2, there is a platform 3 for parking or launching drones. Generally, the drones are parked on the platform 3. On one side of the box body 2, there is an auxiliary launching device. On the one hand, the auxiliary launching device can assist in taking off in complex environments. For example, when the vehicle body 1 stays on a slope or there are obstacles above, a better take-off angle can be found through the auxiliary launching device. On the other hand, when an emergency occurs to a flying drone and it needs to make an emergency landing, if there is another drone parked on the platform 3 at this time, the auxiliary launching device can clamp the drone on the platform 3 to clear an emergency landing space for the drone that needs to make an emergency landing, improving the coordination during multi-drone operations.

[0024] The auxiliary launching device includes a robotic arm component, a rotating component, a lifting component, a clamping component, and a leveling component. The robotic arm component includes a sleeve 4 and a cross beam 5. The cross beam 5 is installed at one end of the sleeve 4. The sleeve 4 is installed on the outer side wall of the box body 2. The clamping component is installed at the lower part of the cross beam 5. The clamping component includes a swing arm 6, clamping jaws 7, and a first driving component. One end of the swing arm 6 is rotatably connected to the cross beam 5. One end of the swing arm 6 is provided with a first rotating shaft 8. The number of the clamping jaws 7 is two and they are slidably installed on the first rotating shaft 8. The first driving component is installed on the swing arm 6 and can drive the two clamping jaws 7 to move synchronously towards each other along the first rotating shaft 8 for clamping the drone parked on the platform 3. The first driving component can drive the two clamping jaws 7 to move synchronously away from each other along the first rotating shaft 8 for launching the clamped drone. The clamping jaws 7 clamp the part directly above the drone, and the drone can be taken out from the platform 3 inside the box body 2. When specifically performing the clamping operation, the synchronous cooperation of the rotating component and the lifting component is required. First, the clamping component is rotated to the directly above of the box body 2, and then the clamping component is extended into the box body 2 through the lifting component, thereby realizing the clamping of the drone on the platform 3. It should be noted that the whole process is automatically controlled and has a high degree of intelligence.

[0025] After the drone is clamped, the drone can hover in the air without consuming power. When it needs to take off, it can start the drone and then directly release the clamping jaws 7.

[0026] In this application, in order to achieve a better take-off effect and avoid the swing arm 6 or the cross beam 5 affecting the UAV during take-off, a swing arm 6 structure that can swing is provided. When releasing the clamped UAV, first, the second drive component is used to swing the swing arm 6 by a certain angle to expose the UAV from the cross beam 5, so as to avoid collision with the cross beam 5 during the take-off process. Since the UAV needs to maintain a horizontal attitude when being released, at this time, the swing of the swing arm 6 will cause the position of the clamping jaw 7 to change, which will in turn cause the attitude of the UAV to change, making it inconvenient for the UAV to take off. Therefore, this application designs a leveling component, which can ensure the horizontal attitude of the UAV during the swing of the swing arm 6, and thus achieve a better take-off effect. The leveling component is used to drive the first rotating shaft 8 to rotate, so that the attitude of the clamping jaw 7 does not change with the swing of the swing arm 6. It can be seen that this application ensures the attitude of the UAV by ensuring the attitude of the clamping jaw 7.

[0027] In the specific design, in order to ensure the attitude of the gripper 7 (drone), the present application proposes the following two embodiments of the leveling component. First, the leveling component includes an inclination sensor for detecting the swing angle of the swing arm 6. In this embodiment, the angle information detected by the inclination sensor is immediately transmitted to the second driving component through the control system. Through the cooperation of the sensor and the second driving component, the second driving component includes a servo motor. In the actual process, the swing action of the second driving component and the swing arm 6 are synchronized. The second driving component drives the first rotating shaft 8 to rotate in the opposite direction of the swing of the swing arm 6 by the same angle. In this way, during the swing of the swing arm 6, the first rotating shaft 8 (gripper 7) will correspondingly rotate in the opposite direction by the same angle, so that the attitude of the gripper 7 can be ensured not to change (only the position changes, which is equivalent to a translational motion), and then the attitude of the drone can be ensured not to change, facilitating the take-off of the drone. Second, in this embodiment, a central shaft 9 is fixed on the cross beam 5, the swing arm 6 is sleeved on the central shaft 9, a first gear 10 is fixed on the central shaft 9, the central shaft 9 is installed on the cross beam 5, the swing arm 6 is fixed on the central shaft 9, and the swing arm 6 swings with the rotation of the central shaft 9. Among them, a first gear 10 is fixed on the central shaft 9, a gear transmission group 11 is installed on the swing arm 6, a second gear 12 is installed on the first rotating shaft 8, the first gear 10 is meshed and transmitted with the second gear 12 through the gear transmission group 11, and the transmission ratio of the first gear 10 and the second gear 12 is 1. In this way, through the design of the number of gears in the gear transmission group 11, it can be realized that the second gear 12 rotates in the opposite direction relative to the swing arm 6. In this way, the swing arm 6 and the first rotating shaft 8 rotate synchronously and in the opposite direction. When the swing arm 6 rotates a certain angle, the first rotating shaft 8 correspondingly rotates in the opposite direction by the same angle, so that the attitude of the gripper 7 can be ensured not to change (only the position changes, which is equivalent to a translational motion), and then the attitude of the drone can be ensured not to change, facilitating the take-off of the drone.

[0028] In the present application, the swing range of the swing arm 6 is 0 - 90°. When the swing arm 6 is in the vertical state, it is at the 0° position, and when the swing arm 6 rotates to the horizontal state, it is at the 90° position. Generally, the horizontal state is not included.

[0029] In the present application, the lifting component includes a support plate 13, a lifting drive component, and a guide post 14. The guide post 14 is fixed on the support plate 13, the sleeve 4 is movably sleeved on the guide post 14, and the lifting drive component includes a cylinder. The telescopic end of the cylinder is connected to one end of the sleeve 4.

[0030] The rotating component in the present application includes a drive motor. The drive motor is installed on the outer side wall of the box body 2, and the output end of the drive motor is fixedly connected to the support plate 13. The drive motor can drive the lifting component and the robotic arm component to rotate within a range of 0 - 360° in the horizontal plane.

[0031] The first driving component in this application includes a gas source, a cylinder block, and a telescopic rod. The cylinder is fixed on the first rotating shaft 8. One cylinder block is provided corresponding to each clamping jaw 7, and a telescopic rod is provided on each cylinder block. One end of the telescopic rod is connected to the clamping jaw 7. The two cylinder blocks are connected by a trachea and connected to the same gas source; this can ensure the synchronization of the actions of the two clamping jaws 7.

[0032] One end of the cross beam in this application is provided with a counterweight 15. The counterweight 15 and the swing arm 5 are distributed on both sides of the sleeve. This can ensure the balance of the cross beam 5, making the movement process more stable and labor-saving.

[0033] The above is the preferred implementation manner of the present invention. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present invention, several improvements and refinements can be made, and these improvements and refinements are also regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A launching robot arm for a vehicle-mounted UAV, comprising a vehicle body and a box mounted on the vehicle body, characterized in that: The box body is provided with a platform for parking or launching the drone, and one side of the box body is provided with an auxiliary launching device, which includes a mechanical arm component, a rotating component, a lifting component, a clamping component and a leveling component. The mechanical arm component includes a sleeve and a beam. The beam is installed at one end of the sleeve, and the sleeve is installed on the outer side wall of the box body. The clamping component is installed at the lower part of the beam. The clamping component includes a swing arm, a clamping claw, and a first driving assembly. One end of the swing arm is rotatably connected to the beam, and the other end of the swing arm is provided with a first rotating shaft. The number of the clamping claws is two. and a first driving assembly mounted on the swing arm and slidably mounted on the first rotating shaft; the first driving assembly is mounted on the swing arm and can drive the two clamping claws to move synchronously toward each other along the first rotating shaft for clamping the drone parked on the platform; the first driving assembly can drive the two clamping claws to move synchronously away from each other along the first rotating shaft for releasing the clamped drone; the leveling component is used to drive the first rotating shaft to rotate so that the posture of the clamping claws does not change with the swing of the swing arm; the rotating component drives the mechanical arm component to rotate along the circumferential direction of the axis of the sleeve; the lifting component drives the mechanical arm component to reciprocate and lift in the vertical direction; The rotation range of the mechanical arm component driven by the rotating component is 0-360°; the swing range of the swing arm is 0-90°.

2. A launching mechanical arm for a vehicle-mounted UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: A second driving assembly for driving the swing arm to rotate is installed on the crossbeam. The leveling component includes an inclination sensor for detecting the swing angle of the swing arm. The inclination sensor can control the second driving assembly through a control system to drive the first rotating shaft to rotate the same angle in the opposite direction of the swing of the swing arm.

3. The launching mechanical arm for a vehicle-mounted UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: A central shaft is fixed on the crossbeam, the swing arm is mounted on the central shaft, a first gear is fixed on the central shaft, a gear transmission group is installed on the swing arm, a second gear is installed on the first rotating shaft, the first gear is meshed with the second gear through the gear transmission group, and the transmission ratio between the first gear and the second gear is 1.

4. The launching mechanical arm for a vehicle-mounted UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting component includes a support plate, a lifting drive assembly, and a guide column. The guide column is fixed on the support plate, and the sleeve is movably connected to the guide column. The lifting drive assembly includes a cylinder, and the telescopic end of the cylinder is connected to one end of the sleeve.

5. The launching mechanical arm for a vehicle-mounted UAV according to claim 4, characterized in that: The rotating component includes a driving motor, which is mounted on the outer side wall of the box body, and an output end of the driving motor is fixedly connected to the support plate.

6. The launching mechanical arm for a vehicle-mounted UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first driving assembly includes an air source, a cylinder, and a telescopic rod. The cylinder is fixed on the first rotating shaft. Each of the clamps is correspondingly provided with a cylinder. Each cylinder is provided with a telescopic rod. One end of the telescopic rod is connected to the clamp. The two cylinders are connected by an air pipe and are connected to the same air source.

7. The launching mechanical arm for a vehicle-mounted UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: A counterweight is provided at one end of the crossbeam, and the counterweight and the swing arm are distributed on both sides of the sleeve.

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