Adaptive crawler device

Abstract

The present invention discloses an adaptive crawler device, in which a steering gear is arranged in the chassis of an underwater robot, and an active joint is arranged in the crawler, and the steering gear and the active joint, the driving wheel and the driven wheel are all connected by electric telescopic rods, and the underwater robot on the underwater chassis is basically in a plane forward through the extension and tilting of each electric telescopic rod, which reduces the angle of its front and rear tilting, improves the stability of its movement process, is more conducive to detection and cleaning, and thus improves the efficiency of the robot's underwater operation. During use, the crawler can be adaptive to the corresponding arc according to the radius of the fan pile foundation (columnar), better fit with the fan pile foundation barrel shape, improve the stability of the robot when crawling and working in accordance with the fan pile foundation, and improve the working efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of offshore wind power underwater, and in particular relates to an adaptive crawler device. Background Art

[0002] Offshore wind power has developed rapidly in recent years. The supporting structure of offshore wind turbines is easily affected by the attachment of marine organisms, seawater, collision with ships or foreign objects, and loads during the operation of the units. It is necessary to conduct non-destructive testing and cleaning of underwater steel structures on a regular basis.

[0003] At present, underwater inspection of offshore wind power is generally done by divers, but the operation cost is high and the risk is also high. With the development of underwater robot technology, underwater robots have also been used in recent years for underwater non-destructive testing of offshore wind power. Before performing non-destructive testing, it is necessary to clean the attached marine organisms attached to the surface of the underwater steel structure.

[0004] Generally, marine organisms in different positions are cleaned by controlling the movement of underwater robots. The underwater robots are usually set on a track structure for movement. Since the steel structure is set on the support cylinder, the underwater robot needs to move on the support cylinder during the cleaning operation, which causes the underwater robot to be shaken greatly during the movement of the track and has low stability, which increases the difficulty of control and seriously restricts the efficiency of cleaning and inspection operations. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art and provide an adaptive track device to solve the problem that the track structure carrying the underwater robot in the prior art is difficult to move forward stably during underwater movement, causing the underwater robot to be subject to severe bumps.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] An adaptive crawler device comprises a chassis and a crawler, wherein the crawler is below the chassis; a steering gear is arranged on the side of the chassis along the length direction, and a fixed structure is arranged between two steering gears in the middle; a driving wheel is arranged at the front end of the crawler, and a driven wheel is arranged at the rear end of the crawler; and three movable joints are arranged between the driving wheel and the driven wheel;

[0008] The driving wheel is connected to the front steering gear through the first electric telescopic rod, the movable joint behind the driving wheel is connected to a steering gear through the second electric telescopic rod, the middle movable joint is connected to the fixed structure through the fixed rod, the movable joint in front of the driven wheel is connected to a steering gear through the third electric telescopic rod, and the driven wheel is connected to the fourth steering gear through the fourth electric telescopic rod;

[0009] When the crawler crawls in an arc, the four electric telescopic rods are all extended and tilted; the lower ends of the first electric telescopic rod and the second electric telescopic rod are tilted backward, and the lower ends of the third electric telescopic rod and the fourth electric telescopic rod are tilted forward; the first electric telescopic rod and the fourth electric telescopic rod are extended to the same length, and the second electric telescopic rod and the third electric telescopic rod are extended to the same length; the absolute values ​​of the inclination angles of the first electric telescopic rod and the fourth electric telescopic rod relative to the vertical direction are equal, and the absolute values ​​of the inclination angles of the second electric telescopic rod and the third electric telescopic rod relative to the vertical direction are equal; the extended lengths of the first electric telescopic rod, the second electric telescopic rod, the third electric telescopic rod and the fourth electric telescopic rod are all determined by the arc radius and the crawler length.

[0010] A further improvement of the present invention is that

[0011] Preferably, the steering gear and the fixed structure are fixedly arranged in the chassis via a support frame.

[0012] Preferably, the fixed structure is located in the middle of the side edge of the chassis; the steering gear and the fixed structure are equally spaced along the length direction of the chassis.

[0013] Preferably, a track bracket is provided in the crawler along the length direction, a movable joint is provided on the track bracket, a driving wheel is connected to the front end of the track bracket, and a driven wheel is connected to the rear end of the track bracket.

[0014] Preferably, an auxiliary wheel is provided on the upper part and the lower part of the movable joint, and the auxiliary wheel is meshingly connected with the inner surface of the track.

[0015] Preferably, the power input shaft of the driving wheel is connected to a driving motor.

[0016] Preferably, the calculation formula for the inclination angles of the first electric telescopic rod and the fourth electric telescopic rod relative to the vertical direction is:

[0017] ∠4=∠1=90°-arc tan(r / (L / 2))

[0018] Among them, ∠1 is the rotation angle of the first electric telescopic rod, ∠4 is the rotation angle of the fourth electric telescopic rod, r is the radius of the cylinder wall, and L is the length of the crawler when traveling on flat ground.

[0019] Preferably, the calculation formula for the inclination angle of the second electric telescopic rod and the fourth electric telescopic rod relative to the vertical direction is:

[0020] ∠3=∠2=90°-arc tan(r / (L / 4))

[0021] Among them, ∠2 is the rotation angle of the second electric telescopic rod, ∠4 is the rotation angle of the fourth electric telescopic rod, r is the radius of the cylinder wall, and L is the length of the crawler when traveling on flat ground.

[0022] Preferably, the calculation formula for the extended length of the first electric telescopic rod and the fourth electric telescopic rod is:

[0023] EI=AF=(√((L / 2) 2 +r 2 ))-r

[0024] Among them, AF is the extended length of the first electric telescopic rod, EI is the extended length of the fourth electric telescopic rod, r is the radius of the cylinder wall, and L is the length of the crawler when traveling on flat ground.

[0025] Preferably, the calculation formula for the extended length of the second electric telescopic rod and the third electric telescopic rod is:

[0026] DH=BG=(√((L / 4) 2 +r 2 ))-r

[0027] Among them, BG is the extended length of the second electric telescopic rod, DH is the extended length of the third electric telescopic rod, r is the radius of the cylinder wall, and L is the length of the crawler when traveling on flat ground.

[0028] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0029] The present invention discloses an adaptive crawler device, in which a steering gear is arranged in the chassis of an underwater robot, and an active joint is arranged in the crawler, and the steering gear and the active joint, the driving wheel and the driven wheel are all connected by electric telescopic rods, and the underwater robot on the underwater chassis is basically in a plane forward through the extension and tilting of each electric telescopic rod, so that the angle of its front and rear tilting is reduced, the stability of its movement process is improved, and it is more conducive to detection and cleaning, thereby improving the efficiency of the robot's underwater operation. During use, the crawler can be adaptive to the corresponding arc according to the radius of the fan pile foundation (columnar), and better fit with the fan pile foundation (columnar), thereby improving the stability of the robot when crawling and working in accordance with the fan pile foundation, and improving the working efficiency.

[0030] Furthermore, the servo is arranged in the chassis so that the servo can stably transmit power and receive instructions given by the underwater robot.

[0031] Furthermore, the steering gear and the fixed structure are equally divided along the length direction of the chassis, so that the electric lifting and retracting rods of the underwater robot are symmetrically arranged, and when the underwater robot crawls on the wind turbine pile foundation, it can support the underwater robot symmetrically front and back.

[0032] Furthermore, the movable joint is arranged on the track bracket, so that the movable joint can drive the track to deform. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 The present invention provides a structural schematic diagram of an adaptive crawler.

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic diagram to assist the calculation formula.

[0035] Among them: 1-first electric telescopic rod; 2-first steering gear; 3-second electric telescopic rod; 4-second steering gear; 5-fixed rod; 6-fixed structure; 7-third electric telescopic rod; 8-third steering gear; 9-fourth electric telescopic rod; 10-fourth steering gear; 11-chassis; 12-driven wheel; 13-movable joint; 14-auxiliary wheel; 15-track; 16-track bracket; 17-drive motor; 18-driving wheel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments:

[0037] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the orientations or positional relationships indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside", etc. are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention; the terms "first", "second", and "third" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance; in addition, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection or a detachable connection; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it can be the internal communication of two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0038] See also Figure 1 The present invention discloses an adaptive crawler device. The adaptive crawler device includes a chassis 11 and a crawler 15. The chassis 11 is above the crawler 15. Two parallel crawlers 15 are arranged at the lower part of the chassis 11. The two crawlers 15 are arranged below the two sides of the chassis 11 respectively. The space between the two crawlers 15 is the inner side, and the outer side of each of the two crawlers 15 is the outer side of the entire device. The following description is all for one side of the chassis 11, that is, for an underwater robot, the following devices in the steering gear and crawler 15 are both two.

[0039] The chassis 11 is disposed at the lower part of the underwater robot and is used to support the underwater robot and drive the underwater robot to move.

[0040] The chassis 11 is a frame structure, and a transverse support frame, a longitudinal support frame and a vertical support frame are arranged inside it according to the needs. The chassis 11 mainly plays a supporting and transmission role. The chassis 11 is provided with a fixed structure 6 in the middle position of its two side parts. The fixed structure 6 is a fixing device, which can be a fixed cylinder, a square block, etc. The lower part of the fixed structure 6 is provided with a hole and fixedly connected with a fixed rod 5. Along the length direction of the chassis 11, the chassis 11 is provided with 4 steering gears, and two steering gears are arranged on each side of the fixed structure 6. The first steering gear 2 is arranged at the front end of the chassis 11, and the second steering gear 4 is arranged between the first steering gear 2 and the fixed structure 6. The fourth steering gear 10 is arranged at the rear end of the chassis 11, and the third steering gear 8 is arranged between the fixed structure 6 and the fourth steering gear 10; the distance between the first steering gear 2 and the second steering gear 4, the distance between the second steering gear 4 and the fixed structure 6, the distance between the fixed structure 6 and the third steering gear 8, and the distance between the third steering gear 8 and the fourth steering gear 10 are all l. The fixed structure 6 and the steering gear 2 are both fixedly arranged in the support frame of the chassis 11 and supported by the support frame.

[0041] See also Figure 1 The crawler 15 is parallel to the length direction of the chassis 11. The crawler 15 is provided with a crawler bracket 16 along the center line of the length direction. The crawler bracket 16 is in the middle position inside the crawler 15. The crawler bracket 16 is connected to the chassis 11 through each electric telescopic rod and the fixing rod 5, so that the crawler bracket 16 can be fixedly arranged inside the crawler 15. The crawler bracket 16 is connected by a plurality of support rods, and the adjacent support rods are hinged by a movable joint 13. The rear end of the crawler bracket 16 is provided with a driven wheel 12, and the front end of the crawler bracket 16 is provided with a driving wheel 18. The power input end of the driving wheel 18 is connected to the driving motor 2. Three movable joints 13 are equally divided on the crawler bracket 16 between the driving wheel 18 and the driven wheel 12. The power input end of the driving wheel 18 rotates through the lower end of the first electric telescopic rod 1, and the upper end of the first electric telescopic rod 1 is fixedly connected to the power output end of the first steering gear 2. From front to back, the three movable joints 13 are connected to the second steering gear 4, the fixed structure 6 and the third steering gear 8 respectively through the second electric telescopic rod 3, the fixed rod 5 and the third electric telescopic rod 7. The upper end of the fourth electric telescopic rod 9 is connected to the power output end of the fourth steering gear 10, and the lower end of the fourth electric telescopic rod 9 is rotatably connected to the power input end of the driven wheel 12. An auxiliary wheel 14 is provided at the upper and lower parts of each movable joint 13, and the auxiliary wheel 14 is meshed and connected with its corresponding movable joint 13; the auxiliary wheel 14 is meshed and connected with the inner surface of the crawler 15, so that the auxiliary wheel 14 can rotate with the movement of the crawler 15.

[0042] The movable joint 13 is a hinged rod connected by a hinge structure, and is used to connect the support rods in front and behind it.

[0043] Each servo 2 is connected to an electric telescopic rod 1, and the servo 2 drives the extension and retraction of the electric telescopic rod 1. Through the extension and retraction and tilt of the electric telescopic rod 1, the movable joint 13, the driving wheel 18 and the driven wheel 12 can be driven to move and rotate, thereby driving the support rods on both sides of each movable joint 13 to move and rotate, thereby realizing the deformation of the entire track bracket 16. At the same time, the track 15 is deformed and moved, but the chassis 11 on the track 15 is always maintained on a relatively stable plane due to the deformation of the electric telescopic rods 1 on both sides, so that the robot on the chassis 11 is less subject to bumps.

[0044] See also Figure 2 , the calculation method of the deformation length and bending angle of the electric telescopic rod 1 during the movement is as follows:

[0045] like Figure 2 As shown in the figure, L = AE is the length of the crawler when it is running in normal state. Assuming that the radius of the cylinder wall to be crawled is r = CJ, when the radius of the cylinder wall is r, the arc length ∠1, ∠2, ∠3, and ∠4 are respectively the angles that the first electric telescopic rod 1, the second electric telescopic rod 3, the third electric telescopic rod 7, and the fourth electric telescopic rod 9 need to rotate with the upper ends as the vertices, and AF, BG, DH, and EI are respectively the lengths that the first electric telescopic rod 1, the second electric telescopic rod 3, the third electric telescopic rod 7, and the fourth electric telescopic rod 9 need to be extended.

[0046] ∠1=90°-arc tan(CJ / AC)=90°-arc tan(r / (L / 2))

[0047] ∠2=90°-arc tan(CJ / BC))=90°-arc tan(r / (L / 4))

[0048] ∠3=∠2=90°-arc tan(r / (L / 4))

[0049] ∠4=∠1=90°-arc tan(r / (L / 2))

[0050] AF=(√(AC 2 +CJ 2 ))-FJ=(√((L / 2) 2 +r 2 ))-r

[0051] BG=(√(BC 2 +CJ 2 ))-GJ=(√((L / 4) 2 +r 2))-r

[0052] DH=BG=(√((L / 4) 2 +r 2 ))-r

[0053] EI=AF=(√((L / 2) 2 +r 2 ))-r

[0054] Based on this calculation, the extension of each electric telescopic rod and the required rotation angle to adapt to the radius are obtained. Then the robot operates simultaneously according to the angle and extension calculated by this formula in the system, and finally operates in line with the target surface of the operation, thereby improving the stability of the operation.

[0055] The working principle of the present invention is as follows: when the staff uses it, they first input the target operation radius into the system, and the angles calculated by the first steering gear 2, the second steering gear 4, the third steering gear 8 and the fourth steering gear 10 start to rotate, and stop after rotating to the target angle, and the first electric telescopic rod 1, the second electric telescopic rod 3, the third electric telescopic rod 7 and the fourth electric telescopic rod 9 start to extend according to the calculated extension amount at the same time, and stop after extending to the target amount. After the action is completed, the track surface fits with the left and right target surfaces, making the equipment more stable during operation and improving the operation reliability and efficiency.

[0056] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An adaptive crawler device, characterized in that: The invention comprises a chassis (11) and a crawler (15), wherein the crawler (15) is disposed below the chassis (11); four steering gears are disposed on the side edge of the chassis (11) along the length direction, and a fixed structure (6) is disposed between two middle steering gears; a driving wheel (18) is disposed at the front end of the crawler (15), and a driven wheel (12) is disposed at the rear end of the crawler (15); and three movable joints (13) are disposed between the driving wheel (18) and the driven wheel (12); The driving wheel (18) is connected to a steering gear at the front end via a first electric telescopic rod (1); the movable joint (13) behind the driving wheel (18) is connected to a steering gear via a second electric telescopic rod (3); the middle movable joint (13) is connected to a fixed structure (6) via a fixed rod (5); the movable joint in front of the driven wheel (12) is connected to a steering gear via a third electric telescopic rod (7); and the driven wheel (12) is connected to a fourth steering gear (10) via a fourth electric telescopic rod (9); When the crawler tracks climb in an arc, the four electric telescopic rods are all extended and tilted; the lower ends of the first electric telescopic rod (1) and the second electric telescopic rod (3) tilt backward, and the lower ends of the third electric telescopic rod (7) and the fourth electric telescopic rod (9) tilt forward; the first electric telescopic rod (1) and the fourth electric telescopic rod (9) are extended to the same length, and the second electric telescopic rod (3) and the third electric telescopic rod (7) are extended to the same length; the absolute values ​​of the inclination angles of the first electric telescopic rod (1) and the fourth electric telescopic rod (9) relative to the vertical direction are equal, and the absolute values ​​of the inclination angles of the second electric telescopic rod (3) and the third electric telescopic rod (7) relative to the vertical direction are equal; the extended lengths of the first electric telescopic rod (1), the second electric telescopic rod (2), the third electric telescopic rod (7) and the fourth electric telescopic rod (9) are all determined by the arc radius and the crawler track length.

2. The adaptive crawler device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steering gear and the fixed structure (6) are fixedly arranged in the chassis (11) via a support frame.

3. The adaptive crawler device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fixed structure (6) is located in the middle of the side of the chassis (11); the four steering gears and one fixed structure (6) are equally spaced along the length direction of the chassis (11).

4. The adaptive crawler device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A crawler support (16) is arranged in the crawler (15) along the length direction, the movable joint (13) is arranged on the crawler support (16), the driving wheel (18) is connected to the front end of the crawler support (16), and the driven wheel (12) is connected to the rear end of the crawler support (16).

5. The adaptive crawler device according to claim 1, characterized in that: An auxiliary wheel (14) is arranged on the upper part and the lower part of the movable joint (13), and the auxiliary wheel (14) is meshedly connected with the inner surface of the crawler track (15).

6. The adaptive crawler device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The power input shaft of the driving wheel (18) is connected to the driving motor (17).

7. The adaptive crawler device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The calculation formula for the inclination angle of the first electric telescopic rod (1) and the fourth electric telescopic rod (9) relative to the vertical direction is: ∠4=∠1=90°-arc tan(r / (L / 2)) Wherein, ∠1 is the rotation angle of the first electric telescopic rod (1), ∠4 is the rotation angle of the fourth electric telescopic rod (9), r is the radius of the cylinder wall, and L is the length of the crawler (15) when traveling on flat ground.

8. The adaptive crawler device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The calculation formula for the inclination angle of the second electric telescopic rod (3) and the fourth electric telescopic rod (7) relative to the vertical direction is: ∠3=∠2=90°-arc tan(r / (L / 4)) Wherein, ∠2 is the rotation angle of the second electric telescopic rod (3), ∠4 is the rotation angle of the fourth electric telescopic rod (7), r is the radius of the cylinder wall, and L is the length of the crawler (15) when traveling on flat ground.

9. The adaptive crawler device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The calculation formula for the extended length of the first electric telescopic rod (1) and the fourth electric telescopic rod (9) is: EI=AF=(√((L / 2)2+r2))-r Wherein, AF is the extended length of the first electric telescopic rod (1), EI is the extended length of the fourth electric telescopic rod (9), r is the radius of the cylinder wall, and L is the length of the crawler (15) when traveling on flat ground.

10. The adaptive crawler device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The calculation formula for the extended length of the second electric telescopic rod (3) and the third electric telescopic rod (7) is: DH=BG=(√((L / 4)2+r2))-r Wherein, BG is the extended length of the second electric telescopic rod (3), DH is the extended length of the third electric telescopic rod (7), r is the radius of the cylinder wall, and L is the length of the crawler (15) when traveling on flat ground.

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