A walking mechanism capable of automatic wall transition and a control method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a walking mechanism capable of automatic wall transition and a control method, comprising: a box body, left and right crawler tracks, a power output mechanism, and an infrared ranging array, wherein six crawler tracks are arranged on the left and right sides and are divided into three sections, the front and rear sections have the same structure and are swing arm crawler tracks, the middle section is a main walking crawler track, the left rear sprocket of the front section is located outside the left front sprocket of the main section, the right rear sprocket of the front section is located outside the right front sprocket of the main section, and the positions of the rear section and the main section are similar, a clamping device is installed on the main crawler track, a power output mechanism consisting of an inner shaft, an outer shaft, a walking motor and a bevel gear is installed on the frame, the outer shaft transmits power to four driving sprockets through the bevel gear, and drives the mechanism to walk, the inner shaft is connected to the outer frame, and the swing arm motor provides power, and the crawler track is lifted when the wall transitions, and an infrared ranging matrix is ​​installed above the frame to measure the distance and angle with the transition wall, so as to realize automatic transition.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of robot design, in particular to a wall-climbing robot that can be adsorbed on a water-cooled wall surface and has a wall transition capability, specifically a wall-climbing robot with a wall transition function and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] At present, there are many studies on wall-climbing robots in China, and some mature products have been put into practical application. Wall-climbing robots are mostly wheeled and tracked. Wheeled robots have high motion efficiency and simple control, but are not suitable for complex walls. Tracked robots have complex mechanical structures, strong adsorption force, and difficult steering, but have good off-road performance and are suitable for complex walls. The wall transition function of wall-climbing robots is difficult to achieve, and there is little related research, especially those that can be used for water-cooled walls.

[0003] Xu Tianqi from Southeast University proposed a design of a magnetic wheel wall-climbing robot with wall transition. The robot uses three wheels on one side, which form a triangular structure. The upper wheel is used as a transition auxiliary wheel, and a chain drive is used between the three magnetic wheels. This structure can achieve wall transition, but the angle between the three magnetic wheels is fixed and cannot be adjusted with the angle between the walls, and the wheel mechanism is not suitable for water-cooled wall surfaces. Chen Yong, Hong Xiaowei and others from Nanjing Forestry University invented a wall-climbing robot with wall transition. The robot is tracked and uses electromagnetic adsorption. It is divided into four tracks for the front and rear sections. The two tracks of the front section are located on the inside of the rear section. The transmission motor is installed on the outside of the rear section. The spline transmission is used. The internal gear and spline gear are installed on the shaft. The meshing of the spline gear and the internal gear is moved by two stepping motors to realize the walking, steering and lifting of the track. The defect is that when the front section is lifted, the adsorption force is the same as that of the ordinary tracked type, but the weight of the vehicle body increases, resulting in insufficient adsorption force, and it cannot be reliably adsorbed on a steeper wall. Xu Linsen, Lv Zhiming and others from Hohai University invented a two-stage wall-climbing robot. The front and rear bodies are the same and adopt crawler-type. The front and rear bodies are connected by connectors, and a magnetic wheel auxiliary transition mechanism is set at the end of the rear body. The front and rear bodies assist each other when transitioning on the wall, but the two-stage structure requires the auxiliary body to provide a large suction force when transitioning, which poses a risk of overturning.

[0004] Existing wall-climbing robots for wall transition have at least one of the following defects: (1) They are not suitable for complex wall structures such as water-cooled walls; (2) The angle of the transition structure is fixed, and it cannot adjust its own angle according to the angle between the transition walls to adapt to the wall, resulting in insufficient adsorption force and the risk of overturning. (3) Two identical structures are used. When one section of the vehicle body is transitioning, the other section of the vehicle body needs to provide a larger adsorption force, and the adsorption conditions are harsh. (4) It is impossible to automatically transition to the wall. Most existing structures require manual intervention before the transition to adjust the angle of the transition mechanism to fit the wall to achieve the transition purpose. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a walking mechanism suitable for a water-cooled wall and capable of automatic wall transition. The walking mechanism has good walking, steering, load capacity and movement flexibility on the water-cooled wall, and can automatically identify the angle between the walls to be transitioned, thereby autonomously adjusting the mechanism to perform the transition. In addition, a plurality of connected tracks are used, and the transition process is relatively stable.

[0006] A walking mechanism capable of automatic wall transition, comprising:

[0007] Robot body;

[0008] A main walking crawler front drive shaft, a main walking crawler rear drive shaft, a front swing arm crawler drive shaft, and a rear swing arm crawler drive shaft are arranged in the robot body;

[0009] Two main walking crawler front sprockets arranged on the front drive shaft of the main walking crawler;

[0010] Two main walking crawler rear sprockets arranged on the main walking crawler rear drive shaft;

[0011] A main walking crawler track disposed on both sides of the robot body and connected to the main walking crawler front sprocket and the main walking crawler rear sprocket;

[0012] A front swing arm motor driving the front swing arm crawler drive shaft to rotate, the front swing arm crawler drive shaft being connected to a front swing arm crawler sprocket;

[0013] A front swing arm and a front swing arm crawler track connected to the front swing arm crawler sprocket;

[0014] A rear swing arm motor driving the rear swing arm crawler drive shaft to rotate, wherein the rear swing arm crawler drive shaft is provided with a rear swing arm crawler sprocket;

[0015] A rear swing arm and a rear swing arm crawler track are connected to the rear swing arm crawler track sprocket.

[0016] The main walking crawler is provided with a belt pressing device, and the belt pressing device comprises:

[0017] Coordinated spring and compression rod;

[0018] Two swing rods, one end of the swing rod is connected to the end of the compression rod, and the other end of the swing rod is connected to a bearing and a compression sprocket.

[0019] An infrared array bracket is arranged on the top of the robot body, and a plurality of infrared ranging sensors are arranged on the infrared array bracket to form an infrared ranging array.

[0020] A control method for a walking mechanism capable of automatic wall transition comprises the following steps:

[0021] Step 1: Mechanism walking: Place the walking mechanism with automatic wall transition on the wall and firmly adsorb it, and control the walking motor to drive the mechanism to move on the wall;

[0022] Step 2: Data collection: The mechanism moves to the front of the transition wall, and the infrared ranging arrays at different heights above the robot body detect the wall in front and transmit the detected distance information to the controller. N is the safety factor and L is the length of the front swing arm.

[0023] Step 3, data analysis and processing: The controller analyzes and processes the signal output by the infrared ranging sensor. Due to the unevenness of the water-cooled wall, the data measured by the infrared sensor at the same height takes the minimum value, and the data measured by the infrared ranging sensor at each height is obtained, and then the angle between the two wall surfaces is calculated using the inverse trigonometric function;

[0024]

[0025]

[0026]

[0027] θ1 is the first and second height infrared ranging sensors, θ2 is the wall angle measured by the second and third height infrared ranging sensors, where l1, l2, l3 are the distances to the transition wall measured by the first, second and third height infrared ranging sensors, respectively, h1, h2, h3 are the heights of the first, second and third height infrared ranging sensors from the adsorption wall, respectively, and θ is the average of the two measured wall angles to reduce the measurement error;

[0028] Step 4: Automatic wall transition: Based on the data analysis and processing results in step 3, the angle between the current walking wall and the wall to be transitioned is determined. According to the different walking environments, the control signals of the front swing arm motor and the rear swing arm motor are output to lift the swing arm to the same angle to match the transition wall and perform the transition.

[0029] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0030] (1) A crawler structure is adopted, and clamping devices are added to the main walking crawlers on both sides to ensure that the contact area between the crawlers and the wall is stable when the mechanism is walking, so that the overall structure is suitable for walking on the water-cooled wall surface.

[0031] (2) The four-swing arm structure and the lifting swing arm can be applied to transition walls of various angles. When transitioning the wall, the rear swing arm enhances the adsorption force and assists the transition. The transition safety is higher than that of the two-stage walking mechanism.

[0032] (3) The distance between the walking mechanism and the transition wall and the angle between the intersecting walls are measured by sensors, achieving automatic transition without human intervention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 It is a three-dimensional diagram of the mechanism of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 2 It is the internal structure diagram of the mechanism of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the magnetic adsorption walking device of the mechanism of the present invention is shown in FIG.

[0036] Figure 4 Track clamping structure diagram

[0037] Figure 5 It is a cross-sectional view of the power output mechanism.

[0038] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the process flow of the wall transition of the mechanism of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 7 The hardware structure diagram of the walking mechanism control system of the present invention is

[0040] Figure 8 This is the autonomous transition flow chart of the present invention.

[0041] Description of reference numerals:

[0042] 1-upper box; 2-chain; 3-front axle nut; 4-swing arm track baffle; 5-end cover; 6-main walking track side baffle; 7-front and rear boxes; 8-swing arm front axle; 9-swing arm track; 10-main walking track; 11-infrared ranging sensor; 12-infrared array bracket; 13-swing arm track; 14-outer shaft; 15-inner shaft; 16-swing arm bevel gear; 17-walking bevel gear; 18-reducer; 19-walking motor; 20- Bearing; 21-bevel gear; 22-drive shaft; 23-coupling; 24-swing arm motor; 25-lower box, 26-swing arm front wheel; 27-bent ear; 28-main track sprocket; 29-nut; 30-magnet; 31-connecting bolt; 32-swing arm track sprocket; 33-yoke; 34-chain link; 35-bearing; 36-swing rod; 37-spring; 38-compression rod; 39-compression sprocket; 40-side box; 41-sleeve. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] like Figures 1 to 5As shown, a walking mechanism capable of automatic wall transition includes a robot body, wherein the robot body includes a lower box body 25, front and rear boxes 7 are respectively arranged on the front and rear sides of the lower box body 25, and a side box body 40 is also respectively arranged on the left and right sides. The front and rear boxes 7 and the side boxes 40 form a frame structure with the lower box body 25, and main track baffles 6 are arranged on the outer sides of two main walking tracks 10, and swing arm track baffles 4 are arranged on the left and right sides of four swing arm tracks.

[0044] In this embodiment, Figure 1 As shown, the infrared ranging array is arranged above the upper box body 1, and infrared ranging sensors 11 are arranged at different heights above the box body. The distances between the sensor and the wall at different heights are measured to be different. Then, the height difference on the infrared ranging array is calculated, and the distance and angle between the transition wall surface can be automatically obtained, and the swing arm angle can be automatically rotated to perform wall transition.

[0045] In this embodiment, Figure 2 and Figure 5 As shown, the power output mechanism is arranged inside the box body, and is driven by a concentric shaft. A total of four motors provide power, two travel motors 19 are used to drive the crawler to travel, and two swing arm motors 24 are used to lift the front and rear crawler sections. Bevel gears are used between the motor and the inner shaft 15 and the outer shaft 14. The outer shaft 14 drives the two sprockets on the same side to rotate as the driving wheel, thereby driving the crawler to move forward. The inner shaft 15 is connected to the outer swing arm baffle 4. During the transition, the swing arm motor 24 transmits power to the inner shaft 15, thereby driving the swing arm crawler 9 to rotate to a corresponding angle to perform wall transition.

[0046] like Figure 3 As shown, the mobile mechanism includes six tracks on the left and right sides, which are divided into three sections: front, middle and rear on both sides of the box. The front and rear sections are liftable swing arms, and the middle section is the main walking track 9. The track is composed of a double-row chain 2 with bent ears, a yoke 33 and a magnet 30. The yoke 33 is fixed on the chain 2 by connecting bolts 31 and nuts 29, and the magnet 30 is fixed on the yoke 33. Since there are many welds and uneven surfaces on the surface of the water-cooled wall, the contact area between the track and the wall may be reduced when the robot crawls on the wall. Therefore, a belt pressing mechanism is set on the main track parts on both sides to ensure the contact between the track and the wall.

[0047] like Figure 4 As shown, the belt pressing device includes a spring 37, a compression rod 38, a swing rod 36, a clamping sprocket 39 and a bearing 35. The swing rod 36 is installed on the side box 40 through the middle hole, one end of which is connected to the compression rod 38, and the other end is connected to the clamping wheel 39 through a rotating shaft. When encountering a raised obstacle, the clamping wheel 39 will bend up and compress the spring, and the spring 37 will make the swing rod 36 on the other side swing to clamp the clamping wheel 39 behind.

[0048] As shown in Figure 6 to Figure 8 As shown, a method for controlling a walking mechanism capable of automatic wall transition comprises the following steps:

[0049] Step 1: Mechanism movement: Place the mechanism on the water-cooled wall and firmly adsorb it, and control the two travel motors 19 to drive the mechanism to move on the water-cooled wall.

[0050] Step 2: Data collection: The mechanism moves to NL in front of the transition wall. The infrared ranging arrays at different heights above the frame detect the wall in front and transmit the detected distance information to the controller. N is the safety factor and L is the length of the front swing arm.

[0051] Step 3: Data analysis and processing: The controller analyzes and processes the signal output by the infrared ranging sensor. Due to the unevenness of the water-cooled wall, the data measured by the infrared sensor at the same height takes the minimum value, and the data measured by the sensor at each height is obtained. The angle between the two wall surfaces can be obtained by using inverse trigonometric functions.

[0052]

[0053]

[0054]

[0055] Wherein θ1 and θ2 are the wall angles measured by the first height sensor, the second height sensor and the third height sensor, respectively; l1, l2 and l3 are the distances to the transition wall measured by the first height sensor, the second height sensor and the third height sensor, respectively; h1, h2 and h3 are the heights of the first height sensor, the second height sensor and the third height sensor from the adsorption wall, respectively; θ is the average of the two measured wall angles to reduce the measurement error.

[0056] Step 4, automatic wall transition: According to the data analysis and processing results in step 3, the angle between the current walking wall and the wall to be transitioned is determined, and the control signal of the swing arm motor 24 is output according to different walking environments to lift the swing arm to the same angle to match the transition wall and perform the transition.

Claims

1. A control method for a walking mechanism capable of automatic wall transition, characterized in that: The walking mechanism capable of automatic wall transition comprises: Robot body; A main walking crawler front drive shaft, a main walking crawler rear drive shaft, a front swing arm crawler drive shaft, and a rear swing arm crawler drive shaft are arranged in the robot body; Two main walking crawler front sprockets arranged on the front drive shaft of the main walking crawler; Two main walking crawler rear sprockets arranged on the main walking crawler rear drive shaft; A main walking crawler track disposed on both sides of the robot body and connected to the main walking crawler front sprocket and the main walking crawler rear sprocket; A front swing arm motor driving the front swing arm crawler drive shaft to rotate, the front swing arm crawler drive shaft being connected to a front swing arm crawler sprocket; A front swing arm and a front swing arm crawler track connected to the front swing arm crawler sprocket; A rear swing arm motor driving the rear swing arm crawler drive shaft to rotate, wherein the rear swing arm crawler drive shaft is provided with a rear swing arm crawler sprocket; A rear swing arm and a rear swing arm crawler track connected to the rear swing arm crawler sprocket; The control method comprises the following steps: Step 1: Mechanism walking: Place the walking mechanism with automatic wall transition on the wall and firmly adsorb it, and control the walking motor to drive the mechanism to move on the wall; Step 2: Data collection: The mechanism moves to the front of the transition wall, and the infrared ranging arrays at different heights above the robot body detect the wall in front and transmit the detected distance information to the controller. N is the safety factor and L is the length of the front swing arm. Step 3, data analysis and processing: The controller analyzes and processes the signal output by the infrared ranging sensor. Due to the unevenness of the water-cooled wall, the data measured by the infrared sensor at the same height takes the minimum value, and the data measured by the infrared ranging sensor at each height is obtained, and then the angle between the two wall surfaces is calculated using the inverse trigonometric function; θ1 is the first height and second height infrared ranging sensor, θ2 is the wall angle measured by the second height and third height infrared ranging sensor, where l1, l2, l3 are the distances to the transition wall measured by the first height, second height and third height infrared ranging sensor respectively, h1, h2, h3 are the height values ​​of the first height, second height and third height infrared ranging sensor from the adsorption wall respectively, and θ is the average of the two measured wall angles to reduce the measurement error; Step 4: Automatic wall transition: Based on the data analysis and processing results in step 3, the angle between the current walking wall and the wall to be transitioned is determined. According to the different walking environments, the control signals of the front swing arm motor and the rear swing arm motor are output to lift the swing arm to the same angle to match the transition wall and perform the transition.

2. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main walking crawler is provided with a belt pressing device, and the belt pressing device comprises: Coordinated spring and compression rod; A swing rod, one end of which is connected to the end of the compression rod, and the other end of which is connected to a bearing and a compression sprocket.

3. The control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: An infrared array bracket is arranged on the top of the robot body, and a plurality of infrared ranging sensors are arranged on the infrared array bracket to form an infrared ranging array.

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